Top 7: Redux

Seven shall enter...two shall get booted.

I'm two weeks away from opening a show, so I had very little time to catch up on the show last night and process it all.


LIL - If ever a contestant has thrown in the towel, it's Lil. I really think she's just confused to the point that she is not having any fun. At all. I don't care how many times she tells us she's having fun...she's not. The good news is, she'll be going home this week and hopefully some time at home might reset her self-image - lord knows, those judges did a mind-fuck on her - and she'll be kicking ass not long from now when she goes on the AI tour of mediocrity.

KRIS - This is your dark horse, people. Each week, he seems to up his game a wee bit. After last week's version of Falling Slowly (which wasn't perfect, but had moments) and this rendering of my least favorite Donna Summer classic (I have a cassette of DS in my car as I write this, so yeah, I'm a fan)...it all adds up to Kris heading towards the final four for sure, and this week, he totally made a play for Top 3.

Paula deserves a smack in the jaw for taking his moment and turning it into a circus with Simon and her talk of underpants.


GOKEY - I love "September"...it's a jam, yo! But Gokey - more than any other night, even that night with the harp - makes this feel like a church revival instead of a concert. And it's boring. And his vocal sounds off. It's just not interesting to watch or listen to. He's actually regressing versus improving as a performer tonight. Still, he's safe.


ALLISON - Tonight is the first time I was all, "Man. I wish Allison would just come out in some jeans and a tee-shirt and just look awesome in a jeans and tee-shirt. Her outfits/costumes are distracting. Listen, when Madonna created that look it added something to the performance and was visually interesting. Allison's attempt at rock fashion is like watching a Muppet get skinned alive. On a loop.

I really hated the arrangement of the song, but her vocal was better than last week. She really is the last lady standing (no offense to Lil.)


ADAM - I can't tell you how much I prefer the clean-cut, non-eye liner look when Adam rocks it. Usually, the men save the suits for Final 2, and I think he really is smartly showing off his versatility with both his fashion and his arrangements. Granted, the suit is a bit shinier than I would have chosen for him, but it fits him well and looks pretty dashing.

Again, the arrangement, while interesting, doesn't do anything for me, but his vocals are really solid. The man is in it to win it. And the further we go, the more Gokey is eating his dust. Sorry, Pete.


MATT - Could he have picked a less annoyingly telling song than "Stayin' Alive?" [smacks head on desk] This was a(nother) weak Justin Timberlake wanna-be performance. The understudy at Six Flags would have been proud of this performance. Matt should not be proud. Also, I'm sick of the hat as personality trait. It's like Gokey and his glasses. You can work a look...and then you can beat a look to death. Lucky for us, it's the last we'll hear from Matt.


ANOOP - I forgot about Anoop...which isn't a good sign. I think the song choice could have been better, but he gives it his R&B thing and it's kinda okay, kinda boring. I think Simon nailed it with the label, "mediocre." It was exactly that. Still, I think he has enough of a fan base to keep him safe one more week.


Going home: Matt and Lil.
Anoop will join them in the bottom three, but will escape yet again and live to sing one more week.