American Idol: Top iTune Downloads

This was like "From Dusk Till Dawn." It finished completely different than how it began. And Paula, open your eyes. Here's the order of how the nine finalists performed last night, with the odds of winning it all next month:

1. Kris Allen
Stepped up in a big way with superb song choice ("Ain't No Sunshine") and strong, confident delivery. Excellent vocal with smart use of timing and dynamics. When he's good, he's really good.
Odds of winning: 8-1

2. Danny Gokey
Finally breaks through with a performance reminiscent of how he auditioned. Took his time and simply sang without the corny stage antics. Reminds me of a cross between Elvis Costello and Ruben Studdard.
Odds of winning: 8-1

3. Adam Lambert
Tough to follow up the brilliance of last week and he chose to be self-indulgent and over the top. This kid can sing anything, but this performance was just crazy. Excellent singer who should win it if he learns less is more.
Odds of winning: 2-1

4. Scott MacIntyre
Another strong performance with a smart, retro song choice (Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are").  Solid singer-songwriter who will play out the next few weeks with his piano before he leaves us. Good, not great.
Odds of winning: 15-1

5. Allison Iraheta
Kelly Osbourne look-alike needs more polish. Tough to cover Gwen Stefani with Cyndi Lauper wardrobe. At times she sounded really good, but had trouble sustaining it. Rough patches hurt performance.
Odds of winning: 15-1

 6. Lil Rounds
Seems to have leveled off as just another average singer. The tears and sending her kid to Randy will earn her plenty of votes, but schmaltz only takes you so far. Thought she was over the top and disengaged.
Odds of winning: 15-1

7. Matt Giraud (bye, bye)
Designation to Bottom 3 last week hurt his confidence. Playing keyboard off stage in a crowd was an odd approach. Gravely, off-key and just plain boring and redundant. One of judges' early favorites hits hard times.
Odds of winning: 25-1

8. Anoop Desai (bottom 3)
Usher is tough to cover. It's not smart music to showcase your vocals. Thought this was flat and that he was fighting through it. Boring, drab and uncomfortable to watch. The clock is ticking...
Odds of winning: 25-1

9. Megan Joy Corkrey (bottom 3)
I really don't get it. If you were a casual viewer of AI and tuned in to this performance, you'd ask what the big deal was. Thought she sounded like a wounded parrot. Unique, for sure. But unique is not enough.
Odds of winning: 25-1

Comments

[Fiona]

Adam was way cool last night. I don't know if he'll win because he's so different, but he is one of the best singers they've ever had.

[Karen]

Top 3:
Adam, Lil, Kris. Danny is good but I don't think he'll make it to the finals like everyone is saying.