Obsession: American Idol

I am unnaturally excited for tonight's American Idol. I have been watching my prerequsites all afternoon, aka previous Adam and Matt performances, and have even come up with a list of my favorite performances of the season. I've also come up with some hypothesises regarding Adam Lambert and the strange back and forth he does each week with the fast and slow which votefortheworst.com lovingly refers to as "Flamebert" and "Lamebert". Although I love both sides, I'm starting to realize that performances such as "Born to Be Wild" and "Ring of Fire" actually show off his vocal capabilities even more than the slower "Tracks of my Tears" and "If I Can't Have You". It literally hurts my voice to even think of how he gets to the high note at the end of "Born to be Wild". It is absolutely insane.

There is so much to be said for Adam Lambert, a man I think is the greatest technical singer I have ever heard in my life, and that makes it all the more difficult to appreciate someone like Matt Giraud who in the past few weeks has become my favorite. Is it because I think Mr. Giraud is merely attractive? Am I like Kara DioGaurdi and only using Matt for his body? I'm not sure just yet. I need him to stay on another week at least to decide. I'm not even swayed by the infamous mole on the center of his forehead. Whether it's covered by a hat a la "Staying Alive" last week or in full swing during "Have You Ever Loved a Woman" week, I'm really into his style and will stick by him with $1.79 votes from my Sprint phone which American Idol does not appreciate as much as AT&T. Will I write Matt poems and add creepy smiley faces on to my posts at americanidol.com like some middle aged, married women do? NO WAY. I'm simply torn as to whether he's just another hot guy with a nice outfit and cool demeanor or a talented musician that will force me to overspend on iTunes.

There's that controversy brewing right now over the iTunes Top 100 charts making the internet rounds with the American Idol contestants alloted in. Of course this is not supposed to happen as the producers like to keep the billboard numbers a secret in order to ensure equal opportunity to all participants. I guess they assume that if we all know Adam Lambert has the highest selling singles then we will automatically vote for him over the practically equally talented Allison Iraheta. They are wrong. Knowing that Matt Giraud has some of the lowest numbers on the charts, I want to vote for him even more. My mother observed today that it's quite unfair they've been having ununsual themes for the past few weeks now. How can a rock singer like Allison have the full opportunity to shine during Country Week, Disco Night, and Rat Pack Day? It's strange. Are any of these contestants right for those genres? Maybe Danny Gokey because you sing karaoke to anything - OH!

Yeah, I don't like Danny. Or let me rephrase: I went through the same experience with him as I'm going through with Matt right now. I was originally taken with Danny. I fell for his dead wife gimmick and genuinely felt bad for the guy. I loved that he auditioned with his talented friend and seemed to really be a soul guy. Unfortunately, he took the soul in a really bad direction and turned the milk sour real fast. The schmaltzy, YELLING that is in my face each week is only suppressed by the fact that I think he is really hot. It's been mentioned that he looks like a young Robert Downey, Jr. and I'd be forced to agree. I'm loving the scruff, the big brown eyes, the cute smile.. he's really lucky because otherwise I would have to go further about how much I hate his music. Except P.Y.T. in Michael Jackson week (the best week by the way). I bought that performance and still listen to it a lot.

Let's see, who else is left. Could it be the guy with the wife who looks just like a younger version of his mother who is always making strange faces in the audience? Yes! That's the one. Kris Allen is a cutie but he scares me with his religious fanatical ways that are somehow well hidden throughout the weeks. Underneath that faux Jason Mraz style lies a man who is a huge God believer and a creepy bible storyteller, I know it. I like him a lot on the surface though, I won't deny it. I'm not into his look that much - both physically and stylistically - but I appreciate his passion and tend to believe his performances a lot more than the other contestants. He works it so that he is IN IT. That's always good.

I guess one final shout out has to be given to Allison though. On EW.com, they always say that Anoop Desai was the Rodney Dangerfield of the competition - getting no respect - but it has to be Allison for me. She is damn good. She's nearly amazing in fact. I always check out her studio performances on iTunes and am always impressed with her performances. She deserves to go to the top 2. It should really be Adam winning the whole thing, Allison running it up, Kris taking second runner up, Matt bowing out at 4, and Danny going home tomorrow. The chances of that are really slim though. Matt will be going home tomorrow regardless of how he does today. I do hear he's singing My Funny Valentine tonight and if that's true: What a way to go. One of my favorites made most famous by the beyond fabulous, little recognized Mr. Chet Baker. I will be sure to post about him tomorrow.

So let me close with a list of my favorite performances thus far from season 8:

Adam Lambert - Black or White
Matt Giraud - Let's Get it On
Adam Lambert - Born to Be Wild
Matt Giraud - Part Time Lover
Danny Gokey - P.Y.T.
Adam Lambert - Satisfaction
Adam Lambert - Mad World
Kris Allen - Man in the Mirror
Adam Lambert - Play that Funky Music
Jorge Nunez - Never Can Say Goodbye
Kris Allen - Remember the Time