In Memory of American Idol's Semifinal Rounds: 10 Incredible Performances
Nigel Lythgoe is one of my favorite forces in reality television, but he announced a big mistake today: American Idol's glorious semifinal rounds are no longer. Instead, this season's live performances will begin with Top 12 week, and we'll also be forced to watch as contestants compete in "music video" competitions. Horrifying, indeed. Without the semifinals, Idol loses so much great drama, intimacy, and some of the best performances in the season. Without further ado, let's show Nigel Lythgoe how much he messed up and revisit Idol's most incredible (and sometimes cringe-worthy) semifinal moments.
1. Kelly Clarkson, "Respect"
Before Kelly Clarkson became a pop juggernaut, she was a bubbly Texan who said "cool beans" a hundred times an hour, and charmed the frosty tips off Brian Dunkleman. With "Respect," she proved she was a seriously salable artist and a soulful chick, to boot.
2. Kimberley Locke "Over the Rainbow"
When you're forging through the semifinals, you're forced to sing every bombastic ballad under the sun in order to be noticed. That wasn't hard for Kimberley Locke; the "Eighth World Wonder" chanteuse vaulted to the fore with her rendition of cinema's biggest tune ever.
3. Carrie Underwood "Because You Loved Me"
Now hear this, Nigel Lythgoe: The semifinals afford quality contestants the chance to discover their niche in the competition. After performing hits by Tiffany (?!) and Janis Joplin in the weeks prior, Carrie Underwood rounded out her semifinal run with a big Jo Dee Messina ballad. She'd later stick to country and establish herself as American Idol's queen supreme, and this was her first moment as a criticism-proof balladeer.
4. Chris Daughtry, "Hemorrhege (in my Hands)"
Chris Daughtry, my favorite rock singer with parabolic sideburns, foreshadowed his post-show success with this searing, radio-ready version of Fuel's hematoma of passion.
5. Elliott Yamin, "Moody's Mood for Love"
Also, Lythgoe: The semifinals rule because contestants often pick the dorkiest songs imaginable. Remember last year when Didi Benami hit us with that bleat-y version of "Lean on Me"? Or when human-size sea monkey Alex Lambert tried on James Morrison's "Everybody Knows"? Well, the dorkiest-of-dorky song choices came in the form of James Moody's "Moody's Mood for Love," and Elliott Yamin sang the hell out of it. It's the kind of performance that reminds you Idol is totally uncool -- but also fabulous.
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FYI, the song that Carrie sung wasn't a Celine Dion song. It's Jo Dee Messina's Because You Love Me.
I can't even answer why that mistake happened. The Celine song is one of my iPod staples. I can tell the two apart. I saw the Carrie version when it first happened. Anyway.
Apologies and thank you!
Ugh, I'm just completely uninterested in AI now. Last season was just so boring. And I have no desire to watch Steven Tyler sell out like this. Not that he hasn't before, but still. Jennifer Lopez...well, what else does she have to do besides sell herself out? Anyway, I'll just watch the clips on the site.
I loved Elliott Yamin's performance that night of Moody's Mood...totally amazing. Loved several other performances as well, including his signature song "A Song For You". I'm also a Big Kelly Clarkson fan. Loved her performance of "Stuff Like That There" as well as "Respect". Performances that are missing were Fantasia's "SummerTime" performance, and David Cooks "Billy Jean". All memorable performances that I will never forget.
Latoya London: All by Myself. Left me speechless!
This could have been a truly "great' list, but I'm stunned that you included Antonella's Barbas vocal crime against humanity in lieu of either David Cook's groundbreaking (in terms of changing it up/making it his own) 'Hello', or David Archuleta's vocal tour de force, 'Imagine'. I get that you were trying to cute/clever, but really?
I agree that 'A Song for You', "Stuff Like That There", "SummerTime" and "Billy Jean" were some of the greatest/most memorable performances ever on AI, but none of them were done in the semi-final rounds - all in the finals.
Did you not see David Cook singing "Hello" or Adam Lambert 's take on "Satisfaction"? Did you not see Archuleta or Jennifer Hudson singing "Imagine"? Crystal Bowersox "Hand in My Pocket"? This list is too lazy. Do some research next time. A real journalist would've done.
There were more than ten good performances and I couldn't fit them all into a top 10. That is terrible of me, I understand.
At any rate, "Hand in My Pocket" is one of my least favorite Crystal Bowersox performances. "Long As I Can See the Light" and "Me and Bobby McGee" were fabulous, but I was using this range of performances to make specific points about why I like the semifinals. Katelyn Epperly and Allison Iraheta are more necessary to include here than Crystal because their performances illustrate perks of the semifinals.
By the way, know what's actually lazy? Scoffing about what a "real journalist" would do as you spew bile in a comments section.
C'mon. Antonella illustrates something awesome about the semifinals.
Since when is "Moody's Move For Love" a dorkiest of the dorky song choice?
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Is he trying to kill the show, even though it won't be the same without Simon.
Also Kelly's performance of 'Respect' is amazing.
I agree Anne’s interpretation of Mary Poppins on SNL , is one of the all-time classic SNL sketch. She pulled-off the flawless British accent, lovely singing voice, dancing, and wonderful comedic timing.