Well we've reached it. The week we all knew was coming. Kris' worst week on American Idol ever. (Top 8, Year You Were Born (which for Kris was 1985). In a year that yielded a bunch of amazing songs, Kris chose Don Henley's All She Wants to Do is Dance and well, he'll never do that again.
Someone tweeted me to ask "Do we have to do this week?" My answer: Yes, but let's have fun with it! Onward! (The results show is full of good stuff!)
Performance Show:
The theme is songs from the year the contestants were born, and we're also going to see baby photos. Starting with ones from the judges. After much joking and insult-hurling, they bring out the contestants.
They start with the oldest contestant, Danny Gokey (1980), totally cheating by singing "Mickey Gilley's version of Stand By Me," a song that is really from 1961 and this version seems a little disco to have been done by Mickey Gilley. The judges like it.
Kris is up second and gets a little chitchat with Ryan. He's asked about a day off: he went to the beach and rode the ferris wheel. The ferris wheel guy asked him to tell Adam hi. Then we get a segment about how Kris wanted to be a taxicab driver so he could travel a lot. It's cute.
Then we get this hot mess of not-all-that-tall Kris in a sea of swaybots:
In fairness, it's not THAT bad. The staging isn't great, and he definitely could have picked a better song from 1985. That's what KAL thought; the judges on the other hand: Kara says it feels like music class homework, while Paula appreciates his effort to change it up and his likability. Simon calls it indulgent, boring and forgettable, then gets interrupted by someone yelling "Kris You're HOT!" Simon says it's not about that, he came off as a guitar player wanting to sing. Randy agrees, and says Kris got lost in the arrangement, and to remember that next time it's about him. Ryan tells Simon his critique was indulgent and forgettable.
On to the rest! Lil Rounds (1984) sings a copycat version of Tina Turner's What's Love Got to Do With It? and gets called out for it by the judges. Anoop Desai (1986) gets to chat with Ryan about how he was annoyed by Kara's critique last week and then sings a pretty but sleepy True Colors by Cyndi Lauper. The judges like it. Scott MacIntyre was born one day after Kris on June 22, 1985 and goes with The Search is Over by Survivor while awkwardly holding a guitar and well, being really pitchy. The judges think it was a bad song choice. The only 90s baby, Allison Iraheta (1992) is up next with a sultry rendition of I Can't Make You Love Me by Bonnie Raitt and gets praised as she should be. Back to 1985 (oh no) for Matt Giraud and Part Time Lover. My take: Um, it's better than Kevin Covais' Season 5 version? The judges heard something different and absolutely love it. Seriously though, did one of the interns doctor the list of songs from 1985? Awful choices from that year.
On to the best of the night, and one of the best Idol performances ever from Adam Lambert, who was born in 1982. He covers Mad World by Tears for Fears and it's pretty epic and earns a standing ovation from Simon.
It's interesting to me, because this was only the second performance (the first being Tracks of My Tears for Motown week) where he lived up to the pre-Idol hype on him in my opinion. I hadn't been all that impressed with his performances up until then. Looking back as a Kris voter, I felt the need to save Kris after his misstep, as he had already cemented my vote with the past two weeks, so that's where my votes that night went. In other words, I suspect the Kris votes had been cemented with his strong performances in the weeks before this.
You can watch the entire Top 8 performance show here.
Results Show:
We open with our usual overdramatic music and the contestants' musings. Kris thinks it is getting really real. Lil and Scott are highlighted as in danger, and Danny and Adam are shown as having a good night. Flo Rida and Kellie Pickler are here to perform. Asked to sum up the week, Randy thought it was off. Kara thinks that some are losing their early lead and it's unpredictable. Paula doctored a photo to stick Simon's photo on a baby. The song Venus by Frankie Avalon was the big song the year Simon was born. Frankie comes out crooning it and then spills the beans that Simon was born in 1959. Simon tells Ryan and Frankie they look like twins.
Group number comes from the year Idol was born (2002). It's Can't Get You Out of My Head by Kylie Minogue and it's obvious we have a lot of boys as it is choreographed around Lil and Allison.
After watching that, I bet you are wondering what the top 8's signature dance moves are. Wonder no more! (Kris says he moves his arms like a chicken.)
Ford Video time! This week it's Circus by Britney Spears, one of the best Ford Idol Videos ever. It's so good they even show us a little of the behind the scenes video first before going to the video. Kris's face while Danny talks about liking the makeup a lot:
Kris tells us he's not the best actor. (We know.) Aw, Matt says, "That was behind the scenes; now check out the real thing" and points at Kris. Kratt is real and are paired in the ad.
Ryan chitchats with the contestants on the couch. Anoop hates glitter. Asked about how he felt about Simon's standing ovation, Adam is appreciative. The mayor of Kalamazoo is here to cheer on Matt.
On to the results! Adam, Kris and Anoop are asked to stand. But wait, Ryan has the judges praise Adam one more time. Unsurprisingly and deservedly, he's safe. Kris is next reminded how much the judges hated his performance, while Anoop is reminded how much the judges liked his. One of them is in the bottom three. It's.... Anoop, who kind of snubs Kris' attempt to be supportive here. Huh.
Anyway, it's time for a break after that. It's (pre-taped) Flo Rida time! There's going to be a lot of confetti and streamers to clean up!
Back to the results to find two people to join Anoop! Not Danny, who is safe. Matt is safe too, but not without a little torture from Ryan. Scott is up next and it's obvious he is not safe; Ryan walks him over to the stools of danger. Back to Allison and Lil: Allison is reminded that she had a good night but had been in the bottom three before; Lil has never. Until tonight. Allison is safe and Lil is sent to the stools. Ryan asks Simon about using the save, and Simon thinks it's the first week there is someone they would consider saving.
But first, the awesome Kellie Pickler has returned to the Idol stage. I loved Kellie Pickler on her season (season 5) and I'm a fan to this day. Here she sings (definitely not pre-taped) a song she co-wrote with Taylor Swift. The interview with Ryan afterwards is cute.
Now it's time to send someone back to safety and that person is Anoop - stay where you are. (LOL!) Lil is safe! The bottom two are Anoop and Scott. After an ad break, it's Scott who must sing for the save as Anoop is indeed safe this week. His singing is less pitchy than on performance night (still a little off though) and he's without guitar (which is good). The judges are split 2-2 (it's clearly Paula and Kara who want to keep him) and need a little more time. Scott is nerve-wracked. Simon has to make a call and he's basing it on the remaining contestants so that's it. Scott is cut but Paula reassures him he's been an inspiration to the entire world.
You can watch the entire Top 8 results show here.
Mp3s for the Kris Allen completists
- All She Wants to Do is Dance (Performance)
- All She Wants to Do is Dance (Idol single, it's not horrible)
Past Kris Allen on Idol recaps:
Audition in Louisville
Hollywood Week, rounds one and two
Making the top 36
Group 2, aka the Best Idol Group ever and the one where we get to see him sing Everything
Top 13 week (Michael Jackson songs)
Top 11 week (Opry songs)
Top 10 week (Motown songs)
Top 9 week (iTunes downloads)
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