The Star, the teen, the wallflower and the Cringe-worthy earworm

So the folks at American Idol had one helluva week. Let me rephrase, they had a helluva show day. First their stage manager fell down a 20 foot staircase and THEN one of their decorative balls exploded. oh man that sounded bad...titters uncontrollably. As a result the kids didnt get to have their usual dress rehearsal and the stage looked a wreck for showtime. They not only had their own song to learn but instead of 2 solos, they had to work one of their songs as a duet as well. If that wasn't bad enough, they also had this to deal with. I have to laugh because I'd already picked out a video to link to for that earlier this morning and then found that one on that nefarious site. I suspect the ONLY reason he'll make it through this week is because of them.

This week had Slash as the kids' mentor. He was better than I suspected he'd be.

Adam (Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin): Ok. What can I say at this point? Nadda damn thing. He did his usual thang up there, enough to bring out the squealing-thong-throwing-at-the-tv-set fan-girly in me. So much so that my hubby threatened to toss me into an ice cold shower... Adam didn't do much with it, no reworking it, just a straight performance. It is precisely what he NEEDED to do though. He threw the gauntlet down and not many were able to come even close. Adam took the stage and owned it. Not as much as he usually does, but enough to get the job done. Well , we don't know what kind of condition the stage truly was in at that point so he may have backed off a bit just for safety's sake. He's the only one that Charted in green this week with a 1-2/ 1st listing. Adam got the lion's share of the states on the Maps this week coming in with a 23 rating (24 wins and only 1 loss).

Allison (Cry Baby by Janis Joplin): This artist was a perfect fit vocally for Allison. I'm not so certain on the song. Randy was right in that it needed a bit more than just the "cry baby" for the good part of the song. I disagree with Kara, I'm really glad that she did NOT pick Piece of My Heart because that one is so very over done. I still stand by my original thought that Me and Bobby Mcgee would have been an awesome choice as it shows a range in dynamics. It would have given some dimension to the performance. Her other choice had been Someone to Love by Jefferson Starship (which would have been an AWESOME pick for her, by the way). Simon thought it was by Queen, but that one's actually called Somebody to Love (and this song wouldn't have done her any favors because I don't think she has the upper range for it). The Chart has her listed as 2-4/dead last place and the Maps rate her a -3 (7 wins and 10 losses). It didnt help her any that they tossed her in front of the bus this week.

Danny and Kris (Renegade by Styx): Ok. You see this coming, considering my online nick, right? I absolutely HATED this duet (yeah, I thought it was really THAT bad). It started ok and in SOME parts the harmonies were ok, but this was a slaughtering of one of my favorites. They were pitchy and down right bloody AWFUL. Between the breathing where they shouldn't be (you simply do NOT break up a sentence with a gasp guys), the notes that should have been sustained that weren't and the fact Danny was screaming the last section of the song to the point you couldn't hear the harmonies if you tried (dude...it's a duet...that means BOTH NEED TO BE HEARD!). Thank goodness they didnt attempt my absolute fav. I would have had to change my nick for sure. Ugh! and Simon said DANNY was the better of the two???!!!??? Oh Fk NO! The look on Kris' face pretty much summed up how he felt about it. He stood about as far away from Danny as he could and when Danny reached behind him to be all buddy buddy with him, Kris patted him maybe once and stepped away from him and closer to Ryan. I think he pretty much knew that Danny screwed him over and forgot to use the KY ,never mind the warming kind... ANY version would have been great right about then!

Kris (Come Together by The Beatles): This was an adequate performance but on a night that you really needed to stand out, he failed. This definitely wasnt a good night for him. He didnt really stand out, he didn't look the part, he was shoved in the middle of the line-up AND he was stuck with the primadonna for the duet. Top things all off the judges tossed him infront of the bus right behind Allison. Kris said his other choice had been Revolution, but he really wasn't feeling it. I'm wondering which version he was listening to. Personally, I think he should have pulled out the laid back version from the white album, that woulda been absolutely HAWT and right in his wheelhouse. The Chart has him listed 2-4/3rd place and the Maps have him rated as -11 (4 wins and 15 losses). It's an extremely good bet that he's gone this week. A real shame because he really deserves to be there one more week.

Danny (Dream On by Aerosmith): Oh hell to the fk NO! There is NO ONE on this show that should even contemplate attempting ANYTHING by Steven Tyler with the exception of Adam. Let's just say the ONLY good thing about this performance was the fact we got to see what a blathering idiot Kara is. She makes Paula look like a friggin Einstein this year. I really do think the only reason why Paula is even lucid this year is because Kara has been using up her stash. If you're going to critique a contestant, please know your music. Crazy and Crying were NOT early Aerosmith, you damned idiot. They weren't released until the early 90's ('94 and '93 respectively)...I remember seeing their videos when they were "Brand Spankin New" on VH1. You don't get any earlier in Aerosmith than with Dream On. Ugh. And do I ~really~ need to remind anyone of that last note? I didn't think so, that's why I used a different one in that last link. The Chart has him listed as 1-4/2nd place (WTF???) and the Maps have him with a zero rating (11 wins and 11 losses). If he manages to squeak through, you can thank VFTW for doing their jobs and the judges for attempting to throw some SUTA when they knew they really shouldn't.

Allison and Adam (Slow Ride by Foghat): THAT.WAS. HAWT! "That was the BOMB" doesn't even BEGIN to cut it. Danny and Kris' duet was friggin amaturish in comparison. I really hope Simon's right and this duet squeaked Allison into the Top 3.

Ok, so who is in the B-2?

Based upon performance?

It should be:

Kris (less than memorable)

Danny (dryheaves-worthy performance!!!)

However, I deeply suspect that Allison will take Danny's place at the bottom. Why? Because she and Kris were tossed under the bus and the judges attempted to put a good spin on Danny's performance even though the faintest of praise was completely undeserved.

Again, Im going to do my pinkslip pick upon the info on the Maps. Yeah the Chart's really close, but I suspect just enough was done to save one, too much done to save another and as a result Kris will end up going home.