Sorry I missed tonight’s ep. My wife texted me at my meeting that Adam was doing Zeppelin and I was hugely disappointed to be missing it. It’s funny because I was just wrote a scene in my current manuscript where a kid is learning how to play guitar and is learning that one (unlike most Zep songs, that one can be taught to a total beginner in five minutes)… and, as a result, have had it on my head for days and have been singing it from time to time.
I gotcher back: http://www.adamlambert.org/
ETA: just listened to it back on headphones (twice!) and I liked it better. It started well, went off the rails before the guitar solo (he actually sounded phlegmy) and it meandered before the breakdown - but the last bit “waaaayyyyy down insiiiiiiiiiide…” killed. So I’ll give him that.
Thanks, I’d just found it on Mjs blog. I think he killed. I’m a HUGE Led Zep fan from way back, and I think Bobby Plant himself would give it a thumbs up. And God, what a difference it makes to have a good band! Slash obviously assembled his own all-star band?
When I gave guitar lessons, I used to teach the main riff to Whole Lot of Love to rank beginners during the very first lesson. I did it because I wanted to give them something that sounded cool, but was easy enough for even the most boneheaded newbie to learn. It gave something fun to practice and made them sound and feel like rockers right out the gate.
God, I should hope so. Gets the opening & closing act, with costume change in between. Gets to sing a duet with the other rocker, Allison. Gets Simon poisoning the well, declaring that no one can possibly be better than him tonight.
I think it was the Usual Guys. I know I saw Ricky Minor playing guitar.
I just watched Kris again and he was really good. The judges really want to throw him under the Danny bus, and I don’t get why. In vocals alone, he was an order of magnitude better than Danny. What wasn’t great is that he looked down at his guitar a lot, so wasn’t really engaging with or playing to the cameras at all. That’s something Danny never forgets to do (pandering tool!). But geez, he really rocked it.
Well, heck, I did what I can. For the first time I voted for the full 2 hours (about an hour for Adam, and the other hour divided equally between Allison and Kris). Thankfully I have an understanding boyfriend and an unlimited text plan.
…and also just listened to Danny again to be fair. OMG he was so far off key so many times it was stupid. And that screech at the end… the definition of train wreck. 
Aha. I didn’t make it up, but it’s apparently not happening.
Well, the first thing I thought was, “hey, the AI band finally dredged a little life out of their instruments.”
But no. That wasn’t the AI band. It was Ricky Minor playing with the House Band from Rock Star Supernova. That was Rafael Moreira playing lead guitar - former lead guitarist for Pink, and the lead guitarist for the Rock Star House Band. He’s fantastic.
Substituting real rockers in for the AI band was a smart move. It gave the performances that much more credibility, and really allowed you to see what these contestants would be like in front of a balls-to-the-wall rock band.
This show was right in Adam and Allison’s Wheel House. They couldn’t miss, and they ddn’t. Both of them were great, but I actually have to give the nod to Allison tonight. She came across as a completely authentic rock singer. Her first song was great - the judges must have been smoking crack. Adam was very good, but predictably so. He had energy galore, but it was still missing something. His ‘edge’ is just a little too polished, if you know what I mean.
I was worried that Kris would be in trouble. The guy’s not a hard rocker, and doesn’t want to be. I like that he tried to change up ‘Come Together’ a little to make it a little more in his style, and the changes showed a certain amount of musical taste and style, but overall it was just a little too limpwristed. On the bright side, his guitar playing is absolutely fluid and effortless. He’s clearly an experienced guitarist - a real musician. I have no idea how good he is, but he’s good enough to play professionally. So he’s still my favorite, but tonight’s performance isn’t going to win him any new fans. He’s probably in trouble.
Gokey was awful. That note at the end? There’s a very fine line on that note between ‘rock god’ and ‘twit with glasses’. It’s one of those things that’s hard to define, but you just know when it’s right and when it isn’t.
It wasn’t.
If there’s a God, Danny goes home tomorrow. If not, it’ll probably be Kris. For once, I think Allison is safe.
Which means she’s probably doomed.
Danny mangled the scream; Kris slurred most of the lyrics and looked very uncomfortable. I’m talking about their solos. They sounded decent together.
Allison and Adam were good together and separately.
Kara’s 'do made her look like she was going bald.
Adam and Allison were fantastic, both individually and in the duet. Did anybody think of 30 Rock when Paula was talking about Allison playing Janis? 
I still can’t believe that girl is barely 17.
Kris was marginally better than Danny in the solos, but Danny was better in the duet. That’s not saying much though - either one of them can go home now, please.
Oh - I guess I still like Kris’ face. He *is *a little cutie! So send Danny home first.
I have only seen the one episode of 30 Rock and it was that one, and it’s the first thing I thought of when I just read upthread about the Zoey Deschanel project. I like her, but she neither looks nor sings like Janis. I’d cast Bette Middler in that role. Heh.
Also, the first thing I thought of when I heard about this week’s episode was Allison… if I ever have a 17 year old girl, I’m not letting her get mentored by any member of Guns and Roses.
The judges were even more shameful than usual last night. After the first song, Simon says no one else can win? As good as Adam was, that was a ridiculous thing to say. Simon also seemed to not like the whole duets idea. Doesn’t he have a hand in the show’s production?
My order:
- Allison. I thought she killed. She actually looked very comfortable singing that type of song and she owned the stage. Her voice was fantastic.
1a. Adam. I was concerned he would over-dramatize the song, then I realized that no one can over-dramatize Robert Plant. He did a great job, but I didn’t love the look. Maybe it was the eye makeup that made it too glam?
-
Kris. Very hard to change up a Beatles song, particularly a song like “Come Together,” which has some iconic phrasing. I thought he did pretty well, but his vocals were a little lost in the music and that hurt him.
-
Gokey. Just awful. Bad song choice. If you’re going to do Steven Tyler, you can’t try to sound like him. He would have been better off trying to change it up some, but he was by far the worst of the night. He’ll likely stick around though.
That smarmy douche Gokey, and Kara “neverheardoftoysintheattic” DioGuardi, I want to knock their heads together. I would have enjoyed Adam alot more if I had only listened. He did this thing where he’d put on his “sexy eyes” and jerk his head to the right. Over and over, to the point of distraction. But he sounded great. Kris was fine. He didn’t do a thing wrong, but didn’t measure up to Adam or Allison. Allison didn’t deserve that big shit sandwich they gave her, she was balls out fantastic!!! So, I really hope Okey Dokey gets the boot tonight. He doesn’t deserve to do Aerosmith, especially that one. Tonight I hope to have a beautiful dream in which Steven Tyler comes and chokes him with one of his pretty scarves.
Saw all the videos now, or at least as much as I could take of Dream On and Renegade. Overall the song choices were good – only one turd (Styx) in the bunch. Adam and Allison should be the final 2.
I think it is a question of timing. In previous years, the final 4 contestants sang 2 songs apiece.
Idol has figured out that 8 songs and 4 egotistical judges plus 30 minutes of commericials does not fit into 60 minutes. (yes 30 minutes is an exaggeration but you get my point).
I think Idol is Fox TV flagship programming, probably their rating leader. So I don’t know why they want to fit the show into a cramped 60 minutes. An hour and half makes much more sense. But I guess they don’t have a 30 minutes show to fit in before or after Idol.
They could easily get it done in time by no letting the judges ramble, but I thought the duets was an interesting idea and have wanted to see it in the past.
Wow…at last, an experiment to definitely prove or disprove the existence of God! Cool!
Of course, if Allison or Adam goes home, we’ll have to all remain agnostic.
God is much too busy fixing the NBA playoffs to worry about American Idol.
When So You Think You Can Dance gets down to the final 4 or so, they have duets (or the dance equivalent), but do every combination: A+B, A+C, A+D, B+C, B+D, C+D…which ensures complete fairness.