Summary
"American Idol" - Top Three Performance Show - May 12, 2009
Theme: Judges' Choice/Personal Choice
In the audience: "Lie to Me" co-star Kelli Williams; Jillian Barberie; Nigel Lythgoe;
Contestant #1: Danny Gokey
Song: "Dance Little Sister," Terence Trent D'arby (Paula picked it because Danny has a similar magical quality to his voice.)
Performance: It's a funky uptempo soul number that pushes Danny's voice to the limit. Danny does a call and response scat with the sax player. It's animated and rocking. It's fine.
Randy: Says let the games begin, liked it, thought it was dope.
Kara: Liked that Paula kept him in his money spot but she didn't like the gyrating dance moves.
Paula: As a choreographer thinks he did really good and is glad he let the magic part of his voice come out.
Simon: Reminds them it's a singing show not that "funny little dancing show next door." He agrees the dancing was "desperate" but that vocally it was very good but didn't like the sax solo. He thought it TTD was a good choice but wished Paula had picked a better song like "Sign Your Name."
Contestant #2: Kris Allen
Song: "Apologize," OneRepublic (Chosen by Kara and Randy who chose it for its big range and dark melodic line.)
Performance: Kris sits at the piano and starts off softly vocally against a big rhythm track. He hits the falsetto of the chorus without a problem, the arrangement is threatening to overwhelm him though. It's gentle, then emphatic, then gentle -- his specialty.
Randy: Thinks he could have a song like this in the future and thinks it was nice.
Kara: Thinks it was a really competent performance but at this stage he needs to be swinging it out of the park. She wanted him to make it more his own and hopes he does that with his next song.
Paula: Liked the song choice, is proud of him even though he hit a loud bum note.
Simon: Wonders how Paula can say he hit a bum note and then is proud, this doesn't make sense to him. And he takes Kara to task for choosing a song for Kris and then blaming him for singing it as is. She fires back that he's got no business talking to her about interpreting songs since he's never interpreted a song in his life. Simon goes on to say it was a competent version of the original but not quite as good. He says Randy and Kara should've worked out the arrangement, which is what he did for Adam apparently. Not much advice for Kris but plenty of criticism for Randy and Kara.
Contestant #3: Adam Lambert
Song: "One," U2 (Simon's choice since it's one of his favorite songs in the world, he got a call from Bono saying it would be their pleasure to have Adam sing it. Show off.)
Performance: Adam starts it as a gentle, slightly quivery piano and voice ballad. It starts to build when he skips to the bridge and quickly goes into full-blown diva mode. As usual it is totally vocally impressive and unnecessarily overwrought.
Randy: Thinks he's still in the zone and is very hot, didn't love that he went off the melody a bit but ultimately he's very talented.
Kara: Thinks he's an amazing strategist and loved that he changed up the melody and instrumentation.
Paula: Her life is miserable because Simon is gloating but thought it was brilliant and that she's staring at the "American Idol."
Simon: Although he admits it's biased he calls it a great song choice. Kidding aside you put together great artist, great song, and a great arrangement and you get a great performance. He says if Adam's not in the final next week it will be one of the biggest upsets ever.
Video Package:Ryan gives us an "Idol Gives Back" update. They've raised $140 million dollars. And we see a clip of Carrie Underwood going to Angola to work on the fight against malaria.
Contestant #1-Song 2: Danny Gokey
Song:"You Are So Beautiful," Joe Cocker. He picked it because it gave him some good ideas arrangement-wise.
Performance: He starts off gently, sitting on a stool with musicians - acoustic guitar and strings- grouped around him. It's very tender and quiet. The band slowly comes in on the second verse and he starts to push it vocally, testifying gospel-style a bit and going intense with the melisma and long-notes. It's probably his best pure vocal to date.
Randy: Gives a shout out to the late great Billy Preston who wrote the song tells Danny he's here because he can really, really sing and he loves his mad vocals.
Kara: Says everything he didn't do in the first performance, he just did and thought it was stunning.
Paula: Says he left all of them breathless and he infused his own thing into it.
Simon: Loved the song but not the arrangement but thought it was a vocal master class.
Contestant #2-Song 2:Kris Allen
Song: "Heartless," Kanye West. Kris says it was an easy choice and it's fun.
Performance: He does it with just voice and acoustic guitar and puts a little more emotional quiver into it. He puts a nice melodic structure on Kanye's rapped verses and a little more funk than he would normally show into the other bits. And, bonus, no Auto-Tune. Nice. Kanye will no doubt love it.
Randy: Says this is going to be one of the toughest voting nights of the whole year, he likes it better than the Fray's version and Kanye's version. Thinks he's in it to win it and loves it.
Kara: Wonders why he didn't do that with "Apologize." Calls it bold, brave, fearless, and perfect
Paula: She calls him brave for singing a song about Simon. She says this keeps him relevant and gives him a "Bravo!"
Simon: Had written him off after the first lame song choice and that has all changed after that performance.
Contestant #3- Song 2:Adam Lambert
Song: "Cryin'," Aerosmith. He picked it because it's brilliant as is and he wants to do Steven Tyler proud.
Performance: He does it pretty straight as promised, the back-up singers are a little too loud. It's confident, assured, and dramatic. It's actually not his most amazing performance ever but reliably good.
Randy: Says he's one of the best they've ever had on this stage. He thinks he should be a rock star because that's who he is.
Kara: She wonders how he hits those notes and talk the next day. (He says it's tough). She says we'll see you at the finals.
Paula: Says if Steven Tyler was the mentor he wouldn't have anything to say. He sets the bar so high she hopes he's getting frequent flyer miles. She also says see you next week.
Simon: Wants people to vote for him because he's earned it, not assume he's going to get in.
Directed : Unknown
Written : Unknown
Stars : Simon Cowell Mark Thompson Ryan Seacrest Randy Jackson
Genres : Music Documentary Game-Show Reality-TV
Release date : May 11, 2009
Countries of origin : United States
Official sites : ABC American Idol
Language : English
Filming locations : Dolby Theatre, Hollywood, California, USA
Production companies : Fremantle FremantleMedia 19 Television
Summary
"American Idol" - Top Three Performance Show - May 12, 2009
Theme: Judges' Choice/Personal Choice
In the audience: "Lie to Me" co-star Kelli Williams; Jillian Barberie; Nigel Lythgoe;
Contestant #1: Danny Gokey
Song: "Dance Little Sister," Terence Trent D'arby (Paula picked it because Danny has a similar magical quality to his voice.)
Performance: It's a funky uptempo soul number that pushes Danny's voice to the limit. Danny does a call and response scat with the sax player. It's animated and rocking. It's fine.
Randy: Says let the games begin, liked it, thought it was dope.
Kara: Liked that Paula kept him in his money spot but she didn't like the gyrating dance moves.
Paula: As a choreographer thinks he did really good and is glad he let the magic part of his voice come out.
Simon: Reminds them it's a singing show not that "funny little dancing show next door." He agrees the dancing was "desperate" but that vocally it was very good but didn't like the sax solo. He thought it TTD was a good choice but wished Paula had picked a better song like "Sign Your Name."
Contestant #2: Kris Allen
Song: "Apologize," OneRepublic (Chosen by Kara and Randy who chose it for its big range and dark melodic line.)
Performance: Kris sits at the piano and starts off softly vocally against a big rhythm track. He hits the falsetto of the chorus without a problem, the arrangement is threatening to overwhelm him though. It's gentle, then emphatic, then gentle -- his specialty.
Randy: Thinks he could have a song like this in the future and thinks it was nice.
Kara: Thinks it was a really competent performance but at this stage he needs to be swinging it out of the park. She wanted him to make it more his own and hopes he does that with his next song.
Paula: Liked the song choice, is proud of him even though he hit a loud bum note.
Simon: Wonders how Paula can say he hit a bum note and then is proud, this doesn't make sense to him. And he takes Kara to task for choosing a song for Kris and then blaming him for singing it as is. She fires back that he's got no business talking to her about interpreting songs since he's never interpreted a song in his life. Simon goes on to say it was a competent version of the original but not quite as good. He says Randy and Kara should've worked out the arrangement, which is what he did for Adam apparently. Not much advice for Kris but plenty of criticism for Randy and Kara.
Contestant #3: Adam Lambert
Song: "One," U2 (Simon's choice since it's one of his favorite songs in the world, he got a call from Bono saying it would be their pleasure to have Adam sing it. Show off.)
Performance: Adam starts it as a gentle, slightly quivery piano and voice ballad. It starts to build when he skips to the bridge and quickly goes into full-blown diva mode. As usual it is totally vocally impressive and unnecessarily overwrought.
Randy: Thinks he's still in the zone and is very hot, didn't love that he went off the melody a bit but ultimately he's very talented.
Kara: Thinks he's an amazing strategist and loved that he changed up the melody and instrumentation.
Paula: Her life is miserable because Simon is gloating but thought it was brilliant and that she's staring at the "American Idol."
Simon: Although he admits it's biased he calls it a great song choice. Kidding aside you put together great artist, great song, and a great arrangement and you get a great performance. He says if Adam's not in the final next week it will be one of the biggest upsets ever.
Video Package:Ryan gives us an "Idol Gives Back" update. They've raised $140 million dollars. And we see a clip of Carrie Underwood going to Angola to work on the fight against malaria.
Contestant #1-Song 2: Danny Gokey
Song:"You Are So Beautiful," Joe Cocker. He picked it because it gave him some good ideas arrangement-wise.
Performance: He starts off gently, sitting on a stool with musicians - acoustic guitar and strings- grouped around him. It's very tender and quiet. The band slowly comes in on the second verse and he starts to push it vocally, testifying gospel-style a bit and going intense with the melisma and long-notes. It's probably his best pure vocal to date.
Randy: Gives a shout out to the late great Billy Preston who wrote the song tells Danny he's here because he can really, really sing and he loves his mad vocals.
Kara: Says everything he didn't do in the first performance, he just did and thought it was stunning.
Paula: Says he left all of them breathless and he infused his own thing into it.
Simon: Loved the song but not the arrangement but thought it was a vocal master class.
Contestant #2-Song 2:Kris Allen
Song: "Heartless," Kanye West. Kris says it was an easy choice and it's fun.
Performance: He does it with just voice and acoustic guitar and puts a little more emotional quiver into it. He puts a nice melodic structure on Kanye's rapped verses and a little more funk than he would normally show into the other bits. And, bonus, no Auto-Tune. Nice. Kanye will no doubt love it.
Randy: Says this is going to be one of the toughest voting nights of the whole year, he likes it better than the Fray's version and Kanye's version. Thinks he's in it to win it and loves it.
Kara: Wonders why he didn't do that with "Apologize." Calls it bold, brave, fearless, and perfect
Paula: She calls him brave for singing a song about Simon. She says this keeps him relevant and gives him a "Bravo!"
Simon: Had written him off after the first lame song choice and that has all changed after that performance.
Contestant #3- Song 2:Adam Lambert
Song: "Cryin'," Aerosmith. He picked it because it's brilliant as is and he wants to do Steven Tyler proud.
Performance: He does it pretty straight as promised, the back-up singers are a little too loud. It's confident, assured, and dramatic. It's actually not his most amazing performance ever but reliably good.
Randy: Says he's one of the best they've ever had on this stage. He thinks he should be a rock star because that's who he is.
Kara: She wonders how he hits those notes and talk the next day. (He says it's tough). She says we'll see you at the finals.
Paula: Says if Steven Tyler was the mentor he wouldn't have anything to say. He sets the bar so high she hopes he's getting frequent flyer miles. She also says see you next week.
Simon: Wants people to vote for him because he's earned it, not assume he's going to get in.
Genres : Music Documentary Game-Show Reality-TV
Release date : May 11, 2009
Countries of origin : United States
Official sites : ABC American Idol
Language : English
Filming locations : Dolby Theatre, Hollywood, California, USA
Production companies : Fremantle FremantleMedia 19 Television
