American Idle

Taylor Hicks went on American Idol last night to promote his new album, The Distance, which is out in stores now.

But what alot of people don’t know about Hicks is he’s a pretty astute guy who knows a ton about the music business and does things on his own accord.

His new album is not only filled with meaningful songs, but also heartfelt, well-thought out lyrics that touch a chord with anyone who knows anything about music.

The reason that Hicks is still around when other Idols are failing is because of his tenacity and his intelligence. It isn’t like he fell into a pile of money, or just plain luck like some of the other Idols have.

He didn’t go the country route, either, which has also been a downfall to just about every other Idol except for Daughtry when going the rock route.

So here’s to Hicks, and we hope that he can continue to put out quality music like this, breaking the trend of other Idols and actually staying on the charts.

On American Idol Extra last night, Hicks talked about losing weight during his run as Teen Angel on the Broadway musical Grease. And he talked about staying in the game, all pretty cool stuff from a good guy.

The person who was saved by the judges is now history, as Matt Giraud was shown the door. Thanks, America. Yeah, Matt should have been in the bottom three but he isn’t the worst singer and entertainer of the five.

Honestly, I don’t know if America made the right choice, but this is the same America that voted the best singer in the entire competition, Adam Lambert, into the bottom three.

And then Lambert drifted into the bottom two, while somebody less worthy like Kris Allen (Sorry! It’s true!!) was safe.

What got me all riled up is that Allison Iraheta was among the first safe. WTF? Over Lambert? I know it was her birthday, but seriously?

You know, that tells me that some people aren’t voting the way they should be, for talent over other things. And the people not voting for Lambert know damn well what I mean by other things.

That’s the not-so-hidden secret of Americans…they do care about a person’s orientation, even in a singing competition. Sad, really, but true.

So now that Giraud is gone, it leaves us with four. And things got that much more complicated for anyone up against Lambert, because one thing is clear: he’ll be bringing it next week.

If I were the other singers I’d be really worried right now.

Adam closed out Rat Pack Theme Week strutting down a pink-lit staircase, bathed in white light. Dressed in a white suit again, Lambert went into a routine reminiscent of “Mad World,” his hit Idol song.

But then as only Lambert can do, he flipped the switch and went into something more cabaret and raunchy than anything we’ve seen on Idol.

The crowd went nuts, again, and wouldn’t stop for about one minute after the performance had ended.

Is he the odds-on favorite to win? You tell me, but he looked awfully good tonight. Whoever beats him had better eat ten bowls of Wheaties and win the so-called “Throat Olympics” because Lambert is the gold medalist.

Randy said it was a little too Broadway for him, but that he liked it. Kara called it “confusing, shocking and sleazy” but added that she too loved it.

Paula called him “our Michael Phelps” of the American Idol Olympics and Simon added “you want to win, you want to prove a point.” Uh, yeah, and that point is the guy is unbeatable.

Danny got a lot of advice from mentor Jamie Foxx, and one funny bit happened when Foxx got in Gokey’s face–as director Michael Mann once did with Foxx–and forced him to sing to his face.

Sounds like an acting class I once had. Anyway, Gokey pulled it off and did a nice job once he got on the stage, keeping with that time period instead of giving his own interpretation.

Was that safe? No, not at this stage in the show, but Gokey is obviously confident he will make it to the finale. We shall see.

Gokey did mix it up a little at the end there, as if he was playing with our emotions. That’s backfired on certain people before, though, and so it wasn’t a smart move to mess with us like that. We hold his fate in our hands.

Randy said “you are the only one who can have an album of songs like that and win.”

Kara said he “had that Rat Pack swagger tonight.” Paula said it was a “stellar, stellar performance.”

Simon said “you came out to prove a point” and praised the industriousness of Foxx and Rickey Minor’s arrangement.

Matt Giraud crooned “My Funny Valentine” and the arrangement was good, but the singing started out kind of sluggish, not the kind of thing you want if you’re Giraud at this stage of the competition.

Also, Matt usually does well with these songs, so I would attribute that performance to nerves, although he did loosen up a bit toward the end.

Randy said it was pitchy and added it didn’t come together tonite for Giraud. Kara said Matt wasn’t “emotionally committed” to his performance.

Paula gave her standard no-answer by saying she loved what he did with the song and Simon disagreed with all three. WTF?

Simon said he thought the performance was “absolutely brilliant.” Was he listening to the same song as us, or are the voices in his head talking again? The fact is, it might have been better than two other singers on this night.

Allison opened with the jazz classic “Someone To Watch Over Me,” which was good, but a little throaty for me.

I also couldn’t understand half of the lyrics, but I think she’ll make a lot of country records with that voice, as she continues to find out what kind of singer she is.

Randy said, “You come out looking like Brittany Murphy and like Pink with a hundred more octaves.”

Kara said “I aint nervous for you anymore, let me tell you.” She also called it a “gut-wrenching, emotional, way beyond your years” type of performance.

Paula said the song had an “innocent sensibility.” Simon asked her if she thought she could win this competition and she said she did.

Simon added he doesn’t believe she believes she can win, and he said she “could be in horrible trouble tonight.”

Kris started off the Rat Pack Theme Week with high praise from Jamie Foxx, this week’s mentor. Foxx said Allen isn’t in the “Throat Olympics” and that’s his thing.

Allen had a great performance, telling the story with good vocals and proved he’s a threat to win it all.

Kara said “you have set the technical standard so incredibly high.” Paula said he’s “made the transition from the boy-next-door to the ever-so-sophisticated gentleman.”

Simon referred to Allen as a “well trained Cocker spaniel.” And he added Allen doesn’t have what it takes to win the competition. For the record the other three judges didn’t agree.

It’s Rat Pack Theme Week on American Idol 8 and only five contestants remain. The odds-on favorite to go home is Matt Giraud, but I’m not so sure Giraud is the one going home this week.

Actually, I think it’s gonna be a shocker kind of week. With no judges’ save in play it could be whoever sings best will stay in the competition.

Whatever happens, one thing is certain: Matt Giraud absolutely has to be the best this week…or he’s going home. Period. End of conversation.

Shoo-ins:

Adam Lambert - Lambert is the odds-on favorite to win Idol 8, but a slip-up here, while it’s not likely he’d be eliminated, could be costly down the road. I would look for something by Sammy Davis Jr. from Lambert. But he’s so versatile, he might even pull off a unique version of something from Frank Sinatra.

Danny Gokey - Danny has enough singing chops to really pull off something special this week. I would look for a Dean Martin standard.

Matt Giraud - This week is perfectly suited to Matt and that’s why he might stay, as opposed to Kris Allen, who might struggle with songs you really have to sing. If it were only Rat Pack standards, I would think he’s singing something from Sammy.

In trouble:

Allison Iraheta - Allison can sing, but one thing about Rat Pack songs is that they’re entertaining. That mere fact puts her in immediate danger of being eliminated, because while she can sing, she is not a great entertainer. She will really need to bring it in order to stay.

Kris Allen - Allen may have already played his trump card and so I don’t know what else he has up his sleeve. Whatever it is, it will have to be top-notch, because Allen really doesn’t fit into any one category. The only thing he’s got going for him is his looks, and even that may not be enough to keep him around another week.

David Archuleta may be busy touring Europe with pop stars McFly, but he’s getting headlines back here in America, too.

He starred in Miley Cyrus’ hit Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel. And you can see a clip of the show, above.

It will premiere on Saturday, May 3. But this is a sneak peek of the video, which is about Miley going with Archuleta instead of the guy she was going out with originally.

Naturally, the guy isn’t as popular as David, but Miley asked David what he thought of it and he told her to do the right thing, which is probably what he would have said in real life.

Lessons learned for everyone, and honestly, it looks like the type of thing Archuleta would endorse in the first place.

The other thing is, it’s something Miley needs given her bad publicity lately. Maybe now Miley will start to hang with the Idols, huh? You never know. At any rate, it is good for the Idols and good for her.

Susan Boyle is an overnight sensation for her unbelievable voice. And now comes this footage from 20 years ago, with her singing in a pub.

Bet the patrons didn’t know she’d be famous someday, but it’s obvious, even in this dated video, that Boyle can sing.

She could make singing the newspaper sound interesting, even a front page murder article. That’s how bloody good she is.

And, it’s obvious that Idol has been making a mistake all these years thinking that kids are the only way people will buy records.

I’ll tell you what; if she ever comes out with a record I will be sprinting to whatever store is selling it, because voices like hers come around maybe once in a millenium.

And even in this video, you can tell she had the control that great singers have. That’s just the way it is. Now Idol needs to do something about it and raise the age limit, because if you can sing at 25 you can still sing at 45. Boyle proved everyone wrong.