The theme for tonight's round of American Idol is Songs from the Movies,with special guest mentor,Quentin Tarantino. Tarantino has been on the show before,as a judge,and fans of his films know that his taste in music is as offbeat and interesting as his taste is for genre films.
While I have no doubt that Quentin will encourage the Top Seven to go for some unusual tunes(or at the very least,try to talk one of them into doing a personal favorite of his), it's hard to resist going "what would I have each of them sing tonight?". So,without any foreknowledge of the song choices,here are my selections for American Idol's Night at the Movies:
DANNY GOKEY: I'm putting these picks in the order that I would want the performers to go on in(which means saving Adam Lambert for the last song of the night)and since Danny tends to enjoy heartfelt numbers,my choice for him would be "Take Me To Love" from the Bride & Prejudice soundtrack.
The song goes into a duet mode towards the end but you can sing the early half of it solo. Another plus is that the lyrics are suitable for either a male or a female singer-no need for those annoying gender word changes! It's incredibly romantic and Danny should be more than able to eat this up with a spoon:
ANOOP DESAI: Anoop seems to really like doing songs with swagger,which work out sometimes as with "My Prerogative",and ballads that also have the same yo-yo effect with the voting audience and the judges. I think that "I Can Dream About You" from the 1984 film Streets of Fire combines the best of both worlds for him,along with being an instant crowd pleaser:
LIL ROUNDS: Lil had a lot of trouble with a Tina Turner song last time out but I think that it may be a Tina number that can save her. The theme from the Bond film Goldeneye(Pierce Brosnan was an excellent Bond,btw)is smooth and sultry,which her rich voice can handle if fully focused.
Lil,instead of acting like Tina on stage,act AS Tina does and use your powerful vocals as a platform to showcase your personal style. A major advantage in picking this song is that it's not as iconic as other Bond themes,like Goldfinger or Live and Let Die,for example. You can really make this song your own:
ALLISON IRAHETA: Someone's bound to do a Disney song here,so it might as well be Allison,who needs to catch that "youthful" tone Simon tends to harp about when contestants under the age of 21 belt out big numbers.
With that in mind,"How Does She Know" from Enchanted should be perfect. It's sweet but not cloying,has a set of sturdy lyrics for her to show that she can memorize a long song and allows her to have a pretty princess moment for once.
Not to mention that she certainly has the patented Giselle red locks for it and with the right color coordinated outfit,Allison could really shine here:
MATT GIRAUD: To be honest,folks,he's one of my least favorite contestants this season;nothing personal,I just find him very forgettable most of the time and have trouble remembering what song he sang less than an hour after hearing him.
I do recall that he fancies himself a hipster type of guy,going for the Justin Timberlake vibe,so if Matt wants to really be hip,"Come On,Bring It" from Snakes on a Plane should do the trick.
Normally,I hate it when an inadequate singer does a song that I truly enjoy but I'm willing to give him a chance and bonus points will be awarded if Matt has the nerve to quote that infamous Samuel L. Jackson line at the beginning:
KRIS ALLEN: Another "Why is he still here?" contender,Kris just strikes me as a guy that a couple of decades ago would do very well on a mall tour with Tiffany. With that in mind, "Catch Me(I'm Falling)" from 1987's Hiding Out should work for him. He certainly can't do any irreparable damage to it.
In an odd way,Hiding Out is rather timely since the plot is about a Wall Street guy on the run from criminals(bet Bernie Madoff wishes he could pass for a teenager these days,huh?)and Jon Cryer is still going strong on Two and a Half Men. Plus,this is a fun little song that deserves some serious retro love:
ADAM LAMBERT: The best for last,and he's the only one of the bunch that I would trust with a Queen song. Freddie Mercury's wondrous music has been used and vocally abused on American Idol in the past but Adam can redeem those former follies with a performance that makes his "Ring of Fire" bit look tame in comparison.
The theme from the cult classic Flash Gordon(a movie that I saw in 1980 with my dad right after watching Raging Bull in another theater on the same day,I kid you not)is not a subtle song to be sure,but it would certainly make a hell of an impression and a truly amazing finale to boot:
Hopefully,Movie Night on Idol will be worth watching for all of the right reasons and just one suggestion,if I may,to the producers;don't let Quentin choreograph any of the performances. His idea of fancy footwork is definitely not family friendly prime time viewing,trust me on this:
1 comment:
Love Tarantino! He's a bit of an odd duck but you can't deny that he's interesting! I don't really watch American Idol but my husband does so I may have to tune in just to see what the contestants pick :)
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