Kris Allen and Adam Lambert advance to the finals on Fox's 'American Idol: Season 8' |
Below are our assessments of Tuesday night’s performances on American Idol -- the last performance show of the season! -- followed by our best guess at who will be crowned champion on Wednesday night …
Adam Lambert: “Mad World,” by Tears for Fears
Adam’s rendition of this song during the birth-year-themed week was one of the best performances on the show, ever, so it was no surprise that he chose “Mad World” once again on Tuesday night. He perfectly replicated his high point of the season note-for-note -- even though, yes, we all could've done without the smoke and other effects -- displaying impeccable control and restraint, just as he had before. And since I gave him an A+ for his first “Mad World” performance …
Grade: A+
Kris Allen: “Ain’t No Sunshine,” by Bill Withers
I thought Kris’ best performance came during soundtrack week, when he sang “Falling Slowly” from Once, but “Ain’t No Sunshine” wasn’t too shabby earlier in the season and it was even better on Tuesday night -- one of his best, most moving performances of the season, in fact. That being said, for me personally, it didn't stand out quite as much as Adam’s “Mad World,” and I would give Adam the slight edge in Round 1.
Grade: A-
Adam Lambert: “Change Is Gonna Come,” Sam Cooke
Idol creator Simon Fuller should definitely stick to his day job of not picking contestants’ songs, because on paper, a soulful R&B tune isn’t a natural fit at all for Adam the Theatrical Rocker. BUT, much to (at least) my surprise, Adam made it work and in so doing showed even more versatility -- in the season finale, no less! In recent weeks, it was easy to forget that Adam also happens to have an incredible singing voice in addition to his stage presence, but Adam really reminded us of that fact with this incredible interpretation. The guy’s amazing, and winning the competition is actually of no importance for him when it comes to his post-Idol career.
Grade: A
Kris Allen: “What’s Goin On,” by Marvin Gaye
If he had dreads and, well, considerably less talent, it might’ve been easy to mistake Kris for last season’s Jason Castro. Fortunately, though, he’s much more talented than Castro, and Kris turned a great song choice by Fuller into a predictably solid performance. Randy was right with his assessment that it was a little light for such an important stage and Simon was dead-on with his “too laid-back” comments, but still, Kris once again showed how he could seamlessly become the next Jack Johnson. However, Round 2? Adam again -- only by a wider margin than the first round.
Grade: B+
Adam Lambert: “No Boundaries,” (written) by Kara DioGuardi
Cheesy lyrics and such shameless cross promotion for the “fourth judge,” but yet again, Adam can make anything work (except those acid-wash jeans or whatever those pants were). Nonetheless, it really was far from his best, and it’s somewhat bittersweet that the last song he gets to sing this season (and the last song viewers will judge him on) was one that doesn’t fit his sensibilities.
Grade: B-
Kris Allen: “No Boundaries,” (written) by Kara DioGuardi
Kris seemed to have a better take on the DioGuardi-written tune than Adam did, but he was a pitchy and the key of the song was a too high -- and, oh yeah, he apparently forgot the lyrics at one point. Like the judges said, Adam and Kris shouldn’t even be judged on that third song (which defeats the whole purpose!), a clear admission that both performances were less than stellar. Like the rest of the show, though, Kris’ was slightly worse than Adam’s.
Grade: C
PREDICTION
Season 8 Champion: Adam Lambert
Right or wrong, there are plenty of people with qualms about Lambert being crowned the next American Idol; Kris, meanwhile, is admirably low-key and kinda hate-proof. In the end, though, Adam displayed more talent, boasted standout performances on an almost weekly basis and, in my opinion, outperformed Kris in Tuesday night’s finale. Adam may very well not win, but I think he deserves the title over Kris. Whoever, you consider to be the front runner heading into Wednesday, just remember that David Archuleta was widely considered the favorite at this point last season ...
LAST WEEK'S RECAP: The Top Three!
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