For the first time in American Idol history, 13 contestants took the stage in hopes of winning the million-dollar music contract prize. The 8th season promises to be an exciting one with a vast range of finalists.
Allison Iraheta and Jasmine Murray, both 16, are competing at the set minimum age. In contrast, Danny Gokey will be the oldest performer at the maximum age of 28. For the first time in the audition round, Idol traveled to Puerto Rico to find Jorge Nunez.
Another new addition this year comes from behind the judges’ table. Kara DioGuardi joins Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell as a head judge to guide the contestants through the competition. DioGuardi is a well-known song writer who has written hits for Kelly Clarkson, Celine Dion, David Archuleta and Carrie Underwood.
May 20
The final two battled it out last night and now the winner will be revealed. Arguably the best final two ever on American Idol, voters had a tough call on who to vote for. Both Kris Allen and Adam Lambert have fought so hard to be where they are, there will be no losers tonight.
The show opened with the top 13 performing “So What,” by Pink. It was too cheesy and corny but that is what American Idol is right? The girls sang “Glamorous,” and “Big Girls Don’t Cry” with Fergie before the rest of the Black Eyed Peas joined her on stage. The hyped up the audience with their number one single “Boom Boom Pow.” Santana performed with the top 13 and brought a lot of hype for is upcoming residency in Las Vegas’ Hard Rock Hotel. The top males went through Rod Stewart’s classics and hoped they can last as many years as he has in the business.
Lil Rounds hit the stage with Queen Latifah who looked great. They performed Latifah’s new single and tore the roof off the house. Alexis Grace and Anoop Desai performed “I’m Yours,” with the original artist, Jason Mraz. Fourth place finalist, Allison Iraheta collaborated with Cyndi Lauper on her classic hit, “Time After Time.” Danny Gokey and Lionel Richie followed with “Hello,” “Let Go,” and “All Night Long.” The most random performance of the night belongs to Michael Sarver and Megan Joy who sang with comedian Steve Martin. I do not know what that was and I hope we never have to see it again.
David Cook performed his new song “Permanate.” I do not like Cook but this song was really good, and am impressed by his performance. It was a great moment for the top two to see where their career could take them.
The American Idol awards took place tonight and the first award went to Nick Mitchell a.k.a. Norman Gentle for Oustanding Male. Mitchell took to the stage before transforming to Gentle and performed “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going.” He was just as insane as he was at the beginning of the show but still had everyone laughing.
Best Attitude went to Katrina Darrell or “Bikini Girl,” as she was named. Darrell brought some drama early on in the season when a dispute between her and Kara DioGuardi errupted because of her lack of talent. She took the stage singing Mariah Carey’s “Vision of Love,” before DioGuardi stole the show with her impressive vocals. At the end of the performance DioGuardi ripped open her dress exposing her bikini before quickly covering it, admitting Darrell had a better body.
The final award, Outstanding Female, went to Tatiana Nicole Del Toro. She out ran security for her chance to perform one last time before being cut off by Ryan Seacrest and a commercial. I must admit I missed her and am happy I got to see her one last time.
Allen sang with Keith Urban and performed his new single “Kiss A Girl.” I am not the biggest country fan but they put on a great show. But the best performance overall went to Lambert and Kiss. Besides the fact that Kiss was on stage, they put on an incredible performance that made Lambert look like he’s been doing this his whole life. Finally they teamed up to perform with the original members of Queen, singing “We Are the Champions.” Indeed they are.
Regardless of how far the contestants went, having the honor to stand on the same stage with some of the biggest stars ever to hit the planet is enough of a reward for anyone. It is fortunate to know that all of the finalist obviously were greatful and humbled by this experience.
Finally the results were revealed by Seacrest and Allen was crowned the new American Idol. It may have been a surprise for many due to the prediction Lambert was going to take it home. I called it from the beginning, the originality and honesty of Allen in all his performances carried him through this journey and ultimantly led him to victory.
Easily the best season of American Idol, I think it is safe to say it has not lost any of it’s heat and all of America is looking forward to what next year has to offer.
May 19
America got it right again, and put the two most deserving contestants to battle it out on the American Idol stage. Kris Allen and Adam Lambert have their differences but they both posses extreme talent. With both singers performing three songs the night was full of surprises and great singing.
Lambert opened the show with an amazing performance of “Madworld.” This was easily his best vocal yet and has me worrying for Allen’s chance at winning. The finalist’s first song was their favorite song of the season, leading Allen to pick “Ain’t No Sunshine.” I thought it was better than the first time he sang it but the first round, easily, goes to Lambert.
The second song set was picked by executive producer Simon Fuller. He chose “A Change Is Gonna Come,” for Lambert. I liked his version of it a lot but the origional by Sam Cooke is unbeatable. Once again his vocals were close to flawless but I despise his screaming. Fuller picked “What’s Going On,” by the legendary Marvin Gaye. He had a cool jam session on the guitar and the rest of the band close by him. The judges felt it was too laid back, but that is what Allen has brought to the show the entire season. However, this round was too hard to chose, I am going to call it a tie.
Finally the third round was the performance of the winning single, “No Boundaries.” The song was co-wrote by judge Kara DioGuardi. Lambert went first and I thought his voice fit well with the song but it was not believable, which he has been noted for most of the show. Allen’s vocals were too low for the song but this song is much more his style. I will say Allen won that round, leaving the American Idol winner a tie in my eyes.
I am hoping Allen takes it home, but I have a feeling Lambert will with the intense hype around him. Either way I will be happy for whoever wins because I know they will both go far.
May 13
The star studded American Idol semi-finals was filled with superstars and excited fans hoping their favorites made it to the next round. With over 88 million votes America is pushing their hardest to reward the most deserving contestant to win the crown of this years American Idol.
A surprise appearance from Alicia Keys kicked off the night with the crowd standing on their feet. She is the global ambassador for the Keep A Child Alive fund and urged America to donate a simple five dollars to help children in Africa. She brought to the stage a young artist named Noah, to perform his single “I’m the World’s Greatest.” Noah is from Rwanda and Keys helped fulfill his dream of becoming an artist. His drive and passion was apparent on the show and brought many viewers to tears.
Jordan Sparks performed her new single, “Love Is A Battlefield.” It was a decent performance for a mediocre song. She looked great though, but this song does not match up to her previous singles. Katie Perry was the second performer and did fantastic as usual. I thought it was a little unfair for her to have Adam Lambert’s name on her cape at the beginning of the performance. I would rather her just perform her song instead of making a statement when it is not needed. But she looked amazing and put on a show to match.
After going through each contestants home town experiences Kris Allen and Lambert were revealed as the top two. Danny Gokey was eleminated but his powerful voice will carry him far with this career. It is obvious that all these finalist are winners, made obvious by the tremendous excitement and support from their home town.
May 12
The best top three American Idol has seen in years took the stage to compete in the semi-finals of the biggest show on television. The contestants got to visit their hometown and received text messages from the judges on what songs they were to sing aside from another song of their choice.
Danny Gokey performed “Dance Little Sister,” hand picked from Paula Abdul. He finally stepped up and performed the way he should have all season long. But is it too late? His second song is the classic “You Are So Beautiful.” This was an obvious attempt to gain a strong female vote along with young teen girls with his soothing voice. Although it is a great strategy I doubt it will pull off the way he thinks.
Kara DioGuardi and Randy Jackson chose “Apologize” for Kris Allen to perform. I was never a fan of the origional version but I felt Allen nailed the performance and made me like it. DioGuardi had the nerve to knock down his rendition despite it being her song choice. She expected Allen to make it his own but Simon Cowell came to his defense to by telling DioGuardi if she wanted it a certain way, she should have told him. When Allen returned to the stage later on he completely stole the show with an accoustic version of Kanye West’s “Heartless.” One of the biggest risks I have seen on the show, I believe it saved him from elemination.
Adam Lambert took on U2’s “One,” at the request of Cowell. Since it was a ballad, Lambert repeated his usual performance with the spotlight just on him while he slowed the song down and then reached high in his vocal range. I do not think he did the classic song justice despite the praise from the judges. His second performance is really not worth mentioning. It was just another Adam Lambert song he decided to scream and Abdul melted in his presence.
For being so unique and origional, Lambert failed to showcase any of his talents he has been acknowledged for. Allen however, proved what I have been saying all along, he is truly origional and he deserves to win more than anyone else. I think Gokey will be shown to the door tomorrow night, but Idol is always full of surprises.
May 6
Tonight’s American Idol was just as electrifying as the show the night before. The final four teamed with their mentor, Slash, for a performance of “School’s Out.” I thought the song was an interesting choice but they were fourtunate to perform with a rock legend.
For the first time ever, Paula Abdul took the Idol stage to perform her new single, “I’m Just Here For the Music.” Not only was the song hot, her performance was one of the best I have seen on Idol. Complete with fireworks, Abdul attempted to ressurect her career on the biggest stage on earth. Besides the lip syncing, I think she pulled it off.
No Doubt took to the stage shortly after to promote their new summer tour. They performed their hit, “Just A Girl,” and proved they never lost the spunk they became famous for. I was surprised the lead singer, Gwen Stefani, could maintain her stamina throught out the performance with her bouncing around all over the stage.
Fan favorite, Allison Iraheta was released from the show and leaves Kris Allen, Danny Gokey and Adam Lambert to battle it out during the next show.
At the end of the night, Daughtry returned to the stage at the exact level of the show he was eleminated. This served as some positive news for Iraheta by showing her their are careers beyond Idol for non winners.
May 5
Rock and Roll week has a reputation on American Idol to bring out the best of the bunch to America. Tonight’s show did just that, however that does not mean I agree with it. Past Guns ‘N Roses guitarist, Slash, was the mentor this week. He brought that rock feel to the show to set the tone for the performers.
Adam Lambert opened the show with Led Zepplin’s “Whole Lotta Love.” This was the first time this song was performed on Idol and easily brought the house down. For once I will actually give Lambert his props, he did a great job with the song. I can easily see him selling tons of records when he is in this element but I hope he does not win.
Allison Iraheta should have shined this week but ended up creating a boring performance. She tried to channel Janis Joplin’s “Cry Baby” but it was just another rock ballad she tried to make her own with her raspy voice. I see a lot of inexperience when she performs and that will obviously develop with time, but right now I do not feel she’s cutting it.
Before running through their solo performance, Danny Gokey and Kris Allen teamed up for a duet of “Renegade,” by Styx. For the first time on Idol, the contestants were paired to join forces and bring a new twist to the show. I thought this duo was decent but Allen struggled during his section of the song.
He made up for it with his rendition of “Come Together,” by the Beatles. Judge, Simon Cowell, was not impressed because he felt it was too safe. I can agree with him there, but Kara DioGuardi was way off by saying he tries to hard. Gokey failed miserably with “Dream On,” by Aerosmith. He attempted the signature scream at the end of the song that Bon Jovi hit so well, and ended up sounding like a victim in a horror film.
Finally, the unfair team of Iraheta and Lambert got together to sing “Slow Ride.” I thought they shined during their own sections but sounded bad when they sang together.
Overall I thought the show displayed which singers should make the final cut. I predict Gokey and Iraheta will find themselves in the bottom two. Gokey butchered an Aerosmith song but I think fans will keep him around and Iraheta will be packing her bags.