American Idol 8 - Motown Week

It's Motown week on American Idol, which means another useless guest "mentor." Smokey Robinson was on hand to pimp the label's 50th anniversary. The Top 10 visited the Motown studios in Detroit and got a pep talk from Barry Gordy. As the show began, Simon commented that he wasn't really looking forward to the evening. He's obviously running the clock on his contract. They really need to start planning an end-game for Idol. 

Matt Giraud: Wearing an unfortunate sweater-vest ensemble, he probably did his best performance of the season with Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On." He's still too Timberlake-ish for me, but Paula was creaming her panties over him and the girls were screaming, so he's safe.

Kris Allen: Wearing some futuristic prison jacket and acting more straight by the week (sigh), he did a good, not great cover of Marvin's "How Sweet It Is." The judges were back-flipping over him and Smokey was about to bust a facelift stitch, but I thought it was second-rate John Mayer.

Scott MacIntyre: Now appearing in an airport lounge near you...  His cover of The Supremes' "You Can't Hurry Love" was flat, rushed and he screwed with the melody of a classic song. Paula and Simon got into a fake, scripted fight and she pulled a box of crayons and a coloring book out from under the desk and plopped it front of him. Ho, ho, ho. 

Megan Joy Corkrey: There was absolutely no joy in her cover of "For Once In My Life." I don't think she sang a single note on key and she had the Amy Winehouse crack shimmy turned up to 100. When Randy calls you a train wreck, you might as well starting packing your bags. She's Vote for the Worst's top pick, and they better dial their fingers to the bone tonight to save her. Smokey Robinson was shining her on when he told her this song was a good idea.

Anoop Desai: Before I get to the song, I want to know who is dressing this boy? From the hoodies to tonight's ugly varsity jacket, it looks like the stylists are running down to Goodwill an hour before the show to find his wardrobe. He did a so-so version of Smokey's "Ooh, Baby, Baby." His falsetto sounded strained and breathy. I could see him back in the bottom two.

Michael Sarver: I hope they saved him a place on the oil rig, because he's coming home real soon. He butchered "Ain't Too Proud To Beg," strutting around the stage shouting the song and struggling to find a note. Paula called it "old Las Vegas loungey" (doh!), which is a slap in the face to old Vegas lounge singers. This just sucked. I don't want to hear him "sang" anymore. BFF Mal texted me after this and said Paula was more coherent this week than she's been all eight seasons. Don't get used to it, Mal.

Lil Rounds: Oops...Paula's meds must have kicked in because her effusive praise of Lil's cover of "Heatwave" was diametrically opposed to the other judges and my bleeding ears. She was screaming and rushing through the song. She was wearing a 60s costume, with her hair ironed out and one of Tina Turner's old dresses from her days with Ike. I don't think she'll go home, but damn it was bad. 

Adam Lambert: The performance of the SEASON so far. Channeling his inner Elvis/Chris Isaak, Adam cleaned up, put on a suit, slicked back his hair and performed an amazing acoustic version of "Tracks of My Tears." I might actually download this off iTunes it was so good. Top two for sure and quite possibly the winner if he keeps this up.

Danny Gokey: A corny, Disney film soundtrack version of "Get Ready" and his cocky, overconfident attitude flopped hard after the mastery of Adam's performance. He needs to take his Christian crazy, over-enunciating, frug-dancing ass back to Milwaukee. Still gives me the creeps and he ignored Smokey's advice (for what it was worth).

 Alison Iraheta: She got the pimp spot tonight, and knocked it out of the park. Her cover of "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" was the second best performance of the night, but dayum can they stop dressing this girl like a day-shift hooker? The wardrobe people should be shot. Apparently, Paula passed out during the song because Simon was able to draw a mustache on her face. Probably staged, but hilarious. 

Bottom three: Megan Joy, Michael Sarver and Lil Rounds. Although Anoop and Scott deserve to be there, too. Who's going home? My money's on Sarver.