Idol Eyes: At the Movies

I $%#!*& love it when Tarantino is on Idol, but they're kind of overdoing his influence on the world as we know it. Heather and I both love that they're spending so much time talking about why the show tends to run long. Hmm . . . and rather than trimming down their critiques, they're just going to judge two at a time. Okay.

I also watched this with my five-year-old critic, who had some fascinating opinions on everybody. And Paula dressed up like a knock-off Cartier watch, which is just tick-tock beautiful. So here we go:

Allison Iraheta

Overall, I loved Allison's take on "I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing," but I don't like the trend festering among the contestants lately, especially this week. To foreshadow a change of pace midway through the song, they're phoning in the first few bars. It's okay to build the energy, but you still gotta express with every note. Allison was a little too cooped up on her intro, but she unleashed her inner rooster before we got very far into it. She is just plain good.

Addison's take: She has pink hair?! Booooo.

She's staying. She's judge-save worthy.

Anoop Desai

Anoop brought back the Bryan Adams monster ballad, "EID (IDIFY)," which should thrill the hearts of piano-playing high school boys (and the girls who love to fawn over their ivory-tickling fingers) everywhere. He's in a rut, but he's getting better in that rut, and it's a vote-getting rut, and I don't think that will change this week. All in all, Anoop sang really well, and I'm glad he's still around.

Addison's take: I think he should be Anoob.

Adam Lambert

"Born to Be Wild" just seems to make sense for Adam, for some unknown reason. Look, the guy can sing better than probably anybody in the history of the show. I mean, this guy was born 20 years too late, cuz the Hair Band Era may never have died had Adam Lambert been around to save it. Okay . . . maybe it could have stayed on life support for a little while. But Adam is just too theatrical sometimes. And I love how Paula uses cliches that have never been spoken in the history of the English language and expects us to A) recognize them as time-honored pearls of wisdom and B) understand what the QuentinTarantino she is saying.

Addison's take: Yeah! He's great! "Booorn to be wiiiiiiiild!"

Matt Giraud

They should have made a rule that an artist could be covered only once. If you're going to do two Bryan Adams songs in one night, one of them should be good. "Have You Ever Really (Really, Really) Ever Loved a Woman," or whatever the actual title was, is not a good song. And Matt's was not a good performance. Too all over the place. Too boring. Too much kissing the microphone.

Addison's take: He sings like a girl.

Matt should have sung something from a movie that ended better.

Danny Gokey

Remember that trend I don't like? Danny is the Grand Master Trendsetter. His "Endless Love" was altogether beginningless. He's still good and soulful and aww-shucks, but he appears to need a high-energy song to jump start him. Low-key segments of Danny's songs tend to fall off Mt. Boring. If he doesn't start supplying his own get-up-and-go, people are going to stay in their seats and forget to text.

Addison's take: Yay!

Yeah, that's right, welcome to the bottom three, DG.

Kris Allen

I've made no secret of my disdain for Kris. Last week I accused him of strategically targeting tweenage girls with his boyish charm and overdone reverb. Today, he went after artsy girls by singing a good but not entirely popular song, "Falling Slowly," and singing it well. And all of a sudden I felt this weird sense of respect for him . . . what's happening to me?

Addison's take: I thought he was Kris Alien.

Lil Rounds

In his advice to Lil, QT hit on exactly the trend I'm talking about. Lil sang, "The Rose," with a few of her trademark bursts of soul surrounded by her trademark vanilla retreads of songs she could have done something with. The first part was Lil Plain and Tall. The second half had some gospel in it. Lil . . . do it up gospel from beginning to end, and you just might convince people you belong here. Technically she didn't really falter until right before her final phrase (when she looked at the judges), but artistically she bombed the moment she decided she should only give the song a li'l bit of Lil.

Addison's take: Booo. Booo. Booooooo.

I came real close to posting Lil's picture this week.