Idol Chatter & Voice Views

So, I rushed right home tonight and started listening to the Bee Gees to remind myself what disco music is supposed to sound like.

Just joking. Actually, I own a Donna Summer record — yeah, one of those black things with grooves. It’s stored somewhere in the basement. Can’t recall the name of the album. But it’s got that “beep, beep, toot, toot” song on it.

Anyway, this Idol episode has the potential to produce an earache.

Hey, don’t blame the contestants. Given the choice of a theme week, I don’t they’d chose a genre whose heyday came before they were born. Remember how thrilled they were back on download week, because it offered a chance to perform more current music.

No such luck tonight. We get to hear Danny Gokey, Anoop Desai, Allison Iraheta, et al perform tunes from the 1970s.

And the Idol folks aren’t wasting time.

Lil Rounds is already performing “I’m Every Woman.” Tell you what, the Idol stylists have Lil, the mom of three, looking like a star. She’s going to have to sound like one though to hang around another week in this competition. Making her perform first … well, I’d say they’re handing her a disadvantage right off the bat. And she’s already getting lukewarm reviews. Say goodbye to Lil. Grade: C

Hey, folks, check it out. Idol is back to allowing all the judges to review each contestant. Not a word about the switch back, you’ll notice. Perhaps that’s because last week’s judging process was so blatantly unfair.

But I bet Lil Rounds is wishing she didn’t have to hear from Simon Cowell right about now. He pretty much predicted her Idol demise. I see no way Lil survives for another week, and that was before Simon’s comments.

Kris Allen up next, singing “She Works Hard for the Money.” Hey, that’s on my Donna Summer album! Except Donna didn’t play an acoustic guitar while singing it. And her rendition didn’t sound anything like this. Here’s a hunch: Kris is going to get high marks for originality. The end result: Not brilliant. But, hey, given Kris’ strengths as a performer and the theme week he was handed, it turned out quite well. Grade: B.

Hey, and regardless of what Simon says, Paula made a quip that made sense. Grade for Paula: B+

Danny Gokey will be singing “September,” an Earth, Wind & Fire tune. I started off thinking, OK, Danny’s going to pull off this disco thing fairly well. Well, not really. He oversang that very badly. Honestly, I think that was Danny’s worst performance so far this season. Here goes Kara again. She hopes we remember that? Are you kidding? Now it’s Paula turn. Danny has a sexy voice, she says. And FINALLY Simon injects a bit of common sense into the discussion. That, folks, was by no means special. Grade: C

Allison Iraheta up next. She’s doing a rocked out version of Donna Summer’s “Hot Stuff.” And Allison is hot. This, Kara, this, Paula, is a special performance. Honest, I was so worried about Allison tonight doing disco. She just bent the theme week, much the way Kris did. The difference, she turned in a performance I’d be willing to hear over and over. Given the theme, given the performance, that might have been Allison’s best yet. Fantastic. So, Paula, does she not belong in the finals? Simon just called it brilliant. Grade: A

So, this week, we’re back to classy, sensitive Adam Lambert singing “If I Can’t Have You.” OK, I’m going to be a little disappointed, because I was ready to watch Adam go wild on disco night, and he’s decided to go in the opposite direction. But the vocals … well, when Adam’s singing, there’s no doubt you’re listening to the best vocalist in this competition. Grade: B+

That leaves Matt Giraud and Anoop Desai to perform last tonight. That’s fitting. They figure to be the ones vying to stay alive since two contestants go home Wednesday.

And, guess what? Matt’s singing “Staying Alive.” And he’s doing very well. Better than I expected. He’s even right on the mark with the high notes tonight, which is a switch for Matt. To this point, he’s insisted on singing songs with high notes he hasn’t been able to hit. I think that was Matt’s best performance yet. Very good job. Grade: A-

Anoop Desai closes out the night with what’s sounding like a very off-key vocal. He’s singing “Dim All the Lights.” Another Donna Summer song. I almost didn’t recognize this one, and that’s not because it was good. This, folks, is the worst performance of the night. Oh, well, say so long to Anoop. Like Lil, I suspect this will be his final performance. OK, I have no idea what the judges are talking about. It just didn’t work for me. And, again, Simon is the only judge who appeared to be listening. Grade: C-