Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Week four. We’re down to nine potential Idols.

Or, from my viewpoint, one guy named Adam Lambert who is running away with the competition, and eight other contestants who had better catch up fast.

It’s download night on Idol, which I guess means the contestants had a wide range of music to choose from, as long as it has been downloaded a bunch.

As usual, I’ll provide song-by-song grades throughout tonight’s 1-hour and 25-minute show. Feel free to chime in if you disagree; I’ll post your comments as soon as possible.

Got that right. Ryan just said the contestants can pick any song they want as long as it’s popular as a digital download.

Hey, check out Allison’s hair. And it looks like it will be back to rocker Adam this week.

Anoop Desai is up first, singing a song by Usher. Better bring it, Anoop. The number one spot is a hazardous one, as Matt found out last week. Big note at the end, but I’m not sure I liked that song on Anoop. He seems to think he’s a “My Perogative” type of singer, and I’m not sure he can pull that off. Simon just proclaimed it a mess. Bad, bad news for Anoop, coupled with going first in the competition. Grade: C-

Next, Megan Joy is going to sing a Bob Marley tune. Well, it looks like she’s ditched the tropical look from last week and traded it in for a bunch of … beads? She’s singing “Turn Your Lights Down Low.” Megan says she’s finally doing a song she loves. No doubt, Megan has a distinctive sound to her voice. Guess I just don’t appreciate it. That was … yuk. Boring, and that might be the nicest thing I could say about it. Grade: D

Up after the break, Danny and Allison. Here’s betting they turn this train wreck around.

Danny Gokey goes first. He’ll be singing “What Hurts the Most” by Rascal Flatts. OK, you can tell already, this is going to be miles better than anything we’ve heard to this point. Wow, Danny goes country and turns in his best performance of the season by a country mile. Very, very nice. Grade: B+

Allison Iraheta is busting out the guitar and will be singing No Doubt’s “Don’t Speak.” Should be interesting. Would someone please tell this girl she’s only 16. That she should be intimidated about performing in front of millions of people. That wasn’t a fantastic performance, but this young woman is one of the most consistent performers in the competition. OK, everyone wants to harp on what she’s wearing. Bottom line, she did well enough to hang around another week. Grade: B-

Scott MacIntyre plans to stay behind the piano; he’ll be singing “Just the Way You Are” by Billy Joel. No surprise with the song choice. During his Idol interview, Scott makes it clear he’s a huge Billy Joel fan. Now, you want to talk about outfits … not sure I buy Scott in a leather jacket anymore than I bought Anoop singing Usher. As for singing, that was probably Scott’s best performance. That said, I’m not loving his vocals. Hey, but the look and the performance got good reviews from the judges. Grade: C

Matt Giraud says he picked a song the judges liked last week; this week he’s singing a song he likes, “You Found Me.” He’s abandoned the stage and decided to sing surrounded by the audience. No doubt, he found a song he believes in. Unfortunately, his vocals do about as much for me as Megan’s. Which is to say, not much. And the judges weren’t into it. Grade: C-

Lil Rounds comes next and said she thought long and hard about her song choice this week. She chose “I Surrender.” She sounded too sharp early in the song … but, wow, there’s that big voice that’s been missing in recent weeks. This will go down as Lil’s best performance yet. Gokey great, not quite. But better than most tonight. Grade: B

That leaves just Adam Lambert the Kris Allen to perform. Adam’s next, which means Kris gets the well-deserved honor of closing the show since he’s been one of the season’s most consistent performers.

After last week’s low-key performance, Adam is going in the opposite direction this week, singing “Play That Funky Music.” Adam just makes me smile. I mean, good golly. The guy is blazing compared to the rest of the competition. That might have been his best yet. Great variation on a classic song. Hey, and I like the fact that he’s sharing the credit with the band. Grade: A

Final song of the night comes courtesy of Kris Allen, who’s going to sing “Ain’t No Sunshine.” This time, it will be piano-playing Kris, and he’s on the verge of proving to be a very worthy show closer. Hey, folks, pay attention. This guy is getting better and better. That was his strongest performance of the season, and the second-strongest performance of the night. Very good. Grade: A-