And the “I don’t want to see Danny in the finals” spoiler vote as well…
I can’t stand Adam. I’m trying to understand, I really am, but I just don’t.
Clearly I am in the minority on this.
ETA: To be clear, I don’t particularly like any of the final three. Kris more than Danny.
God, tomorrow will be a nail-biter. Who are they having perform as a guest? God must make Danny go home.
Ok. So I’m out of town visiting family and went to a middle school band concert tonight instead of watching. And nobody taped the show. I can’t find any of the performances posted online. Can anyone out there help? If you find them posted somewhere let me know please!
go to MJsbigblog or rickey’s.org - both sites will post the videos of the performances.
Does this mean we’ll see you on next year’s Minneapolis audition show? That would be awesome.
But yeah, Kris’s biggest drawback is he’s hard to remember five minutes after he performs. However, the performances themselves have been well-nigh perfect almost every single time, and he has grown stronger over the past few weeks. Plus he and Adam seem to get along really well, whereas Danny seems like the awkward guy who eats by himself at lunchtime.
I kind of feel like a Kris victory over Danny for F2 would make up for Season 5’s shameful ejection of Elliott Yamin over Katharine McPhee.
I only started watching during the Carrie/Bo year (which season was that?)
How often has there been one sex represented with the last 3? The last 4 ever?
Top four of Season 3 was women: Fantasia, Diana DeGarmo, Jasmine Trias, LaToya London (a bit of a travesty, really - George Huff belonged up there).
Otherwise, you just have the two male final two’s: Ruben/Clay and David/David.
I don’t like Adam, but I can see why someone would watch him. He is a performer, to say the least. But, I just can’t picture someone buying his cd and listening to it on the drive home. That’s just me though.
Kris Allen, OTOH, not nearly as entertaining on tv, but has a much better voice. I’d actually spend money on him. Someone upthread said it was Jason Mrazy, which is awesome for me because Mraz is my favorite singer. Different tastes and all.
The first three songs were completely forgettable. Adam should not have changed the melody like that. Or rather, removed the melody. His performance was fine, but the changes made the song completely useless. He might as well have just sung random notes on a scale.
Kris was quite good, but I don’t know the song and it didn’t grab me. My daughter loves that song, though, and she thought Kris did great.
Gokey… What the hell is with those judges? Yes, Gokey has a great tone to his voice. But apparently, that’s where his talent ends. They intentionally gave him a song that was right in his wheelhouse so he could belt out that one octave sweet spot for a whole song. But really, who cares? He can’t deliver a song for the life of him. It always comes across as forced and artificial. He sings like a guy trying to win a contest, not as an artist with anything especially interesting to say.
First round goes to Kris, with Adam winning the technical merit award.
On to the second round…
If Joe Cocker was dead, he’d be twisting and squirming and grimacing in his grave. Every single change Gokey made to that song made it worse. He’s like a painter deciding to ‘improve’ the Mona Lisa by coloring in a little neon, just to make it ‘edgy’. In a safe kind of way.
And I didn’t hear anything resembling a ‘vocal master class’. I don’t think he had control of the song once during the first eight bars. His pitch wavered, the volume went up and down in the wrong places, and the timing wasn’t smooth. There was nothing about that I liked. It got a little better later when he Gokified it, but only because by then he’d put the song out of its misery.
Kris was excellent. He has impeccable timing and phrasing. His beat is always right in the pocket, even when he’s playing solo on the guitar. Maybe even especially then. This may be a more understated or under-recognized skill than being able to make dogs cry with your uber-octave range, but it’s just as difficult to find, and maybe a little more useful. I was right into that song while he was singing it. Not watching a contestant on a show, but a musician singing something really cool.
I realize that there’s a certain element of personal taste involved here, but even on technical ability and musicianship I’ve got to go with Kris. I think he’s by far the most likely of these three to make it big as a solo artist.
Adam’s performance actually underwhelmed me. He used it again to emphasize his extreme range, but having a hammer doesn’t mean every song is a nail to be pulverized. When Steven Tyler sings this song, he sounds like he’s actually crying. There’s a lot of emotion in it. I thought Adam’s sounded a little thin in comparison. But still a very good performance.
I hope that it’s an Adam/Kris final. That would make for a show that would be so much better than an Adam/Gokey final. And head to head, I’m not sure that Kris wouldn’t pull more votes than Adam. It woudl come down to the song choices and the quality of the last performances.
Oh, and I loved Randy Saying that Kris’s song was better than Kanye’s original. Only because I knew that right about then Kanye would be smashing his trailer and threatening eternal vengeance on Randy Jackson. Let’s hope there’s a Youtube video in it for us.
So, I’m going back and listening to the performances again without watching. And, just for fun, in backwards order:
Cryin’ - A big mess. Yes, Adam landed all of the notes flawlessly, but there was no storytelling or connection. It was just a lot of vocal acrobatics with no context for it. Plus, the awful sound mix. Plus, the janky rhythm. Plus, the messed-up lyrics. He seemed just not Adam tonight, as if someone gave him really bad news right before the show, or maybe he was just under-prepared and he knew it. This has got to have been the hardest week, with the home visit and preparing two songs, and I think perfectionist Adam suffered the most from it.
**Heartbreaker **- Surprising. Original. Soulful. Groovy. Perfect vocals. Good vibe. Hands-down best of the night. If Kris makes it to the finals, it’s due to this performance.
You Are So Beautiful - I have to say this was a lot better on the second listen, and not looking at Danny’s face was a big improvement. 
The vocals were really quite nice (if a bit breathless) in the beginning and middle sections. It’s when he started driving that Danny Freight Train - “BEYOO-TEE-FUUUUUUUUL” - that it went from being a tender love song into a plea for attention. Vocally I’d put it among his best of the season.
One - Here too the arrangement didn’t really work. It was much more successful than the later song, and it started beautifully. It just went from 3 to 10 when it probably would have worked better to go from 3 to 7 and save the vocal insanity for the later song. As pointed out upthread (by Dio, I think), the combination of the chopped length and shorter prep time hurt him, but otherwise a decent, if not great, Adam performance.
Apologize - The least vocally precise performance of the night, but Kris infused it with his brand of effortlessly honest soul. As Simon said, a competent performance of the original. I had a moment of rage at Paula’s forced critique: “You had a bum note and it…was LOUD.” How can she pull that shit after she gave Danny’s Dream On A+++ for effort? :mad:
Dance Little Sister - Typical Gokey shouting. On key this time, thankfully, but there was no movement in it. It started at one level and just went straight through to the end. Also it sounded like he either lost his breath or the lyrics at the end of the chorus. In other words, nothing special.
So, Kris wins the night, and (I think I will need to kill myself after I type this), I might even give Danny a slight edge over Adam tonight. Of course looking over the season Adam has been leagues above everyone else so many times, it’s just unfortunate that he has an off night so late in the season. Let’s hope he regroups and pulls out all kinds of awesome next week.
Agreed on all points. Glad to know that it wasn’t me thinking that the background singer(s) were totally irritating. Were they off-key? They were way too loud, for sure.
Tonight was my first time saying to myself “oh, so THAT’S why Kris is in this competition at this stage of the game!”
Gokey sucked. At this point I hate him so much I doubt that he could get me to like a song even if he did it perfectly. He’s just so smug and irritating as a person, and his performances are always so bland and tedious.
Adam was competent, but nothing exciting. I wasn’t wowed by either of his songs, sadly. My main complaint about Adam over the weeks is that it’s weird how he sticks his tongue out when he sings. Other than that I just think he’s far and away the most entertaining person on the show, and they just can’t touch his control of his voice. Tonight I was underwhelmed by his performances, but I think that’s mainly due to the arrangement (and the background vocals) and not to his voice.
I know what I like, but I don’t particularly know why; I think you’ve just explained why I think Kris is the best musician on the show (and high up the list in the history of AI). I would and I probably will buy an album he puts out. He’s sort of a mellow, Jack Johnson kind of guy (with a funky edge), and I want to hear more of him.
At this stage of the game, I was mentally comparing all the dudes to David Cook from last year, where he sang the spectrum of genres and nailed it every week, complete with a selection from “Phantom of the Opera” that he did dead straight, and nobody but Kris is getting anywhere near that kind of versatility. Adam is the best performer AI has ever seen, but in no way the best singer or interpreter of songs. Adam and Danny Adamize and Dannyize every song they take on. And yes, Kara desperately needs to get the ol’ heave ho. I am growing very weary of her stupidity. And for the love of all that’s holy, can they please separate Paula and Simon?
I guess Kara’s happy that Adam sang an “early” Aerosmith song. 
Kris is, IMO, the most talented artist of the three. He also seems like he would be the most marketable, so it kind of surprises me that the judge’s haven’t been pimping him more all along.
I want to like Adam. He seems like a good guy and he’s got skills, but he’s just SO over the top. That high screechy wail he always does just grates on my nerves. I can’t imagine trying to listen to an entire album of that. I’m sure he’s great in musicals, but I don’t think his style would work for Top 40 radio.
I’ve also come to think that Kris is the best and most likely to record an album I’d buy in a million years, although I’d be fine with Adam winning.
Agree with most. Adam was a disappointment. I was never a fan of his shrieky high notes and “Crying” was just awful. I mean, “Turn that music down!” awful.
“One” was good but not great.
Danny did okay on “You Are So Beautiful.” He doesn’t bug me like he bugs some people, so I could just listen to it and enjoy it. His first number seemed forced.
Kris really did outstanding. I don’t agree with Kara that he should have reworked “Apologize” more because by singing it relatively straight, he showed us that he could be a pop star. I didn’t know the second song because I live under a rock, but he seemed at ease on stage. And even though people say he’s forgettable, I find myself watching him and enjoying him.
Obviously Danny should go home tonight, but we’ll see. It may be Adam.
DialIdol results:
Adam, then Kris, then Danny last, but WAY too close to call. May be the closest final 3 I’ve seen since Season 5, and even then it seemed clear that Yamin was out. I couldn’t guess right now who is going home. I’d guess if Kris is 2nd on DI, he’s here to stay–he seems to have the texting fanbase in his pocket, and DI doesn’t count texts.
I agree. The other two may be better at showmanship, I don’t know. But, honestly, they don’t sound anything like what people actually listen to.
The thing about Adam is the show has relentlessly pushed him as a “rock star” when that’s not really his thing. I mean, he can certainly do rock and I’m sure he enjoys it and that will be an element of his career, but I think he really wants to be a male Britney Spears.
Okay, that’s a little unfair. How about a male Christina Augilera? In interviews, when given a choice, he always tends to prefer the pop side to rock. His very first audition for the judges (not shown on TV) was Michael Jackson (Rock with You), his first concert was Paula Abdul, he says he prefers Kelly Clarkson to David Cook, he sang a Cher song in Hollywood, he has stated his love for Britney, Christina, Madonna, “all the divas.” There are YouTube videos of his songs which are strictly dance tracks. I’m not saying he is one-note, as he has also said he wants to combine a lot of different styles, but trying to force him into the “rock box” isn’t really fitting, no matter how he dresses or what Randy says. I think Adam will be a great pop/glam artist and has the potential to shake up the genre(s) he tackles, but I don’t think we’ve really seen on the show what his records will be like. I take that back: I think “Ring of Fire” was probably the most authentically Adam we’ve seen all season, or are likely to see.
On the other hand, I’m quite sure that what Kris is doing on the show now will be what his records will sound like. He’s more relatable to the country at large. Adam is vastly entertaining and will likely still win, but my gut says Kris will have a more successful recording career, and make more of a name for himself among non-Idol fans.
Gokey, of course, will have a highly-successful run on the Autumn '10 State Fair circuit, followed by semi-regular appearances at Six Flags.