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Danny Gokey – Performance Profile, American Idol 2009 Season 8

May 12, 2009 by vongsundara

Danny Gokey performs You Are So Beautiful (Joe Cocker), American Idol 2009 Season 8, Week 10 (May 12) Top 3: Judge’s Choice / Contestant’s Choice

Danny Gokey performs You Are So Beautiful (Joe Cocker), American Idol 2009 Season 8, Week 10 (May 12) Top 3: Judge's Choice / Contestant's Choice

Danny Gokey did a good job on this tender song. He even stretched his range at the higher end in a gentle way, which was nice to hear. Overall, it was pleasant, but it wasn’t enough to really capture me emotionally.

Good for Danny for deciding to sit down and not dance during this song. He looks much better on a chair. Danny took off the jacket from the first performance and put on a nice tie.

Review Score: ★★★☆☆

Danny Gokey performs Dance Little Sister (Terence Trent D’Arby), American Idol 2009 Season 8, Week 10 (May 12) Top 3: Judge’s Choice / Contestant’s Choice

Danny Gokey performs Dance Little Sister (Terence Trent D'Arby), American Idol 2009 Season 8, Week 10 (May 12) Top 3: Judge's Choice / Contestant's Choice

Interesting choice of song from Paula Abdul for Danny Gokey. I had never heard this song before, but I like the tempo, and it suited Danny’s voice well. I could have done without the scatting in the middle of the song, though, but that’s just a personal bias.

Danny Gokey’s awful mini-beard has come back again. It’s too bad, because his hair looked really nice and his wardrobe was great too. Danny’s performance was amateur as usual. He can sing, but he should stand still while singing until he has a chance to work on his presentation some more.

Review Score: ★★★☆☆

Danny Gokey performs Dream On (Aerosmith), American Idol 2009 Season 8, Week 9 (May 5) Top 4: Rock Music with mentor Slash

Damn, that was really embarrassing . . . and honestly quite painful to watch. What on Earth was Danny thinking? Danny Gokey’s upper register is limited, so going after an Aerosmith song that includes tons of screaming is not a good idea. The final note really was horrifying, and that’s not to say anything about the mess leading up to it.

Danny Gokey’s stage performance was just as awful as it always has been. I shouldn’t be too harsh, because he is definitely still an amateur and will come around with more experience. His outfit was nice, but the facial hair needs to be fixed in a hurry.

Review Score: ★☆☆☆☆

Danny Gokey performs Come Rain or Come Shine, American Idol 2009 Season 8, Week 8 (April 28) Top 5: Rat Pack Standards with mentor Jamie Foxx

I absolutely love this song, but I don’t love Danny Gokey’s version. Katharine McPhee absolutely blew away this song with her rendition, and Danny made me want to fall asleep. He slowed down the song a bit too much and added a lot of random “yeah yeah yeah” phrases in the song. The ending where he broke down the song worked a bit better, but I’m still not impressed with Danny’s limited upper range compared to similar singers like Michael MacDonald.

Danny Gokey actually looked cute for once. He cleaned up his horrible stubble from the past few weeks and also cleaned up his awkward performing from the past few weeks. Overall, a very convincing performance.

Review Score: ★★★☆☆

Danny Gokey performs September (Earth, Wind & Fire), American Idol 2009 Season 8, Week 7 (April 21) Top 7: Disco

Danny Gokey started off with shouting out his first note, and he never actually stopped. Danny really showed not much originality in the arrangement despite what the judges said. Danny’s voice sounded nice, but it definitely didn’t show much that was memorable. Most years, this might be enough, but if Danny is hoping to topple Adam Lambert, he’ll have to step up his performance skills.

Oh darn it, I can’t believe Danny Gokey came back with even worse stubble than last week. I was hoping that his awful facial hair would be a one-week blip, but I was tragically wrong. Danny’s stage performance was awkward as usual, though his clothes were actually kind of nice and simple.

Review Score: ★★★½☆

Danny Gokey performs Endless Love (Lionel Richie and Diana Ross) from Endless Love, American Idol 2009 Season 8, Week 6 (April 14) Top 7: Idol At The Movies (Quentin Tarantino, mentor)

Danny Gokey’s vocals are on their way down. He once again had little breath support, which seems to be a growing trend. Why would he take on a duet and try and make it work as a solo song, especially a Lionel Richie duet with Diana Ross? Danny tries his best at taking the song down a few keys but this song is still out of his range.

Danny Gokey’s look was absolutely horrendous. The pimp stubble absolutely did not work for him at all. Without his glasses, Danny’s eyes look kind of beady. His white attire was absolutely horrendous, perhaps the worst outfit since Allison Iraheta’s Don’t Speak outfit.

Review Score: ★★☆☆☆

Danny Gokey performs Stand by Me (Mickey Gilley), American Idol 2009 Season 8, Week 5 (April 7) Top 8: Year They Were Born

Nice vocal arrangement on a classic song. The opening allowed Danny Gokey to really show off his vocal ability while the second half allowed him to add some tempo and turn up the volume.

Danny Gokey’s suit and purple button-up were very cute. In fact, this is probably the best that Danny’s ever looked. His hair was cute and he chose a nice pair of glasses this week.

Review Score: ★★★★☆

Danny Gokey performs What Hurts the Most (Rascal Flatts), American Idol 2009 Season 8, Week 4 (March 31) Top 9: Popular iTunes Downloads

Danny Gokey chose a great song to sing this week. Rascall Flatts are great writers, but the lead singer’s voice often comes off as tinny and thin, leaving lots of room for interpretation. Danny did a great job of reinterpreting the song with his soulful voice.

Danny Gokey’s hair was more under control this week, but his choice of glasses was a little overdone. I’ll say this again, but I think that Danny changing his glasses every week comes off as a little strange and unrelatable to most fans. His suit and shirt, however, looked really good. Danny overall looked cuter than he usually does.

Review Score: ★★★★☆

Danny Gokey performs Get Ready (The Temptations), American Idol 2009 Season 8, Week 3 (March 25) Top 10: Motown (Smokey Robinson, mentor)

This was probably Danny Gokey’s best vocal performance to date. His voice really shone through in the uptempo melody of this song. Danny had a much easier time with the higher notes than he’s had in past week. I do think it was a huge mistake that Danny didn’t take Smokey’s advice of singing entire chorus himself. Getting rid of the backup singers would have allowed Danny to really shine through.

Danny Gokey’s stage performance, however, was absolutely miserable. His interaction with the backup singers and his weird gestures on stage were horrific. Danny’s hair was a little overdone and he needs to get his facial hair in check. David Cook from last year had the same issue and finally figured out a nice look for his facial hair. Danny has yet to really decide on what look he wants to project.

Review Score: ★★★☆☆

Danny Gokey performs Jesus, Take the Wheel (Carrie Underwood), American Idol 2009 Season 8, Week 2 (March 17) Top 11: Grand Ole Opry (Randy Travis, mentor)

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☆☆

Danny Gokey performs P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) (Michael Jackson), American Idol 2009 Season 8, Week 1 (March 10) Top 13: Michael Jackson

Danny Gokey does a really good job on “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing).” This is the first performance of Danny’s that has actually caught my attention all year (and no, I did not like his performance of Mariah Carey’s “Hero” last time). Danny stretches himself vocally and successfully delivers notes across a wide range with good tone and control.

Danny Gokey’s stage performance, however, wasn’t so great. Luckily his vocals were good enough that I barely noticed.

Danny Gokey definitely got a big boost from the stylists. Danny finally got rid of his horrible faux-hawk and now has some reasonably nice hair. His glasses match his purple button-up shirt, and both go well with his jeans and blazer. Unfortunately for Danny, he still doesn’t look good enough naturally to be a real star in the music industry unless he decides to front a rock band, where ugly lead singers are easily accepted by the mainstream.

Review Score: ★★★★☆

Danny Gokey performs Hero (Mariah Carey), American Idol 2009 Season 8, (February 17) Top 36 Group 1: Billboard Top 100 Hits

Danny Gokey takes on Mariah Carey’s famous anthem and ballad. He gives a capable performance, but I didn’t like that he avoided some of the higher notes by either grunting through or switching into falsetto. Danny has a gruff quality to his voice which can sometimes hide vocal shortcomings, which is what I think is happening right now. American Idol is notorious for loving performers who have strange vocal textures that become quite annoying when recorded across an entire album, case in point: Fantasia Barrino.

Danny’s appearance just bothers me for some reason. The way he ends the song pointing at the screen almost made me throw fall off my sofa. Maybe a makeover will help, but I just don’t see a real-world recording artist in Danny. Good luck to him, though I’d be really shocked if he won. I think he’s going to go down as one of those “surprise” eliminations that shock the judges and America at around the Top 5 show.

Review Score: ★★★☆☆

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Danny Gokey – Performance Profile, American Idol 2009 Season 8

Danny Gokey performs You Are So Beautiful (Joe Cocker), American Idol 2009 Season 8, Week 10 (May 12) Top 3: Judge’s Choice / Contestant’s Choice

Danny Gokey performs Dance Little Sister (Terence Trent D’Arby), American Idol 2009 Season 8, Week 10 (May 12) Top 3: Judge’s Choice / Contestant’s Choice

Danny Gokey performs Dream On (Aerosmith), American Idol 2009 Season 8, Week 9 (May 5) Top 4: Rock Music with mentor Slash

Danny Gokey performs Come Rain or Come Shine, American Idol 2009 Season 8, Week 8 (April 28) Top 5: Rat Pack Standards with mentor Jamie Foxx

Danny Gokey performs September (Earth, Wind & Fire), American Idol 2009 Season 8, Week 7 (April 21) Top 7: Disco

Danny Gokey performs Endless Love (Lionel Richie and Diana Ross) from Endless Love, American Idol 2009 Season 8, Week 6 (April 14) Top 7: Idol At The Movies (Quentin Tarantino, mentor)

Danny Gokey performs Stand by Me (Mickey Gilley), American Idol 2009 Season 8, Week 5 (April 7) Top 8: Year They Were Born

Danny Gokey performs What Hurts the Most (Rascal Flatts), American Idol 2009 Season 8, Week 4 (March 31) Top 9: Popular iTunes Downloads

Danny Gokey performs Get Ready (The Temptations), American Idol 2009 Season 8, Week 3 (March 25) Top 10: Motown (Smokey Robinson, mentor)

Danny Gokey performs Jesus, Take the Wheel (Carrie Underwood), American Idol 2009 Season 8, Week 2 (March 17) Top 11: Grand Ole Opry (Randy Travis, mentor)

Danny Gokey performs P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) (Michael Jackson), American Idol 2009 Season 8, Week 1 (March 10) Top 13: Michael Jackson

Danny Gokey performs Hero (Mariah Carey), American Idol 2009 Season 8, (February 17) Top 36 Group 1: Billboard Top 100 Hits

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