Photo: Mickshaw/FOX
Even with Quentin Tarantino acting as mentor — and the dude knows his music! — the American Idol Movie Song Night struck more sour notes than Britney singing live. Don't get me wrong, dawgs, I'm picking Adam Lambert for the Big Win on confetti night. But Adam was coasting on past triumphs with "Mad World" and "Tracks of My Tears" when he tore into Steppenwolf's "Born To Be Wild" like a show queen trying to pass as rough trade. It was fun, but unpersuasive. And, dammit to hell, it's not a song written for a movie. It's a song that got used in movie — Easy Rider to be specific. There's a difference.
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What happened to integrity of the concept? Only Kris Allen, singing "Falling Slowly" from the romantic musical Once, stayed true to the form and delivered — for me (if not for judge Randy Jackson) —the performance of the night. Judge Kara DioGuardi called the song "obscure," though it charted at No. 2 and won the Oscar as Best Original Song of 2007. Bette Midler's "The Rose" is a solid tune, but Lil Rounds sang it in the key of karaoke. The other contestants just showed bad song and/or bad movie taste.