For Mrs. Vandalay, it was a nightmare come true. She despises Rod Stewart like Red Sox fans despise the Yankees. Needless to say, I watched last night’s “American Idol” episode featuring Rod Stewart, alone.
But it wasn’t quite what I expected. The contestants didn’t sing Stewart’s hits or even his bad stuff (then again, those terms shouldn’t be mutually exclusive). Instead, like Stewart did on his latest album, they took on standards. And to the surprise of me, the judges, and probably all of America, the contestants really came alive last night. Well, most of them…..here is the recap:
THE GOOD
Chris Daughtry started things off with “What a Wonderful World,” and instead of trying to rock the song up, he stayed true to the melody and the mood, and it was a stunning rendition. The only thing that was weird was when he went to sit near the dude playing guitar on stage and almost looked like he was singing to the old guy. But Chris was still the man.
Paris Bennett sang “These Foolish Things” and, with her background in jazz, was totally in her element. But she still had to deliver a killer performance, and did just that. We all know Paris has good genes, but come on…..she’s really only 17? Wow. Simon said she was “terrific” and there’s not much more to say.
Taylor Hicks and Ryan Seacrest were yukking it up before he sang, about how “Saturday Night Live” was parodying Taylor the other night. But his performance of “You Send Me” was no joke……every week Taylor reminds us of why he’s still hanging around and is a serious threat to take home the big prize. It was a safe performance early, but as it went on and Taylor injected his personality…..let’s just say there is no stopping this gray haired wonder.
Katharine McPhee ended the night with a version of “Someone To Watch Over Me” and it was pretty frickin’ amazing. Simon said Katharine was in a different league compared to everyone else….I don’t know about that, but she sure as hell isn’t going to be in the bottom 3 this week.
THE IN-BETWEEN
Elliott Yamin was not mediocre, but a B-plus performance of “It Had To Be You” is not going to cut it at this stage of the competition. Simon hit it on the head…it was a good vocal, but lacked personality, at least compared to the others last night. Elliott, it might finally be time to go back to your day job of impersonating Abe Lincoln, or whatever it is that you do.
Ace Young was actually not bad for Ace Young last night. He cleaned up nicely, wearing a suit and slicking his hair back…..and Simon actually said his rendition of “That’s All” was “charming”……..the first real praise from Simon to Ace in weeks, but still it didn’t measure up to the four kickass performances last night.
THE BAD
As soon as I saw Kellie Pickler being coached by Rod Stewart, I thought of 2 things. One, Rod is probably wanting to throw her the Rod….and two, she’s not going to do very well tonight. I was right on at least one of those predictions…..Kellie sang “Bewitched” and to say it was pitchy would be kind to Kellie. She was just all over the place, and even claimed herself to have “butchered” the song.
It will be interesting to see how the voting turns out this week. Oh, and a word about voting….when Ryan Seacrest keeps telling America that they can’t complain about who gets kicked off if they don’t vote, I just want to jump through my TV and kick him in the nads…..dude, give it a rest…..every week like 40 million people vote, isn’t that enough for you? Or are 20 million of those you and Terri Hatcher hitting redial?
Based solely on performance, I think Kellie Pickler was the worst last night and should be going home…..however, she’s still way too cute, funny and generally talented enough for America not to give her another week or two. It’s probably going to be Elliott, because he’ s been near the bottom before and Simon’s comments about no personality may have cost him votes. I hope it’s Ace, because as far as I’m concerned he and Ryan Seacrest can both go take a long walk off a short pier.
Mrs. Vandalay will not witness Rod singing tonight, but she can forward through it later on TiVo.
Who will be going home? See you tomorrow for the results and commentary.
Vandalay, OUT.
