Flashback: Adam Lambert's "Tracks of My Tears"

Top 10 week of Idol's eighth season was hardly different from any other week during the season, as one performance overshadowed the rest. Adam Lambert's rendition of Smokey Robinson's "Tracks of My Tears" struck a chord with many audience members. Re-watch the performance below:

Adam's performance during Motown theme week was more important for his chances of making the finale than possibly any other week with the exception of Top 3 week, as he was able to show that he could sing ballads in addition to his usual out-of-your-seat rock 'n roll crowd-pleasers. In the face of some highly regarded performances, this one remains one of his strongest.

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Analysis: Mini-surprise livens up Top 10 results

In a night filled of fake-outs, big surprises and not so big surprises, Idol hit a high mark with last night's results show. Yes, it felt extremely rushed and a few things could have been cut out to ease the pace (*cough*SmokeyandJossStone'sduet*cough*), but all in all it was the best results show of the season.

Breezing through Ryan's witty tease with Kara over her botched "six words" critique of Adam and his lame attempt to rekindle Paula's crayons (or crowns, according to Ryan) joke on Simon, which resulted in Simon saying they "got a room" after the show, we got to see just how well the Top 10 sounds when its group performance is pre-taped (even though we already know how it sounds when the track is pre-recorded). Bravo to whoever thought of that quick fix to the lip-synching scandal.

The performance could have been done without actually, but it was not the lowest point of last night. That came when the second guest performance set took the stage in Joss Stone and Motown week's mentor, Smokey Robinson. Although Smokey proved to be a wise pick in coaching the finalists, his creepy singfest with the much younger Joss was boring with a capital B, not to mention their vocals did not mesh well together whatsoever.

But second season winner Ruben Studdard sounded awesome on his new single "Together," as the slimmed down (and newly-married, as Ryan pointed out) velvet teddy bear reminded the audience why he won his season despite being far from where he began success-wise at the moment. What was particularly bothersome was how Ruben was hurried off the stage, only having time for a quick exchange with Ryan before he got down to the night's results.

As for the results, the announcement that Matt was in the bottom three was certainly not expected, as the studio erupted with audience members voicing their dissent. Even Matt himself seemed a little surprised, and understandably so. But this just goes to show that either performing first or having the producers play games for ratings can be a round trip ticket to the B3, depending on which explanation you prefer to subscribe to. Either way, there was no way Matt had the third-lowest votes of the night. No way.

Michael and Scott were both expected to be in the B3, and that is exactly where they wound up. But Randy's suggestion that Matt did not belong with the both of them was a sign of what was next to come, as Ryan told Scott that he would be back next week to perform (but hey, at least Randy didn't get Matt's name wrong). Again, the thunderous outcry from the audience members was a sign that people were genuinely shocked that Matt could be in the Bottom 2.

Then came yet another guest performer in Stevie Wonder, who tore up the house but could have done without the tired shout outs to President Obama and American Idol. Still, he was able to get the entire Top 10 (including Michael and Matt) on its feet dancing along, with Kris even enthusiastically mouthing the words and Lil bowing down to him in an "I am not worthy" motion. One thing he was not able to accomplish, however, was getting Simon on his feet. That is something that man will probably never do on this show.

But when it came time for the results, no one was surprised. Michael, who many pegged as being a "WTF?" pick for the Top 13 in the first place, showed that he can bow out with grace and poise, smiling all the while. When he sang "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" one last time for the judges to allegedly discuss whether or not to use their tool on him, it was apparent that not everyone was digging the idea of having a pow wow. Paula was up dancing the night away, clapping along and only briefly nodded her head when Kara tried to get a word in. The others barely spoke at all, and when it came time for them to give their verdict, spokesman Sir Cowell claimed they had not reached a consensus, instead asking Paula "yes or no?"

But in the end, of course the judges did not waste their immunity on the oil rigger, as his name is not Adam, Danny or Lil. The fact that Michael was able to depart with his spirits high speaks volumes.

As for IDOL LIVE's predictions, I am now 0-4 with my original predictions because I had Jorge going home originally. I was actually right on with my pre-results show predix, though, as I correctly guessed Michael would be striking out even though I had Megan in the Bottom 3 rather than Matt and Scott in the Bottom 2 rather than Matt. That makes me 1-4 in that predicting category.

Next Tuesday, either rock songs or selections from the iTunes Top 100 chart will be performed on the Idol stage if rumblings are to be believed.

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About last night: Leaping Lamberts and Smiley Smokey

Motown (the record label, not the genre) has given the world many things as Ryan so astutely pointed out during an intro montage last night. None of which were intended to be whiny renditions of its songs sung by kids on a TV show.

Last night saw three to four good performances and a whole lot of copycat, boring and forgettable ones. Even with Smokey Robinson there to flash his pearly whites in hopes of raising the Top 10's confidence, it just was not enough to sustain the show. And don't even start with Paula's gifts of crayons (or crowns as Ryan called them) and coloring books from under her skirt to Simon mid-show. The fact that he actually touched them after that puts him down a few rankings in our book.

Matt kicked off the night with a way overpraised rendition of "Let's Get It On," which showed even the piano cannot hide crackling vocals. The perplexing part of the whole thing was that even Simon was caught up in the act (besides pointing out his cheesy move toward the judges' table), proclaiming him to be one of the front runners.

Kris was next with "How Sweet It Is," and his vocals were far superior to Matt's. He did, however, lack stage presence in comparison, which was something Simon pointed out when he likened his standing position to waiting at a bus stop. Randy made the most peculiar critique when he said Kris "ain't doing nothing wrong, baby." Kris was a bit forgettable tonight but he most likely won't be going anywhere tonight.

Another finalists that received too much praise was Lil, whose take on the classic "Heatwave" was complete with Burger King background flames and infrequent screaming outbursts. Although Lil looked much better tonight than she did a week ago, her vocals were copycatish and she did not stand out from the crowd, which most of the judges pointed out. Simon and Paula just had to go and partially excuse the performance as a "tribute" to the greats of the past because she got so emotional at the Motown Museum last week. Please guys, that's no excuse for giving an underwhelming performance. Add in the impromptu "Obama!" outburst at the end of Paula's mindless "you could run for president" comment and it made for an off night for Lil.

Danny, on the other hand, opted for a strong performance and light vocals with "Get Ready," which drew some Taylor Hicks comparisons (which is never good on this show). The fact that he ignored Smokey's advice to sing with the backup singers in certain parts even though he said in his pre-performance package that he'd be listening to the advice (and this served as the entire premise of the video, mind you). Although to be fair, we do not know if they decided it would not work well over the course of rehearsals or whatever. Anything could have happened and Danny will probably be forced to answer the burning question tonight while sitting on the couches.

Anoop was good once again this week on "Ooh, Baby Baby," but the word "boring" could not escape him. Simon was sure to mention this in his critique, saying he looked "half asleep" throughout the performance. Be that as it may, it was still leagues better than "Beat It" in Top 13 week.

But the absolute worst three finalists last night were without question Megan, Scott and Michael. Megan's jazzed up "For Once In My Life" was all over the place, full of bum notes and a "too fast for you and your tattoo" tempo. Scott's "You Can't Hurry Love" was haphazardly prepared and rushed in addition to featuring ultra nasal vocals. And Michael's seemingly good song choice in "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" was anything but, prompting Paula to steal a line from Simon's playbook by calling it "Las Vegas loungey," which earned her a few boos from the audience. Paula was visibly distraught over actually having to do her job as a judge, while Simon was more blunt in saying Michael has "no shot at winning." Barring a major shocker, hese three will be tonight's bottom three and the stupid immunity will not be wasted.

And then there was Adam, who did a complete 180 from last week's crash and burn and instead opted for a polished look and soft, tender vocals on Smokey's own "Tracks of My Tears." Although not the best of the night, Adam showed that he could still switch it up and put on many different hats in this competition even though his falsetto is as grating as getting a root canal. It was an improvement, of course, but nowhere near worthy of the endless praise the judges bestowed upon him. Kara's "I don't stand up often but I have to after that" slosh and Simon's "you have emerged as a star tonight" comment were just part of it, followed by Ryan's suggestion that they go right to the numbers because there was "nothing else to say." We'll see if he can sustain this momentum.

The best the night had to offer didn't come until the very end, when Allison brought out her funky aggressiveness on "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone." Allison, although a bit dead behind the eyes, surely knows how to rock it out to the best of her ability. She was able to command the stage unlike anyone else and hit notes that many didn't know she could. Kara said it sounded like she had been singing for 400 years (is that why she's hoarse?) and Simon said she recovered from last week. DialIdol would support this claim for sure.

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IDOL LIVE Blog: Top 10 Perform (3/25/09)

The Top 10 finalists offer their best renditions of Motown's classics in a 50th anniversary celebration of the genre. They will be mentored by legendary Motown singer Smokey Robinson. The blogcast will last two hours on this special Wednesday episode and will begin at 8 p.m. ET.

Tonight's blogcast will feature music from Jason Castro, Kelly Clarkson, Chris Daughtry, David Hernandez, Michael Johns, Kimberley Locke, Melissa McGhee, Carly Smithson and Jordin Sparks.

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