AI Top 4 – Rock Week
Matt’s departure last week was not unexpected, but I’ll admit that even I was surprised to see Adam standing next to him in the final moments. Rumors abound on the internet (and even among some of my readers) that the show is rigged. That the winner has been pre-determined and that Adam was purposely staged to be in the bottom two for shock value. Me thinks not. ADAM IS GOING DOWN.
But not this week.
I usually like it when the Idols rock out, but I was a little concerned this week. My preferred advancers for the competition aren’t really hard core rockers. I was hoping one of the contestants would take a quintessential rock anthem and completely rearrange it to sound ultra-cool and unique in a new way. Or maybe the reverse – take a well know ballad and get it hopped up on Red Bull (that’s COMCASTIC). You know… like taking a Johnny Cash tune and making it sound like Nine Inch Nails.
Alas, the daring make-it-your-own spirit seemed to be missing. I wouldn’t necessarily call this week’s performances karaoke, but the tweaks to the original songs were minimal and lacked the originality I was hoping for.
Random thought… sure woulda been cool if Slash had joined Rickey Minor and the band on stage for the performances.
Adam – I want to talk smack. I wanted him to kinda suck. But the reality is that he was actually very good. I love Led Zeppelin and he TOTALLY picked the right song. He even had the rocker look with the all black, although I thought he maybe went overboard with the BeDazzler on the leather jacked. (Then he must have loaned it to Kara, who also over-BeDazzled her leather jacket.) Excessive silver studs and eye makeup aside, I can see how he’ll get a Whole Lotta Love this week. However, I did feel queasy when the judges ALL excessively gushed about him. WHY DON’T YOU ALL JUST GET A ROOM ALREADY? Somebody get me a bucket.
Allison – Also all in black, with some new black highlights in her un-naturally red hair. She looked the rocker part too – including the spike heeled, ankle high boots. Her vocals were great, but I’ll agree with the judges – I think she picked the wrong song. If she gets the boot I’m sure she won’t be a Cry Baby about it, but I hope she survives this week. For my own diabolical reasons – Muhahahaha…
The Kris/Danny Duet – Eh… it was ok. I wouldn’t call them Renegades with regard to the arrangement, but the song more-or-less suited them. I’m guessing they would have liked a couple more shots at rehearsing, but it is what it is. I don’t think this performance did either one of them any favors, but I don’t think it hurt them either.
Kris – Olive untucked, unbuttoned shirt over a blue shirt and black jeans. More beatnik than rocker, but whatever. He did sass it up a little, but I thought he could have done more with it. I liked that he played a guitar because it helps to show he’s the more rounded artist. He sings, he plays instruments, and he helps arrange the songs he sings. Adam just “performs,” albeit very well. I’m not going to blow a lot of smoke and suggest that this was a great week for Kris, but I do think the judges were unduly harsh. Hopefully Idol voters will Come Together and advance him to the finals where he will CRUSH Adam.
Danny – He may have screwed the pooch here and (hopefully) this was a crash and burn. Don’t get me wrong… I like Danny. He was one of my early favorites and I am not surprised at all that he is in the top four. But I’m fighting for me and mine and I think he needs to go home now. I had this vision of him playing a pimp in a 70’s cop show because of the pin striped suit, purple shirt and gold chains. He just 86ed the jacket and the wide brim hat with the giant feather. Dream On if you think that last note did him any favors.
The Adam/Allison duet – Allison’s first two lines seemed flat to me. After that, they both sounded great. They worked well as a team and they chose the right song. Even the outfits worked, although her combat boots and his wide striped black/gray stretch pants did throw me at first. Had the stripes of his pants been horizontal instead of vertical he would have had that whole “wicked witch” look going for him. But I’m guessing I was the only one envisioning a house falling on him. Not that I want him injured – I just want the meals I’ve got riding on this.
Ok… this is what I’m thinking: I know last week I predicted that Adam, Kris and Danny would be the final three. But rock week wasn’t kind to Danny and Allison may get a little bump for that duet with Adam. It’s by no means a lock, but I’m hoping Danny goes home this week instead of Allison. I want this because it suits my end game, which is for Kris to win.
It’s all about demographics. Kris and Danny are pulling from the same pool of voters – church going bible thumpers and soft rock / easy listening folk. People who voted for Bush in 2004 plus common citizens who are ready for change but maybe want to take it a little slower. Adam and Allison get the younger, edgy, progressive voters. Let’s say for the sake of argument that these two groups of voters are equally split (which I doubt).
If Allison goes home this week then Kris and Danny are both fighting for votes from the same group of voters next week and one of them will end up short. This potentially puts Kris at risk next week which would be bad for me. I know that this presupposed that Kris survives this week, but I’m pretty sure he will eek it out.
If Danny goes home this week then Kris is locked in for the final against Adam. Essentially, if Danny goes home then most of the Danny voters will migrate to Kris – NOT Adam or Allison. Thus, sad as it may be to see him go, it’s time for Danny bye-bye.
With a Danny departure resulting from his bad week and an Allison save courtesy of the Adam bump, we should have Adam, Allison and Kris left. This would make next week a no-brainer. Kris gets a bigger piece of the conservative crowd and there’s no way Allison can pull enough votes from Adam. We are clearly on track for a Kris-Adam final.
So my prediction for this week is that Danny is done. Furthermore, I’m predicting that next week Allison will go home.
Now, about that finale…
Assuming that this week and next week go as predicted, Kris will win. Again, I go back to the demographics but now I add a pinch of human nature. See if you can follow this – I’ll use small words:
· American Idol viewers from season’s past know that the semi-finalists each have to sing some lame song that won a song-writing contest. With the emphasis on “lame,” the contestants are limited as to how much they can sass it up. Season 6 viewers might remember how this tripped up edgy beatboxer Blake Lewis, who lost to Jordin Sparks.
· Without an edgy semi-over-the-top performance, Adam’s fans will be less inspired to pick up the phone. Oh sure, they’ll want him to win and they won’t be voting for Kris. But it may as well be thunder showering in the ghetto and sunny in the upper class burbs on the first Tuesday in November. Guess who gets out the votes without that extra inspiration.
· Adam will be good but not necessarily inspiring. On the other hand Kris will totally be feeding his base. They will ooh and aah at his nice rendition of a lame song and say “what a nice young man.” And they will dial the phone. Count on it.
· Essentially the forced lame song will give Kris the edge. He has the better chance of inspiring his voter base with lameness. The format of the show will drag Adam down in the final stretch. Huh… maybe it is rigged.
· Voters have already picked their sides. Now it’s all about getting them to vote. Who will be able to inspire their base to get off their collective asses? Given the format of the show, Adam will have a handicap.
Smellin’ what I’m cookin’?
Christopher
Themocracy
what the hell does “screw the pooch” mean. Aside from that line and your predictions for the winner (and your hate for the judges for their lovin’ on Adam) I could have written this column (and what I’m meaning to say is that if my lines were copyrighted you’d have a law suit on your hands… smellin’ what I’m cookin’ – pickin’ up what I’m layin’ down – stirrin’ the brew with the wood spoon???) (alright that last one makes no sense….. it is what it is). well written!
When are you going to just admit, it’s Adam’s contest. He rocked! He has more than shown his versatility. Everyone else lacks in versatility. I predict Chris goes next, then Danny or Allison, still swaying on that vote.
Hey Chris, here’s the theory around the water cooler here at work. Last week Adam was in the bottom 3, but when Ryan sent Chris back to the couch he never said “Here is your bottom 2″. We think Chris and Matt were the bottom 2 but they wanted to freak everyone out so they left Adam there and just omitted saying anything about a bottom two. Any thoughts? P.S. Keith says you’ve been neglecting him.
Kathleen Amy (?… can’t I just call you POODLE?),
I steal my good lined from many sources. Movies, best friends, ex-wife and (apparently) some author named Tom Wolfe. I’ve never heard of him, but I Googled “screw the pooch.”
Yes – you could have written this column. So get on that!
As for that wooden spoon… I can think of a few better uses.
C.
Sharon,
Versatility means nothing at this point. It’s about getting out the vote!
VOTE FOR PEDRO… I mean KRIS!
Janet,
Interesting theory about last week’s bottom three. Ryan and the producers were “stirrin’ the brew with the wood spoon” eh? I suppose it could be true. But I prefer to think that ADAM IS GOIN’ DOWN.