AI8 recap, Finalists x 5 (04/28/09)

So, a little on last week’s eliminations. Glad to see Lil go. She had underwhelmed me for long enough. Real sad to see Anoop go, especially when I heard this week would be the Standards from the Rat Pack era. Anoop could’ve killed a song this week. But I also think that he may have been relieved to go home after all the time he spent in the bottom 3. I wish Matt would’ve gone last week, just to show the judges that they wasted their save on a guy who the voting public turned down twice already.

Again, this week was Rat Pack standards and Jamie Foxx was the guest mentor. Have you seen “Ray?” Jamie was unbelievable in that movie. We have “Dreamgirls” on the shelf but haven’t watched it yet. Jamie was also in a little known movie called “Shade” about poker and a con. Jamie’s a classically trained musician (that can act and do stand up too), but his mentoring was a bit odd at times. My wife Kristin can’t stand his song that’s out on the radio right now (“Blame It”).

And as a side note, I’m so glad that it was only 5 singers and 5 songs tonight. Usually at this point, they have the singers sing 2 songs.

01 – Kris, The Way You Look Tonight
So, I love this song. There are many, many versions of it out there, but my favorite one is the one featured on the “Father of the Bride” soundtrack. I don’t even know who sang it, but it’s my favorite arrangement. It was also featured in “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” under a Tony Bennett cover, but my favorite song on that soundtrack is the “I Say A Little Prayer” song that the cast did at the rehearsal dinner. Especially the part with the lobster and his claws in the background. This song (The Way You Look Tonight) is definitely a wedding-type song. Pretty typical for a first dance or father-daughter dance (it was my wife Kristin’s dance with her dad). Kris did a good job with it tonight. He played it straight but it was still unique, which is hard to do since this song has been done so many times. Randy thought it was his best performance to date, which I disagree with. I thought Kris was best and most memorable last week. Kara called him truly a dark horse. Paula called him a contemporary crooner and Simon called it a little bit wet. Didn’t really understand what he meant by that, but I guess he was just trying to say that he liked it, but just not as much as the other 3. Kris is probably safe tomorrow night.

02 – Allison, Someone To Watch Over Me
It’s Allison’s birthday today (she turned 17) and when Ryan mentioned that, she gave the “raise the roof” motion. Do people still do that? I mean, seriously? I’ll break out the “raise the roof,” but it’s purely in jest. Who started that gesture? It had to be someone in sports. I remember Emmitt Smith doing it, but I thought it was in response to the signal that the football referees do to reset the play clock. And when I do “raise the roof” it’s never with two hands. I’ll only do it with one hand, which shows how committed to the motion I am (I’m not). Hmm. Back to Allison. Vocally, my wife Kristin thinks it should be Adam and Allison in the finals, but realistically it will probably be Adam and Danny. But it’s close between Allison and Danny vocally. Randy mentioned that she looks like Brittany Murphy (is he reading this recap?). And I’ll add she looks like the Brittany Murphy as Tai Fraiser in “Clueless.” Kara said something but did it in her “girlfriend” voice that bugs the heck out of me. Paula said something scripted. Does she have a teleprompter? Does she write her comments down before they even sing? Simon called it a great performance, but has a horrible feeling that she’s in trouble tonight. I think Simon is pulling the old reverse psychology trickeroo. When he pans someone, people tend to vote for that person. We’ll see if it works. She still may be in the bottom 2 tomorrow though.

03 – Matt, My Funny Valentine
Every time I hear this song I think of Michelle Pfeiffer draped over a piano singing this in “The Fabulous Baker Boys.” She did all of her own vocals in that movie, as well as her stint in “Grease 2.” As bad as “Grease 2” was in comparison to the original, I would still watch it if it was on TV. I even have the soundtrack. It had some campy songs, but a few weren’t bad. Speaking of bad, Matt was bad tonight. Jamie’s suggestion of making the song a key lower turned into off key for the beginning. He was pitchy too and my wife Kristin calls him a one-trick pony, as all Matt likes to do is riff. His phrasing and accent seemed like he was trying to sing the song like a Rat Packer, maybe even Sammy Davis, Jr. Randy called it a little pitchy and that it didn’t all come together. Kara didn’t think he was emotionally connected to the song. Paula did the predictable thing and praised him so that she could hear the crowd on her side. She is so predictable. Simon then went on to disagree with Randy and say it was the only believable authentic song tonight. I see Simon working here. He’s using the reverse psychology again. If he agrees with Randy and Kara, it may give Matt pity votes. Well played, Cowell. Well played. Matt is going home tomorrow night.

04 – Danny, Come Rain or Come Shine
Jamie was a bit weird in his commentary for Danny. He was getting all up in his grill while he was singing. Evidently it worked though because Danny knocked it out of the park. He finally ended a song with a big note! It was a bit boring at the start, but he ended with a bang. The performance reminded me of Sugar Ray Leonard in this heyday, when he’d do nothing for the first 2 ½ minutes of a round, then end with a flurry of harmless punches at the end of the round to “steal” it on the judges’ cards. Randy said he could have an album of songs like that. Kara liked his swagger and said it was the most creative he’s been with a melody so far. Paula called him stellar. Simon liked his swagger and confidence up there. I hope this means that Danny is about to hit his stride. He started out so fast but came back to the pack in the middle and was surpassed by Adam in the process. I hope Danny picks it up and gives Adam a run for the money. I still think Adam is head and shoulders above everyone else, but I’d like to see Danny right there with him.

05 – Adam, Feeling Good
What’s interesting about this song is that A.J. Tabaldo and Leslie Hunt both sang this song in the second week of season 6 of AI and both were eliminated that week. But, Brian Melo and Natalie Gauci both sang this song on their respective international Idols (Canadian and Australian, respectively) and both went on to win their respective competitions. How many times did I use respective(ly) in that last sentence? Tonight Adam showed his incredible range and incredible control once again. This did feel a bit like a Broadway performance, but I don’t mind anymore. Adam’s amazing. I just wonder if he’s killing the other competitors in votes every week. We know he’s never been in the bottom 3 (neither has Danny), but I’d like to know what the vote counts have been. Randy called him a little (a little?) theatrical tonight, but in the zone. Kara fawned over him again. Simon said something about Adam being in it to win it. Adam should be safe tomorrow and I have a feeling it will be Adam, Danny and Kris as the final 3.

Bottom 2: Matt, Allison
Out: Matt

I now have to mention a little bit about Dancing With The Stars. Is it me or does Julianne Hough’s boyfriend/dance partner Chuck Wicks look like a dead ringer for Matt Leinart? And Lil Kim is so short that all she looks like is boobs and butt. No torso. I think Melissa (from the Bachelor) looks like The Nanny. Good thing she doesn’t have her annoying voice and laugh. Is it weird that Shawn Johnson looks like Sabrina Bryan? And that they both danced with Mark Ballas? People like Gilles Marini (I don’t), but I think he’ll be in the finals with Lil Kim and Shawn Johnson. Although Melissa has a chance if she isn’t hurt that bad (ribs). I’m so glad that Chelsie Hightower is on the show after her run at So You Think You Can Dance last year. And I can’t wait for SYTYCD to start again on May 21 (after AI is over).

And thanks to those who mentioned Susan Boyle from “Britain’s Got Talent” to me. Do yourself a favor and YouTube it. Or go to this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY
It’s only been viewed over 47 million times so far...