Carol
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Join date : 2009-06-28
 |  Subject: St. Louis : 29:8:09  30.08.09 14:50 | |
| - Quote :
- After watching the latest “American Idols Live” tour play out at a packed Scottrade Center on Saturday night, it’s still impossible to fathom Kris Allen’s winning over Adam Lambert.
Then again, the wholesome Allen doesn’t sport black fingernail polish and eyeliner, and wasn’t itching to announce he was gay, something that for Lambert probably cost him the title.
Nonetheless, it was Lambert, not Allen, with all the star power during Saturday night’s show, bringing to town all the swagger and style we saw Lambert exhibit on the telecast.
Lambert, decked out in his usual Goth-inspired attire, was electric on Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love,” pure feline on David Bowie’s “Fame,” and poignant on Tears for Fears’ “Mad World.” Fellow finalist Allison Iraheta joined him for Foghat’s “Slow Ride,” though it was hard to take your eyes off Lambert.
The earnest Allen, who capped the show, couldn’t come close to comparing with serviceable songs such as his acoustic guitar rendering of Kanye West’s “Heartless,” the Beatles “Hey Jude,” and Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine.”
We should expect something more from an “American Idol” winner than something that was just OK.
But before we got to Allen or Lambert, there were eight other “Idol” finalists to get through, sometimes resulting in something akin to a karaoke machine explosion. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing in this case.
Adhering to the tour’s usual format, the finalists took the stage in successive order from the bottom up, with the No. 10 finalist Michael Sarver performing first. He was quick to remind us why he didn’t advance past that tenth slot.
Megan Joy, often a curious mess on the show, pulled it together a bit for Corinne Bailey Rae’s “Let Your Hair Down” and Amy Winehouse’s “Tears Dry on Their Own,” not embarrassing herself.
Scott MacIntye, another mixed bag on the show, had his best moment on piano singing Vanessa Carlton’s “A Thousand Miles,” while Lil Rounds came just shy of fully igniting during her Mary J. Blige medley of “Be Without You” and “Just Fine.” She took a huge risk with Beyonce’s “Single Ladies,” and like Joy, didn’t embarrass herself.
Anoop Desai was the night’s first real heartthrob to perform judging by the screams and incessant camera flashes during Willie Nelson’s “Always on My Mind,” Ne-Yo’s “Mad” and Bobby Brown’s “My Prerogative.”
Matt Girard came out blazing with a dazzling mix of voice and piano on Otis Redding’s “Hard to Handle,” and kept the crowd’s attention with Ray Charles’ “Georgia On My Mind” and the Fray’s “You Found Me.”
Iraheta lit up “Pink’s “So What” and Heart’s “Barracuda,” and Danny Gokey did the same to Rascal Flatts’ “What Hurts the Most” and Michael Jackson’s “P.Y.T.”
The concert overall was an improvement over years’ past, with better production, graphics, and introduction of the singers.
And the mandatory group numbers and other various pairings were less “The Partridge Family” than usual.
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