| Country Music & The Philly Sound - American Idol 4, Final 4 |
| The endgame is near and Idol emotions are running high, and not just for the contestants! After a week of controversy and extraordinary press interest our host Ryan Seacrest remarks "that's what happens when you lose a guy like Scott Savol"! |
| When the judges are introduced and receive their customary applause Randy and Simon touchingly deflect their props Paula's way. It's good to see her fellow panelists supporting Paula tonight. It's been a tough week for her but she's still smiling at the end of it. |
After last Wednesday's results show Ryan met up with the Idols to announce that they will have 2 themes again this week. Perhaps Ryan believes he is hosting American Idiot, because he took along a huge map of the USA and pointed out the locations of Nashville and Philadelphia to the final foursome! Huh! - 'Nashville' because their first song-theme is 'a little bit country'
- 'Philadelphia' because the second theme is 'a little bit Philly soul'.
The latter theme comes courtesy of hitmakers Gamble and Huff, who gave birth to the 'Philly Sound' phenomenon back in the '60s and '70s. |
| Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff grace the audience tonight, as do some familiar faces of Idol past including Jasmine Trias, La Toya London, John Stevens and this year's 11th placer Mikalah Gordon. |
| Tonight's pre-song videoclips for the country theme contain messages to the Idols from their close family members. Later, before the Philly songs it's the Idols' turn to send a message back to their families. It's all a little schmaltzy, but it touches the hearstrings just the same. After watching these videos, we get some inkling as to why this evening is so charged with emotion! |
| Carrie Underwood swings this party into action in upbeat country mode with 'Sin Wagon' by the Dixie Chicks. The audience and panel lap it up with delight. It seems like she can do no wrong... but then she tackles the 'Philly Sound'. Her rendition of 'If You Don't Know Me By Now' stuns the panel by being extraordinarily ordinary. |  |
| When Bo Bice goes country his performance of 'It's A Great Day To Be Alive' is understated and underrated by the panel. They still love him though, and they're not disappointed later when Bo rocks to the sound of Philadelphia. His version of For The Love Of Money is right on the money. |  |
| Vonzell Solomon's performance of Trisha Yearwood's 'How Will I' is surprisingly average. When, prompted by Paula, tears flow as 'Baby V' stands before the panel. We sense there's an emotional reason for her dip in form. Later she channels her emotion positively and delivers a superb rendition of 'Don't Leave Me This Way'. |  |
| Despite receiving a snarky appraisal from Simon Cowell, Anthony Fedorov turns in a solid country rendition of 'I'm Already There'. However, when he tackles 'If You Don't Know Me By Now' he delivers on all levels. It's a magical performance and Anthony is brilliant. Simon tries to downgrade Anthony by saying he's got no soul. We would contend that if Simon wasn't moved by Anthony's version of this song then it is he who has no soul! |  |
Check out our in depth accounts of the Idols' performances tonight, along with what the judges had to say. Simply click the contestant links below... |
[The song and artist links (below right) will take you to Amazon where you can check out, and usually sample the music] |
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