The Top 9 GO DIGITAL on American Idol with iTunes hits! Who will pack their bags this week?

Hello out there music lovers! Welcome to another fun filled week of ridiculous analysis for this crazy show we have come to know over the years as American Idol. This week we have yet another chapter in the saga of the TV powerhouse. What songs were song on American Idol this week? Talk about a cash cow of a week. If the endless promotion of iTunes wasn't enough on the show already, the Apple founded music company was given the spotlight this week with full access to its popular downloads (well...supposedly full access. They were kinda vague weren't they?). I can see the iTunes top 10 singles tomorrow being flooded with 9 songs in particular, can't you?

So, what did this mean for the contestants? It turns out it was the week they have been looking forward to since they entered the American Idol top 13. Of course, as always, some contestants took advantage of the theme and others took major steps towards their final bow. We have some work ahead of us to figure out who is going home. And as always, I am up to the challenge! The only question is, are you ready to join me for the ride? Let's get to it!

1. Anoop Desai - "Caught Up" by Usher - Well, Anoop took the advice to get back to his GROOVY side and try to rock the audience. And as some of us feared, he just was NOT up to the challenge. I think at some point, we all have to face it that Anoop was not the guy that we thought he was going to be when he was hyped up in the earlier audition and hollywood rounds. He sang the song okay, but come on. USHER? Don't you have to be Usher to sing Usher? The dude is a crazy dancer and Anoop does NOT have the moves to match. He didn't even try! Sure, he sang it okay, but that just wasn't enough. I was not feeling the energy. He was going through the motions it seemed. As our buddy Simon Cowell pointed out, there was "no originality" to the performance. In other words? Bland Karaoke, singing the notes and just hoping to get through it. Anoop retorted the judges' comments by saying he wants to be an R&B singer and he picked a popular R&B song. Good for you Anoop! Let's see how that works out for you!
2. Megan Joy - "Turn Your Lights Down Low" by Bob Marley channeling Lauryn Hill - Really? I mean....REALLY?????? Who besides votefortheworst.com is voting for this girl? I have already expressed my feelings towards Megan pretty clearly in previous posts. There's not much else I can add to it. Her vocal style is unappealing to me. I don't even think she could carry a tune if she tried to sing normally! Sure Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi will keep pushing Adele and Amy Winehouse and Duffy. Come on! She cannot match up to these people (not that I'm a huge Amy Winehouse fan). She was not voted into this competition. This is purely the judges' fault that she was there. So now they can live with it until American decides to let the competition get more serious. And I agree with Simon. The girl was getting a bit obnoxious (if that's what he means when he says indulgent!). Ugh, it seems like the fans out there were just mockingly supporting her by booing the judges. And she took it to heart as if they really do like her. If I have my way, I'll be picking her again to leave us this week. But based on you crazy voters out there, I just may have to OVERTHINK this again!
3. Danny Gokey - "What Hurts the Most" by Rascal Flatts - What can I say that the judges didn't say? Was this Danny's best performance? I don't know if I would go there. Actually, I am still waiting for a knockout performance from Danny. But the thing about him is, he has so much energy and emotion that he brings to the stage. It just doesn't seem to matter WHAT he his singing. He opted for a modern country hit this week and he did it really well. Maybe one or 2 rough notes here and there, but his emotional performance and range made up for it. He is in another league than a lot of these other wannabes and consistently ranking above the lot. Keep it up Danny!
4. Allison Iraheta - "Don't Speak" by No Doubt - That was one crazy outfit wasn't it?! I think she got some hair tips from Carrie Underwood a couple weeks ago with that monstrosity clipped onto it. I was impressed with Allison in the BEGINNING of the performance, regardless of her appearance. I was impressed to hear her playing the guitar by herself and singing pretty nicely to the classic No Doubt tune (new album coming out this year by the way!). Then, the band kicked in and she began to scream a bit. I still cannot help but be amazed at what she is accomplishing at such a young age. Her voice is beyond her years and, like Danny, she brings an emotional presence to her performances. Now I won't get all poetic like Paula Abdul did with odes to intonation and vocal prowess (or however you spell that word that she looked up in a thesaurus years ago and just keeps using it!), but darn Allison is good! I think she will be excused for her wardrobe malfunction and live to see towards the end of this competition.
5. Scott MacIntyre - "Just the Way You Are" by Billy Joel - Just when I want to count Scott out, he knows how to reel me back in. I have admitted many times before about my obsession with Billy Joel. I guess when you grow up playing the piano, it just comes with the territory. Scott could probably tell you the same thing as he auditioned with "And So it Goes" and now moves way back to The Stranger album and stripped down his performance to just piano. Okay, I think Scott did perform it very well. He is a great piano player and has a decent voice (even if he sounds a bit British sometimes! Which is ironic because most Brits sound American when they sing!). Ugh...but I really can't stand that song! Billy Joel even admitted it himself that he is so sick of the song he cannot perform it LIVE anymore without wondering what he is going to eat after the concert. No emotional investment! There had to be so many other Billy songs he could have chosen from. But, not everyone is as obsessed with Billy that I am and probably were able to tolerate Scott's performance just nicely. I think he did a fine job. And I don't want to be stereotypical by recommending that he should have worn sunglasses this week. It's not because he is blind, it's because Billy Joel never leaves home without them! Come on Scotty! Give props to your idol!
6. Matt Giraud - "You Found Me" by The Fray - Well, I think the judges were a bit harsh with Matt this week. Which is rough considering he was a bottom 3 guy last week. Matt tried something new by bringing a keyboard out into the audience for his rendition of a Fray tune. The song was SPOT on. You can't disagree there. It sounded great. The problem? The song was SPOT on. He sounded just like The Fray with the performance. I even worried about that before I heard what the judges had to say. Does it matter though? Maybe I have a soft spot for the song because ABC used it for LOST Season 5 promos. But I thought Matt really rocked the house. What if he doesn't want to be typecast as a R&B singer? Who cares? Why can't he show versatility? Comparing it to his Coldplay performance in the semi-finals is hardly called for. That was just a complete disaster. I hope Matt is okay this week and can show us yet another side of him next week. If the judges and producers didn't want Lil in the American Idol final 4 so bad, they could have spent less time critiquing Matt and more time bashing her awful performance tonight. But don't worry, I have all the time in the world to do that!
7. Lil Rounds - "I Surrender" by Celine Dion - Strike 1, Kelly Clarkson performed this song in season 1. Mind you, she was sick when she did it and still sounded ridiculously better than Lil Rounds did.
   
   
   
   Go home wannabe Lil!!!
   
   Strike 2 - She was ridiculously off pitch for all of her BIG notes that supposedly she nailed and brought home. Give me a break judges. Who's overly large posterior are you kissing by keeping Lady Mix A Lot in this competition?
   
   Strike 3 - Celine Dion really? What on earth is Lil trying to prove to us? If they are telling everyone else to stick to their genres why is Lil an exception by taking on a Celine ballad? They went on saying how they were nervous about her doing it but how she did her thang??? Really????????!!!!! Back when Kelly did the song, they didn't have as many songs to choose from and they were almost forced to sing Celine and Mariah tunes. Thankfully Simon agreed that this was not the greatest performance for her.
   
   Strike 4 - Return of the lisp. "TITH FIRE GETTING THRONGER BABY!"
   
   Strike 5 - Even Ryan Seacrest got in on the "Let's save Lil guys we have to" act by interviewing Lil's 2 (out of 15) daughters that made it to the show. And of course, they have to go and say their cute one word answers and then hug Randy Jackson. Ugh...give me a break. Does that make Lil safe or does America see through it? Come on America, this girl is one downward spiral heading to nowhere!
8. Adam Lambert - "Play That Funky Music" by Wild Cherry - So Adam looks to show us another side from previous weeks and do the opposite of his stripped down amazing performance last week. He kept the Elvis hairdo rocking, but ugh. I am back on the "why on Earth does he keep doing these performances?" side of Adam again this week. It's one thing to change up a song and make it current. But, once again, he totally messed with the natural flow of the "Play That Funky Music." At times, it was unrecognizable. And the he went into that screeching mode again. Okay, I am not arguing that this guy can sing and probably has the best voice this season. I just want to say that I have an extremely low tolerance for the SCREECHING! It just gets old really quick. And he seems to think that it is what the crowd WANTS to hear. Parts of the performance were very theatrical again like we were doing WILD CHERRY the musical. And what was up with the Squat Dance he had going on? I mean, I agree with Simon, the guy can do no wrong after last week. But will America really tolerate performances like this every other week? Is this really what is going to sell? I just don't know folks. I'm sure I'll get some backlash on this one. But come on, STOP THE SCREECHING man! You killed it, it's old news. Bring us more quality vocals with a soothing sound!
9. Kris Allen - "Ain't No Sunshine" by Bill Withers - Man, Kris keeps on quietly impressing me each week. I thought he would be one of the first people out of the competition but he keeps changing things up just enough to make them interesting. Who knew the guy could play the piano too? Good stuff. Kris explained to us how he likes to take an old song and make it current. Well, the arrangement for "Ain't No Sunshine" was really nice with the keyboard and strings. Kris's voice was on tonight and he was emotionally charged. Did he have the "MOMENT" he was striving for? I'd say so. Was it as great as Adam's moment last week? Impossible. But he still did a great job and is chugging along quite nicely in the competition. Should make for a fun elimination show Wednesday night!

Okay kids, I've rambled on forever again! Let's cut the rest of this short and figure out what we are working with:

Definitely Safe: Adam, Danny, Kris
Will be Excused for the Outfit: Allison
What on earth was she thinking? Lil
Redemption Week: Scott
Better than Judges gave him credit for: Matt
It's getting near the end: Anoop, Megan

Bottom 3 Picks: Megan Joy, Anoop Desai, Lil Rounds Bonus Pick: Matt Giraud
Elimination Pick: Megan Joy

I know I know. I said I wouldn't do it, because that means she will live to see another day. But I just think Anoop has a strong enough fanbase to stick around (even though he went first). I think Matt will get some voting support this week from his bottom 3 appearance last week. It would be fantastic if Lil went home, but I don't see that happening. Process of elimination folks. It MUST be the Corkster this week. But based on my track record, don't take my word for it!

So, that's it kids. Yet another American Idol performance night in the books and one more ridiculously long Results show on deck. A Pre-taped David Cook will come our way along with Lady GaGa. And of course we will find out who was eliminated from American Idol this week. Discuss below your thoughts on iTunes night. And stop in after the results to see my thoughts on the elimination. Hope you enjoyed my ramblings as always and see you after the results!

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