Hello
[back to top] Performances & Results
| # | Season | Episode / Theme | Slot | Contestant | Approval Rating | σ | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
1980s
|
6/8 |
| 16 |  |
||||
| 2 |
Motown
|
5/11 |
| 17 |  |
||||
| 3 |
Motown
|
6/8 |
| 21 |  |
||||
| 4 |
Open
|
10/12 |
| 21 |  |
[back to top] Summary
Lionel Richie's 1984 ballad was a #1 hit on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts, but Richie might not have recognized his song at first when it debuted on American Idol: AI7's David Cook put an usual post-grunge, power-ballad spin on it.
We've listed Incubus as a secondary artist for the song because the popular alt-rockers play it frequently in concert, and we'll occasionally hear a live version on the radio. Cook's arrangement is somewhat similar (there are only so many ways to rock-out "Hello", after all), but it's different enough that this is definitely not another I Walk The Line situation.
What We Thought
Once a song has been done in a very unusual arrangement on Idol, it's hard for a future contestant to go back to the original. Fortunately for Richie, he had so many cookie-cutter ballad hits in the 80's that it will be a very long time before the supply is exhausted. We are not necessarily happy about that.
