A Worthy Final Five OR The Shameless Pimping of Danny and Adam

I have to admit, I had an entire post from live blogging last night, but I was so damned irritated by last night's show that I decided not to post it. I re-read it, and I was unfair in portions and down right venemous in others . . . therefore, I decided to be a good social worker . . . take a step back . . . and re-group.

As a part of my re-grouping, I came into work this morning and reviewed the evening with Allison. I was relieved to find that she and I were on the same page about some of the performances and the structure of the show as a hole . . . whew, at least I haven't gonna astray from all of my fellow Idolers . . . What follows is a list of rankings with a few comments thrown in for good measure. :)

The first thought I had when watching last night's episode was, "Why can't we cut the damn filler stuff and get back to the singing." I missed not having two performances on top 5 night. They have managed to do it every other year . . . Ugh! The next thought I had was why are Kris and Allison first and second . . . Again . . . I swear, if you go back and look at all of the week's this year, those two have logged in WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY more time at the front end than anyone else. On the same note, how many times does Adam Lambert get to go last or next to last. Yes, I understand that it's a ratings ploy, but this is a competition and we all know that placement in the lineup plays quite a little role in voting. Wow, I feel better . . . just had to get that off of my chest.

Now, here are my rankings . . . get ready, cuz they could be considered somewhat blasphemous.

1. The Gokey - Last night's performance was the best I have seen from him since the Top 32. He managed to restrain the Gokey screech for a full 2/3 of the song. . . that way, by the time he went ape-shit with it at the end, it didn't feel like bamboo shoots underneath my finger nails. That being said, I do wish The Gokey could figure out that his voice is quite lovely and that it isn't ALWAYS necessary to go apeshit crazy.

2. Kris Allen - Here we go. . . I will agree that Kris sounded a bit overshadowed by the band at times . . . no doubt . . . however, y'all know I'm a vocal purist with this stuff . . . and week in and week out he is one of two contestants who I NEVER get nervous about because he always hits the notes. They may not be the strongest of notes, but I don't think this is a screaming contest. **Stepping down from soapbox** I thought he chose the perfect song for him, and performed it very solidly

3. Adam - Now, I know, blasphemous to take him out of the Top 2 . . . and before I say anything else, let me say that his vocals, as always, were spot on. He has an amazing range. That being said, I LOVE that song . . . it's a smooth, jazzy number, and, to me, it didn't need all of that extra flair. I could have lived with out the use of the Lambert Lungs. I was really looking forward to the number because I thought it would be reserved Adam . . . it was not. Again, not knocking him on the vocal, but on the self-indulgent stylistic choices he made.

Which brings up a point. The SHAMELESS pimping of Danny and Adam. Seriously, Simon Cowell is the king of calling people out on being self-indulgent . . . and that was perhaps one of THE MOST self indulgent numbers . . . and he didn't say anything . . . Really? . . . Seriously? I felt like there should have been a running scroll at the bottom of the screen that said . . . "Seriously Y'all, please don't bother voting for anyone else because this final is a lock . . .yo"

And back to the rankings . . .

4. Allison - I love this girl, and I really liked her performance last night. I thought she put a different twist on the song, and it did show a kinder, gentler rocker chick. The reason she winds up fourth for me is because her vocals aren't quite as spot on as the previous three. She had some problems clearly enunciating some of her phrases last night, and, at times, I thought she was a shade under or over the note. Otherwise, I loved her.

5. Matt - This, indeed, should have been Matt's night. . . and, to a certain extent, it was. He had some nice charisma on the stage and I was impressed with a lot of his vocals . . . however, Matt is one of the one's that I cross my fingers for when he sings because he occasionally strays from being in tune . . . pitchy if you will . . . last night was no exception. There were some off moments littered throughout what was, otherwise, a lovely performance.

I agree with Dr. L/K about Simon playing reverse psychology with certain contestants . . . however, it was hard to stomach hearing him tell Matt that he had charisma and confidence and gave an excellent performance. I don't know . . . I just don't know . . .

Josh's Bottom Two: Allison and Matt
America's Bottom Two: Allison and Matt

Eliminated: Matt

If all goes as it should tonight, we will have, in my opinion, the best 4 of the entire group as the Top 4 . . . that should make for a wonderful last three weeks. I just hope they will get to perform two songs next week . . . seriously, they used to get in 8 songs in an hour. Get it done Idol! **Stepping Back Off Soap Box**