Anoop Desai tackles a toughie -- Beat It. That song's so stylized, so much about the groove and the production that it's hard not sound like a karaoke singer when performing it. And that's pretty much what Anoop sounds like -- and he has some problems within the melody's extremely limited range....

Before I get into the track-by-track of Taylor Hicks’ The Distance, I have to 'fess up and say that Taylor doesn’t do a whole lot for me. That has less to do with him, I think, than the style he’s working in. A lot of talented people work in the blues/old-school blue-eyed soul fields, but thos...

His version of Coldplay’s Viva La Vida having nearly cost him his spot on American Idol, Matt Giraud knew he was back where he needed to be Thursday singing the Jackson 5’s Who’s Loving You. “It’s like that feeling of redemption,� he told reporters during a conference call Friday. Matt h...

The producers promised a big shocker when the show named its finalists, and they delivered. In a show that had already run over, they pulled Anoop Desai back from the abyss and made made the Top 12 a baker's dozen. Adding two women (Megan Joy Corkrey and Jasmine Murray) and two men (Anoop and Matt G...

Von Smith picks an Elton John song -- Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word -- but his performance quality sounds, at least to me, closer to Alex Wagner-Trugman than Jorge Nuñez. He looks absolutely terrified. Even though he makes the high notes work, his mike-holding hand is visibly trembling....

Matt Giraud pulls out a relatively obscure Jackson 5 tune, Who's Loving You, one revived later by Terence Trent D'Arby -- and it's that version that Matt's most resembles. It plays nicely to his soulful image, and gives him lots of room to vamp at the end. If you're trying to show off your voice, yo...

Jesse Langseth leads off the American Idol wild-card round with some old-school funk in the form of Chaka Khan and Rufus' Tell Me Something Good. But she has a hard time settling into the song. She looks fantastic, and it's a great song for impressing the judges, but she seems to be all over the pla...

Now, all we have left are last night's two most theatrical performers. Not sure which one went more over the top. Nick's not through to the Top 12 -- thank goodness. Adam thought Nick was hilarious -- he said he laughed his butt off. And for those of you who couldn't get enough Satisfaction, he's ba...

The Rolling Stones' Satisfaction should let Adam Lambert unleash his inner Mick Jagger. He starts with a slow blues growl but takes it up to tempo quickly. He looks great on camera, but he's hadn't figured out the oversinging thing. He's trying too hard, showing off too much. He's left the essence o...

Stephen Fowler appreciates his second chance -- he knows he's lucky to still be on the show after forgetting his lyrics during Hollywood Week. He's holding back on the verse, singing nice and light. He brings up the energy for the chorus, though he never pushes too hard. Toward the end of the song, ...