American Idol - Season 8 (2 Viewers)

[Phil_L]

According to Wikipedia (which certainly is faultless) this is the first time Adam has performed last in the finals. Is that true? I know he performed last one night in the semi-finals.

Whenever and wherever he performs, he knocks me out. My partner is a professional, classically trained opera singer, so I pretend to know a thing or two about good singers (but really just rely on his opinion and co-opt it ). That said, I think Adam is fantastic, especially when he shows restraint as he did this week. I'd like to see an Adam/Allison final.

People seem to like to make some obvious and offensive jokes about him, calling him "Liza" etc. This irks me but I guess it's because there isn't much negative criticism one can lodge about his vocals.

 

[Quentin]

I'm surprised at all the Adam hate here.

Hey, I'm the one who first called him "Ethel Merman". I do think he's over-the-top theatricality most of the time. I think he hits the high notes for attention rather than effect, and frankly I think he'd make a better female impersonator doing 'Cabaret' on Broadway than as a pop star.

But, he's also very good. That was not 'shrill' by any definition of the word. And, IMO, it was possibly the smartest song choice I've ever seen ANYONE make in the history of the show.

First of all, "Mad World" is one of my all-time favorite '80's songs. So, I'm biased. But, it is a great, great, moody song.

Second, it is a big-time 'emo' anthem. He sang it with the appropriate amount of angst combined with some theatricality. I guarantee millions of Twilight-reading, twittering, tweenie/teen girls ate that performance up. And, he's smart enough to be the only 'emo' contestant on the show this year. Those teen girls may or may not realize he's gay. But, they don't care either way.

Third, it is a song about isolation and being outcast. So, it's really a perfect song with an underlying message about his homosexuality. I thought it hit the perfect note on that level.

And, last - while I dread the inevitable moment that he will pull out the big high notes, I immediately noticed that I am in the minority. As soon as he pulled the song out of its normal range all the girls in the audience screamed. Not only do they love it, they're WAITING for it. ANTICIPATING it.

It was a tour de force performance on multiple levels. Simon's standing-O was icing on the cake. I think he's a shoe-in for the winner. It's not even a contest any more. If you don't buy that - consider this: MILLIONS of homes lost his performance on TIVO because the show ran late. Yet, he's still the top vote getter by a mile.

 

[OliverT]

The range of notes he has hit so far this season are C3->A5/B5 (ignoring "head voice" notes) which places him as a pretty rare countertenor. He doesn't have to try to be it...technically speaking he is it. Not sure about playing Christine as that requires a soprano. Freddy Mercury had a similar range although he could go slightly deeper than we've seen adam go.

 

[Quentin]

I've said it before, I'll say it again: I've seen Freddie Mercury, and Adam is no Freddie. Freddie could go deeper, more soulful, stronger, and richer. Adam is much thinner. I still say he's closer to a Sebastian Bach.

Hanson is right - Adam is great, but Allison has the best voice in this competition. I look forward to her future. Unfortunately, at this time she does not have the presence, confidence, charisma, or theatricality of Adam. She's 16 - she still needs to figure herself out.

Oh...and, Hanson - those Scott photos are LOL hilarious!

 

[Hanson]

How the f*ck did I miss that? Was this throughout the program or was it especially noticable during one performance? I must know.

 

[Phil Taylor]

For those who missed it due to the show running long - here's Adam --
YouTube - Adam Lambert - Mad World (HQ VID)- American Idol Top 8

Adam's "inspiration" version by Gary Jules --
YouTube - Gary Jules - Mad World (live)

And for contrast the early 80's original from Tears for Fears - WOW - LOL ---
YouTube - HQ - Tears for Fears - Mad World - Top of the Pops 1982

Adam improved on both versions IMHO.

 

[Greg_S_H]

Why is that a LOL? Because it's different? Is Derek and the Dominos' Layla laughable because EC later slowed it down?

 

[Phil Taylor]

The hairstyles - the dated techno nature|posing - the "wireless" "mic" - the audience with tin hats ROFLMAO! And I was a part of that era.

TfF/AL vs. EC/D&tD = apples and oranges... sheesh! If ya can't see any humor in the TfF version ... oh nevermind ...

 

[Scott-S]

Hanson;

I don't agree that race should play any part in deciding who will be in the top 36. It should be based on the best singers.

You also seem to be saying that less people will watch Idol if there is no diversity. I hope that is not true.

I will say (hypocritically) that I am sorry that this year has no eye candy left. I much prefer female singers and although Allison is a great singer, she is too young for me to see her as eye candy.

 

[Hanson]

Not around my parts (NY/NJ area)

The only reason I even know Mickey Gilley's name is because of the namesake bars with the mechanical bulls that were the feature attractions.

Picking a cover version that satisfies a minor condition of the theme night is always frowned upon by me, but I usually understand that there are limited songs, and sometimes you take what you can get. But Gokey had the 1980 song list to himself! That's what he chose?

He probably took it because he's sung it a million times at his church.

 

[Josh Dial]

The Gary Jules version of "Mad World" was also featured quite prominently in the commercial for the video game "Gears of War." I don't think you could go an entire episode of any show (if you don't FF through the commercials) without seeing the ad.

I found the Jules version to be haunting (in a good way), while Adam's version was *almost* there, but ultimately left me feeling creeped out (though I suspect the lighting had something to do with this).

 

[Hanson]

Well, how else are the producers going to realize they've f*cked up? It's really the only wake-up call anyone in broadcast TV listens to.

On a different note, I still like the Jules version of Mad World more because a) it's the one I first heard (and Danny Darko is one of my faves), and b) like Josh said, it's more haunting, but precisely because it sounds creepier.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Paula's lipstick was messed up probably during the last 10-15 minutes before the hour was up (not the run-over 6-7 minutes that I didn't see due to my DVR stopping at 61 minutes).

 

[Phil Taylor]

Anybody notice Paula cozying up with Simon during during the wide shots of "Part-Time Lover"? Those two surely are doing it part-time - no doubt.

 

[Hanson]

I'll be on the lookout.

I always record for two hours anyway, so I've never gotten Idol cut off EXCEPT for the Season 6 finale that ran over so long that my 6 minute padding was inadequate. So last year, I upped it to 30 minutes.

When the wildcard show ran overlong, my friend called me frantically to see if I still had it because his DVR cut off. All my recordings are via HDHomerun and handled by Windows Scheduler, so I patted myself on the back for having a non-DVR system (even though it was really only because I was recording Hell's Kitchen anyway). Then I watched in horror as Hell's Kitchen cut off before Ramsey sent someone packing.

I never did get to see Colleen's shocking boot.

 

[Chris Lockwood]

That explains why Adam got no chat and only one judge commenting on him.

 

[Chris Lockwood]

Not sure where you were back then, but Mickey Gilley's version was not "little known" - it was a big hit from Urban Cowboy. Not that you ever let facts get in the way.

 

[OliverT]

I've always been a big fan of the Jules version (in fact its the only reason I keep a copy of the Gears of War promo on my 360 ;p). However, Adam's version was even better. Why? While Jules kept an even melancholy, haunting tone throughout his version, adam took took those same qualities and vocally nuanced it with deeper levels of despair, loneliness, desperation and angst at very appropriate points within the song. And, he did all that for a live performance that he had like 5 days to prepare for (not a slicked-up, editted production). Amazing.

I still also slightly prefer adam's RoF but I've only downloaded 4 AI songs total from itunes and adam now has three of them (DC's Billie Jean being the other).

 

[Malcolm R]

A little before my time probably, and I've never watched Urban Cowboy, but I never knew Mickey Gilley had covered that song until reading this thread.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Sorry, Oliver -- Adam's sexuality doesn't matter to me and I don't think it's inherently funny. I was just using it (the perception of it, anyway) as part of the joke. No offense intended.

The artistic comparison to Melinda was meant to be silly. IMO they're probably the two most talented contestants ever to be on the show, but beyond that there are no noticeable similarities (thus my attempt at humor).