Photo: Becker/FOX
In case the requisite “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” sing-along didn’t tip you off, last night was the annual Motown episode of American Idol — a bit ironic, since news broke earlier in the day of the death of legendary Motown drummer Uriel Jones. Smokey Robinson and Berry Gordy brought the 10 remaining hopefuls to their famed Detroit studio, where an awestruck Lil Rounds observed, “Seeing the history on the wall, you have so many different emotions.” Smokey Robinson’s face, however, doesn’t look like it is feeling many different emotions. At this point, Adam Lambert has emerged as the season’s unlikely leader, while Michael Sarver seemed to be giving his concession speech during judging. Who bombed and who had trouble counting to six? Here’s a rundown (and don’t forget you can download performances of the Idols singing these tunes over Motown’s original instrumentals on iTunes):
Ones to Watch:
• Adam Lambert gussied himself up like Zac Efron in Hairspray for a pared-down, acoustic “Tracks of My Tears” that rendered Kara DioGuardi stupid — “I have six words for you: ‘one of the best performances of the night.’ ”
• Matt Giraud got his falsetto on performing “Let’s Get It On” a.k.a. the Seventies’ “If You Seek Amy.”
• Allison Iraheta’s blues-mama rendition of “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” put DioGuardi into the OMG zone: “That is from God! You can’t teach that! Woo! Yes!”
Meh:
• Kris Allen strummed his acoustic guitar for “How Sweet It Is,” and Simon rightfully pointed out that the sweet kid lacks swagger: “To be a star, you’ve got to be conceited.” Kris, you have 24 hours to become an asshole.
• Anoop Desai’s “Ooh, Baby Baby” was a fierce vocal performance, but a little boring. Time to make with the Bell Biv DeVoe before it’s too late!
• Smokey Robinson advised Danny Gokey to sing the end of the verses on “Get Ready” and he disobeyed! Paula said he was “undeniable, identifiable and always reliable.” Simon’s analysis didn’t rhyme, but it was more accurate: “Clumsy and amateurish.”
Ones to Wipe From Your Memory With Bleach:
• Ironically, Smokey had to tell roughneck Michael Sarver to butch it up on “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg.” Sarver misinterpreted that as “make this song really suck.”
• Offbeat Megan Joy got an equally quirky “compliment” from Robinson after singing “For Once In My Life”: “You are so different!” Live, her tune sounded like it belonged in Guys and Dolls. “The bad news is it was horrible,” says Simon.
• Scott MacIntyre cheesed up the Supremes’ “You Can’t Hurry Love,” and Randy called it “hotel.” To add insult to injury, Paula pulled out a coloring book and a box of Crayolas for Simon as a joke and Ryan Seacrest had to narrate the inane shenanigans.
Thanks for the Memories:
• Holy hair, Lil Rounds! Her “Heat Wave” was lukewarm, and DioGuardi lamented that Rounds didn’t nail her diva week. While we ponder whether that was vaguely racist, discuss the week’s picks in the comments!
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- Portions of Album Content Provided by All Music Guide © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC.
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