American Idol's contagious fever keeps spreading with no antidote in sight. The glitz, the guest mentors, the band, the stage, the stars, the groupies,all that is 'Idol,' just gets more golden.
That includes talent. Not to take away from the amazing raw voice of the very first idol, Kellie Clarkson or the phenomenal deserved success of Season 4 winner, Carrie Underwood, but Season 8 easily captures the best-ever performance on American Idol.
As he confidently takes the stage, making at least a two octave range seem effortless, the diverse and unique performance style of runner-up Adam Lambert proves he's in a league of his own. Narrowing down the 27-year-old artist's superlative renditions, is the hard part. Two of Lambert's songs could represent the very best all time American Idol performances.
The two choices show his diverse performance styles. Give the ultra champion performance to Lambert's version of the Tears for Fears song, Mad World. Change is Gonna Come slides in as the next best, best performance of all time on American Idol.
The 2009 American Idol runner-up deserves the best performance stamp for Mad World. Incidentally, he performed the song twice. Both were creatively delicious, but the Birth Year Week performance grabs the ubermost rating. The singer's hauntingly subtle emotion in the reach-out-and-grab-your-heart interpretation of Mad World tops any performance ever attempted on the Idol stage.
As the solemn beat begins, the shadows and the darkness set the tone as Lambert sits sadly in the soft spotlight center stage. Dressed in white he delivers an almost innocent dejected message, All around me are familiar faces. Worn out places, worn out faces . . . Goin' nowhere, Goin' nowhere.
The eloquent vocal quality stays understated for the first verse, but the captive audience then witnesses some anger and frustration when Lambert stands and builds frustration as delivers the words, Went to school and I was very nervous, No one knew me, no one knew me Hello teacher tell me what's my lesson? Look right through me, look right through me.
At this point in his performance, he has become that 'every man' character experiencing society's raw harsh reality. By the time he shares his secret, And I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sad, The dreams in which I'm dyin', Are the best I've ever had . . . he soothes the audience into feeling like they're in an intimate setting.
When he pulls the tone back into an eerie higher pitched echo-like ending to the performance, It's a very, very mad world, mad world, mad world, mad world, listeners seem to nod their heads in agreement. The audience makes personal connections as they reflect on Lambert's performance and apply the lyrics to their own lives.
Over the top? Yes. A bit theatrical? Yes. That's a performance. It's Lambert's unique artistic interpretation of an old song's oddly current subject that melds the performance to that Number 1 Championship Trophy.
The next best, best performance goes to Lambert's hard-hitting version of Sam Cook's song, Change is Gonna Come. The show's creator, Simon Fuller, picked the song for the final night. Again, Lambert delivered the personal sense of urgency revealed in the lyrics, convincing the packed arena that change really is possible. Things can get better. And, it might be due to Adam Lambert's bidding. He is that good. He is a true artist.
The experts underscored Lambert's phenomenal performances. His tender version of Cryin' under Smokey Robinson's tutelage during Motown Week rated Lambert a standing ovation from Robinson. More kudos came from Rat Pack mentor, Jamie Foxx. He told America that Lambert has the potential to go stratosphere with his music career.
Other great performances busted out during Rock Week when Lambert relished in Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love gathering rave reviews from the judges. Lambert even impressed the iconic non-conventional guitarist, Slash, mentor of the final four on Rock Night. Judge Randy Jackson said, "You're a rock star tonight. You and Slash should make a record." Rookie judge, Kara DioGuardi gushed enthusiastically, "You're more than a rock star; you're a rock god."
Another great performance emerged when Idol judge Simon Cowell chose one of his own favorite songs, U2's One, for Lambert. Again, the Hollywood native pulled in superlative remarks from judges. On the singer's final performance, Cowell told Lambert, "... the whole idea is to find a worldwide star, and I think we found that with you." In addition to solid references from the experts and judges, Lambert's pre-Idol journey reveals a tremendous amount of dedication invested in honing his skills personally and professionally. He deserves the accolades.
The best performers feel the truth in the music. The best performances are real when the performer believes in truth. Jimi Hendrix once said, When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace. As Adam Lambert's favorite quote, that message seems to blend in with his creative spirit in all of his powerful performances.