Mowtown Week: Top 10 Performances

I love me some Mowtown music. You can probably attribute that to my dad who used to listen to oldies in the car all the time... but even now, I'm a sucker for some good Mowtown R&B. It made me pretty excited for the Top 10 show.
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It was pretty awesome that they flew the Idols to Detroit to see the birthplace of Mowtown. I can totally understand why Lil would have an emotional reaction to it. These kids go from nobody to a music star in a few weeks, and it must be such an honor to go to such a historic recording studio and sing songs of such legendary artists. Pretty cool.

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And can I say.... I really like Smokey Robinson? Is it just me, or are many of the old stars/celebrities kind of pompous and annoying? I thought it was awesome that Smokey Robinson was really invested in helping these kids. Plus... he's still "with it" and he understands changes in popular music. Pretty cool.

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OK.... enough intro.... on to the performances....

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But wait! One quick note... my DVR messed up AGAIN last night! I was pretty frustrated. Must be when its not on regular nights that it gets jacked. We realized it after singer 6 (Michael) so we got to see the last four on the big screen. LUCKILY for me, I have found another great Idol blog: mjsbigblog.com and he had video links of each performance posted. His videos even included the introduction package and the judges comments... so I basically did get to see the whole show.

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On to the reviews:

Matt Giraud "Let's Get It On"

I totally 100% agree with Randy and Simon that Matt is making a run to be one of the top competitors in this competition. I was happy to hear that after they said earlier in the week on Leno that it was a race between Adam, Danny and Lil (only). Matt picked a GREAT song for him! He was able to show off his piano skills, his range, and his soul. I was happy to see him start behind the piano and then step out and prove that he can also rule a stage. I can't be happier with how our Kalamazoo boy is performing in this competition. He's made smart decisions so far.... and I think that is definitely an important part of this show. After all, this IS a competition, and smart game play will get you far. You can't make stupid decisions (see: Michael and Megan). If Matt keeps making smart decisions, he'll be around for a VERY long time. GO MATT!

Kris Allen "How Sweet It Is"

Kris has got his own thing going on... and its totally working for him. At least I think so... and so does Smokey Robinson! I thought Smokey's reaction was pretty cool. How flattering it must be to hear a legend tell you to not change one thing about your performance!!! Being real about Kris though... he's not going to win this thing. There's no way. But... he should be really happy with how he's performed so far, and he's definitely made a name for himself, garnering a decent fan base. This song shows what he's good at: fun, positive, upbeat songs that he can sing while playing guitar. Just as Randy said weeks ago, he has a very Jason Mraz'ish vibe to him, and he does that very well. I'm not sure I agree with Simon saying that he needs to be more "conceited". I understand what he means though... right now Kris is just a sweet guy, singing sweet songs. And in this competition you need to have more than that. It's good for him, but not good for the win. Tonight, though, I feel was his best performance so far. In past weeks he's had some sour notes here and there, and tonight he was in tune for the whole song... and that last note was amazing. Props to Kris!

Scott MacIntyre "You Can't Hurry Love"

So far in this competition, Scott has played it really safe. Tonight wasn't really in his zone, and it showed. He took a chance that didn't pay off. There were many other Mowtown songs he could have chosen that would have allowed him to stay in his zone.... not this Diana Ross & the Supremes song though. The cheesy level was on HIGH! I really did NOT like this at all. The beginning that he slowed down wasn't too bad... but when he sped it up, it took a flying leap off a cliff if you ask me. Although it was a bit rough, I agreed with Simon's comment regarding the lyric "How much more can I take?" I sure can't take much more. Scott has a cool story, and he's inspirational, but I think his journey on the American Idol path is coming to an end.

Megan Joy "For Once In My Life"
Megan, Megan, MEGAN! Oh dear. As most of you know, I've given Megan more credit than she probably deserves in the past weeks. I really just think she has a cool vibe about her, and I've been waiting for her to have a breakout moment. Tonight was NOT it! I really think she gets on stage and is commanded by the stage and the background music... when she needs to be the one commanding it. During her video clip with Smokey, the song sounded GOOD! Megan will thrive with minimalism. I think if she would have come out with just a piano player and sang this it would have been MUCH better. When you add the background singers and band, its almost like she tries to sing OVER them and so she pushes her voice too much. One of her best qualities is the delicateness of her voice. She needs to pick a song that showcases that. I TOTALLY agree with Kara that if she would have sang "My Guy" it could have been a moment for her. I don't know if she's going to get another chance to have her moment though. Yikes! She did look amazing though.... I liked the dress and makeup choice because it really accented her tattoo. If it was America's Next Top Model, she'd be through to the next round.... but it's not.

Anoop Desai "Oooh, Baby Baby"

Here's Anoop's problem: Anoop proves he's a legitimate artist when he sings songs like this.... but these songs make him a bit boring. When he does sing upbeat, fun songs he is still good, but almost looked at as a caricature (Sanjaya-ish) instead of a recording artist. Anoop needs to find the balance between being soulful and being an exciting performer. With that being said, the vocal tonight was SPOT ON, and the song choice was definitely good enough to get him to the next round. Between this and last week's "Always On My Mind" he's definitely made up for the atrocious "Beat It" performance two weeks ago... that is for sure. I 100% agree with Simon (he's just right all the time, isn't he?) when he says that Anoop looked half asleep. The showmanship isn't there. Energy + Vocals will equal success for him. FIND THE BALANCE ANOOP! I like you!


Michael Sarver "Ain't Too Proud To Beg"
One quick side note: hasn't Michael seemed like this big, burly, oil-drilling guy? If you see him stand in the group, he's shorter than half the other guys! :-) Adam and Anoop are taller than him! I just think its funny... because on his own, he comes off as this all-american blue collar, 6'3 workin' man... and he's just a little guy! Anyway... on to his performance. One word (because I can count, Kara): Yuck. I didn't like this at all. To use some classic Idol criticism terminology: this song was way to big for Michael. This song is too well known, and has been sang really well by past Idol contestants... if you're gonna sing this you MUST knock it out of the park and he didn't. It was ROUGH. The ending was especially bad. Michael likes to talk back to the judges, and its getting old. Just take the criticism and deal with it. That's why they are paid to be the judges. Oh... and I still can't watch him sing. It's weird. He does weird things with this mouth (thanks for pointing that out Kim!). Michael is in serious trouble when it comes to the elimination this week.

Lil Rounds "Heatwave"
Going into this week, I think everyone could agree that Mowtown week was Lil's week to lose. It's made for her and her vocal style. Was she victorious? Not in my mind! There are SOOOO many great female Mowtown songs she could have chosen, and "Heatwave" was the WRONG choice. It didn't have any ebb and flow to it. It was all belting, all the time. This is probably the worst song choice of the night if you ask me... simply because there were SO many other choices where she could have had a moment. Another thing about Lil... she really needs to learn professional breathing techniques. Did anyone else think she sounded gaspy? She was taking breaths in odd places. Probably because she was short on breath from screaming the whole thing. Oh.... and the look? The judges liked it... but I thought she looked like New York from "I Love New York" on VH1 (for those of you that aren't familiar with the show... that is NOT a compliment). Lil hasn't really rocked anything so far in the last three weeks. She needs to bring it or she's heading home in the next couple or weeks.

Adam Lambert "Tracks of My Tears"
Holy Shiz! Adam is brilliant! Adam owned everyone this week. In my mind, this was probably the best performance of the whole season so far. As I talked about last week with Adam's "Ring of Fire", I love that you never know what you are going to get from Adam.... and this week was yet another surprise. For all the haters out there that don't like his screaming, he proved that he can pull it back, contain himself and still sing the pants off of everyone else in the competition. The thing about this is that even though he wasn't dancing around the stage or giving crazy stares into the camera, the performance and showmanship was still there! My eyes are glued on him whenever he's on the stage. Vocally? Superb. The last night in that super high falsetto.... flawless. And in my opinion, if you can sing a song written and perfomed by the mentor, and he's sitting in the front row... and when you finish Smokey Robinson LEADS the crowd in a standing ovation for you.... it can't get any better. Another knockout from Adam. I'd buy his record and concert tickets right now.

Danny Gokey "Get Ready"

Meh. I'm over Danny. I'm sorry to the readers of this blog who like him (I know there are several...) but really am over him. And to me, I think he's getting too comfortable as one of the front runners of this competition. He's coming off a little pompous. If Simon was talking about being "conceited" to Kris earlier... then Danny has what Simon wants. I mean... who goes into a mentoring session with Smokey Robinson, gets advice from him, and then does the EXACT opposite of what Smokey says to do??? I was shocked the judges didn't call him out for that. Will Danny make it through? Yes. Will he make it to the top 3 or 4? For sure. Will he be a great gospel/christian artist? Undoubtedly. But will I buy his record or concert tickets? Nope.

Allison Iraheta "Papa Was A Rolling Stone"
Oh gosh... Allison gets the pimp spot this week. Not surprising after being the the bottom three last week. The producers/judges want to keep her around a bit longer. Remember what I said about her last week in regards to her not annoying me as much? Yeah... I take it back. She still annoys me. The vocals of this song? Decent... not mind-blowing. I thought the last 20 seconds was pretty awesome... but the beginning was underwhelming. I don't get what the judges see in her.... like with Kara standing up and being so passionate about her being awesome. Sure she's 16.... but Jordin Sparks was young when she was on the show too, and I don't think Allison is anywhere near as impressive as Jordin. She'll make it through this week... but I'm still not a fan.

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So here's my ranking this week:

1. Adam Lambert

2. Matt Giraud

3. Kris Allen

4. Anoop Desai

------------------a clear drop off from this point

5. Danny Gokey

6. Lil Rounds

7. Allison Iraheta

8. Megan Joy

9. Scott MacIntyre

10. Michael Sarver

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I think the bottom three SHOULD and WILL be:

Megan, Scott and Michael

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Scott could be a shocker though and not be in the bottom three. I bet he has a decent fan base, and although his performance wasn't the best, he may have enough votes to escape the bottom three. We'll see though.....

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I predict that Michael is going to go home this week. With Alexis going home last week, I don't think it will be another girl in a row (there are only three left!).... and with Michael in the bottom two last week, its a good indicator that his fan base isn't as strong. And let's be real.... the performance tonight was not good.

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What are your thoughts? Click below to comment!