Last week we danced with Kris Allen to top 8 of American Idol Season 8 and well, he fell slowly but survived to Top 7 week (the first of two; we'll explain in the results part). This week, he's going to croon Falling Slowly and get back on track big time! It's movie week on American Idol, so dim the lights and check it out after the jump!
Performance Show:
It's movie week with famous director Quentin Tarentino who helps Ryan with the intro. Paula is dripping diamonds. It's a historic evening according to Ryan, and unfortunate according to Simon, because of all the judges' yapping in the last episode, they are going to take turns judging tonight in teams of two. (This will be important during Kris' part.) Ooh! Bruce Springsteen E Street Band member Steven Van Zandt and his wife, Maureen, (who are now friends and fans of Kris) are in the audience! Very cool!
Kris was outstanding that night ( he always was but that song was one of my favorites he did ) and it was so much fun to be there. We sat next to his parents , who were lovely.— Maureen Van Zandt (@MVZaGoGo) April 14, 2019
We then see a package on Quentin Tarentino's work in film and a clip of when he was mean to the Idols of Season 3. Quentin tells us he's going to direct the Idols. He likes this year's group and thinks a few of them are exciting.
Allison Iraheta is first, and he helps her amp up her delivery of I Don't Want to Feel a Thing by Aerosmith. It sounds kind of off to me. Paula found her authentic and Simon thinks Allison is the girls' only hope left (wow, poor Lil) and that she could go to the end. Anoop Desai is singing Everything I Do by Bryan Adams and Quentin thinks he needs to rough it up and give us a big vocal. His performance is nice but a bit sleepy. Randy thinks Anoop has found his zone, it was in tune, and he did a good job. Kara thinks it was one of his best and liked the changes he made. Quentin enjoys the taste of Born to be Wild by Steppenwolf he gets from Adam Lambert. I can't say the same (I'm not one for this kind of electro-pop), but I will say this performance is energetic, in good voice, and totally telegraphs his post-Idol music to come. Of course Paula loves it. Paula tells Adam,"you dare to dance in the path of greatness." Simon says (correctly) that there will be a huge portion of the audience that will not enjoy the performance and that it won't be as popular as his take on Mad World.
After a break, we move on to Matt Giraud singing Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman? by Bryan Adams. He's been tortured by Idol, so Ryan asks where his confidence is at. It's middling. He liked working with Quentin who advises him not to lose actual enunciation of the lyrics but thinks it could be one of his best performances. It's a little pitchy as it turns out, though. Randy thought it started cool but turned pitchy and wasn't a good performance. Kara calls him out for doing another rock song again, and says he took out the best parts of the melody. They're on point.
Next up is Danny Gokey, who has bought a guitar because he was bored and plans to play the guitar on the tour bus. There's a harp set up to accompany him on Endless Love. Quentin tries to tell him to keep it simple and put his hands in his pockets. I've never been into this song, but his vocal is solid. Uh-oh it must have been time to target him for TPTB, because Paula actually criticizes his key in the first half of the song but says he pulled it together. Simon thought he sung well, but he was disappointed in the harp and the traditional version, but congratulates Danny for picking a song that he felt with.
OK time for the night's best performance by far! Kris is going to tackle Falling Slowly by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová from a 2006 indie film called Once. We didn't know it at the time, but wow, what a quintessential Kris choice. Quentin thinks Kris lived up to the spirit of the competition most. They debate whether Kris should play his guitar. Quentin tells him it's going to be great one way or the other.
And it is. Spoiler alert: He doesn't use the guitar. Kris' performance was so fantastic that MTV wrote it up and Glen Hansard/Markéta Irglová (aka the Swell Season) sent him a vinyl in appreciation. It's considered one of the all time great Idol performances!
The audience likes it. But he must have been selling too many iTunes downloads at this point, because Randy tears it to shreds. Randy gets roundly booed for calling it pitchy. Kara calls the song obscure (it won the Oscar for Best Original Song), but also says it was beautiful and one of Kris' best ever. They're clearly running out of time because they rush to break. I remember Randy motivated me big time to vote for Kris on this particular week, so thanks, Randy!
Lil Rounds is last, and going to sing The Rose by Bette Midler. Quentin advises her to sell the straight part of her performance as much as she sells the gospel part. It's kind of pitchy. Paula rambles. Simon gives Lil the usual critique he's been giving her and it's clear that he is just done with her. Lil talks back to him to defend herself. Paula sticks up for Lil. Ryan has to get this thing done and reads Lil's number like one of those radio ads that speeds up the disclaimer.
Watch the whole top 7 (movie week) performance show here.
Results Show:
They had one mission, one night, one chance intones the announcer. Kris reminds us that anyone could go home but it's clear from the recap that Lil and Matt are the ones in danger. Quentin thinks it's a tough call but he thinks he knows who's going to leave. Miley Cyrus and Jennifer Hudson are the special guest performers. Ryan reminds us that the tour tickets are on sale and repeatedly reminds us about the judges' save, which is in play for two more weeks.
Before we do anything though, we get this week's Ford Video, a cover of Freeze Frame by J. Geils Band. The Idols play magazine cover models.
Turns out Kris enjoys music and sports magazines, so they made a good choice for his cover.
On to the couches, where Kris and Matt are laughing at the video. No time to laugh though, it's time to perform the group number, Maniac from Flashdance. Kris takes the lead vocal initially, but turns it over to Matt who is into it. Paula and Kara (who are the right generation for this song and let's face it, jonesing for Matt) are into it bigtime. This was kind of an underrated group number!
Another reminder about the judge's save. Asked what he took away from Quentin Tarentino, Adam likes how Quentin uses music in movies. Allison is asked about the movie premiere of 17 Again starring Zac Efron, which the contestants got to attend. She gets razed about liking Zac, and we get a vignette of them going to the premiere and meeting Zac. Leslie Mann is excited to meet the Idols. Lil zings Danny. Zac Efron looks, um, like hell.
This video is peak 2009 YouTube and has photos of the premiere:
Enough of that, time to build a bottom three! Allison was stunned by the good feedback she had gotten. She's safe. Adam is reminded of Simon's calling his performance the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Adam loves that movie. He's safe. Anoop's asked if he's hit his stride, and he thinks they are all getting comfortable. Ryan tells him "Bottom three this week again, Anoop!" LOL.
After the break, we welcome back Jennifer Hudson to Idol. She performs If This Isn't Love from her debut album.
Ryan chats with Anoop on his stool. Anoop and the judges thought he did a good job, but they don't vote, the people who are watching do. Wise words, Anoop. Paula is surprised he's there. Simon says he deserves to be there.
Ryan returns to the couches and calls on Kris and Lil to stand. Asked if he made the right move to not play his guitar, Kris thinks he did and the band is much better. Simon tells him that he was brilliant, and Paula agrees. Lil is asked if she's in a can't win situation, and well, yes, that she is. Ryan tries to trick Kris by telling him to take a seat. Kris points to the stools and Ryan tells him "on the couch" which means he's safe and Lil heads to the stools of danger. The next twosome is Matt and Danny. Matt wishes he could've sang the song he chose more straight and not have tried to make it original. Danny is asked about Simon's critique of the arrangement and he thinks he did the right thing. Randy and Kara tell him they thought he worked it out. It's Matt who heads to the stools of danger, although Ryan takes a lame stab at fooling Danny.
Asked if this week's bottom three is correct, Kara says it is. Paula attributes it to flaws in their performances. Anoop is then sent back to safety.
But first, time for a song (The Climb) from the movie Hannah Montana!
Back to the stools! Simon says he'd consider saving someone and that someone might be surprised. Asked if it's Lil, Simon just says, we'll see who it is. Then there's a flub and they awkwardly don't cut to break like they wanted to.
It is Matt who must sing for the save! Interesting, and you can see the build-up is a lot more than it had been before. It's pretty obvious he's going to be saved. They didn't want to waste that save. Kara and Paula spend most of the time swaying like the Matt fangirls they were. The audience is chanting "Save Matt." Zac Efron is chanting! The contestants are chanting! Matt says, "No bad notes!" Simon reminds Matt that he's been in the bottom three before and has no chance of winning, but...they've made a decision... it's good news! MATT G. IS SAVED! IDOL HISTORY HAS BEEN MADE! (By the way, if you haven't seen it, check out this fantastic Reddit AMA that Matt recently did. A lot of good season 8 behind the scenes info.)
Simon tells the Idols not to congratulate him: Two people are going home next week and it's disco week!
Watch the whole top 7 (movie week) results show here.
Mp3s!
- Falling Slowly (Idol performance)
- Falling Slowly (Idol single) - Peaked at #94 on June 6, 2009 (bear in mind no Idol iTunes sales were official until that date)
- Falling Slowly/With or Without You (Chicago 2013)
Kris fans know that Falling Slowly has become part of the Idol medley. But Kris has performed it regularly in concert. For the first few post-Idol years, he mashed it up with With or Without You by U2 and it was pretty epic.
As the band evolved, the focus fell more on the vocal; here's a performance from 2013:
Here's how it sounds as part of the Idol medley:
Next week: Top 7 again, but this time doing Disco Week
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)
Top 8 week (Year contestants were born)
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