I really want Adam to do “Sweet Child O’Mine”.
Ditto. He certainly has the voice for it, although perhaps the lyrics aren’t quite right for him.
I was thinking that Adam could definitely rock some GNR–“Patience” would show off his range, but I don’t know if he could pull off the lyrics. Chris Cornell/Soundgarden/Audioslave or more Muse would also be good choices–I practically get shivers thinking of Adam doing “Stockholm Syndrome,” but I doubt they could get the rights. And does Journey count as rock? He could KILL a Steve Perry song, and it would definitely be an audience favorite, especially if he does something like “Don’t Stop Believing” or “Lovin’, Touchin’ Squeezin’” rather than “Open Arms.” Or Zeppelin…really the possibilities are endless. I can’t wait to find out what he does.
Kris would do well with an acoustic version of a vocally competent grunge or post-grunge tune–I’m thinking especially of something like “Sweet Euphoria” from Chris Cornell’s solo work, a mellower Pearl Jam tune like “Elderly Woman” or a tuned down Foo Fighters “Everlong” with just him and a guitar. I could also see him doing a hair metal ballad–“To Be With You,” “Every Rose Has Its Thorn,” or “More Than Words.” Whatever it is he does, I picture lots of lighters and swaying girls.
Allison is actually harder to picture this week than I thought. I’m not sure if she has the chops to tackle Amy Lee, but “My Immortal” could be awesome if she could pull it off. I also picture her doing “Dream On” by Aerosmith, but she’s already done an Aerosmith song. I think I’m having a hard time with her because she’s already done songs by most rock bands that I think she could do well with, like Aerosmith and Heart. And while I still want her to do Janis Joplin (a first for me on Idol–most people SUCK at Joplin, to the point where I tend to think her songs should be on the banned list ) I don’t think it fits into Rock week, sadly. Maybe Melissa Etheridge does? “Come To My Window” wouldn’t be bad for her.
Danny…oh, Danny. Power ballad all the way–start off slow and end with a bang, just like every other week. It’s the Gokey Formula. The only problem is that most power ballads will test the upper limits of his range. Anyway, I see REO Speedwagon or something equally nutless for Danny. He is in the unenviable position of having three people who will outshine him at this particular genre, with the possible exception of Kris–and Kris has shown an intelligence in picking the right songs that may push him ahead of Gokey here. Anyway, some good song choices for Gokey would be the aforementioned “Open Arms” in a lower key, “Heaven” by Warrant, “Keep On Loving You” (picture the tears for his poor dead wife!), or “Sister Christian” if he has a sense of humor, which we all know he probably doesn’t.
I’m sure Journey is allowed and that we’ll hear something by them (originally said we’d OD on it, but that’s hard to do with only four contestants). Other ones the Idols are likely to pick are Queen, Heart (don’t see Allison doing anything else), and Bon Jovi.
Will they do two songs each?
So the odds of Gokey doing GNR’s “I Used to Love Her but…”
Ah, never mind.
So who is the best bet to vote for just to keep Gokey from winning?
I thought next week was “Rock and Roll”, and not “Rock”. My guess is that the playlist is going to be more along the lines of the Beach Boys/Chuck Berry/Jerry Lee Lewis/Elvis.
I hope not. I’d love to see some more modern or heavy rock on the show.
I don’t know about Journey. Randy Jackson has made it abundantly clear that no one touches Steve Perry. You know, because he used to play in Journey before he hung out with Jamie Foxx.
I just hope Danny doesn’t do “Jailhouse Rock.”
I think Allison should do a little Bonnie Raitt. Or maybe Bonnie Tyler’s “It’s a Heartache.” Or would that be too obvious?
Adam has the voice for ACDC or G/R. (Big Balls would be hilarious.)
I see Kris doing some Billy Joel
Danny might tackle Elton John
Heart would be my guess for Allison, perhaps Joan Jett. She has already sung something by Heart, hasn’t she?
Since this is all an excercise in who gets to lose to Adam in the finals, you should be trying your best to keep Danny from even making it that far. No chance in hell of that happening either, but you can give it a shot.
I don’t think it’s a given that it’ll be an Adam/Gokey final. In the past, a lot has depended on the last two week’s performances before the final. A breakout performance by any of them could put them in the finals.
I think there’s more support for Kris than you’d think. He’d never been in the bottom three before this week, and he apparently got more votes than Adam. Every time he’s even mentioned on the show the girls go bananas for him. I’m thinking he’s got the all-important tween vote like Archuleta had, plus he gets a lot of votes from the other age groups. He may be the most likeable of all the contestants, and he’s yet to turn in a bad performance. So he could be one of those sleeper contestants who winds up in the finals to everyone’s surprise.
I think Allison should tackle “Bobby McGee”.
Drain Bead - Excellent suggestions all around. Building off your suggestions, I’d like to see:
Adam : Led Zeppelin - Kashmir (Id love to see him belt out the first part of Immigrant Song, but the rest of the song isnt that interesting)
Kris : Foo Fighters - Everlong
Allison - Melissa Etheridge - Come to my Window
Danny - Hes so bland its hard to imagine what he’d do. So I suggest Metallica - to Live is to Die 
Are they going to do two songs or one?
I really want to see Adam do a Queen song.
How about some Springsteen as covered by others - “Fire” or “Because the Night”.
Or something by Rod Stewart.
I have a hard time believing they’d let them do anything heavier than Heart songs or Aerosmith ballads. Simon hates anything with power chords.
Strangely, I think the only one left who could do hard rock convincingly is Allison. She should stay away from the obvious Janis Joplin and Heart songs, though. AC/DC would be great for her.
Adam is great, but he’s never going to convince anyone he’s a hard rocker. Whatever he does is going to seem ironic and theatrical anyway, so I think his best bet is Queen. Freddie Mercury has already blazed a path for him.
Kris has a chance to do a real guitar rocker, but he’s not a screamer. If he can do it, I think maybe something along the lines of Pete Townshend’s accoustic arrangement of “Pinball Wizard” could work for him. If he tries to come off as too badass, though, I think he’ll just look silly.
Gokey should just fuck off, but he won’t.
ETA, I think David Bowie could work for Adam too. I bet he could prep the hell out of something ike “Space Oddity.”
I wonder if Kris has the guitar chops to play Pete Townshend? That’s rhythmically a tough song to master, and even tougher when you’re also trying to sing. If he did play that, I mean really PLAYED it, I think I would vote like a hundred times for him.
But The Who is too alternative for this lot. It’ll be all Heart, Bon Jovi, and Journey. I’d be shocked if Allison did anything but Heart. I don’t like them, myself, but it’s what the audience thinks rock is. I just hope she doesn’t do Barracuda. It’s an annoying song anyway, and now it’s got the Palin connection which makes it even less tolerable.
If Adam really wants to go balls out and win this mo-fo he should do Epic by Faith No More. Mike Patton is probably the best singer in hard rock. He’s not only got a lot of range, he can sound like six different people in one song.
A theatrical, over-the-top version of Space Oddity has already been done by an Idol franchise.
This would break the American Idol Pearl Jam cherry… I have been waiting for someone to break out some balls and sing a Vedder song but would prefer a rocking song instead of a milder offering…
Sundance Head did “Jeremy,” so that ship done sailed.