Singer: LIL ROUNDS
Song: "I'm Every Woman"
Monkeys As Critics' Take: It's a predictable song choice for Lil Rounds, but not necessarily a bad one on its surface. But where is the singing? She lets the background singers steer the chorus, as she growls, howls and mumbles with little regard to the tune or demands of the song. She walks out toward the crowd, parades around the judges and periodically shouts a word or two. It's a Matt Giraud performance, where she doesn't trust anything about the song itself. The song has a melody. I've heard it before. Heck, I've heard it before on "American Idol." Wherever that melody is, Lil Rounds isn't singing it. It isn't that Lil hasn't lived up to the potential she showed in the semifinals. It's that she's now been pretty bad for the majority of the Finals.
Athos, Porthos, Aramis and Simon Say: Yo. Lil got the party started for Randy, but it sounded too wild for him. Kara says that America was waiting for her to sing a song like this, but it wasn't worth the wait. Kara instructs Lil that she's been every woman this season, every woman but herself. Paula provides irrelevant extra information by telling us that Lil had no voice on Monday, but Paula still says Lil didn't tap into her inner goddess. Simon starts talking and Lil interrupts him and attempts to filibuster her way through the rest of the segment. It's a brilliant strategy that I've never seen attempted on this show. Unfortunately for her, Simon interjects and predicts that Lil is done after this week, that she didn't show any originality. Ryan hasn't heard enough backtalk from Lil and he lets her defend herself. She disagrees with all four of the judges. Geez, Lil. Maybe all of those criticisms you've been hearing week after week, maybe they mean something?