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Adam Lambert stuns Randy Travis with Ring of Fire Egyptian Remix, American Idol 8 Top 11

March 17, 2009 by vongsundara

Tonight is American Idol’s annual trek into the world of country music, this week’s theme being the Grand Ole Opry. I’m glad that the guest vocal coach is Randy Travis, as he has an incredible amount of credibility in the country music world.

The big story of the night is Adam Lambert’s bizarre but memorable take on Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire. He shocked me with his bold choice. I’m not sure what to make of it, which is a sign of good art I suppose. It’s always a good idea to change things up and deliver something unexpected; otherwise, people will get bored no matter how great your performances are.

Matt Giraud most definitely stole the night away with his mesmerizing performance to close the show.

I have to give big props to the stylists this week. Last week, I was upset that some obviously horrible hair and style choices were still around despite it being the first week that the stylists had access to the contestants. This week, all the horrible hair from last week was corrected: namely Scott MacIntyre and Lil Rounds looked a lot better.

The American Idol producers went a bit too far trying to push this week’s show to two hours. There are commercial breaks between every single performance with only one exception. That’s a little bit too much in my opinion. I can’t fault them, though, since it does bring in more advertiser dollars during a time of economic downturn. Still, I’m allowed to be annoyed.

Matt Giraud performs Carrie Underwood’s So Small

Matt Giraud, American Idol Season 8 Top 11, Grand Ole Opry

Matt Giraud’s crisp vocals rescued an otherwise boring night (well, other than Adam Lambert of course). The performance felt like it was coming from a professional, like I was at a concert. This was the best performance of the night.

Matt Giraud looks absolutely fantastic. Matt’s hair has cropped nicely and his suit looked great on him.

Review Score: ★★★★½

Adam Lambert performs Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire

Adam Lambert, American Idol Season 8 Top 11, Grand Ole Opry

Wow, what a bold choice. A middle-eastern inspired version of Ring of Fire. The high notes were fantastic as usual. The performance was a little bit over the top.

The performance was most definitely memorable, and I’ll give Adam some extra points for that alone. It didn’t blow me away compared to his previous performances, but he threw me for a loop which can be a good thing sometimes.

I’m going to rate Adam a four out of five, but I don’t think I’ll really be able to rate his performance until a few weeks once I’ve understood what exactly happened.

Review Score: ★★★★☆

Anoop performs Brenda Lee’s You Were Always on My Mind

Anoop Desai, American Idol Season 8 Top 11, Grand Ole Opry

A much better vocal performance by Anoop Desai this week. I liked some of the liberties Anoop took with the vocal arrangement tonight.

Anoop’s hair looked a lot better this week. The jacket and pants were nice as well, but the awful purple hoodie has got to go.

Review Score: ★★★½☆

Kris Allen performs Bob Dylan’s To Make You Feel My Love

Kris Allen, American Idol Season 8 Top 11, Grand Ole Opry

Kris Allen had a pretty good vocal performance. Kris’ voice sounded very pure. He is definitely making the most of his vocal ability. He doesn’t have the strongest vocals in the competition, but at least he’s showing off the purity of his voice.

I wasn’t buying Kris Allen’s outfit tonight. The black shirt was a little too simple. It doesn’t matter too much, though, because Kris is a natural-born hottie. The performance was definitely very memorable, and that’s saying a lot because I’ve never heard of this song before. I think the simplicity of the setup drew me in.

Review Score: ★★★½☆

Megan Joy Corkrey performs Patsy Cline’s Walkin’ After Midnight

Megan Joy Corkrey, American Idol Season 8 Top 11, Grand Ole Opry

Megan Joy Corkrey delivered some good vocals tonight, though I think she didn’t maximize her potential. I think this performance would have been spectacular if she wasn’t sick. The vocal arrangement was original and suited her voice well.

Awesome hair tonight. I also loved Megan’s sparkly eye makeup and smokey cheeks. I still can’t believe that none of the judges ever mention Megan’s horrible stage moves. Sure, it’s cute on television, but Megan’s going to have to polish some of those moves if she wants to get taken seriously as a professional singer.

Review Score: ★★★½☆

Alexis Grace performs Dolly Parton’s Jolene

Alexis Grace, American Idol Season 8 Top 11, Grand Ole Opry

Alexis Grace sounded like she had a lack of breath control to open the song, but I really thought that Alexis brought a nice delicacy to her vocals. She told the story very well.

Alexis Grace has done a great job of changing up her hair and look in subtle ways week after week. Her little black dress looked great paired with her dangling earrings.

Review Score: ★★★½☆

Lil Rounds performs Martina McBride’s Independence Day

Lil Rounds, American Idol Season 8 Top 11, Grand Ole Opry

Lil Rounds had a good performance vocally. The opening verses were a little boring, but Lil did a great job on the chorus. She would have been smart to get to the chorus a little earlier as Paula advised.

Lil Rounds finally got rid of her awful hair! I really liked her look tonight. Other than the dress being a bit over the top and not country enough, I thought her hair and makeup were a huge improvement over previous weeks.

Review Score: ★★★☆☆

Scott MacIntyre performs Martina McBride’s Wild Angels

Scott MacIntyre, American Idol Season 8 Top 11, Grand Ole Opry

This was definitely Scott MacIntyre’s best vocal performance so far. I have never been a big fan of his (and I’m still not), but at least his voice didn’t crash and burn on his high notes like in the last couple of shows. He didn’t wow me, but he made the most of his vocal abilities.

Scott MacIntyre’s hair is a lot better than weeks past. I still think Scott should have his hair cut, but it’s definitely looking cuter than before. Scott’s leather jacket and overall outfit also work really well.

Review Score: ★★★☆☆

Allison Iraheta performs Patty Loveless’ Blame It on Your Heart

Allison Iraheta, American Idol Season 8 Top 11, Grand Ole Opry

It’s strange hearing Allison Iraheta singing a hardcore country song. I thought she would take a fringe country song and make it rock. Instead, she’s singing this song straight up. Overall, I didn’t really quite get it. The vocals and performance weren’t bad, but it wasn’t memorable either.

Allison’s hair looks good with the flower in it and the matching red leather jacket. The dress under the leather jacket also looked good.

Review Score: ★★½☆☆

Danny Gokey performs Carrie Underwood’s Jesus Take the Wheel

Danny Gokey, American Idol Season 8 Top 11, Grand Ole Opry

Danny’s song choice was bold, but he did not deliver vocally. The verses were incredibly boring and the chorus was off key at the beginning and the end. I think Danny should have stayed in his upper range a bit more, though he hasn’t shown that he has the control to do that. If the song was moved up a key or two, I think it would have been a blow-out performance. Unfortunately, I’m not sure whether Danny has the ability to consistently stay in that range for an entire song.

Danny Gokey’s faux hawk is definitely gone for good, which is great. I’m not sure I like that Danny changes his glasses every week. It comes off as a little bizarre and unapproachable to most people, well at least those who notice. I do think it distances himself for the audience and is unnecessary. Danny’s white jacket was absolutely hideous. I thought it looked like a straight jacket, seriously.

Review Score: ★★½☆☆

Michael Sarver performs Garth Brooks’ Ain’t Goin’ Down Till the Sun Comes Up

Michael Sarver, American Idol Season 8 Top 11, Grand Ole Opry

What a strange song choice for Michael Sarver. He’s doing a good job with all the lyrics. It doesn’t really show vocal ability, though. I guess he decided to have a fun performance tonight. Overall, not bad at all.

His outfit isn’t bad at all. I like that his collar is turned up on the neutral blazer. I didn’t really like the annoying harmonica player sitting up front; he got way too much attention.

Review Score: ★★☆☆☆

Live Micro-Blogging Transcript

# Oops, the transcripts from the first two performance got deleted. Oh well . . .
# Here comes Kris Allen. I’ve never heard of this song before.
# That’s strange, Kris went without the guitar tonight. His vocals sound very pure.
# I’m not sold on the outfit. The black shirt is a little too simple.
# Ooh, Kris Allen just hit a nice falsetto note. I’m glad he’s showing his range.
# That ending note wasn’t bad, but it could have been a little less shaky. Overall, not a bad job at all Kris.
# Oh great, here comes Lil Rounds. She’s not exactly my favourite contestant, but I must admit that she surprised me a lot last week.
# Awesome, Lil Rounds’ hair is a lot better tonight. Her red dress is a bit overdone and doesn’t look country at all. Lil Rounds’ makeup and jewellery look really great, though.
# What a boring song during the verses. The chorus is definitely more interesting.
# Overall a very good vocal. The verses were boring but the chorus showed Lil’s strength.
# Wow, Randy Jackson’s being a bit harsh. Paula and Kara liked the performance a lot more. Damn, it’s the first time Simon is being hard on Lil.
# Why is Lil arguing with the judges? That’s always the death sentence for contestants.
# Awesome, Adam Lambert is up next. I can’t wait to hear what Adam has in store for us. I ranked his performances the last couple of weeks as the best of show. Let’s see if he can make it three weeks in a row.
# Ooh, Adam is showing some heavy cleavage tonight. I’m not sure I’m loving that too much.
# What kind of version is this? Wow, middle-Eastern arrangement. Haha at Randy Travis’ reaction to Adam Lambert.
# Adam’s jacket is definitely interesting.
# I’m not sure what to think of this arrangement. It’s definitely unique, I’ll give him that. The high notes are ridiculously awesome as usual.
# Damn, I’m still laughing. I don’t know if I can properly rate Adam’s performance.
# What? Yet another Martina McBride song? It sounds like Randy Travis wasn’t too impressed with Scott.
# Good, Scott’s hair has been patted down compared to the last few weeks.
# Scott is not able to hold his notes very well, especially when he’s stretching his high register.
# Snore, I’m totally bored. Oh wait, at least the chorus is a bit more uptempo. His falsetto note is definitely better than it has been in the past.
# Alexis Grace has done a great job in changing up her hair in subtle ways from week to week.
# Wow, lots of hype for Alexis Grace from Randy Travis. I have never heard of this song before.
# Nice earrings and dress. Alexis definitely has the best image transformation since her first audition.
# Wow, Danny Gokey is going to take on Carrie Underwood’s Jesus Take The Wheel. I love that song.
# It looks like his faux hawk is gone for good. Thank goodness.
# That white jacket is horrible. I’m not sure whether changing his glasses every week is a good idea.
# For such a bold choice, I’m super bored during the verses. The opening to the chorus was off by at least a key or two too low. The middle of the chorus was good, but this song did not impress me much.
# Anoop Desai will hopefully come back with a good performance this week.
# Anoop’s hair looks really good this week. The purple hoodie needs to go away, though.
# Not a bad vocal performance at all by Anoop. A little boring but solid nonetheless.
# Megan Joy Corkrey is up next. Let’s see whether she can do a good job after last week’s disaster.
# I love Megan’s hair tonight. The dress makes her look fatter than she actually is.
# Oh wow, Matt Giraud gets to finish the night. What a great prime spot for him. He tied for my favourite performance last week, so I’m looking forward to see what he does.
# Wow, Carrie Underwood and Martina McBride are being well represented tonight.
# Matt is sounding really nice tonight, great tone to his voice.
# Wow, this sounds like a real performance by a professional artist.

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865One Response2009-03-18+01%3A56%3A38vongsundara to “Adam Lambert stuns Randy Travis with Ring of Fire Egyptian Remix, American Idol 8 Top 11”

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Adam Lambert stuns Randy Travis with Ring of Fire Egyptian Remix, American Idol 8 Top 11

Matt Giraud performs Carrie Underwood’s So Small

Adam Lambert performs Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire

Anoop performs Brenda Lee’s You Were Always on My Mind

Kris Allen performs Bob Dylan’s To Make You Feel My Love

Megan Joy Corkrey performs Patsy Cline’s Walkin’ After Midnight

Alexis Grace performs Dolly Parton’s Jolene

Lil Rounds performs Martina McBride’s Independence Day

Scott MacIntyre performs Martina McBride’s Wild Angels

Allison Iraheta performs Patty Loveless’ Blame It on Your Heart

Danny Gokey performs Carrie Underwood’s Jesus Take the Wheel

Michael Sarver performs Garth Brooks’ Ain’t Goin’ Down Till the Sun Comes Up

Live Micro-Blogging Transcript

Join The Discussion On The Comments and Message Board

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