American Idol 03/25/09: Motown

The ten finalists on American Idol Wednesday night took on the music of Motown. 2009 is the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Detriot record company. The contestants got to visit the city and were greeted by Motown star Smokey Robinson and Motown founder Berry Gordy. Robinson acted as this week’s mentor.

Kicking things off was Matt singing Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get it On. He sang it well, but nothing to write home about. Good to see him get out from behind the piano, though.

Kris sang How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You, another song originally recorded by Marvin Gaye. I enjoyed his interpretation, although I wish he’d lose the guitar.

You Can’t Hurry Love by The Supremes was the choice of Scott. I think it was a struggle for him. He didn’t look like he was having a good time.

Stevie Wonder’s For Once in My Life was the choice of Megan Joy, a song I figured would be perfect for her. She looked great but it sounded as if  her voice was starting to give out. The band was a problem, playing too loud and too fast.

Anoop sang Ooh, Baby, Baby made famous by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles. His falsetto wasn’t as strong as it needed to be but he did a decent job.

Ain’t Too Proud To Beg by The Temptations was sung by Michael, who was sick during the week and didn’t make the trip to Detroit. The time off served him well – I think he did a good job on the song.

Lil sang Heat Wave by Martha Reeves & The Vandellas. It seemed that the band was overpowering her and she ended up shouting instead of singing. Somebody needs to do something about the band.

Singing Tracks of My Tears by Smokey Robinson was Adam. He showed off mad vocal skills – and for the first time, not in a show tune kind of way.

Danny chose to sing the Temptations’ Get Ready. He did a decent job (despite the band pushing the tempo) but his phrasing was a little strange, breathing in some weird spots.

Allison closed out the night with Papa Was A Rolling Stone by the Temptations. She did a wonderful job! I’m ready to buy her records.

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Somebody needs to have a chat with the band. Too loud and too fast hurt some of the performances. Further, something needs to be done about time management on the show. At the end, they were rushing the comments to the performers. If you are going to shortchange somebody, how about the advertisers?

My bottom three: Scott, Megan Joy and Michael.