Two things stood out about the opening Travis Tritt “T-R-O-U-B-L-E” number. First of all, did anyone realize before then that the men outnumbered the girls by almost 2 to 1?
America’s gunnin’ for a guy this year.
Secondly, looks like the producers finally got sick of teaching the choreography to Scott MacIntyre and just stuck him behind the piano. How many weeks can they get away with that?
I realized something else this week. While the Ford music videos are basically unnecessary (except to the Ford advertising department, of course), they do serve one important purpose. That is to see the Idols’ marketability potential. You know, how much star quality they’d have with the machine behind them: numerous takes, perfect makeup, the chance to lip-synch to already laid-down vocals.
Oh, and it showcases how good they are at important life skills, like driving and water balloon fights. (Just don’t give the wheel to Scott!)
Seacrest started off the night with the no-brainers: Danny Gokey and Lil Rounds were safe and will join the Top 10 Tour!
Anoop’s fate was questionable; America has betrayed him before. After what seemed like an eternity, Seacrest announced that he would be back to dazzle us next week.
The first upset of the night came when Seacrest announced back-to-back that both Allison Iraheta and Michael Sarver were in the bottom three. Of the 11, Sarver is the one with the least amount of star quality, so that was no big shocker. But despite lacking personality, Iraheta has more talent than most of her older peers.
All those “inspirational” songs must be earning MacIntyre points in Heaven, as he’ll be yucking it up on the Top 10 Tour as well. This one will really challenge the choreographers. Dancing piano, maybe?
Vote for the Worst is in full force this year. How else can you explain the fact that pretty Megan Joy (Corkrey) will be around for at least another week? If the judges use their “Save” on her, I just might have to stop watching.
Heartthrobs Matt Giraud and Kris Allen made the cut as well -- no surprise there. For the final unenviable bottom slot, it was between Alexis Grace and Adam Lambert. While Grace is a strong singer, her performance on Tuesday did not do her any favors, and she rounded out the bottom three. Lambert’s fans are so die-hard that their devotion should take him clear into the Top 3. No ... seriously.
Carrie Underwood and Randy Travis performed a duet of the classic Travis tune, “I Told You So.” Coincidentally, the same single is currently in heavy rotation on country radio. Weird, right? No. It’s called “synergy,” people.
Seacrest announced that Iraheta and Sarver were safe, leaving Grace’s fate up to the judges. In our first experience with the “Save,” Simon toyed with Alexis and said they were on the fence about her; could she please sing for her life? Alas, while it was 110 percent better than anything Megan Joy could offer up, it wasn’t good enough. I guess this puts the rumors about Grace being part of a shady predetermined Top 4 to rest.
The strong singers are being picked off one by one. Alexis Grace didn’t receive as many votes as Michael Sarver!? Is this some sort of hillbilly conspiracy?
This just goes to show how important relatability is at this stage. I mean, look at guest performer Brad Paisley. He sings songs about alcohol-induced blackouts (See: “Alcohol”) and checking his lover for ticks “out in the sticks” (See: “Ticks”).
Seriously, tell me you can’t relate to that!