Once again a new elimination on American Idol decided the Top 2 and revealed who made it into the finale. Special guests were former American Idol Jordin Sparks, Katy Perry, and Noah (from Rwanda). Alicia Keys made an appearance to speak as a global ambassador of Keep a Child Alive, seeking donations to support African children.
Ryan Seacrest said that over 88 million votes came in. On Tuesday, Adam Lambert, Kris Allen and Danny Gokey performed the songs that the judges chose for them.
Danny Gokey sang Terence Trent D’arby’s “Dance Little Sister Dance” and was criticized for his awkward dancing and the song choice, which actually was Paula Abdul’s pick. Randy Jackson actually liked it but Kara DioGuardi despised the part where he danced with the saxophone solo. However, Paula loved the whole thing, the dancing and the singing. She even said Danny possessed the magical quality in his voice that Trent does. Simon Cowell called the dancing “desperate” and the song choice bad. Paula and Simon later on argued and she punched him. Danny defended the song choice, saying “I want to sing that song!” And then in the second round the Milwaukee native went acoustic with Joe Cocker’s “You Are So Beautiful”. Simon Cowell called it “a vocal master class.”
Kara and Randy picked “Apologize” by OneRepublic for Kris Allen. Like its original artist, Kris sat behind the piano for the piece. Randy loved the performance, emphasizing that this could be the future genre for Kris. Kara said it was not exactly a home run and wanted him to take more chances. Simon then criticized Kara, “…You can’t choose a song for him then blame him for doing the song. You didn’t hold up to your responsibility.” She yelled back, “You’re gonna tell me about interpreting songs? Have you ever interpreted a song in your life?” and held her hand over his mouth. But, in the end, it seems they’ve reached a conclusion as they picked the song for Kris because it’s a “big song with a big range and Kara picked it for its dark beautiful melodic lines”.
In the second round, Kris sang a contemporary song that is a left turn to his usual genre. He picked Kanye West’s “Heartless” and topped it off with guitar. Randy loved it to the point where he said that it was better than the original. Kara deemed his interpretation of the R&B song, “bold, brave and fearless.” Simon meanwhile gushed, “I had written you out of the competition. That all changed with that performance.”
Adam Lambert made quite an impression, once more, as he interpreted a song by U2, song chosen by Simon Cowell. Simon said it was one of his favorite songs and it took it a bit to clear it. He got a call from Bono saying it would be his pleasure for Adam to sing the song. And so he did. Randy was not 100% impressed to the point where Adam went off the original so much but still liked the performance. Kara said, “You’re a strategist you proved you can take a song, change it up and make it unbelievable.” Simon, making a joke, said that it was a brilliant song choice and said, “You worked out what you wanted to do with it, a brilliant brilliant performance, if you aren’t in the finals it will be one of the biggest upsets.” In the second round, Adam chose “Cryin’” by Aerosmith. Randy said, “You are one of the best we’ve ever had on the stage.” Kara said, “Amazing we’ll see you at the finals” while Paula rumbled on, “You set the bar so high I hope you are collecting frequent flyer.” Simon made it clear to America that Adam needs to be voted in order to go to the finals. He said, “I want everyone to vote for you base on the fact you deserve to be there, not to assume.”
And, indeed, the public voted for him. Ryan Seacrest pointed out that Adam and Kris’ vote counts were only one million votes apart. And yes, Danny Gokey has been eliminated!

source: people.com.

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 16th, 2009 at 2:52 pm and is filed under Americal Idol.