Last night the Top 8 on “American Idol” sang songs from the year in which they were born, which always is the week I feel very, very old. That was all confirmed when the “oldest” contestant this year, Danny Gokey, went first, and he was born in 1980. Nineteen Freaking Eighty. Not only do I remember that year clearly, I was in high school at that point. Yikes. Anyway, there is a lot to talk about, because I disagreed with the judges on a few occasions, and there were some stellar showings and some pretty horrible ones. Here we go….
THE GOOD
Danny Gokey went first and sang some dude Mickey’s version of the classic “Stand By Me,” and it was pretty good but not at all Danny’s best. Still, what this guy possesses that no one else does is an ability to crank things up during his performance that make him seem otherworldly. He has a gift, and he’s on his way to the Top 5, easily. Randy said he didn’t love the arrangement but loved the performance, Kara said Danny “made the song his own” and I wonder if we can STOP SAYING THAT! Paula said “wow” and that Danny opened the show on a high, and continued to babble the stuff her writer wrote for her to say, to which Simon said, “What the hell are you talking about?” Kudos, Simon. Simon said that overall it was a great performance.
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