Wednesday, May 13, 2009

episode 8-38 (May 13): Top 3 results

The Ford video, as usual, sounds lifeless. You'd think with three solid singers left on the show, they'd be wailing on a rocker, or singing three-part harmony on a smooth R&B jam. But no, they go with the happy-crappy quasi-reggae "Break My Stride", sung with maximum lightness, accompanied by comic-book imagery of the quality you'd find in the margins of an eleven-year-old's social studies notebook.

Alicia Keys, after an impassioned plea for donations to Keep a Child Alive, introduces a young Rwandan singer named Noah, who sings a jaunty quasi-African ditty called "I'm the World's Greatest". It wasn't the most musically deep song, but I suppose that that would've been beside the point.

Jordan Sparks introduces her new single "Battlefield", and she's really reaching unnecessarily into the depths of her range. This reminds me of when Avril Lavigne performed her then-recent single "Complicated" on Last Call with Carson Daly, and, without the intense compression like on the recording, the low notes of the intro ("whatcha waitin' for" etc.) were painful to listen to. Following Sparks' low notes was a mostly mediocre song with a relentless barage of the word "battlefield"... an intense but disappointing performance, considering how decisively she beat Blake in the season 6 final.

Katy Perry surprises me with her new single "Waking Up In Vegas". As my only previous listening experience with her was "I Kissed a Girl" and "Hot N Cold", as well as the disastrous performance at the Grammys. But her voice was actually quite strong for the genre. She was wasn't as one-note throaty as I recalled; there was a huskiness and an attitude and a variety of tone colors I wasn't expecting. And such a better overall performance; this time she looked like she actually wanted to be there.

Finally after 56 minutes, a reveal! And after 80 million votes were recorded... Kris?! Oh, for the love of God. What has he done to deserve any of this? Am I insane for not giving a crap about this guy? I've been watching this show religiously, and I don't even remember what he sounds like.

Immediately, Samantha says "Danny's going home, hon." And... yeah, of course he is. Adam is in to the final, and Danny is felled in his prime. Both of my two favorites, Allison and Danny, will not be in the final, which is personally embarrassing for me and generally embarrassing for the America whose idol might actually be Kris. This is going to be one sleepy decade if Kris wins. Damn you, you 80 teenage girls who vote a million times each!

No comments: