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Now that I have gotten over Adam Lambert’s loss in American Idol, I will finally let go of my frustration with this post on his revelations in the most recent issue of Rolling Stone Magazine. From the cover spread alone, I guess we all know that he finally answered the question many had since the start of the competition. Is Adam Lambert a Friend of Dorothy?
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Tonight, one of the most popular seasons of American Idol will show the final performances of Adam Lambert and Kris Allen as they vie for the title. Though a lot more hype has been linked to Adam, Kris undoubtedly has the chance to take the crown because of his appeal and conservative nature. Nevertheless, authentic music experts and enthusiasts agree that Adam is the more talented singer because of his singing versatility. Throw in his eccentricity and you’ve got yourself a star in the makings of Queen, Prince, and Madonna. They say the true makings of a singing legend is that he/she should be able to stand out among the mediocre performers in the industry who come and go.

Even if Adam fails to get majority of the audience votes tonight, he has already made his mark and will continue to make more. I believe the very reason Season 8 has become a milestone for American Idol is because of Adam Lambert. Everyone wants to see that unusual artist who can amaze and shock you with his singing and his personal life. Like any singing legend, you either love him or hate him, nothing in between. And it is this very reason that everybody watches and listens to him — he is unforgettable. Enough Adam pimping. Let’s move on to the performances.

Adam sings first with the personal choice category. I’m uncertain if they were required to sing a song they have already sung, but both chose something we’ve already heard (a bit of a disappointment). Adam sings Mad World and renders it just as haunting as he did before, if not better. The judges find no fault and praise him. Simon did criticize his trench coat. Kris chose his best song (in my opinion), Ain’t No Sunshine, and gets the thumbs up from judges, including Simon. Simon says Kris wins this round.

The next round is Simon Fuller’s choice for each contender. Adam sings A Change is Coming (Patti LaBelle) and performs it beautifully as expected. The judges loved it. Kris performs What’s Goin’ On (Marvin Gaye) for this round. It was not a bad performance but Randy and Simon agreed that it was too laid back for a finale performance. Simon declares Adam the winner for this round, though not miles apart from Kris.

In the final round, both contenders sing No Boundaries which was co-written by Kara Dio Guardi. It was not a really great song, even Simon makes fun of the lyrics after Adam’s performance. However, Adam does a decent rendition, though not perfect. On the other hand, Kris seemed way out of his league with the song, especially with the high notes. Adam gets good critiques from the judges. As for Kris, the judges seemed to be appeasing him for his performance at the same time giving him a polite farewell. While we are on this really bad song, may I extend my commendations to Adam for being so polite and tactful when he was asked by reporters about this hideous song during the post-performance press conference.

Despite the judges opinions, we all know the audience choose the winner based on their personal bias. Considering Kris’ appeal to teens and women, he cannot be discounted yet. American Idol is known for its surprises. I guess it’s pretty obvious I’m rooting for Lambert. It’s surprising though that I don’t like rock and Kris’ style is more my preference. But even if some of Adam’s songs aren’t pleasing to my ears, the way he draws me to watch and listen to him is extraordinary. I am not a rock fan, I am an Adam Lambert fan.

Tomorrow, we will find out how America voted. By the way, there was news that Rod Stewart will be performing tomorrow. I wonder if he will do a duet with any of the contenders. While we wait anxiously for the final show, here are the videos from the finale performances tonight.

The remaining 4 contenders of American Idol Season 8 battled it out singing rock and roll. Slash mentored the contenders and, as expected, was impressed with Adam Lambert’s vocals. I also expected it to be difficult for Kris Allen and Danny Gokey as he genre was definitely out of their league. I was right.

Adam started off with an amazing performance of Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love.” Like I mentioned before, I don’t listen to hard rock songs. But I have to admit it was flawless and he sounded (and moved) like a seasoned rock star. The audience was on its feet after the song and he got rave reviews with Simon finishing off saying none of the other singers can top the performance.

This week, they also had the top 4 sing duets with Adam and Allison pairing off against the Kris and Danny tandem. What did you think? Of course, Adam and Allison trampled the other pair!

Needless to say, Kris did a mediocre solo of he Beatle’s “Come Together” which received bad reviews. However, what was unforgettable was Danny’s excruciating number. I can still remember how I cringed while listening to him struggle with the high notes of Aerosmith’s “Dream On.” OMG, that was a bad choice for him. What was he thinking?!

Anyway, here are my fave performances — Adam’s solo and his duet with Allison. Great job guys!

This season’s American Idol just went weird tonight. Ryan Seacrest first placed Matt Giraud and Kris Allen on one side and Danny Gokey with Allison Iraheta on another. Then he asked Adam Lambert where he felt he belonged based on last night’s performance. Adam chose to be with Danny and Allison, but he made the wrong choice. Apparently, he belonged to Kris and Matt’s side which is the bottom 3. What?!!

Kris and Adam at the bottom 3 was way off. Of the 5 remaining contenders, it was Allison and Matt who were frequently at the bottom. Now, for the first time, Kris and Adam are down there. Simon did say Danny is a strong contender because of the sympathy factor. It would be a big disappointment if he wins over Adam who is the most original and consistent of all contenders — that is an objective opinion considering I really don’t enjoy rock music. Danny, on the other hand, remained stagnant all throughout. I have heard nothing amazing from him for weeks. As a matter of fact, I don’t even remember the songs that he sang. The most memorable for me were Adam’s Tracks of My Tears and Mad World. Kris was unforgettable in Ain’t No Sunshine.

Anyway, next week, it’s going to be rock and roll. If Simon is right, it could be Allison who will be packing next. But Kris will have to raise his performance a notch higher, else, the red-head teen can bump him off in this genre.

It’s the Rat Pack tonight for the Top 5 in American Idol 2009.  Their guest mentor for this round is Jamie Foxx.  Since there was a lot more time to kill now, they show a video of the contenders getting a surprise from Jamie.

The competition starts with Kris Allen singing “The Way You Look Tonight.”  It was an outstanding performance.  Danny Gokey really has to keep up now.  Allison follows with “Someone to Watch Over Me.”  It was another great performance.  But I hope the audience gives her a chance seeing how she keeps getting on the bottom 3 despite good performances.

Matt Giraud is next with “My Funny Valentine.” It was pitchy and I bet this is as far as he goes. Then again, there have been surprises in American Idol in the past years. Danny Gokey sings “Come Rain, Come Shine.” He doesn’t make any big changes to the song, but he definitely showed off his vocal prowess here. And finally, we have Adam Lambert singing “Feeling Good.” He did tell Foxx he was going to rock this one. It another unique performance from Adam and he remains consistent in showing the audience the type of performer he is. Though I am not much of a rock fan, I say he is up there among the best veteran rockers of the century. There is no doubt Lambert will make the finals.

Simon had a separate interview prior to the performances tonight where he predicts the showdown to be between Lambert and Gokey. Yet, he said Kris Allen made a big jump and could be the third. Here is my favorite performance tonight from Kris. I think I will add Adam Lambert’s great performance for his fans out there.

The much-awaited movie song genre in tonight’s American Idol 2009 show was completed, but it wasn’t as exciting as I thought it would be. There wasn’t any standout performance that I found memorable enough. It was another broad genre that probably made it difficult for some contenders to choose the right one.

For their performance tonight, Quentin Tarantino was the guest mentor. And since they barely had time last week to give their opinions to Adam Lambert’s Mad World, it was decided that only 2 judges will alternately give their critique for each contender. I’m sure many are crossing their fingers they don’t get Simon.

Allison Iraheta sang “Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing,” (this is a mainstay in every Idol season) which she did quite well. Then again, it wasn’t a performance worthy of much accolades. She did it better than “Don’t Speak” though. Simon says she is the women’s only hope in the competition. Anoop Desai did “Everything I Do” from Robin Hood. It was a good performance which may keep him longer in the show.

Adam Lambert did “Born to Be Wild” from Easy Rider. Many anticipated him singing a rock song tonight as he seems to be alternating his soft and wild sides. It was a typical Adam rock performance. Not bad, but as Simon puts it, it’s not going to be as popular as “Mad World” last week. Matt Giraud didn’t do too well with “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?” from Don Juan. It was a bit off on some parts. Danny Gokey sang “Endless Love” which may be his worst performance to date. He has to start picking up or he might get overtaken.

Lil Rounds sang “The Rose” by Bette Midler. She isn’t going to make it. I’m not sure what is wrong with her when she sounded really good before the real race began. Finally, the best performance this evening belongs to Kris Allen. Kris sang “Falling Slowly” from Once. I think I heard this during an Oscar awards ceremony. It was really good. Weird thing is that Randy didn’t like it . . . huh? Here’s a video of Kris Allen.

The bottom 3 tonight in Season 8 of American Idol is Matt Giraud, Scott MacIntyre, and Michael Sarver. After 36 million votes, Sarver is eliminated from the competition. When judges were asked if he would be saved, Simon Cowell addressed the singer saying that it was a long time coming. Actually, I thought he should have been eliminated last week instead of Alexis Grace. He was lucky to have stayed on for another week.

Yesterday, Sarver performed “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” which sounded amateurish and it was pretty obvious he was not up to league with the rest of the contenders. I’m glad Megan Corkrey remained on the show after her horrible singing of “Once in My Life.” Simon said she should fire the person giving her advise on song choice. He was right because there are numerous Motown songs that would’ve perfectly fit her unique voice. I was actually expecting the genre to be up her alley and hoped she would overtake most yesterday.

Adam Lambert did acoustic with Tracks of My Tears which wasn’t so bad. Gokey likewise performed as expected, though I was hoping something spectacular from him too. Anoop did well too, but not outstanding. Yay, I was really looking forward to the Motown genre that night but none of the contenders made me hoot. Here’s a video of Adam, which was the best one for me among the rest.

As the top 13 in American Idol 2009 performed the other night, only a handful seemed to show promise in making it through the next few weeks. Among those who received bad reviews from the judges were Megan, Jorge, and Anoop. And as expected, the top performers were Adam Lambert and Danny Gokey.

Today’s show had voters eliminating Jasmine and Jorge who received the least number of votes. Although Jasmine did not disappoint the judges as much as Jorge, her lack of personality probably made viewers oblivious to her presence.

The judges likewise announced a new format during the elimination round. They now have the power to save a contestant who gets the least number of votes if they believe he/she deserves another chance. Should this happen, there will be 2 competitors eliminated for the succeeding performance to make up for the save. In today’s elimination, the judges decided not to use this option, believing that both Jasmine and Jorge did deserve to go packing home.

Yesterday, American Idol 2009 has filtered the top 9 among the 36 that advanced from auditions and the Hollywood showdowns. Most of them were expected. Still, there were worthy performers eliminated during the 3 shows because only 3 could advance from each group. Nevertheless, American Idol remedied this problem by creating a final wild card round. In this round, judges chose 8 singers from those eliminated to compete in the final round. The final 3 that will be chosen from the wild card showdown will complete the top 12 competitors.

Here is the list of the top 9 who secured a slot for the final rounds.
1. Danny Gokey
2. Alexis Grace
3. Michael Sarver
4. Allison Iraheta
5. Kris Allen
6. Adam Lambert
7. Lil Rounds
8. Scott MacIntyre
9. Jorge Nunez

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