Adam Lambert - If I Can't Have You.

Disclaimer: I am perfectly aware that no one cares about Idol other than me. Shut up. Don't deprive me of my only source of enjoyment right now. I actually like watching and talking about it, thank you very much. Because this is what my life amounts to right now other than A2. So, shut up and let me be wordy and lifeless. Not that me talking about Idol would affect your life in any way.

Idol Top 7 (Redux) [April 22, 2009]

Last week, history was made when Matt was saved from elimination despite Simon saying that “you’re not going to win the competition”. So, Matt survives another week and this week, the Top 7 tackle “Songs From The Disco", which is in my opinion, an extremely difficult thing to pull off. What's more, 2 eliminations = DANGEROUS FOR EVERYONE EXCEPT ADAM.

"Tyra loves me 'coz I'm fierce." (ily2)

This. Is. American Idol "The Adam Lambert Show". -cue music-

As all Idol watchers know, the show has been running on overtime for the last couple of weeks. 2 weeks ago, fans threw a hissy fit at their TiVo’s during “Songs From The Year I Was Born” when Adam’s chilling, Simon-Standing-Ovation-Inducing performance of “Mad World” got cut off before it even began, which resulted in an uproar and massive Googling of said performance. Then last week, the producers decided to try out “tag-team judging” which was a stupid idea from the get-go since the only person everyone listens to is Simon. This week, producers learned their lesson and completely cut the pre-performance clips out (which I personally love) of the show which allowed the show to run within the allotted time frame of one hour. I am very bitter about this because they are depriving me of Adam and his pocket-sized-roommate, Kris goodness.

Lil opened up the show with Chaka Khan’s “I’m Every Woman”. Although it was better than last week (reminder of one-note verse), it lacked spark and was so copycat-ish. I commend her on her effort to work up the crowd, but it seemed somewhat like a performance you’d see on a cruise ship. That, and the music drowned out her voice really badly (Paula said Lil’s voice had gone out the day before). She really has no idea as to what she's doing, like Kara said, she's been "every woman but herself". But meh! I never liked her to begin with so all this does is give me more reason to dislike her, because I don't think she's as good as what the judges and even she thinks.

I felt sorry for her during the critique though. The judges have been rather hard on her lately, so I can’t blame her for feeling confused. Heck, she doesn’t even have a clue about what the judges want from her. BUT, I felt sorry for her. Not feel. The pity just vanished into thin air when she opened her mouth and talked back, again. Like, shut up. Seriously. I'm not even going to bother with her studio recording.

Hay bb number two (corresponds with his performance slot (: ). Kris performed next and to be honest, I thought he was going to have a lot of trouble this week finding a song, to which he admitted. But, genius-wonky-smile turned a classic disco track (Donna Summer’s “She Works Hard For The Money”) into this jazzy, pop-acoustic track and brought out his acoustic guitar again.

Kris made a very clever move, switching the song up like that, adding the bongos in was also a very nice touch. Kris hasn’t been getting much credit from the judges, but this time around, all agreed that he was brilliant. I agree with Kara about it sounding like something that would be on Kris’ record in the future. It was smooth, distinctive and more importantly, one of the most original performances of the night. Also, Kris gets brownie points for singing about female empowerment (is a closet feminist).

While his live performance was completely acoustic, the studio version's got a similar, yet different kind of groove going on. It's still along the lines of what he did live, but with a more rock feel. I think that they should have kept it acoustic. It was so much more special. They totally did to Kris what they did to Adam with ToMT. Not funky.

On the bright side, Kris is definitely improving week after week and I think he might be Adam's biggest contender in the competition as I've said before. Ooh, Kris has got his A-Game on. I'm squealing just thinking about an Adam+Kris finale. This is going to be, wait for it... Legendary (yay Barney!) !

Btw, Wonky-smile's smile was particularly wonky this week. :D Love.

Danny "Put The Go In" Gokey did Earth, Wind and Fire's "September".

It wasn't a very powerful performance, in my opinion. He scared me when he screamed out his first note once the song began.

Again, Danny's over-hyped. I will not deny the fact that he has a really nice earthiness to his tone and he can definitely sing, but he sounded like a wedding singer this week. He's good, but he's not good enough. It wasn't amazing, yet it didn't fail in ways that would land him in the Bottom 3.

Overall, it was a very neutral performance. It lacked the originality that we're supposed to be seeing this far into the competition but, the judges over-praised him AGAIN (shut up Paula. Kradam final. They don't even have a name for Danny/Adam. Which shows how much Kradam wins.) like they ALWAYS do. They have issues. Srsly.

Although, I am rather amused by his dancing. Watching Danny dancing is absolutely L0ltastic. I did enjoy his energy and his dance moves have improved considerably, thank God (is reminded of horrible incident when he did hand-rolly-thing with backup singers -shudders-). But what is up with the scruff? Ew. No. Fail. Bring clean-cut Gokey back.

STUDIO VERSION ALSO MAKES ME LOL when he starts off with the intro: "C'MON PUT YOUR HANDS TOGETHA". GOKEY BRINGS THE LULZ WITH MORE TALKING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SONG. Totally better than watching him live.

Allison brought the glitter for Adam! :D Maybe Adam was like, "Okay. This week, I'm going to be sleek and classy. YOU have to bring the glitter for me. :D" My imagination just loves running wild and free. I loved her heels, by the way, but that's not the point.

Another Donna Summer song "Hot Stuff", but get this. Allison minor keyed it and turned it into a rock track. I mean, who on earth minor-keys "Hot Stuff"? NO ONE. I disagree with the judges about the arrangement, I LOVED it. SRSLY. WHO MINOR-KEYS "HOT STUFF"?

She started off sitting down on the stairs and her first few notes sounded a little rough, but as the song progressed, her vocals really shone through and the last note, was just fan-freaking-tastic. She brings the fiyah that makes you wanna throw yo hands in the ayer. KRADALISON FOR FINAL 3.

The studio recording wins. Like really, it kicks ass. SAVE THE ROCKER.

Hay again bb. This was by far, the most emotional performance I have ever seen out of Adam. I completely agree with Paula's comments (she's being surprisingly coherent and relevant this season) on how he ripped his heart out and left it on stage. I didn't get the chills I had with "Mad World" or the tenderness of "Tracks Of My Tears", but his version of "If I Can't Have You" was so original, so maddeningly touching that I was on the verge of tears. Honestly.

Simon tried to be cheeky saying, "I would've bet $10,000 that you were going to do a Donna Summer song" and also said that he's never heard the song arranged that way before, that it was original and that Adam's performance/song choice was completely unpredictable.

I actually really like the original take of the song, but to hear the way Adam sang it, it struck a chord in me that I can't even describe. It was relevant and it was personal. It's something that every person, one way or another, will experience and Adam drew out those emotions so well and I believed that he poured his whole being, heart and soul into the song.

Again, his pitch was perfect. Just like it is every single week. He used his lower register a bit more this week, but I would still love to see him do something more with it, because while his falsetto exhibits an extraordinary amount of control, there is no doubt that his lower register is just as amazing (see "Quiet Desperation"). Also, I loved how he gave credit to Michael Orland for the arrangement. Classy, Adam, very classy.

As for the studio version of the track, I'm completely and utterly hooked like I usually am, but that's another story for another day. I love that they didn't pull a ToMT and made Adam do the original take of the song. Now, if that were to happen, I would've torn them apart. With my words. Okay, that sounded more menacing in my head than it does out loud. The heavy guitar riffs right at the beginning of the song startled me a little bit but it somehow manages to seamlessly flow into slower territory.

Live version still wins though. I can appreciate his voice more there.

On to superficial comments now. Excuse me while I freak out.
Dear Adam, that suit is the death of a million fan girls all over the world. And that hair. Let me go find my white dress and we can get married with you in that suit and that hair and we'll live happily ever after, bb.

CALL ME. I AM SINGLE.

Matt G. brought the JT with the Bee Gee's "Stayin' Alive". I knew someone was going to do the Bee Gee's! It's unavoidable! Disco night, hello? How can anyone NOT do the Bee Gee's for disco night when they are the very embodiment of disco?! That's right. No one. Not even Justin Timberfake. Oops. I mean, Matt Giraud. I take back every insult I ever threw at Matt.

This was better than last week's performance. His vocals were really good and he didn't botch his falsettos like he did last week. It was a decent performance. Nothing that will guarantee him a place in the finals or even the Top 4, but it was good enough to keep him for another week. I thought it was a little tacky though. What with the arrangement being kinda similar to the original that it was on the verge of karaoke kingdom.

I take it all back. After looking back at the performance again and actually listening instead of just hearing, he did change the arrangement, throwing a hip-hop beat in and confirmed it during the results show. MATT GIRAUD, THANK MICHAEL SLEZAK FOR MAKING ME AN OFFICIAL FANGIRL. ALBUM SOON PLZ.

Man can move though. Better than Gokey -shudders-.

The studio recording made me l0l. It starts off with this funny little falsetto, "Ah~". LOLTASTIC MATT G. This is so much better recorded. Much more funkier. I can't help but sing along! "Ah, ah, ah, ah. Stayin' alive. Stayin' alive. Ah, ah, ah, ah. STAYIN' ALIVEEEE." Ahem.

Oh, Anoop. What, in all that is holy, is that growing on your face? Does Disco Week automatically mean "Let's-Grow-Some-Scruff-&-Act-Like-The-Rockstars-We-Are Week"? NO. It does not work. Nasty, nasty. Am so tempted to rip that thing off (that includes you, Gokey. Why are there so many Gokey references today? Stop it!).

Sang "Dim All The Lights". Damn straight, I wanted to dim all the lights, what with that growth on your face. The performance was bad. Worse than last week. I thought it was boring and messy. I really, really love his voice and all, but this is by far, his worst performance ever.

Vocals were good for most part of the song, but he chickened out on the last note. I think he wanted to kill it with a high note, but probably backed-out realizing that he couldn't hit it. It's really disappointing to see that despite the fact that he's a strong vocalist, he's inconsistent. I haven't seen him pull off a fast, uptempo song since "My Prerogative" and for an artiste to not be able to pull of an uptempo song, is extremely dangerous.

The studio version of it sounds so much better though. I think shortening the song was a disadvantage. I actually prefer this one over his live performance.

Overall: I expected Disco Week to be yet another failed night of cheap, tacky karaoke and synchronized dance moves. On the contrary. It was actually pretty bearable! DISCO WEEK = WIN. Well, mostly the studio tracks win. I like the studio tracks this week! SRLSY. IT BRINGS THE LULZ.

The Good: Kris with his pop-ified version of "She Works Hard For The Money", Adam's emotional take on "If I Can't Have You" and Allison's rocked-out remake of "Hot Stuff".

The Blah: Danny. He's not going to the finals if he continues delivering average performances; Matt. The save wasn't put completely to waste, but he is also in danger of being cut next week if he doesn't do something special.

The Bad and Not So Good: Lil(Bad) and Anoop(Not So Good). It's been a long time coming, what with Lil consistently delivering lousy performances since the Top 13 and Anoop's been in the Bottom 3 for the past couple of weeks, despite several good performances, so what does that say? (coughracistscoughIjokeIjoke.)

Actual Results: Adam, Kris, Danny and Matt(?!) are safe.
Allison(?!?!?!?!?!?! LIKE WHUT? SAVE THE ROCKER.), Anoop and Lil in the Bottom 3.

Anoop and Lil are eliminated with Lil being cut right at the beginning of the show. Ouch. That must have been painful and unpleasant, even as much as I don't like her. I actually felt a pang when Anoop was eliminated. I've actually liked the guy since he turned up at the auditions in that plaid shirt and khaki shorts. So seeing him go after so long is somewhat sad for me.

On to the group performance.

Choreography by Paula Abdul? Check.
Was it good? Check.
Clip of Adam Lambert doing sit-ups and Kris doing push ups while they were warming up? Check. LOVE.
Clip of Top 7 rehearsing for dance with silly moments from Matt Giraud (guy uses his own song as ringtone lol)? Check.
Cheese factor on high as they got their groove on? Check.
The Jackson 5's "Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)"? Check.
Lip syncing and very well synchronized dancing from Top 7, some of whom are unfamiliar with the concept (Note: Kris' chicken dance and Anoop's Thriller dance)? Check.
Adam hip thrusting? CHECK CHECK CHECK.
Conclusion: FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC. I LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT. Tacky, yes. But it was so gosh darn fantastic. DISCO WEEK IS A WIN.

Next week's theme: Rat Pack Standards! Jazz week! Top 5 week also means, 2 songs from each contestant! Which means, DOUBLE THE KRADAM LOVE. Jazz hands!