REALITY BYTES

Would anyone truly expect a mere, 16 year old girl to surpass the American Idol expectations that are causing problems for so many of the other performers this season? Allison Iraheta exploded the Idol stage last night with “Papa Was a Rolling Stone”. Allison received a standing ovation from Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson for last night’s American Idol performance. Then Kara DioGuardia stood up and applauded Iraheta’s performance with the rest of the audience!

Truly hard to believe, Allison Iraheta was in the bottom three last week. She was almost sent home for not having enough of your votes, to keep her safe in American Idol. And yet, I kind of get why she is not receiving the votes to keep her in this competition.

Allison does not look or act like a professional singer, when she is not performing. Iraheta is a little rough around the edges, dressing a bit loud and then there is all of that flaming red hair of Allison’s! At the other polar extreme, Allison Iraheta is this awkward, almost shy, 16 year old girl. There is no denying that Iraheta is uncomfortable in the limelight, when she is not performing.

It’s Allison’s transformation on the American Idol stage when Iraheta performs, that should matter - and does! She is commanding and born to be, unleashed on our senses . Allison Iraheta’s vocals and what she can do with a song, cannot be denied.

If this was a real competition, based on shear ability; Allison Iraheta would be safe from leaving American Idol, until the last three competitors are left to your votes. But, this is a reality competition show and the rules of life are sometimes not very fair. Fans chose their American Idol favorites, then vote accordingly.

A raw clip of Allison Iraheta performing “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” on American Idol.

I am an unabashed fan of Allison Iraheta, because she is God’s gift to us this season. Allison represents, the icing on the cake of American Idol. If Allison does not make it through to the final three, she will certainly get signed for a recording deal. I am sure that Randy, Kara, Paula and Simon would agree with this call and fight for Allison Iraheta, being well managed in this direction.

Last night’s American Idol was all about Motown songs. This was a bit tricky, with so many different song choices to chose from. Smokey Robinson worked with the 10 finalists all last week and it showed.

Smokey Robinson is not just a Motown legendary singer, either. Smokey helped several of Motown’s legendary groups choose the right songs to breakout with. The Temptations, Martha and the Vandellas, The Supremes and even Stevie Wonder; just to name-drop a few that Smokey helped to get mainstream exposure for.

An early clip of Smokey Robinson and the Miracles performing “Tears of a Clown”.

American Idol’s judges had no real problems with anyone’s vocals last night. It boiled down to song choices and the performers treatment of those songs they choose to cover. Some faired well, while others were eaten alive by Simon Cowell.

The standouts last night were: Matt Giraud - “Let’s Get it On”. Kris Allen - “How Sweet it Is”. Anoop Desai - “Ohh, Baby, Baby”. Adam Lambert - “The Track of my Tears”. Allison Iraheta - “Papa Was a Rolling Stone”.

There were some major problems with Michael Sarver performing “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg” and Megan Joy Corkrey’s cover of that Stevie Wonder hit “For Once in My Life”.

It’s difficult to tell just how bad these two songs might have sounded to all of you, but I was cringing and yelling at the TV, “Nooo! Oh my God! Don’t do that!”

You should expect that both Megan Joy Corkrey and Michael Sarver will be up against themselves for the American Idol “Results” show. One of them will probably be eliminated at the end of this upcoming episode. Then again, this is American Idol! Anything can happen, and does.

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