After weathering devastating critiques from the four judges on Fox’s “American Idol” Tuesday night, Memphis singer Lil Rounds faces her toughest challenge yet on tonight’s results show at 8 p.m. 

Her version of Chaka Khan’s “I’m Every Woman” on Idol’s disco week prompted Simon Cowell to predict it would be her last song on the show.

Two contestants will be eliminated tonight, and Rounds has already been in the bottom two, criticized for her inability to turn songs around and make them original, as Idol favorite Adam Lambert has done regularly to the delight and sometimes bewilderment of the judges.

Writing for the Baltimore Sun, David Zurawik noted that some of the judges comments have not always seemed fair to Rounds. Last week, Zurawik noted:

“(Cowell) got borderline insulting, telling Lil Rounds, an African-American contestant, that she shouldn’t be singing songs like Bette Midler’s “The Rose” after she performed the number. In telling her essentially that she should do more R&B, he was walking right up to the line of making it racial in his suggestion that a black performer should only be doing R&B. More than a few folks on the Internet noticed.”

Rounds is the only African-American remaining in the competition, and is in the top seven. 

Writing for USA Today, Idol blogger Brian Mansfield said her version of “I’m Every Woman”  ” sounds like she finally gets it — or maybe she’s just picked the right song for a change. It’s a little bit karaoke, but it’s better than the past couple weeks. But is it good enough?”

That question is running through the minds of many local fans of the show as the votes from last night are counted. 

Local Idol fan Lindsey Roberts, a stage and film actress who has performed as “Peter Pan” at Playhouse on the Square and in several movies by Craig Brewer, has watched Rounds progress from a performer’s perspective.

“I think she’ll be one of the ones gone this week,” Roberts said. “It’s tough because she is so likeable. She’s a fantastic singer but she has zero artistry. You get the feeling that she’s being led, and not going into the music sessions saying what she wants to happen. She’s clearly talented, but doesn’t have the creative artistry that the competition demands.”

The public will know how America voted tonight at 8 p.m. on Fox 13.

Follow the Commercial Appeal’s Idol coverage at gomemphis.com and click on the Idol icon.

Memphis singer Lil Rounds scraped by another week on Fox’s singing contest “American Idol.” Wednesday night’s results show found her in the bottom two of the seven contestants.

Judge Simon Cowell had been particularly critical of her performance of “The Rose” from the 1979 Bette Midler film of the same name on Tuesday night.

She took the unusual tact of defending herself against Cowell’s criticism, saying that she had tried to do what the judges had suggested with her arrangements.

Ultimately, it was Matt Giraud who got the lowest number of votes, but the judges used their single “save” to keep him in the competition one more week.

That means a tough round next Tuesday night, when two contestants will be eliminated. Next week’s theme is “disco,” giving Rounds, with her gospel and R&B vocal flavor, a possible advantage against low-scoring crooners such as Giraud and Anoop Desai.

Both the male singers had performed Bryan Adams tunes, and both ended up in the bottom three.

Next week, Rounds really needs to stand out from the others in order to be among the top 5. What should she sing? Leave your suggestions in the comments section.

Quintin Tarantino was the guest mentor on “American Idol” this evening, a night that featured tunes made popular by film.

Allison Iraheta opened the show by singing the Aerosmith tune “Everything I Do,” and if her performance means anything for us here in Memphis, it’s that Lil Rounds has her work cut out for her.

“I think you are the girls only hope left in this competition,” Simon Cowell said. “I think that you are now believing that you have a good chance of winning.”

To save time, the judging was done in pairs, Simon and Paula taking turns with Randy and Kara.

Both Anoop Desai and Matt Giraud sang Bryan Adams tunes.

Idol favorite Adam Lambert did “Born to Be Wild” from “Easy Rider,” a completely over the top performance that was reminiscent of Billy Idol.

It’s hard to tell what Simon really thinks of Lambert. He always seems pleased but entirely baffled by the singer.

Danny Gokey ditched the square glasses for his version of Lionel Ritchie’s “Endless Love,” from the movie of the same name. Simon said he did a very “traditional” version of the song, but congratulated him on being emotional.

Kris Allen employed an entire string section to sing his obscure tune.

Lil Rounds had the last spot in the evening, singing Bette Midler’s “The Rose” from the 1979 movie of the same title.

Simon began to level the same criticism that he has dogged her with for weeks. An excerpt: “Once again, I’m going to say this: The song was too soft for you. It was too middle of the road. There’s no excuses anymore, Lil. You are not the artist we met seven or 8 months ago.”

Before they could cut to commercial, however, Lil defended herself, saying that she gave “The Rose” her own R&B twist. Paula Abdul sided with her, told her she should be able to defend herself.

Standing up to Simon might have saved Rounds on a night of serious competition. We’ll know tomorrow when the results are announced on Wednesday’s “American Idol” on Fox 13.

Whew! That was a close call!

That’s all you can say about Wednesday’s “American Idol” results show, in which our very own Lil Rounds ended up in the bottom three. 

We’ve known that Scott MacIntyre and Anoop Desai are just waiting for the ax to fall, but Lil Rounds?

Remember when she was favored to win at the beginning of the competition? When she was being called a combination of Mary J. Blige and Fantasia Barrino? 

Week after week, the judges keep telling her to be herself. To take the artistry up a notch. Bring the joy.

We talked to her mom, Dolline Coburn, and she said the same thing. It’s time for Lil Rounds to start being Lil Rounds instead of Tina Turner or Celine Dion. We know she has it in her, and so do the judges. 

Fortunately, Lil was able to sit back down. She’s now among the top 7. It was Scott MacIntyre, the visually impaired singer, who got sent home this week. 

Now it’s up to Lil. Can she do with her soul-gospel voice what frontrunner Adam Lambert is doing with his rock-Broadway sound? That is, rearranging the music it to make it entirely his own? If she can, she stands a chance. 

Danny Gokey is a little too Michael Bolton-esque.

Kris Allen is smooth, but not captivating.

Matt Giraud hasn’t been doing well until this week. 

And even though Allison Iraheta has a grown-up voice, she’s still 16.

We’ll see if Rounds has the musical chops to insist on her own adaptations next week, when she gets another chance to sing for her survival.

According to offshore betting sites  sportsbook.com and bookermaker.com, if you’re going to put money  on an “American Idol” winner, you’re going to want to bet on Adam Lambert.  Lambert, the odds-on favorite, would get you $12.50 for a $10 bet.

The next favorite is Danny Gokey, with 2 1/2 - 1 odds ($10 would win you $35.)

The somewhat good news for Memphians is that Lil Rounds is given 7-1 or 10-1 odds depending on where you place your bet. 

The worst odds: Scott MacIntyre at 45-1 at Bookmaker and 40-1 at Sportsbook.

Tonight on “American Idol,” Lil Rounds picked one of the tunes we thought might be an obvious choice for the year she was born: Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got To Do With It.” 

Problem was the judges didn’t think it was artistic enough, and basically went off on our favorite contestant from Memphis.

Paula (excerpts): You look hot tonight… This was the week I thought you needed to take your own liberties and go outside of the box… You’re a brilliant vocalist… You’re not able to take the reins. you needed to create your own niche… I’m worried that you’re becoming a beautiful karaoke rendition. 

Simon: It became one of those ghastly copycat performances… It’s like we’ve lost who Lil Rounds is… I have no idea who you are…

Randy: We all love you, you are mad talented… Tina is not you… It’s not clicking right now. 

Kara: Your lower range really suffers…

Lil said that she’s going to start showing just what her range is if she gets another chance, and she likely will. Some of the other competitors got just as bad reviews from the judges including Kris Allen, Anoop Desai and Scott MacIntyre.

Wednesday night’s results show will definitely present a tough cut for American voters.

Next week, “American Idol” contestants will be singing music from the year they were born. What does that mean for Memphis contestant Lil Rounds, born, Nov. 14, 1984? 

Turns out, 1984 is a pretty good year for songs that Rounds could put her stamp on.

Some suggestions:

“I’m So Excited,” Pointer Sisters — The song would allow Lil to show the “joy” that Kara said was missing from her version of Celine Dion’s “Surrender.”

“What’s Love Got To Do With It,” Tina Turner — Lil’s family tells us that she does a mean Tina Turner impression, and this song might offer the perfect opportunity to break it out.

“Let’s Hear It for the Boy”, Deniece Williams — It’s catchy, upbeat, and would allow Lil to show off her vocal riffing.

“Purple Rain,” Prince & The Revolution — 1984 was the year of Prince’s best album, the soundtrack to his movie, so Lil has her choice of a lot of great tunes. She might be able to give “Purple Rain” or “When Doves Cry” her own spin.

“Sister Christian,” Night Ranger — Okay, this is a way-out choice. But seriously, if she wants to rock, there’s no better crescendo than: “Motorin’!!!” 

What song do YOU think Lil Rounds should sing?

On Wednesday’s “American Idol” results show, the suspense kicked in when the 9 remaining contestants were divided into three groups of three:

Matt, Megan and Chris

Lil Rounds, Adam and Allison

Scott, Anoop and Danny

We were allowed to presume that one person in each group would be on the bottom three.

But first, there was the requisite entertainment, including a group performance of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing.” Then,  last year’s Idol winner David Cook performed his recent tune “Come Back to Me.”

Finally, host Ryan Seacrest pulled out the bottom three: Megan Joy, Allison Iraheta and Anoop Desai. Allison was probably the biggest surprise of the group as Tuesday night’s show was her first real fumble in the competition. It wasn’t so much her vocals on No Doubt’s “Don’t Speak.” It was the dress, which Simon compared to a Halloween costume.

Speaking of costumes, guest artist Lady GaGa looked like she could have been in a parade with that black and white dress with a zipper over one eye.

Ultimately it was Megan Joy, the blonde from Utah, who got the ax this week. We know she made an error in judgement when said she didn’t exactly care what Simon thought of her performance. When she was then asked to sing for her survival, Simon also put it out there that it also didn’t matter. She’d be going home no matter what.

“This is your swan song,” he said.

Next week’s theme is songs from the year the contestant was born. Lil Rounds birthday is Nov. 14, 1984.

Lil was declared safe.

In case you missed it, the CA sat down with Alexis Grace in her Cordova kitchen last week while she and her daughter Ryan Elizabeth snacked on Doritos and played with the cat, Jeffie. 

Grace’s father, local bass player Randy Middleton, is working on putting together a band to back his soul-singing daughter, and we could be seeing her stage debut here in the next few months. We will be staying in touch with her and will keep fans updated.

For the moment, Grace says she’s already back in Los Angeles, cheering on the other contestants from the studio audience.

Continued…

LIL ROUNDS

When Lil Rounds announced on Tuesday night’s “American Idol” that she’d be singing Celine Dion’s “Surrender,” there was likely a collective groan all across Memphis. This was not the kind of balladry she should have been singing to stay in the game.

She proved she could do it well, certainly. Wearing a powder-blue dress, she stood behind the mike and gave a strong vocal performance with plenty of dramatic key changes. But the judges weren’t completely sold. Randy said, “For me, this would not have been my song choice. I want you to have a little more swagger.”

Kara DioGuardi was the most positive. “When you go up there,” she said of Rounds’ high notes, “it’s effortless.”

Paula was also against the Celine choice: “I don’t want to see an adult contemporary Lil Rounds.”

 Simon Cowell was more direct: “ This was for me you singing to stay in the competition… This honestly was so old-fashioned. Your personality was being sucked out of you.” He also compared it to singing that one would hear at a church wedding.

If Rounds had a particular advantage in getting voter sympathy, it had to have been her children sitting in the front row. Ryan Seacrest offered to let one of Rounds’ young daughters punch Randy Jackson for saying mean things, and the following close up of the little girl giving Jackson a big, sad hug brought tears to Rounds eyes. 

ADAM LAMBERT

Next up was Adam Lambert, still sporting the Elvis haircut and singing “Play That Funky Music.” Bringing swagger, panache and vocal zaniness, he put a rock spin on the tune that Paula compared to Mick Jagger and Steven Tyler. 

“It was very brave,” Simon complimented. 

Randy offered: “Dude, you were definitely in the star zone.”

Kara DioGuardi, who seems to make at least one numerical gaffe every week, said “It was like Studio 57 in here!” In the corner of the screen one could see Simon mouthing to her: “It’s Studio 54.”

KRIS ALLEN

Arkansas native Kris Allen got behind the piano to close out the show with an outstanding take on “Ain’t No Sunshine.” 

Paula effused: “That could be the first cut from your album!”

WRAP UP

While this should have been the week that the singers pulled out all the stops and picked the best songs in their arsenals, there were definite missteps Tuesday night on the hour and a half show. As Simon noted, some of the singers were turning in karaoke variations instead of original hits.

Going by the commentary of the judges, the singers who may be on the bottom of the deck after the votes are tallied on Wednesday are: Matt Giraud, Allison Iraheta, Megan Joy and Anoop Desai.

The top singers this week seemed to be Kris Allen, Adam Lambert, Scott MacIntyre, Lil Rounds and Danny Gokey. 

Stay tuned.