American Idol Final 7

Contestants Perform Songs of the Cinema

On tonight’s American Idol on Fox, the contestants consulted with Quentin Tarantino to pick out songs from the big screen to perform.


Allison Iraheta started off the night singing Aerosmith’s “I Don't Want to Miss a Thing” which was featured in the Bruce Willis movie, Armageddon. With a very subdued beginning she took her time really getting into the mood that the story of the song sets and then towards the end she built up into a very big ending. I liked her version of the song and I think she’s going to be in the final two of the competition.


Next up was Anoop Desai singing Bryan Adam’s song “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You” from the Kevin Costner movie, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Once again he took the safe route by singing this ballad because that’s where he’s received the best feedback from the judges. There were a couple of sour notes, but for the most part he did a fine job, although he wasn’t as bold as Quentin Tarantino had coached him to be, I thought. Sure enough, he got the praise from the judges that he normally gets from ballads but I wasn’t as impressed. I thought it was kind of boring.


Adam Lambert came up next and sang a rocking electronic version of Steppenwolf’s “Born to be Wild” from the Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda movie, Easy Rider. There was plenty of energy in his performance and I liked his spin on the song, although I usually don’t care much for his screeching vocals. If he’s in the final two, I wouldn’t be surprised if the glam band Scissor Sisters performs with him that night because it seems like that will be the kind of music he's going to release. I’m not sure if I’ll be buying this performance this week. I prefer the original version of this song.


Usually when Matt Giraud picks his own songs, they end up not going over well with the judges. In this case, his choice of singing the Bryan Adams song, “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?” from the Johnny Depp movie, Don Juan DeMarco. I’ve always really liked this song with it’s Spanish-style guitar, but I also really enjoyed Matt’s version that featured piano as the lead instrument. Towards the end I thought his vocals got a little shaky, but all-in-all I thought it was a good choice for a song and a good interpretation of it.


Danny Gokey was next in line to sing a song from the cinema, sans glasses. He chose to sing Lionel Richie’s song “Endless Love” from the Brook Shields movie Endless Love. I was relieved to see him sing a song that didn’t erupt into a peppy pop song like he has done in recent weeks. There’s something that does not impress me with his vocals as much as during the audition weeks. In singing this song so much like the original I couldn’t help comparing his vocals to Lionel Richie and I have to say that I prefer Richie’s version. The harp was a nice touch, but I don’t think he’s the sure-thing to win anymore.


Kris Allen chose to sing a song that I wasn’t familiar with from a movie that I’d never heard of—Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova’s “Falling Slowly” from the movie Once. Without anything to compare it to I really liked the song as if it had been a Kris Allen original. I really like it when they pick obscure songs because then we get the chance to judge the performance for what they’re doing rather than comparing versions. This will probably be a song that I’ll buy this week.


Lil Rounds chose to sing Bette Midler’s song, “The Rose” from the movie, The Rose, which Bette Midler also starred in. For me, this was Lil’s best performance and will most likely justify her continued place in the competition. Finally, she sang a song in a style that wasn’t just a knock off of the original. I really liked it.

With the group winding down, it’s getting harder and harder to predict who will be in the final two and who will be eliminated next so I’ll just say who my favorites and least favorites are and just take it as it comes.

Personally, my favorites in this competition are Allison Iraheta, Matt Giraud and Kris Allen. All of them are singers that I would buy music from. My least favorite tonight was Anoop Desai and I think that he, Matt and Lil will most likely be in the bottom three tomorrow with Anoop being the one we say goodbye to.