Performing in reverse order of their finish on "Idol," contestants 5 (Matt Giraud), 4 (Iraheta), 3 (Danny Gokey) and 2 (Lambert) were unquestionably the best consecutive run ever in the eight seasons of Idols Live. Giraud, who was in touch with his inner soul man on TV, unexpectedly cut loose on Otis Redding's "Too Hard to Handle" and the Fray's "You Found Me."
Sometimes on "American Idol," you're only as good as your last performance. And for many of season eight's top 10, the "Idol" tour is their last performance — or at least their last shot at singing in an arena filled with screaming fans.
When even those who've won the show struggle to remain relevant — anyone heard a Ruben Studdard song on the radio lately? — the chances of a future career for, say, Megan "Caw! Caw!" Joy aren't stellar.
Still, more than 10,500 folks filled the Target Center on Tuesday night to see Joy and company sing many of the same songs they did on "Idol," freed from the harsh gaze of the show's judges. In turn, they provided numerous surprises and plenty of high-octane performances. It helped that the cast offers a range of talents, from seductive crooner Anoop Desai to piano pounder Matt Giraud to glam rocker Adam Lambert.
The aforementioned Joy dished up one of the few train-wreck moments of the concert when, during an oil-and-water duet of "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" with Lil Rounds, she flubbed a line and burst into laughter like a tipsy sorority girl at karaoke. Oh, and who decided it was a good idea to pair Giraud's soulful bark with Scott MacIntyre's mannered wheeze on "Tell Her About It"?
Elsewhere, though, the lower-ranked contestants turned in some of the most fun moments of the night. Desai turned in a suave, sophisticated take on Ne-Yo's "Mad." Giraud's "Hard to Handle" threatened to stop the show.
Later, 17-year-old firecracker Allison Iraheta's fevered run through Pink's "So What," the blues/rock standard "Cry Baby" and Heart's "Barracuda" suggested she could well become the most famous fourth-place "Idol" since Chris Daughtry. The top three, meanwhile, couldn't help but feel a bit underwhelming after such an action-packed evening. Danny Gokey pulled out the same annoying shtick he parlayed on the show and won no new fans in the process but, crucially, didn't lose any old ones, either. Season champion Kris Allen proved he could mimic Brandon Flowers ("All These Things That I've Done") and Rob Thomas ("Bright Lights") and even turned in a halfway decent guitar solo on the latter.
The show's most promising star, Adam Lambert, was more subdued than expected. He re-created many of his memorable "Idol" moments, including "Whole Lotta Love," "Mad World" and his dynamite Iraheta duet "Slow Ride." But his should've-been-a-slam-dunk David Bowie medley came across as awkward and forced. Whatever the case, Lambert already has shown he'll be one "Idol" we'll be hearing much, much more from in the future.
I wasn’t a big Matt fan on the show, but I have to say that he won me over in concert. He was as cute as a pair of puppy noses and appeared so happy to be on stage. The crowd was loving on him too. “Hard to Handle” was an eye-opener for me; I just didn’t expect that kind of energy from Matt. My daughter is a fan of the Fray, so she liked Matt singing “You Found Me.”
Now the group medley: I love seeing the idols sing together! I wish there had been more of this!
And gosh almighty, I loved loved loved Scott and Matt on dueling pianos
All in all, the concert was great. My daughter came away really loving Megan, Michael, and Matt. I enjoyed those three too, though Anoop is my boy.
Matt Giraud I loved everything about his set. The Piano playing was excellent. the opening song was hot it for sure got the crowd going and screaming for him. It was hot. He is gorgeous. I can't believe he is not signed. He sure does know how to put on a show. Probably my second favorite set of the night!!
Matt- Matt was one of my least favorite from the show because I actually thought he sounded warbly most of the time and his falsetto sometimes hurt my ears. But he surprised me tonight! He sounded so good live and he had such a positive energy. His first song- wow, he was movin all around. Then Georgia was just so soulful and perfect. His piano skills are off the chain. I just couldn't get over it.
WOOHOO! Another Matt convert!
jessica
Posts : 42 Join date : 2009-05-14 Age : 32 Location : Canadia
So it was finally my turn! Matt did amazing last night. I was the only one in my section standing up the whole time, I rocked out hard I'm still speechless. I got to meet him 3 times that day. Best day of my life!! Such a sweet heart. At the end of the show when I was meeting him, he remembered me from earlier and was like "Jessica from Canadia right?" LOL I love how he calls Canada Canadia, but anyways then goes on to say "I read your tweets the whole show, thank you for the amazing reviews and I hope I didn't make you cry too much" I melted. I wish I was seeing him again.
Awe Jesscia it's good to see you again and you guys look so cute together. I'm glad you had a great time and such a wonderful experience! How close are you to Grand Rapids? You should think about coming with us if you are close enough!
jessica
Posts : 42 Join date : 2009-05-14 Age : 32 Location : Canadia
Awe Jesscia it's good to see you again and you guys look so cute together. I'm glad you had a great time and such a wonderful experience! How close are you to Grand Rapids? You should think about coming with us if you are close enough!
Yes I'm finally back from all my trips! Sadly I'm extremely far, well a good 16 hour drive away from me I wish I could come that would be amazing!
Awe Jesscia it's good to see you again and you guys look so cute together. I'm glad you had a great time and such a wonderful experience! How close are you to Grand Rapids? You should think about coming with us if you are close enough!
Yes I'm finally back from all my trips! Sadly I'm extremely far, well a good 16 hour drive away from me I wish I could come that would be amazing!
Awe too bad! We are glad to have you back!
jessica
Posts : 42 Join date : 2009-05-14 Age : 32 Location : Canadia
Awe Jesscia it's good to see you again and you guys look so cute together. I'm glad you had a great time and such a wonderful experience! How close are you to Grand Rapids? You should think about coming with us if you are close enough!
Yes I'm finally back from all my trips! Sadly I'm extremely far, well a good 16 hour drive away from me I wish I could come that would be amazing!
Awe too bad! We are glad to have you back!
Glad to be back! I missed this place and all the updates!! lol
ITs great to hear that you had a wonderful time at the concert. However, we need more details! How did you get to see him 3 times! You obviously made quite an impression on him. Great photos y the way!
Jessica, you looked so cute with the fedora, and it matched Matt's! Thanks for posting your pics!
I have read that Matt always seems to remember the names and faces of the fans that he meets before the concerts! I find that amazing because by now, there must be hundreds of fans that have asked Matt for a picture with him!
Matt knows how to make his fans feel special!
jessica
Posts : 42 Join date : 2009-05-14 Age : 32 Location : Canadia
ITs great to hear that you had a wonderful time at the concert. However, we need more details! How did you get to see him 3 times! You obviously made quite an impression on him. Great photos y the way!
Okay DETAILS hahah.
K so he comes out and gets so excited when he sees me cause I'm the only one out there in a fedora! I get him to sign my scrapbook that my friend made me and I cried a lot hahaha, then he's like aw don't cry and he hugged me, then went on to the next people. First the security said no pictures, so I was mad and cried more. Then before he left he like grabbed my hand and held it for like a few seconds and said hold on a second. Came back like 2 seconds later and was like I have 2 minutes picture time! and I was like so excited, biggest smiles hahah. So we took a picture then he was like enjoy the show love, and I was like I will I'm so excited to see you live, and he was like no girl I'm excited to see you! Then I got really excited, then he's like you're my biggest fan and hugged me again then was like give me your scrapbook I want to see it and write a little something special for you. So he wrote "Jessica, much love & thank you so much love (insert signature here)" Then he held my hand again and was like thank you so much! Then I tweeted like a bunch because I was stoked on the show and after the show I met him again and he was like "Hey baby girl how did you enjoy my performance" and I was like best thing of life seriously I can't thank you enough and he's like "thank you so much for the amazing reviews" Then he was like I read your tweets Jessica from Canadia ahaha and I was like literally, and he's like yep, I hope I didn't make you cry toooo much, then hugged me again, and like I was sooooo happy, then he went to meet with other fans and I cried again so much cause I couldn't believe it was actually happening and he came back and hugged me again then gave me a high five said bye and that he hopes to see me soon!
I miss it so much.
jessica
Posts : 42 Join date : 2009-05-14 Age : 32 Location : Canadia
Jessica, you looked so cute with the fedora, and it matched Matt's! Thanks for posting your pics!
I have read that Matt always seems to remember the names and faces of the fans that he meets before the concerts! I find that amazing because by now, there must be hundreds of fans that have asked Matt for a picture with him!
Matt knows how to make his fans feel special!
Thank you so much! And I love that about him, he's sooooo nice.