What do you say?

So I know its been a while since continuing this trilogy of top ten covers, but I decided that I should probably wait closer to AI returning  before I set this list free. By releasing this list, I know that I forcing myself to publicly reveal one of my most secret and guiltiest pleasures. Over the last ten years, there’s not much more that consumed my time than when American Idol was on the air. But I feel it ok to come clean with this confession because after the horror of last season, I will never watch the show again. So it seems only proper to give it a kind sendoff and ode to when the show was in its prime.

I will add a side rant to explain why I will never watch the show again. Last season showed the judges, the show, and the contestants are completely out of touch with what’s current, and I can’t imagine J.lo and Steven Tyler changing that. Though the biggest nail had to of been TIm Urban has his talentless love affair with the stupid, tone deft female teenage viewers/voters.

But in honor of the nine years that were truly great (before TIm Urban and the judges’ egos destroyed it), here is my top ten favorite songs.

10 Ain’t No Sunshine - Kris Allen

I had a very hard time limiting the amount of Kris Allen on this list, so I finally settled for the best videos I could include. I’m pretty sure that I could do a whole top ten dedicated to Kris Allen, only because every performance was original and crazy awesome. Here’s one example…

Kris Allen - Ain’t No Sunshine (American Idol 8) [HQ] @ Yahoo! Video

9 Come Together/Crazy on You - Carly Smithson

Carly has a crazy voice and these two songs highlight it the best. 

7 Love Is A Battlefield - Brooke White

Nothing beats a great 80s cover (well maybe 6 things), but this is a thing of beauty.

7 Trouble - Taylor Hicks

I liked taylor’s sound from the beginning. Southern rock roots will always sound great on shows like these, but this performance really broke the mold. It was one of the first songs to be sung outside the general top 40 archive. It was the perfect song to sing, and I think it helped introduce a lot of people to Ray Lamontagne.

6 Time of the Season - Blake Lewis/I (Who Have Nothing) - Jordin Sparks

This made the list together because they were my two favorite performances from season 6, and it just so happens they were from the same week (the 60s). So it only seemed natural to include them both together.

5 Sugar We’re Going Down - Andrew Garcia

This is the best example of why American Idol will never be as good as it once was. This is the best performance from all of last season, and it was ridiculed by the judges because they just “didn’t get it”. If you don’t see the value of this talent, you shouldn’t be allowed to a judge a show that highlights the truly incredible performance shown here. As a result of the judges lack of appreciation of this unique talent, they forced Andrew into a box and we never got to see the incredible gifts that should have exposed.

4 I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For - David Cook

I wasn’t really a huge fan of David Cook, he was way too commercial for me (which turned out to be true) and ever “unique” take he did was just something someone else had already done. Carly Smithson, Brooke White, Jason Castro, and Michael Johns were all much more talents and did more unique interpretations, but unfortunately this cover is fairly epic. How can it not be when you sing a U2 song well?

3 Alone - Carrie Underwood

Come on, what’s not to love? She showed she was a superstar with this performance, that she can do no wrong, and solidified herself in my top five hotties.

2 Heartless - Kris Allen

This song blew me away, and instantly become one of the best covers ever done in any sort of capacity. I couldn’t stop listening to it last summer, and am still baffled his record label isn’t promoting him more. He is a rare talent among the sea of mediocre pop singers. Again, another prime example of American Idol not knowing how to let winners develop into artists and shine even when given a national stage/audience. 

1 Ring of Fire - Adam Lambert

Almost every list I’ve ever seen of top AI performances will list Lambert’s “Mad World” cover as his best, but its a straight up copy of Gary Jules version. And the majority of people who’ve never seen Donnie Darko (aka 95% of AI viewers) would’ve never known. However, this is far and away the most original cover of a song I’ve ever heard. And as a big fan of 60’s psychedelic rock, this takes the cake for me. Even the cover that inspired Adam to do this sounded nothing like what Adam did. The crem-de-la-crem of Idol covers without question. 

Honorable Mentions

Memory - Jason Castro

Funny choice. Good cover.

Grace Kelly - Josiah Leming

Always wish he made it further, because his original songs are pretty incredible though. Youtube ‘em.

Renegade - Kris Allen & Danny Gokey

I couldn’t not put the first ever cast member duet on this list. Plus, its really good.

Kris Allen & Danny Gokey - Renegade (American Idol 8) [HQ] @ Yahoo! Video

Falling Slowly - Kris Allen

Incredibly Great Song. And while I do have a huge obsession with Season 8 and Kris Allen’s covers, I mainly put this on the list to annoy Tyler (if he reads this far or even at all) for having someone on my list 4 times. 

Kris Allen - Falling Slowly (American Idol 8) [HQ] @ Yahoo! Video

Do you have other favorites that would make it on your list? Want to complain about mine? Well, if you can’t do it on tumblr, do it here.