Last nights theme on American Idol was ‘the year you were born’. Meaning that contestants had to pick a song that was released the year they were born. Danny Gokey is the oldest of the contestants remaining in the Top 8. He was born on April 4, 1980.
Danny Gokey was the first performer of the night, and he decided to sing ‘Stand By Me’ by The Temptations and he was superb again. He opened the show with a bang and set a very high standard for the other contestants to live up to. American Idol Fans have yet to see Danny do a bad performance. It wasn’t his best performance, but he was solid as always. Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuadi commented that they didn’t really like the arrangement. However, that his strong vocals still made it an enjoyable performance.
Check it out: (no video - copyright issues)
Here is what the judges had to say about it:
Randy Jackson said, “Alright, Dude. You know what when you first came out and you’re doing your thing. You had link the gospel, jazz, r&b chords. Like I did not love the arrangement, but here is what I love about you. You’re an amazing singer. You made me love it, even though I didn’t like the arrangement. That’s what it is about. This is a vocal talent show, and you got some talent!!”
Kara DioGuardi said, “Yup. I too was like, what kind of arrangement is this? But at the same time, at the end you just killed it. You took it one level, two levels, three levels. You kept going and going and you turned it on its head, and you made it your own, and it’s really unique. You did your own thing and you did it well.”
Paul Abdul said, “All I can say is Wow Danny you have opened the show setting the bar so high that everyone else who follows you is going to have to run as fast as they can to catch up. Honestly, everything from the creative liberties that you took with the arrangement, which I happen to like very much, to the chord substitutions. They equally match how brilliant your voice was tonight. Very amazing.”
“Look, I thought the beginning was good. I thought the middle was lazy, and the end was terrific. So overall great!”
It goes without saying that Danny Gokey will be safe this week. Another rock solid has guarenteed that.
Here is what the other contestants sang:
Kris Allen - Born on June 21, 1985
Don Henley - All She Wants To Do Is Dance
Lil Rounds - Born on October 20, 1984
Tina Turner - What’s Love Got To Do With It
Anoop Desai - Born on December 20, 1986
Cyndi Lauper - True Colors
Scott Macintyre - Born on June 22, 1985
Survivor - The Search Is Over
Allison Iraheta - Born on April 27, 1992
Bonnie Raitt - I Can’t Make You Love Me
Matt Giraud - Born on May 11, 1985
Stevie Wonder - Part Time Lover
Adam Lambert - Born on January 29, 1982
Tears for Fears - Mad World