Idol 16 - Alex Lambert

16. Alex Lambert

Season 9, Top 16 Finalist

So. Much. Darn. Potential. Seriously.

As I've said before, the Top 16 results night of Season 9 would go down in American Idol history as the biggest injustice that EVER happened on the show. Really. It was the freakin' apocalypse because three - maybe four - people who were eliminated way too early. Yes, once upon a time, we all survived Daughtry's fourth-place finish or Melinda Doolittle's boot a week before the Finale or even Jennifer Hudson getting eliminated at 7th place, but this one stung so badly.

To be perfectly honest, during that week, it was Alex Lambert's elimination that felt a bit demoralizing. It was demoralizing because the show lost the most distinctive male voice in the competition of that season - one that with a little nurturing had the potential to be something special - and we're left with mediocre karaoke singer that was Aaron Kelly and the obviously flash in the pan, Andrew Garcia. Alex, to me, had the very real opportunity to show growth with every single week. When he was eliminated, sure, he wasn't quite there yet but he had too much potential for the show to waste.

I admit, his rendition of James Morrison's Wonderful World was painful to watch as he looked incredibly nervous during his performance but if you just closed your eyes and didn’t focus on that, he really has a pleasing vocal tone to his voice and the song choice was actually great. But yes, I still considered him a cannon fodder after this performance.

Then, Everybody Knows happened and I was floored. His version of this John Legend ditty was fantastic and made me really consider him as a potential dark horse in the competition. I also noticed that week that he  seemed to have this superhuman ability to pick great songs for his voice. Obviously, Alex came from absolutely nowhere and Simon was right when he inspired Alex to always be confident in his voice. I mean, his vocal tone is impossibly lovely.

After that, he delivered another good performance with Trouble although I already expected more from him after the awesomeness that was Everybody Knows. I just wish the producers didn't advice him to sing Trouble instead of Mario's Let Me Love You because the latter seemed a bit more relatable to the apparent demo of the show. Sabotage?! Regardless, he still proved that he had one of the very best natural voices in the competition as his husky tone was immediately identifiable, and would sound amazing on the radio.

Now, after his elimination, I was so glad that Simon Fuller gave him another chance by putting casting Alex as part of his Online Show If I Can Dream where he got to record some songs as demo for record labels and one music video. Personally, his post-Idol materials are really good and I hope he releases an album very soon.

Favorite Performance(s): I have to say, all his Idol performances were really good and it showed his growth as an artist. I'll probably include his music video and his performance of what-could-have-been Let Me Love You in the mix.

Everybody Knows

Wonderful World

Trouble

Let Me Love You (The Ellen DeGeneres Show)

Music Video: I Didn't Know

#15 - Back Up Singer!