American Idol - Year They Were Born

Idol is getting harder and harder to call. Each week we are seeing the Idols struggling with song choice, image, and identity. This week is the week of songs from the year they were born. Most of the Idols were born in 1985 and 1986, with 2 on the outer edges (1980 and 1992). Here is a short list from Billboard of song choices they had:

1980 Top 20 Songs
1. Call Me, Blondie
2. Another Brick In The Wall, Pink Floyd
3. Magic, Olivia Newton-John
4. Rock With You, Michael Jackson
5. Do That To Me One More Time, Captain and Tennille
6. Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Queen
7. Coming Up, Paul McCartney
8. Funkytown, Lipps, Inc.
9. It's Still Rock And Roll To Me, Billy Joel
10. The Rose, Bette Midler
11. Escape (The Pina Colada Song), Rupert Holmes
12. Cars, Gary Numan
13. Cruisin', Smokey Robinson
14. Working My Way Back To You/Forgive Me Girl, Spinners
15. Lost In Love, Air Supply
16. Little Jeannie, Elton John
17. Ride Like The Wind, Cristopher Cross
18. Upside Down, Diana Ross
19. Please Don't Go, K.C. and The Sunshine Band
20. Babe, Styx

1985 Top 20 songs
1. "Careless Whisper".....Wham!
2. "Say You, Say Me".....Lionel Richie
3. "Separate Lives".....Phil Collins & Marilyn Martin
4. "I Want To Know What Love Is".....Foreigner
5. "Money For Nothing".....Dire Straits
6. "We Are The World".....USA for Africa
7. "Broken Wings".....Mr. Mister
8. "Everybody Wants To Rule The World".....Tears for Fears
9. "The Power Of Love".....Huey Lewis & The News
10. "We Built This City".....Starship
11. "St. Elmo's Fire".....John Parr
12. "Can't Fight This Feeling".....REO Speedwagon
13. "Crazy For You".....Madonna
14. "Easy Lover".....Phillip Bailey & Phil Collins
15. "Everytime You Go Away".....Paul Young
16. "Don't You (Forget About Me):.....Simple Minds
17. "Take On Me".....a-ha
18. "Party All The Time".....Eddie Murphy
19. "Everything She Wants".....Wham!
20. "Shout".....Tears for Fears

1986 Top 20 Songs
1. "That's What Friends Are For".....Dionne & Friends
2. "Walk Like An Egyptian".....Bangles
3. "On My Own".....Patti Labelle & Michael McDonald
4. "The Way It Is".....Bruce Hornsby & The Range
5. "You Give Love A Bad Name".....Bon Jovi
6. "Greatest Love Of All".....Whitney Houston
7. "There'll Be Sad Songs".....Billy Ocean
8. "How Will I Know".....Whitney Houston
9. "Kyrie".....Mr. Mister
10. "Kiss".....Prince & The Revolution
11. "The Next Time I Fall".....Peter Cetera & Amy Grant
12. "Burning Heart".....Survivor
13. "Stuck With You".....Huey Lewis & The News
14. "When I Think Of You".....Janet Jackson
15. "Rock Me Amadeus".....Falco
16. "West End Girls".....Pet Shop Boys
17. "Sledgehammer".....Peter Gabriel
18. "Human".....Human League
19. "Sara".....Starship
20. "Higher Love".....Steve Winwood

1992 Top 20 Songs
1. End Of The Road, Boyz II Men
2. Baby Got Back, Sir Mix A-lot
3. Jump, Kris Kross
4. Save The Best For Last, Vanessa Williams
5. Baby-Baby-Baby, TLC
6. Tears In Heaven, Eric Clapton
7. My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It), En Vogue
8. Under The Bridge, Red Hot Chili Peppers
9. All 4 Love, Color Me Badd
10. Just Another Day, Jon Secada
11. I Love Your Smile, Shanice
12. To Be With You, Mr. Big
13. I'm Too Sexy, Right Said Fred
14. Black Or White, Michael Jackson
15. Achy Breaky Heart, Billy Ray Cyrus
16. I'll Be There, Mariah Carey
17. November Rain, Guns N' Roses
18. Life Is A Highway, Tom Cochrane
19. Remember The Time, Michael Jackson
20. Finally, CeCe Peniston

Some singers had it better than others, but when the judges talk about how they have "all the choices" of songs to choose from, they are a bit obnoxious. Here's how they did:

Danny Gokey - "Stand By Me"
He had to go ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL the way down to the 80s or 90s in the Top 100 songs of that year to find this song, which should tell you how difficult this year was to choose. There are some great songs in that year (The Rose, Fame, Upside Down) but they are not songs that would make great Idol moments. He did what he could with the song, turned it into a great vocal, but it was safe.

Kris Allen - "All She Wants to Do is Dance"
Kris is a great performer. He made the song fresh. Still, not my favorite song choice.

Lil Rounds - "What's Love Got to Do With It"
Bless her heart...this is an "Untouchable..." a song that should be avoided because you can't do better than the original. She did a good job with it, but "good" is still 2nd rate to Tina's "great."

Anoop Desai - "True Colors"
Wow...he did a really good job with the song. It was impressive. Not a moment, but not bad.

Scott MacIntyre - "The Search is Over"
ac crap sung almost as well as the original. The guitar was a nice change, but really??? Stop listening to Paula, even "lucid" Paula.

Allison Iraheta - "I Can't Make You Love Me"
She is fighting to be a contender. She's like a dark horse who sings well every week. Comparisons to Kelly Clarkson seem a bit premature, but she is singing very well. Mature and interesting.

Matt Giraud - "Part-Time Lover"
I loved his voice. His performances often border on melisma, but he's very good. This is one of his better performances.

WTF?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
Last performance cut off by DVR because the show ran long. WTF?!?!?!?!?

Top 3: Danny, Allison, Kris

Bottom: Lil, Scott, Matt

I think Lil is in trouble. If Matt hadn't received a good review, I think he'd be the one in the hot seat.