DaveChung.com – A Guy’s Blog From Girl World

Last night, Kris Allen covered Kanye West’s “Heartless” on American Idol. After his most creative performance of the year, judge Randy Jackson said he liked Kris’ version “better than The Fray’s version” and better than the original.

Unbeknownst to many, The Fray had covered the Kanye West song in February 2009 with a much slower, more brooding style than Kris Allen’s. However, The Fray put a mainstream rock edge to the Kanye song, so the comparison was inevitable. Just like David Cook covered the Chris Cornell version of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean,” Kris Allen did something similar with the Kanye West song, while putting his own unique spin on it.

In just a few hours, we find out of the Cinderella story that has been Kris Allen’s run to the Top 3 will continue. And I, for one, hope it does.

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Don’t get me wrong with this post, I think that Kanye West’s latest CD – 808s & Heartbreak – could be my favorite Kanye CD since his first album, but good lord, I’d be lying if I said that his performance of “Love Lockdown” on Saturday Night Live wasn’t a disaster.

What I like about the new CD is that the beats are so good that Kanye’s rhymes take a backseat to the incredible production value. While Kanye’s past couple albums have been heavily dependent on his lyrical ability, this album is completely different. Not only does Kanye sing, which seems to have led to some mixed results, but there are very few typical rap verses on the album. For all that’s missing in terms of lyrical content, there’s a lot there in terms of just great music.

Regardless, this performance is pretty bad.