Tuesday, April 7, 2009

STAND BY "ME," WHERE "ME" = "MY ABILITY TO CHEAT THE RULES OF THE ASSIGNMENT: Gee, thank you Idol producers, because I didn't set the TiVo to run long and as such missed all of Adam Lambert's apparent pantheon performance of Tears for Fears' "Mad World". [Available online here -- HT to many of you.] For an instant reaction I turn to Kim, who writes:
So: Mad World. Not a song with which I am familiar, neither having seen Donnie Darko nor having gotten into Tears for Fears until “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” and thereafter. But what a beautiful performance of a gorgeous, melodic, interesting song that 99% of the population cannot even contemplate being able to sing. I think that one thing Adam has done really well for the last few weeks is to alternate his over-the-top he sang what?? performances with quieter, purer ones. So Ring of Fire followed by Tracks of My Tears; Play that Funky Music followed by this. And I think it’s worth pointing out that in addition to the vocal being stripped down, Adam himself stripped away a lot of the physical shtick this week. No eyeliner, normal hair, non-confrontational clothing, and the makeup people have finally figured out what brand of foundation works best on his skin. (Don’t underestimate the significance of that last point – Adam can be tough to watch in HD.)
My brief rundown of the rest, in a rough order from decent to below-meh:

Allison indeed chose one of the most boring songs of 1992. When I suggested "I Can't Make You Love Me" in the ALOTT5MA Boardroom (our official snacks: the tan m&ms, Pringles and Apollo bars), Isaac said: "Can't Make You Love Me was released as a single in 1991. Otherwise, I agree that it would be (a) an easy choice; and (b) certain to put her in the bottom, let's say, two." Let's hope not . Despite another messed-up outfit, a fine performance from The Inevitable Runner-Up. It just kills me that there were so many great choices out there for her this week and she went with the Raitt instead.

Anoop! Song choice! "True Colors" is a hard song to mess up, and easy to sell. Lovely. (He's still not winning.)

[Big gap]

Matt rescued "Part-Time Lover" from Chicken Little but as with Lil (see below), in this case I just kept imagining how Elliot Yamin would have been singing it better. Not nearly as good as the judges thought it was.

[small gap]

Lil got back in her box with Tina Turner, of course, but all I kept thinking about was how much better Melinda Doolittle was when she did Tina. And the judges indeed said, no, get out of the box! (Ahem, Isaac and Kim.)

Hokey Danny Gokey and Kris Allen take it to smooth jazz night. Has Kris' guitar ever been heard? Yawn.

[gaping chasm]

Scott Macintyre shouldn't be singing songs about searches and looking into people's eyes and seeing forever. I mean, unless he's okay with the rude facial reactions I make in response. That said, it was fine until the last twenty seconds or so, and then it was the bomb, but not in the sense of being Da Bomb, but in the sense of "if I were in a crowded theater and heard someone shout like that, I'd flee for shelter immediately no matter how much chaos it caused." Okay, no, it wasn't that bad, but he does not belong in this competition any more.

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