The Remote Island : Matt Giraud

Matt Giraud: Better After "Idol"?

Lindy Parker — Fri, 15 May 2009 20:34:00 GMT

Is it us or has Matt Giraud gotten like a hundred times better since he got voted off American Idol? Here's some examples...

Matt on Ellen...

RIght? He's more confident and suave, and his voice sounds amazing. We don't remember him sounding quite that good when he performed "Let's Get It On" on American Idol.

Matt on Regis and Kelly...

Except for Regis forgetting his mic was still on and talking over the first part of Matt's song, that version of "So Small" was also significantly more relaxed and smooth than his original Idol performance. In fact, the only post-Idol appearance in which Matt seemed less than comfortable was the Tonight Show...

Previously:

American Idol: The Piano Man
American Idol: Rat Pack Brats
American Idol: Disco Double Down
American Idol: Somebody Save Me

"American Idol": The Piano Man

Lindy Parker — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 15:35:00 GMT

Dear Matt Giraud,

OMG, we nearly had a heart attack. When it got down to you and Adam in the bottom two, we seriously had a moment of panic unparalleled in our previous Idol watching. Adam was this close to going home! Not that we don't love you Matt, but we sort of feel like since you were already voted off once, every week you lasted after the judges saved you is just a bonus anyway...

Seriously, even the judges breathed a collective sigh of relief when Seacrest said your name. At least, that's how it appeared -- which raises an interesting question: Do the judges know who's getting eliminated before the show airs? If not, who does know? Presumably, the producers must know since they plan out those ridiculous segments in which Ryan divides the remaining contestants into groups, and then forces them to guess which group is at the bottom. And anyway, it's not like Ryan's got the results in a sealed envelope like at the Oscars.

You know what would better? If the live results show happened immediately following the performances, and they included a fluctuating bar graph that showed the progress of each contestant's votes in real time. That way, if you could see that say, Adam's votes were low, there would be a huge voting frenzy, the contestants would be clutching each other in suspense, and Seacrest would be trying to make awkward "how do you feel right now?" small talk until the results were in. We're just saying, think about it producers.

To Matt Giraud, we wish you well. And, for what it's worth, you might want to think about making "Staying Alive" your first single.

xoxo,

The Remote Island

Previously:

American Idol: Rat Pack Brats
American Idol: More Than a Woman
Aw, KC and Freda Payne Weren't That Bad On American Idol
American Idol: Disco Double Down
American Idol: Somebody Save Me

"American Idol": Somebody Save Me [VIDEO]

Lindy Parker — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 15:00:00 GMT

Dear Matt Giraud,

Double thumbs up, dude. Even though we've basically hated on this ridiculous saving rule from the beginning, we're glad it came through for you in a pinch. Truly, you have a decent voice -- one that we suspect would be even better in the studio. Weirdly, the moment that convinced us that you deserved the save was the way you nailed the notes on "She's a maniac. Man-i-ac, on the floor!" during the group number. That said, we have a bit of a conflicted relationship with your looks. Sometimes we look at you and think, "Yes, definitely hot," whereas other times we're like, "Hmmm. What's happening here? Boo Radley." On the plus side, we sort of like it -- the fact that we're conflicted means your hotness sort of sneaks up on us and we get a little thrill. All this to say we're happy for you, buddy. You just keep doing you...

Nice of Simon to end the whole thing on a negative note. Also, nice of Seacrest to draw as much attention as possible to the tears in your eyes. Still, it had to make you feel good that people were chanting for the judges to save you. We're quite looking forward to what you bring during disco week...as long as Paula and Kara agree not to stand up and sway in unison while your singing -- that makes us feel weird.

xoxo,

The Remote Island

Previously:

American Idol: Miley Cyrus and Jennifer Hudson Perform Tonight!
American Idol: We Prefer Tarantino As a Judge
American Idol: I Can't Make You Love Me If You Don't
American Idol: It Was a Very Good Year
Tonight On "American Idol": Birth Year Songs

"American Idol": Play That Funky Music

Lindy Parker — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:00:00 GMT

We can't decide how we feel about a night without a mentor. Could they really not find anyone to shepherd the contestants through the gentle pastures of itunes downloads?

Here's how it went down...

Anoop Desai -- Conversation we had with our roommate's boyfriend during this song -- Us: "The thing is, no one is really Usher, are they?" Him: "Well, except Usher." Exactly our point. Anoop actually has a decent R&B voice, and he's a pretty nice guy. He should be covering singers that are more in his weight class vocally, when he tries to jump in the ring with the heavyweights, he ends up looking like that kid in college who was always the most enthusiastic person in the karaoke bar.

Megan Corkrey -- First of all, what's the deal? Did she change her name? Are we supposed to call her Megan Joy now? Whatever. Her hair's bordering on Grey Gardens crazy. Paula thinks it would be nice to see Megan on a stool. We don't disagree necessarily, but we're more interested in seeing Megan not suck.

Danny Gokey -- These Southern people, always with the Rascal Flatts. Sigh. "Use Somebody" was your song, Danny. In the words of Simon Cowell, you could've had a moment. Paula disagrees with us -- she'd like to keep Danny in her car so she can hit repeat whenever she wants.

Allison Iraheta -- Okay, we kind of loved this performance. Really, we got the chills in the middle there. We were disappointed not to hear "Decode" for like a hot second, but then we realized that singing Paramore with pink hair would be a little gauche. The judges are HATING her outfit, and while it's not our favorite, it clearly wasn't the worst we've seen in this competition (see: Lil Rounds and the white pants of week one). Also, for some reason hearing Paula use the word "axe" made us just as uncomfortable as hearing our mom say "shit."

Scott MacIntyre -- It's clear that Scott's visual impairment is becoming a liability in this competition, largely because he can't see the crazy shit they're making him wear. He's wearing a collarless leather jacket and tight jeans. What in God's name is going on with his hair? They've done away with fuzzy, and embraced aquanet. He looks like a Golden Girl.

Matt Giraud -- It has to be said, Matt looks HOT tonight. We're not usually feeling him like this. That said, we totally knew the judges weren't going to like Matt's version of The Fray's "You Found Me" -- they don't like him to do white guy music. Actually, we enjoyed it, sort of. Especially the falsetto at the end.

Lil Rounds -- The judges have been practically begging her to do a diva song, so we get what she was going for with "I Surrender." However, no one really wants to hear Celine Dion do they? However, we did tear up when Lil's daughter climbed onto Randy's lap and hugged him. If there's a cuter child out there, we haven't seen one.

Adam Lambert -- Adam, tonight's performance was a true test of our love for you. You couldn't have picked a song we hate more than "Play That Funky Music," and yet, we were weirdly mesmerized by how amazing you are. It's the Adam Lambert show as far as we're concerned. The judges fully agree with us.

Kris Allen -- OMG, are we going to have to start liking Kris Allen in spite of ourselves? Except for the weird little chocolate milk 'stache, we did think he looked like a professional doing "Ain't No Sunshine." Whatever, Kris. Just because we're starting to feel you doesn't mean we have to like it.

Previously:

Top Five Songs We'd Like to See Performed During itunes Night on American Idol

American Idol: Don't Want to Miss a Thing

American Idol: Motown, Less Country

American Idol: Grace is Gone

American Idol: Grand Ole Opry