Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Idol Recap: They Work Hard For No Money

This week the songbooks of Donna Summers and the brothers Gibb were opened, and it was good. Except when it wasn't. (Oh, Lil. How could you spit on the grave of Chaka Khan's career?) It's Disco Week on Idol, and no one wore bedazzled polyester jumpsuits. But they did sing. Here's your recap...

As you may have guessed from the intro, I'm kinda in hate with Lil this week. She sang "I'm Every Woman" which has been done a couple times on Idol, most memorably by my girl Mandisa. And bombed so badly, it was the worst she's sounded all season. It was a diva song, but she sounded off key and shouty, half the song was just awful sounding runs and she was completely unhinged. In a perfect world, she would go home tonight.

Thankfully Kris righted the love train with an Latin-flavored acoustic take on the Donna Summer hit "She Works Hard For The Money." I give him huge points for originality, but I knew he would have to do a new version of whatever song he got. I would have maybe amped up the Latin percussion or dropped it all together, but it was hot. He really made it fit with his vibe and voice.

I hate Danny. That is all. OK, no that's not all. I mean, I hate him and don't even know why, that's true. He's shouty, loud and obnoxious. And he didn't do a damn thing new or interesting with "September" which the judges would complain about others later on. But Danny gets praise for his vocals and only mild critique for the boringness. Fellate him a little more, Randy. I can't tell whose head is further up his hot Gokey ass, Danny's or the panel. Ugh, hate leads to the dark side and wrinkles, I just need to ignore him.

OMG! Allison just keeps getting better. She sounded like Christina Aguilera's rock sister, just belting out a slowed down version of "Hot Stuff" in some really fly pumps. I loved the arrangement, it added to the roar Allison brings whenever she attacks the stage. But should a sixteen year old really be singing "Hot Stuff"? If Miley can do it...

I expected a wild performance from Adam. We all do. But I didn't expect to go wild over his slowed down version of Yvonne Elliman's "If I Can't Have You" - showing he can go beyond theatrics and really show an emotional connection under his wailing vocals. And he was really pitch perfect, which is really hard to do when you convey that level of emotion live. Of course, I'd rather he'd done Yvonne's Broadway classic "I Don't Know How To Love Him" but I don't expect to hear that on the Idol stage...

Matt wants to be "Stayin' Alive" this week. With a double elimination, that might hard to do. He brings the Timberlake, but is that enough? It was solid, even sexy but with Adam, Allison and Kris really stunning us tonight I don't know if that's enough. I enjoyed it, especially the interaction with the background singers.

Rounding out the show, for God only knows what reason, is Anoop. He sang "Dim All The Lights" well, but it was so slow and boring. I hated it, mostly because I couldn't get into it. I didn't know the song and his version did nothing to inspire me to dig any further. He should go home, but I'm not sure he will.

Bottom three should be Anoop, Danny and Lil, but I know Matt will fill that place that Danny won't. Matt shouldn't go, but I can't guarantee he won't. Lil has to be one of the ones going home, unless Allison's fans were asleep at the wheel last night. We'll find out...

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