Originally Posted By Inspector 57 I thought that Adam and Allison blew Kris and Danny out of the water tonight. And I totally suspected the show was carefully programmed to induce that reaction. Never mind that Adam and Allison clearly WERE the best two individual performers of the four remaining contestants tonight. But... How did the producers decide the performers' order? How'd they decide which two would be paired with each other? The pairings and sequencing made the episode end up seeming like "The Adam and Allison Show" with Kris and Danny added as guest filler in the middle. Come to think of it, how/why/when did the producers decide upon "rock" as this week's theme? It was a genre about which the judges almost universally said to Adam and Allison, "This is your forte, and you RAN with it!" and said to Danny and Kris, "Well, this genre just isn't your strong suit, is it?" A little engineering on the part of the show's owners, perhaps?
Originally Posted By disneylandfan8 Hmmm, they've done other genres, it was bound to be rock's turn eventually. Wonder what Kris' and Danny's best genre is? Thoughts? But I, too, have wondered about the order. It seems the best is always saved for last. Did Ryan say, by any chance, what next week's genre is?
Originally Posted By DAR All right here's my thoughts. I'm going to cover the duets first. I thought neither were that great. I'm mean come on Styx??? Okay I do have an affinity for Lady but really???? And Adam and Allison picked the wrong "Ride" song. Instead of Slow Ride they should have done Free Ride. That would be more conducive(sp) to a duet. On to the individual performances. Adam-Whole Lotta Love: Yes he was good, this is in his wheelhouse. But it was safe and predictable. This was the same song we've been hearing on the radio for the last 40 plus years. I heard no originality in this performance. In baseball terms it was a single up the middle not a home run. Allison-Cry Baby: Look it's tough to Janis Joplin. But she held her own and I thought did a good job with it. I think she's pretty safe tonight. Kris-Come Together: It's always hard to do the Beatles justice. And Kris proved it tonight, not bad by any means but probably the nail in his coffin. Danny-Dream On: Full disclosure. I know Danny's mother in law, she works at the same company I do. So naturally because he's a Brew Town boy I've been pulling for him all year. And I'm not blind or deaf I thought his Get Ready was a little off. That being said I can't believe how wrong the judges were tonight. He sang the song how it's supposed to be sung. And I'm sorry if Adam can scream like a banshee everyweek than Danny gets one scream too. A little note to the Cousin Oliver of American Idol: Hi Kara, Dream On IS early Aerosmith, in fact it doesn't get much earlier than being THEIR FIRST HIT SINGLE. If your in the music business that seems like something you would know. Earlier I mentioned I thought it was very cynical on the judges part to prop up a contestant. That contestant was Adam. There's no doubt he can sing and deserves to be in the top two with Danny. But what happened Adam made the final two last week and gasp no Adam means ratings aren't as high. So what happens he opens and closes the show. Gets praised to no end when he was nothing more than good.
Originally Posted By Inspector 57 <<Wonder what Kris' and Danny's best genre is? Thoughts?>> Soft rock. Ballads. Sweet stuff that builds to a crescendo.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss <<Yes he was good, this is in his wheelhouse. But it was safe and predictable. This was the same song we've been hearing on the radio for the last 40 plus years. I heard no originality in this performance.>> I can't believe Simon called Allison's cover copycat, but Adam's not.
Originally Posted By Inspector 57 Okay, Simon -- OOPS, I mean DAR -- I'ma disagree with you somewhat. <<I'm going to cover the duets first. I thought neither were that great.>> Amen, brother! Individually, Danny and Kris WERE "pitchy" -- as the judges noted -- on the Styx duet thing. Together, they sounded much better. I guess that song was the best vehicle they could come up with to meet each other in the middle. And "Slow Ride"?!? C'mon! That FogHat chestnut TOTALLY relies upon a guitar riff for its popularity. It is NOT a "vocal" song. Adam and Allison were competent vocally, and each had good stage presence, but this was NOT a song to showcase singing ability. <<Adam-Whole Lotta Love: Yes he was good, this is in his wheelhouse. But it was safe and predictable. This was the same song we've been hearing on the radio for the last 40 plus years. I heard no originality in this performance. In baseball terms it was a single up the middle not a home run.>> You were clearly on your cell phone, distracted by a booty call, while Adam sang. Good for you! Adam took on a classic, gave it his own twist, and yet preserved the song's growly wonder. A total home run. <<Allison-Cry Baby: Look it's tough to do Janis Joplin. But she held her own and I thought did a good job with it.>> And how! I agreed with the judges that her only fault was being too "sound-alike." Whatever. It was amazing. <<Kris-Come Together: It's always hard to do the Beatles justice. And Kris proved it tonight, not bad by any means but probably the nail in his coffin.>> I liked his take on this, and his performance. I didn't think he deserved the drubbing he got from Simon. <<Danny-Dream On>> I agree with the judges. It was not that compelling. But he gets major props for choosing this song, challenging himself, and doing it adequately. If I were in a bar that had a band and I heard Kris or Danny do their songs on stage, I'd think, "They're fine." If I were in that bar and I heard Adam or Allison's performances I'd think, "What the hell are they doing HERE?!"
Originally Posted By disneylandfan8 >>If I were in a bar that had a band and I heard Kris or Danny do their songs on stage, I'd think, "They're fine." If I were in that bar and I heard Adam or Allison's performances I'd think, "What the hell are they doing HERE?!"<< I agree!
Originally Posted By DlandJB How did the producers decide the performers' order?>> I was wondering about that too. Adam and Allison had rest time between their solos and duet. Danny and Kris did them back to back. It was definitely Adam's night, but there was nothing new about his performance of that song - it was fun to hear him nail it. I love Allison, but thought she should have stayed away from Janice Joplin. Still, she is the only one who can tell Simon to take a hike and still look happy doing it. Kris - I think he's done/ I liked Danny in the duet, but thought he chose the wrong song for his solo. He's never been in the bottom two yet, so I imagine he is a little nervous. It does feel like this year the contestants are all much closer to eachother than in the past. There is nothing that feels forced about their interactions. How weird it must be for Allison to be the only girl contestant left!
Originally Posted By Dabob2 Adam: Whole Lotta Love. I'm kinda in between DAR and I-57's reaction. It was a pretty faithful, down-the-middle rendition (more so than I'd have expected), but he didn't JUST ape Plant; he did mix it up a bit and put his stamp on it in spots. He probably could have done that more so and made it even better. It's interesting: Slash told him to tone down the high stuff (i.e. the vocal gymnastics), and he did. But this is a song that can SUPPORT that pure vocal gymnastics-type stuff - the kind of song that can actually be made better and more exciting by using it. There have been a couple of weeks when Adam put some of that stuff in on songs where it didn't quite fit, and/or overused it. Now he does a song where he can showcase those "pure" vocal pyrotechnics, AND HAVE IT FIT, and he tones it down. Oh well. He still sounded great. My main criticism, actually, is that he sneered too much. Allison: Cry Baby. Yes, she aped Janis too closely. Not just in the phrasing and all that, but the repeated use of "honey" (Janis's go-to improv word) in just the places Janis used it; if you do that, it's not improv any more! But damn if she didn't rock that stage and own it. Kris and Danny: Renegade. My first reaction was the same as DAR's. Styx? Really? And they sounded great together, actually, but separately it was dicey indeed. Kris: Come Together. This song has a very limited range, and though Kris tried to "stretch" the range, it really didn't work. The song doesn't really fit Kris's persona either. If you're going to do Beatles, "Don't Let Me Down," would have been a rangier, and certainly more emotionally-connectible song that would have been a much better choice for him (and an even better choice for Danny, had anyone thought of it). Danny: Dream On. Yes, he's allowed a scream. But it has to be on-key and WORK, which his final section did not. He did just fine nearly all the way through (quite good, actually), but I kept wondering "is he going to do the really high part at the end? And can he pull it off?" The answers were, of course, yes... and no. But I give him props for even trying, and it was really good up till then. Adam and Allison: Slow Ride. I-57 is right - this is not really a vocal-showcasing song. They could have chosen a ton of better songs. Still, they sounded good together and had genuine chemistry on stage - if not sexual chemistry, then definitely "I like this person and enjoy singing together" chemistry, which is infectious. Kris, by all rights, should go home tonight, but he has shown great fan strength so far - never in the bottom 3. No way it's Adam or Danny, so it COULD be Allison. I hope it's not, but all four of these people have careers in front of them, so it may not even matter.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss <<Kris, by all rights, should go home tonight, but he has shown great fan strength so far - never in the bottom 3.>> Kris has been in the bottom three. Danny is the only one of the four who has not.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 Oh really? I read on some site that he never had been. But that's what you get for reading the interwebs.
Originally Posted By DAR <<Adam and Allison: Slow Ride. I-57 is right - this is not really a vocal-showcasing song. >> I said it earlier, Free Ride would have been a better choice.
Originally Posted By Rsey103 Maybe it's because I recently saw The Soloist, but Danny Gokey looked a lot like Robert Downey Jr. to me last night....
Originally Posted By Dabob2 <Oops, I double-checked... neither has been in the bottom three.> Oh well - that's what one gets for reading the interwebs! I'll never believe a thing that trekkeruss says again!! <I said it earlier, Free Ride would have been a better choice.> There were a lot of better choices. Trying to think of a worse one, I flashed upon an image of Adam and Allison singing "I Got You Babe." And I couldn't stop cracking up for a few minutes.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip Danny: The last scream that damaging was done by Howard Dean. He's out of there. The only contestants with a real chance at a long term career are Adam and Allison.
Originally Posted By Labuda I'm with you, Trippy. I think both Adam and Allison have long-term mainstream careers ahead of them, whereas I look at Danny and Kris as niche singers. That said, ALL HAIL ADAM! He should win! BUT, today will be differenet than previous Wednesdays because when I get home from work tonight, I'm going to be DLing not only Adam's recording, but also Alison's, and Kris' studio recordings. Oh, and having worked a GnR tour, it was super cool to see Slash mentoring them! Ah, and I'm pretty sure that one of the other guys in the band at the mentoring session is a former GnR dude, but I can't for the LIFE of me remember his name. Man I did too much green back then.
Originally Posted By Lisann22 I honestly thought the show show and their performances were ho-hum. I didn't really feel rocked. Oh well.
