{alltv} 'American Idol's' Adam Lambert vs. Paul McDonald: Who performed 'Tracks of my Tears' best?

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

{alltv} 'American Idol's' Adam Lambert vs. Paul McDonald: Who performed 'Tracks of my Tears' best?

Adam Lambert > Paul McDonald.

Sorry for that trick question in the headline, but really, isn't it kind of obvious?

Don't take any offense to this McDonald, but there's pretty much no one who can top Adam Lambert's version of Smokey Robinson's "Tracks of my Tears."

Paul performed the song on "American Idol's" Top 11 show (Theme: Motown week!) and while we thought it was pretty good, we couldn't help buy say, "But Adam Lambert OWNS this song. Why would you perform it on the same stage?!"

When McDonald chatted with a group of reporters after the show, he spilled that he didn't know Lambert had covered the song before. "No. I never knew that was a song that had been done. I'm sure it has been," he says. "I don't know. I've been pretty much out of the 'Idol' loop for a long time... ever, pretty much."

Our take on the two performances? Lambert's performance of the Robinson classic was probably one of his best performances in Season 8. Heck, it's probably one of the best performances ever on the show. When he sang the song, you felt every line, every emotion he was feeling. You couldn't take your eyes off of him.

Paul changed the style to suit him and kind of channeled Bob Dylan on the tune. It was great to see him with his guitar and standing in one place, but the emotion just didn't match Lambert's. That being said, we're still totally downloading Paul's version on iTunes. He has one of the most radio-friendly voices out of all the Season 10 contestants.

We just got the impression that Lambert actually sat down, read the lyrics, really thought about them and connected with the song; McDonald probably just thought it was a pretty cool tune that he could "vibe" with.

You've heard our opinion, now let's hear from you.