'Idol' contestants belt out the tunes... and some talent
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Adam Lambert sings with his fellow former American Idol contestants at Mellon Arena Saturday night. -
Kris Allen, the season 8 winner of American Idol, performs during the American Idols concert Saturday night. -
Adam Lambert, left, and Kris Allen sing during the American Idols concert. -
Kris Allen, left, and Adam Lambert sing during the American Idols concert Saturday night. -
Kris Allen, the season 8 winner of American Idol
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For the 10 finalists on the road, "American Idols Live" is part victory lap, part audition to determine who's going to take their shot of fame past the 15-minute mark.
Last night at the Mellon Arena, one thing was clearly reinforced in front of the near sold-out crowd: Adam Lambert is star material.
If Elvis Presley and Edward Scissorhands could somehow have a child, it would look somewhat like this Idol runner-up who has already graced the cover of Rolling Stone and will have to come up with some absolutely abysmal songs to not top the charts when his album drops.
Lambert came out ninth in a swirl of fog to the power chords of "Whole Lotta Love," dressed like a leather-clad villain in "Terrordome." Then he backed up the glam-rock swagger with a beautifully supple voice that can hit the notes and take them to the next level.
Along with the Led Zep tune and a Bowie medley -- who ever would expect "Life on Mars" in such a mainstream show? -- Lambert did a dreamy version of Muse's "Starlight" and then sang Tears for Fears' "Mad World" like an angel. Although the crowd had its share of screaming little girls, it didn't stop Lambert from going NC-17 during "Whole Lotta Love" by putting the mike stand between his legs and doing a long slow stroke to freak out their moms.
How did winner Kris Allen follow that?
Just by being himself, which is a rock-solid Matchbox Twenty-style frontman in flannel shirt and jeans. What Allen lacked in flamboyance he made up for in the truer emotion he packed into his vocals with his fresh take on Kanye West's "Heartless" and the Killers' "All These Things That I've Done," recently subbed for the coronation song "No Boundaries." He also went from piano man on "Ain't No Sunshine" to lead guitarist at the end of "Bright Lights"
If Lambert and Allen get the right songs for their debut albums, they could be the best 1-2 tandem in Idol's history. Too bad we didn't get a sneak peek of that in last night's karaoke fest.
Now, for the others, in descending order of preference:
Matt Giraud: The dueling piano player, who went head-on with Scott MacIntyre on Billy Joel's "Tell Her About It," can really rock the keys, looks cool in a fedora and showed lots of charisma with convincingly bluesy versions of "Hard to Handle" and "Georgia on my Mind."
Tim Stewart: Who's Tim Stewart? Not an Idol, just the blazing guitarist who was nailing it all night, from Latin acoustic to heavy metal.
Lil Rounds: The only way to explain her coming in seventh is "Idol" audiences maybe being burned out on Beyonce types. She's going to have a hard time competing with other divas for songs, but Rounds showed pipes and soul to burn on Mary J. Blige and Alicia Keys songs.
Danny Gokey: The show's sentimental favorite brought great energy to the stage (how many Red Bulls did he have?) and tore it up on Rascal Flatts' "What Hurts the Most" and "My Wish." That was an improvement over Michael Jackson's "PYT," which he should avoid.
Allison Iraheta: The teen rocker did a decent Janis Joplin impersonation on "Cry Baby" and belted out "So What" and "Barracuda" with more blunt force than vocal range.
Anoop Desai: The Indian crooner is smooth -- too smooth for "Always on my Mind." An underdog on the show, Desai has surprising R&B chops, but no edge.
Scott MacIntyre: The visually impaired singer-pianist proved to be polished and pleasant, in a Bruce Hornsby kind of way, but Giraud beat him at his game.
Megan Joy: LA Ink Barbie met the challenge of Corrine Bailey Rae's offbeat neo-soul "Put Your Records On," then partway through Amy Winehouse's "Tears Dry On their Own" it started to seem like a bad mall act.
Michael Sarver: Sarver comes off too much like football player so he should put the Ne-Yo down and either grab a cowboy hat or grow out his hair and bang his head in a hardcore metal band.
They all mixed it up a few times, for better or worse. Rounds and Joy were a train wreck on "Can't Take My Eyes off of You." The bottom four boys were hot on the Four Seasons' "Beggin'," with a hip-hop cameo from Rounds. Three hours after Sarver, a grand finale a la "The Sopranos" of Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" sent people home with all the glitter and flash of the TV show.
First Published August 23, 2009 1:21 am
