So this week’s theme is the Rat Pack. The question is — how tightly will American Idol adhere to the Rat Pack, or will it simply be songs of that era?
American Idol has decided that Jamie Foxx would be the best mentor for Rat Pack week. Huh? Oh, they give us a ‘package’ telling us just how much it makes sense. Whatever. I barely listened.
Kris Allen — The Way You Look Tonight
Jamie notes that Kris isn’t trying to sing The Throat Olympics. He also said if Kris loses, they could maybe do something together. Ok, Jamie, you’re kind of winning me over. Kris has a good voice for this genre, but he’s not really doing anything spectacular with it. He tries to break out by doing an up-tempo section. It’s fun, but he’s going to have a hard time overcoming his success with disco week. Yo, check it out baby, check it out. Who’s in it to win it? Randy thinks it’s Kris’ best performance to date. Mad, nice vocals. Kara said Kris has set the technical standard really high. Paula thinks Kris is a contemporary crooner. Simon’s not as enthusiastic, because it was a little bit wet. Kris is compared to taking a well trained spaniel for a walk. Nice, but nothing exciting.
Allison Iraheta — Someone To Watch Over Me
Little Allison turned 17 yesterday. Aw. Jamie gives her pretty good advice to think of her family, instead of faking up a boyfriend. Again, Allison does a pretty good job, but I’m not blown away. I would’ve liked to hear her get even more tender & less rocker. Randy thought it was dope. Kara jinxes Allison by saying she gave a gut-wrenching performance. Paula thought her performance was alluring and tender. Simon asks if Allison thinks she can win. She basically says yes, but Simon doesn’t think she’s got the confidence yet. Kara calls Simon crazy. Kara’s crazy.
Matt Giraud — My Funny Valentine
I don’t know if Matt checks Vote For the Worst, but I’m noticing his hat is covering his forehead mole. Jamie had no suggestions for Matt, but then called him back to give him advice on the key. For some reason, probably because there’s a full orchestra on stage, Matt’s not playing the piano. Instead he’s channeling his inner Bublé. Maybe it’s just us, but I think he tried to do too much with it. Randy agreed with us. Kara didn’t think he was emotionally connected to it, which you could tell was über frustrating for him. Insane Paula comes out & talks about how simple his performance was. Simon has also gone off the deep end by praising Matt up the wall. Sorry, Simon. This time I didn’t hear it.
Danny Gokey — Come Rain Or Come Shine
Danny flat-out admits that he’s not going to change the song up. Jamie gets up in Danny’s grill to get him to relax. It’s kind of funny. Danny has this weird way of saying ‘river.’ He pronounces it ‘reeever.’ It’s not a Milwaukee thing. It’s a Danny thing. And if I hear him do a ‘ye yeah, yeah’ one more time, I’m going to slap him. I can, too — I live down the street from his church. Kathy thinks he turned from sweet Danny to stalker Danny at the end. Randy was worried about the tempo, but thinks he could have an album of songs out like that and win. Um, no Randy, he can’t. Kara has been missing the Rat Pack swagger from Danny. She’s way excited about how he changed up the song. Kara, he changed a couple of phrases. You haven’t given that much love to contestants who have changed up the whole song. Paula thinks he sees the finish line. Simon thinks Danny had confidence & was outstanding.
Adam Lambert — Feeling Good
Jamie thinks Adam’s going to knock everyone’s head off. The lighting designers love him. He gets a special on the stairs & does this swagger down in his shiny white suit. This guy is a singing machine — he can control his voice like very few people can. Randy thought it was a little too drama-filled for him. Shut up, Randy. Kara calls him shocking, sleazy and way over the top in a good way. Paula calls him the Michael Phelps of American Idol. Simon calls Randy on complaining about Adam’s theatricality — like complaining about a cow mooing.
Wow, this episode is over & I didn’t even miss “Mack the Knife.” Maybe they’ll do it as a group number. A girl can dream.