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Allen, Iraheta Bring the Heat to “American Idol” Disco Week

4/22/09, 8:48 am EST

Photo: Becker/FOX

Considering disco is making a comeback in everything from Lady Gaga’s album to the Black Eyed Peas’ new single, you’d think the phrase “American Idol’s disco week” wouldn’t inspire fear and loathing in our worried nation. But alas, last night’s Idol barely featured a skittering hi-hat. Instead, everyone tried to be David Cook, molding disco hits into something else — everyone but Lil Rounds and Danny Gokey, that is, who played it relatively straight and got pounded by the judges for it. But the night’s highlight was clearly the presence of one Mr. Vince Neil, who sat in the audience nodding his approval at appropriate moments.

Ones to Watch:

• Kris Allen took Donna Summer’s pumped-up synth anthem “She Works Hard for the Money” (a very recession-worthy topic) and gave it a “classy, Santana feel” (quoth the irrepaceable Paula) with acoustic guitar and bongos. Totally awesome, and not just because it allowed Paula to make a comment about men shopping in the women’s department. Somewhere Adam Lambert was smirking.

• Allison Iraheta gave Summer’s “Hot Stuff” bluesy bite, as electric guitar grinded out the lead line. She sounded great but looked insane. How did the judges not give her crap about that leather catsuit?

• Adam Lambert sang “If I Can’t Have You” (from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, and not the new Kelly Clarkson album — that would have really been rad) and turned it into a heartfelt ballad. But what does Vince Neil think?

Meh:

• Matt Giraud pulled out all the Justin Timberlake stops for “Stayin’ Alive,” giving the Bee Gees’ classic an urban update, and dancing (not horribly).

• Anoop Desai did what can only be described as a Lionel Richie version of Summer’s “Dim All the Lights.” The tune started slow and built, but never really took off, and had the unfortunate honor of boasting the last worst last note ever. We have to assume Vince was bummed.

Ones to Wipe From Your Memory With Bleach:

• Danny Gokey’s voice is solid, but his Earth, Wind & Fire cover of “September” was wedding-worthy. Gokey nearly busted a vocal chord giving the tune a bit more melodic range, and Vince Neil approved, but Simon hit the nail on the head: Gokey lacks star power.

Thanks for the Memories:

• A moment, please, for Lil Rounds, a woman who is having perhaps the worst Idol experience in the show’s eight seasons. Rounds covered Chaka Khan’s empowerment anthem “I’m Every Woman” and clearly gave her best performance yet — in a black onesie, no less — but the judges couldn’t come up with a single compliment. Rounds bit her tongue during judging, perhaps because she was on vocal rest and couldn’t afford to talk back this week.


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Comments

Angie | 4/22/2009, 9:23 am EST

Lil Rounds had promise in Hollywood but has since become, by far, one of the worst singers to ever hit the top 12. I rank her with Jennifer Hudson when she was on the show and that is NOT a compliment.

Sasha | 4/22/2009, 10:11 am EST

I really enjoyed Kris Allen, Allison Iraheta and Adam Lamberts performances.

Disco didn’t confound them, they kept the Disco songs, but changed them to match their own signature styles. Folk, Rock, and Glamrock.

Bravo to all three of them for surviving and growing during one of he most difficult genres to do on American Idol, Disco week.

With Disco week I worried about Kris and Allison but to quote Randy Jackson “you worked it out dawg” and they did. They did it by making the songs their own while the others did karaoke versions of the songs.

Booty Hunter | 4/22/2009, 10:22 am EST

i want to get lost in Lil Rounds bootylicious rump….tap it from the back

Tom | 4/22/2009, 10:24 am EST

Close your eyes and listen – how has Lil Round stayed aRound? Seriously bad vocals. The rest have had some good and not so good.

Moe715 | 4/22/2009, 10:28 am EST

Lil has the vocals to be the best of the group. The problem is that she is singing songs her mom listened to. She’s has to back to the Mary J, Ciara or even Beyonce type songs of her own era. This week she should have did a Tina Marie joint, because she has the vocals to pull it off. In terms of arrangement the people working with her are way off. I don’t understand how everyone else’s arrangers with the exception of Anoop’s and Lil’s are getting it right.

Cakenbake | 4/22/2009, 10:31 am EST

USA Today reports that AI producer Ken Warwick says about Kris Allen:

“Kris is a really, really nice guy — helps everybody. He’s a brilliant guitarist; he’s got incredible music knowledge. Any kid who’s having trouble picking a song, he’s there to help. He’s great.”

Kris Allen helps out the other Idol contestants with their songs and arrangements.

Now THAT is a great guy.

So not only is Kris working on his own song, but is helping out his competition pick songs.

Carla | 4/22/2009, 12:51 pm EST

The only people in the competition who matters at this point in time is Adam, Kris, and Alyson.

All their performances have been brilliant and memorable and last night was definitely not an exception.

Ci Rahman | 4/22/2009, 12:57 pm EST

Allison and Adam were absolutely terrific! They were awesome! They gave terrific performances which would be the memorable ones of this season.

Somehow, I couldn’t see the appealing of Kris’s performance, I think I preferred Matt’s. Eventhough I dislike Matt a bit because he seems to imitate my one and only crush (Justin Timberlake) – whom I think doesn’t even know my existence in this exotic place of Brunei Darussalam.

So, whatever.. I go for ALLISON and ADAM!

Elke | 4/22/2009, 1:07 pm EST

I am glad to see I am not alone with not having liked Danny Gokey’s stumbling at all. Yes, his voice is great, no doubt, but his missing everything else. He’s boring and predictable and shouldn’t try to dance. While I am a huge Adam Lambert fan, I liked Kris Allen’s performance yesterday the best and agree with you that the finale will look like Adam, Kris and Allison.

RC | 4/22/2009, 1:42 pm EST

The judges are biased againts L’il Rounds. She may not be the best of the remaining contestants…but she’s not the worst. There’s a couple other people who should be eliminated before she goes. Hope she makes it several more weeks…

Jamier | 4/22/2009, 2:29 pm EST

Would you buy a CD of any of the contestants? Not me…

Tweets | 4/22/2009, 2:55 pm EST

Can any of you do better? Hello!

Anonymous | 4/22/2009, 3:05 pm EST

Kris Allen – appealing in a Jason Mraz/Dave Matthews-lite kind of way. Seems like a good guy.

Allison Iraheta – Not bad, but not my cup of tea. I did find it a little uncomfortable that a 16 year old would sing a slutty song like Hot Stuff on television.

Lil Rounds – pretty much the least talented black female contestant of any season to ever make the top 12. Has a bad attitude, too. She just doesn’t seem to ‘get’ it.

Danny Gokey – Still an overrated, dead wife exploiting douchebag. Get off AI, and go to Christian radio where you belong.

Anoop Desai – Likable guy, but picks the wrong song week after week, and does it mediocre. I’ve had enough. Goodbye.

Matt Giraud – Liked him when he did the Ray Charles type piano stuff. Not into his wannabe Timberlake crap. At least he covered that huuuuuge mole with a hat last night, so I’ll give him credit for that.

Adam Lambert – Sometimes I like him. Sometimes I can’t stand him. The high octave metal screeching has got to stop. It’s played out.

gigi62 | 4/22/2009, 3:56 pm EST

Nobody this season rearranges a song and makes it sound like it was written for him like David Cook did last year. Truly disappointing group this season. Check out DC’s new album…its great!

Rebecca Ryanne | 4/22/2009, 4:31 pm EST

Kris was brilliant last night & has moved up into that top 3 slot. Adam is the winner by miles, different class altogether & will be spectacular in the finals. He just needs to perform a Freddie Mercury song & it will be all over.
Watch this space…

Shannon | 4/22/2009, 6:04 pm EST

Kris gave a smooth, classy rendition of an ode to hard-working women everywhere, but I’m always awaiting Adam’s mad howl and spellbinding theatrics. And am I the only one who loved Alison’s “insane” outfit? I hope they end up the top two.

matt | 4/22/2009, 6:07 pm EST

gokey was hands down the best. was RS even watching the show? how did he get pounded by the judges when all of them praised his performance – although simon had some criticism, he still said it was good.

kris was the most over rated one. all he does week after week is take a song and make it into a fluffy third rate jason mraz version(who himself is no great musician). Id like to punch him right in his monkey lookin face.

DW | 4/23/2009, 12:57 am EST

I could never figure out why Kris Allen got so much love from the judges. So this week he made it painfully obvious for me

Kessie | 4/23/2009, 11:56 am EST

I loved Kris and Adam the most. Great job guys! :)

VITA | 4/23/2009, 1:20 pm EST

ALLIS THE BEST!!!! LOV YE GIRL

Ara | 4/23/2009, 2:16 pm EST

Love love love Kris’ performance! Its so cool and the arrangement is so unique. The guy just keeps on surprising me every week. That said, I think Adam is going to win.

thedoors | 4/23/2009, 5:40 pm EST

It’s not screeching when you’re never out of tune. Your ears might prefer dire Jack Johnson vocals – absolutely fine – but going around using incorrect terms makes you look a little musically stunted.

If I Can’t Have You was so classy and heart-rending ESPECIALLY when he used the cry, good GOD. It was absolutely breathtaking and beautiful. It gets better with every listen and even more impressive when you re-watch the entire show.

Adam is probably the nicest, most charismatic genuine contestant this season. He’s just a huge bundle of love. Aside from his personality, brain and performances, I love love love his voice. It’s so emotive, stunning, powerful, instantly recognisable, colourful, pragmatic blah blah blah. To have that much control and ability is so rare anyway let alone in today’s generic computer aided charts. Professional vocal critic MasterClassLady and expert site IdolRanges . com also confirm him as the most able vocalist by far so even on a technical level, he sits waaaay above the others. He should make use of his lower register more because it is fkn GORGEOUS and may shock a lot of people. Not sure why he hasn’t yet showcased it on the show, I guess using falsetto sounds more unique. But people need to hear his amazing full register, come on Adam!

I also love Kris even though sometimes he’s a bit too mellow, springy and boyband. As in he sings like a boyband member and has a clean-shaven baby face and boring wardrobe. He is one of the more versatile contestants and a lovely guy but atm I can’t imagine him seriously as a singer-songwriter you know? Still, I absolutely hope he’s in the Final 2, he’s my 2nd favourite and SWHFTM was my 2nd favourite performance of the night. I hope Allison makes 3rd place. Her stage presence and vocals are awesome but she needs to work on her enunciation, “lHover, tonigh-, lookHing, gHotta, dHont, stuh-” are not words lol.

These 3 are the 3 that matter to me. The right two left – Lil and Anoop had the least impressive performances of the night. Lil’s voice has always been painfully sharp and more than often flat. She WAS karaoke throughout her stay. Anoop also went downhill instead of improving, his heart was barely in it, you could see that all over him. Survival of the fittest and the pressure of the competition got to them both. I wish them luck with their futures. Don’t care much for the others but I just want to say I hope Matt (who’s not great) outstays cheesy shouty, karaoke, smug Gokey. Not going to happen is it.

JC | 4/23/2009, 6:06 pm EST

I was reading the LA article this morning revealing Adam was ridiculed and tormented since childhood for every possible reason. He’s had his emotional sh.it kicked out of him his entire life. Experiencing years of pain and prejudice is one of the reasons he is as mentally strong as he is now, grounded, humble, respectable & accepting of others. I honestly don’t know how he handles himself with such grace but I have a lot of admiration for him particularly knowing he reads the internet & will have come across more vile, ignorant sickening hatred, puke. It’s also most definitely why he can give true introspective performances like Mad World that left Gary Jules feeling flattered & moved instead of ripped-off; TOMT; If I Can’t Have You. When he sang Black or White, the message was clear to the majority. It was also the day those photos surfaced so he was just waiting once again to see if he would be accepted by the ‘world’. Wasn’t surprised Randy’s “Adam, I love you just the way you are baby” pushed Adam to tears.

pool | 4/23/2009, 6:53 pm EST

I don’t think Kris has one bad bone in his body. I liked it when they asked the Idols on Extra who the “camp counsellor” is and they all smiled and said Adam. The fond look Kris gave Adam was really, reallllly CUTE and the “He has so many words of wisdom, he’s just a really great guy *everyone nods and beams*” was so genuine and sweet. The 3 best performances came from Kris, Adam and Allison. I hope they’re the Final 3. More people need to vote for Allison :/ I can’t for the life of me understand what people see in Danny.

Hendrix | 4/23/2009, 7:05 pm EST

That cheesy group number last night was absolute CLASS. The best group dance this show’s seen for a WHILE now. Abdul needs to speak less and choreograph more!! Though to be fair, her comments have vastly improved recently (if they write her scripts, how does she remember them being Paula?) Anyway, it was ridiculous and cheesy but smooth and fun fun fun. THIS is why the group numbers were invented. Didn’t she win Grammys for her choreography?

Let’s get Lambert, Allen and Iraheta to the finals America and put the Go in Gokey.

James says put the Go in Gokey | 4/23/2009, 7:29 pm EST

How the f**k was Allison in the bottom 3? Her performance was HOT HOT HOT and I can say that because I’m not some old pervert. According to America, Gokey and Matt Timberfake were/are better? Are you having a laugh? Allen was ok but his voice is average, you hear boys like him everywhere. But with this bunch, him, Lambert and Allison are the 3 strongest.

Hendrix | 4/23/2009, 7:31 pm EST

That cheesy group number last night was absolute CLASS. The best group dance this show’s seen for a WHILE now. Abdul needs to speak less and choreograph more! Though to be fair, her comments have vastly improved recently (if they write her scripts, how does she remember them being Paula?) Anyway, it was ridiculous and cheesy but very smooth and fun fun fun. THIS is why the group numbers were invented. Didn’t she win Grammys for her choreography or something?

janey | 4/24/2009, 2:43 pm EST

i hate her she needs to get voted off with that flaming red hair and her hoochi clothes

janey | 4/24/2009, 2:43 pm EST

i hate her she needs to get voted off with that flaming red hair and her hoochi clothes

mark | 4/24/2009, 4:17 pm EST

oo shut up allison looked great!!

goo allison love ya i will be voteing for u till the end!!!!
vote allison america please!

VOTE DANNY!111 | 4/25/2009, 12:56 pm EST

OMG I HATE ALLISON’S VOICE!!!

DANNY’S OBVIOUSLY THE BEST! HE IS A GOOD CHRISTIAN AND HIS WIFE DIED.

go home | 4/25/2009, 1:05 pm EST

I hope Danny leaves next week then Allison. Danny’s sooooo horrible, gross, cheesy, karaoke, smug, clumsy, inconsiderate, stupidly shouty. And Allison sings everything in her same annoying aggressive phlegmy wannabe rock voice. Her diction is terrible and she is the least versatile of the bunch. Matt deserves to make the final 3. He is so funny and sweet backstage, he has natural rhythm and an incredible recording voice. His piano skills are ridiculous if you watch him. Ricky Minor said he’s a really talented musician and always arranges his own arrangements.

Sandra Bullet | 4/26/2009, 10:54 pm EST

Allison needs to go home. She screams her way through songs, chops off half the words so that I don’t even know what she is singing, and really needs a makeover! she looks old for her age , it could be the 50 pounds of make up she puts on or that horrible hair do. she reminds me of pink n I luv pink. the difference is pink still looks feminine and cute not like a clown. Allison needs to go home. She screams her way through songs, chops off half the words so that I don’t even know what she is singing, and really needs a makeover!

Brandi | 4/26/2009, 11:40 pm EST

Matt Giraud hands down. He was the only one in the group performance that was actually with the beat,came so naturally. His vocals are amazing!!! Go Matt FTW

Lenny | 7/13/2009, 2:46 am EST

BTW Brandi, I LOVE Matt Girard, I would ache for him to be consistent on a song. but more often than not he can’t stay on key, and has weak notes/words scattered throughout most of his songs. Hopefully one day he can get this together, because he will be smokin, if he does !

wazzup | 7/13/2009, 3:07 am EST

OK… so now you pulled the wazzup post.. better you should pull one of the Gr8stuff posts because you pulled the wazzup post and stuck back the gr8stuff post and i did the gr8stuff post over, so now there are two… Wow, do you get paid to be up this late during the week to do this? I hope you get paid overtime.

LOL | 7/13/2009, 3:09 am EST

LOL..this gets better and better, now they pulled the original Gr8stuff post, and put back two wazzup posts. I am running out of ink printing the printscreens of all of this. I suggest you remove the LOL, and wazzup posts and put back the perfectly fine gr8stuff post, so that it won’t look like you are purposely trying to build Adam Lambert into a star, at every single other contestants expense.

Lenny | 7/13/2009, 3:35 am EST

Will be back in a few days to check what you did with everything I posted. But before I leave I need to say YET AGAIN, Danny Gokey sounded every bit as exciting at the whole EWF group on Septermber in his studio sessions. Too bad the Rock sites blame him for the Lambert upset. I remember RS, when it really stood for something.

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