DAM NATION: American Idol 8: Mixed Tape

Now, here's a mixed tape for American Idol Season 8. I carefully picked the best songs each contestant recorded during their season and I tried my best not to make it a snoozefest. Hope you enjoy this!

Season 10 Mixed Tape HERE.
Season 9 Mixed Tape HERE.

1. Heartless Kris Allen

2. Mad World Adam Lambert

3. What Hurts The Most Danny Gokey

4. I Can't Make You Love Me Allison Iraheta

5. So Small Matt Giraud

6. Always On My Mind Anoop Desai

7. I Surrender Lil Rounds

8. Wild Angels Scott McIntyre

9. Rockin' Robin Megan Joy

10. You Are Not Alone Michael Sarver

11. No Boundaries Kris Allen

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American Idol 8 Wrap-Up: 10 Worst Performances

Just like last year, no matter how strong this year was for American Idol [eventually], season 8 had their own fair share of bad performances. Good thing though that the Final 13 were a little consistent than last year's Final 12 in terms of performances. For whatever reason, last year's Top 10 finalists were severely hit and miss – Brooke White, David Archuleta and Jason Castro.

So, I compiled the 10 Worst Performances of this season [based from my own opinion – of course – and probably the judges themselves].

10. Ring Of Fire
Adam Lambert
Seriously. What was he thinking? It was like I was watching Egyptian Idol [haha]. The arrangement was the strangest thing EVER. I am fine with taking liberties with a song, but the arrangement took way too many liberties that it could actually piss off the country folks tuned in to watch the show.

09. Viva La Vida
Matt Giraud
Vocally, it was by far NOT the worst. However, I seriously expected way more from him but he went on to deliver the most disappointing performance from a "favorite". With this performance, he opened the door for Kris Allen – though I did not complain. Haha

08. Saving All My Love For You
Tatiana Del Toro
I love her to pieces but singing the same song that made America not vote for her the first time was just plain ridiculous.

07. And I Am Telling You
Normund Gentle
His inclusion in the Top 36 was a mystery - the judges were on crack! The singing was surprisingly okay but it made the show look like a cheap reality show. Besides, I've heard him sing the song a million times already - more than Tatiana's Saving All My Love For You. Haha

06. You Belong With Me
Stevie Wright
I was rooting for her! What happened?! She was mostly out of tune and the pitch was all over the place. Where is the "At Last" girl? Why sing Taylor Swift? Seriously.

05. The Search Is Over
Scott MacIntyre
Who knew he can play the guitar? Well, just stick with the piano!! The performance was a total trainwreck! Sorry.

04. The Winner Takes It All
Arianna Afsar
WTF? ABBA?! The performance was awful. She seemed to be totally out of sync with the music. Nice voice but that was just plain weird.

03. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
Casey Carlson
She looked good but that was the only thing that was good. Terrible song choice. Odd expressions. Thin vocals. Nice attempt but failed.

02. This Love
Jeanine Vailes
Remember her? Probably not. Good thing she got great legs! Haha.

01. Scream On
Danny Gokey
Up until now, I can still hear the wailing he did that night. It sounded like a dying cat crushed by garbage bags in a stinky dumpster. It was undeniably the worst performance this season - or probably EVER. It was murder to my ears! Enough said.

American Idol 8 Wrap-Up: 15 Season Highlights

Well, Season 8 was unexpectedly entertaining. I really thought that after some serious tweaking that the producers did this season, everything will turn out to be a disaster. Fortunately or unfortunately, some things worked and some fell terribly flat.

Suffice it to say that this season was definitely a year of WTF moments! Therefore, unlike last year, I decided to come up with this year’s 15 American Idol 8 Highlights.


15. Judges' Entrance
“Whoa, the judges are on the stage… fancy.” Haha. Seriously. The judges just can’t get anymore stuck-up than that! Vain Simon Vain!


14. Top 7 Disco Dance
I liked this one. It was refreshing to see the Idols doing something else aside from singing. It was also their opportunity to “let go” since Scott MacIntyre already got eliminated. Touche!


13. Bikini Girl vs. Kara Dioguardi [round 1]
Bikini Girl sucks! In her audition, she was downright annoying and full of herself. I did find her ridiculously hot and her voice was ok, but the attitude was SO inappropriate. She was disrespectful, condescending, and self centered [haha]. I am not mad, just saying. I actually loved Kara for putting up a fight with her. That kind of spontaneous freshness made the first episode more fun than usual. However, Round 1 went to Bikini Girl – she was sent to Hollywood for crying out loud!!


12. Joanna Pacitti Disqualified
I was not – in anyway – her biggest fan but I absolutely abhor how the show treated her. Come on! The producers should’ve done the background checking during the auditions and not when they’ve told her that she’d finally reached the Top 36! She already got some negative publicity because of her previous recording deal [a la Carly Smithson] and now this? Give her a break.


11. Lady Gaga Performs
Po-Po-Po-Poker Face. You have got to love her.


10. Tatiana Del Toro
D.R.A.M.A. Love her or hate her. I love her! The second she opened her mouth during the Group 1 Performance Night, it felt like I was in the twilight zone. She ended up being one of the best females of that night as so many people just flat out crashed and burned. Annoying? Yes. Can she sing? A big fat YES!


09. Normund Gentle
Just like Tatiana, his inclusion in the Top 36 was a mystery. Having said that, he was not as annoying as Tatiana. He’s actually enteraining. Can he sing? Definitely. Did he join the right reality show? Probably not.


08. Rockin’ Robin
This was probably one of the most underrated performances this season. And don’t get me started with the adorably cute “Caw! Caw!” at the end of her song! That alone sealed the deal for me!


07. Top 5 Performance Night
One rare moment. This week was probably one of the best episodes on Idol History and, I dare say, in the same league as Season 5's "Great American Songbook", Season 3's "Motown Week" and Season 7's "Andrew Lloyd Webber Week". It was overwhelmingly good! Surprise! Surprise!


06. David Cook’s Finale Performance
I thought that this was his BEST performance on that stage! Emotional. Inspirational. Remarkable. To me, he’s the best American Idol Winner! Ha!


05. Top 13
Somehow, I saw this one coming – especially when it was just between Matt Giraud and Anoop Desai, there was NO WAY they’ll eliminate one of them and have Jasmine Murray into the Top 13. But I was still shocked to find out that this season, it’s going to be a Top 13 instead of the usual Top 12. Sweet!


04. Megan’s Exit
Hilarious. I just couldn’t get enough of Megan Joy. Her behavior that night may have turned off most of the viewers but I, for one, loved it. Mockery of the AI system? Maybe but the “Caw! Caw!” is here to stay! Go Rockin’ Raven!


03. Matt Giraud Saved!
Absolutely Good TV. Matt eliminated. Matt sings. Judges deliberates. Idols hope. Audience shouts SAVE! Simon’s an ass. Paula said NO to Simon. Matt Saved! Idols rejoice. Matt cries. Simon warns – Disco week!


02. Underdog beats the Chosen One
Kris Allen pulled off the biggest upset on American Idol history! The underdog beats everyone’s [except America’s] favorite. He won without the help of the producers [TPTB] and without the love from the judges. Apparently, America preferred the guy-next-door over the guyliner! Haha


01. Bikini Girl vs. Kara Dioguardi [round 2]
This, to me, was the highlight of the season. Kara definitely redeemed herself with this fearless “performance” with her rival – Bikini Girl! Shocking. Hilarious. Revelatory. I could not ask for more. It was Kara’s shining moment and Bikini Girl’s downfall! Round 2: Kara won!!