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Matt Giraud mashes it up, but I still miss Quatto

2010 April 25
tags: ,
by TopIdol

American Idol fifth-place finisher Matt Giraud was never one of my favorites during Season 8 — although I still adore his little friend Quatto the Mole, who I would have voted until my fingers bled if he only had his own 800 number every Tuesday night — but I was more then pleasantly surprised during his set at last year’s American Idol tour stop in Boston. There was an energy to his set never witnessed on the show and he was one of the most enjoyable performers of the night. I can definitely say I left the Garden more of a Matt Giraud fan than when I had gone in.

All those years toiling away in a piano bar is why this guy knows how to engage his audience and get the crowd going. It’s a shame we never got to see more of this on Idol, but perhaps it does lend credence as to why the judges wanted him to go far in the competition. If given the right opportunity, this guy could totally go places.

Last week, Giraud performed (sans Quatto — BOO!) at the Irving S. Gilmore Keyboard Festival in his home state of Michigan and did a pretty cool mashup of a few of the biggest pop hits of the past year. Oh yes. Quatto Host did a sweet medley of Lady Gaga, Ke$ha, Miley Cyrus and Jay-Z/Alicia Keys. (Thanks to MJ for posting the video.) It’s actually kind of sick, so you definitely need to watch it.

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from → American Idol

  • et

    That was awesome :)

  • Mary

    I love Matty G! The Bad Romance and Party in the USA/Empire State of Mind mashup was awesome!! He could have left out the Tik Tok part only because I hate that song ughh

    Him and Kris were my favorites on Idol. He is extremely talented and lucky that he’s not under 19E’s wing. Wish him the best!

    • Mary

      It makes me sad because it reminds me of how S8 was a much better season than this shit of a season. Hell, if Gokey was on this season, I wouldn’t mind if he won even though I hate the douche.

  • Verbally Dyslexic

    The Bad Romance arrangement was especially good. He definitely does better outside of the AI competitive environment. Why hasn’t he got a record deal though?

  • Kate123

    Matt was my third favourite from season 8 (that little snippet of ‘Georgia’ from Hollywood Week sustained me through the Coldplay disaster) but I never went to any of the tour shows and I didn’t watch any videos from the tour either, so it’s actually awesome to see how he’s progressed from AI. He reminds me of Michael Buble for some reason and I can’t figure out why…but he seems very cool, very fun.

    • muzikizmi

      Matt is my second favorite, after Kris. He was great on the Idol tour, and got a lot of good press. I still can’t believe he didn’t get a major label deal.

    • http://topidolblog.com TopIdol

      He does remind one of Michael Buble, doesn’t he? And I never much cared for Buble until he was on SNL with Jon Hamm. The guy’s got uh, moxie? :)

      Giraud’s Georgia on My Mind was pretty great. Totally forgot about that.

    • margie

      Matt sounds great. I love it when you see them get better artistically.

  • pootle

    I followed a lot of the tour through cellcasts etc and Matt’s set always stood out as one of the liveliest and most interesting. I didn’t notice him much on the show, but that was more ‘not being a good competitor’ with the song-choices and nervousness.

    His ‘Hard To Handle’ from the tour (well, what you can see on youtube etc) is very cool.

  • Lauren

    That was all sorts of awesome! I actually enjoyed listened to a Miley song! <3 Matt!

  • SmartPoptart

    My favorite part of this is definitely the shout out to the Kzoo. I used to hang out there quite a bit, and I have been a few times to a dueling piano bar there – so I guess I just realized there is a pretty good chance I’ve gotten drunk while Matt Girard performed in the background.

    • pattyluponey

      I live in Kzoo! I can totally hear one of my friends screaming in this video. I did not get to go to the show…all of his shows around here sell out in minutes…

      I liked Matt on Idol, and think he’s crazy talented, but he’s become a big fish in a small pond. One of my friends saw him walk into IHOP last week at midnight wearing sunglasses and his hat pulled down. There aren’t paparazzi in Kzoo…and drunk college kids don’t care.

      SmartPoptart, there’s only one piano bar in town, so chances are pretty good you got drunk while Matt performed. I have pics of him singing Happy Birthday a few years ago. :)

      • Lauren

        You’re back!!!!!!!!!1!!!11!!!!111!!!!!!!

      • SmartPoptart

        Ahahahahaha is my memory completely bonkers or does this piano bar have like a tropical motif? For some reason I remember a parrot on its sign. But like I said, I was drunk there a lot so this could have been a separate bar entirely. The nickname of Western Michigan U isn’t “Wastern Michigan” for no reason.
        Anyway, holla Patty! Mitten people represent!

        • pattyluponey

          Yeah, it used to be a Rum Runners, now called Monaco Bay. You are not crazy. I’m a proud Wastern alum :)

          Hi Lauren!!!

          • Lauren

            *waves* Don’t leave me again, ok?

  • AH

    Awesome! Go Matt! :)

  • blacklisted

    I love Matt’s voice. He was one of my favorites on the tour which surprised me since my impression from the show wasn’t so great.

    This guy seriously needs to release an album already.

  • deez

    FUN. Matt seems like a cool dude. I downloaded the song he recorded with Anna Wilson. I too, found him “meh” on the show. But afterwards he’s def shown a lot more personality. I like the guy quite a bit!

  • Blue Eyes

    I liked him on Idol. I loved his rendition of Human Nature, but then I don’t remember anything else he did on the show, other than the judges save. I also thought he was excellent on the Idol tour. He’s much better live than on TV. He really should aim for Michael Buble type of music. I think he can really shine if given opportunities.

  • MissMyEm

    Quote from TI:
    “I was more then pleasantly surprised during his set at last year’s American Idol tour stop in Boston. There was an energy to his set never witnessed on the show and he was one of the most enjoyable performers of the night. I can definitely say I left the Garden more of a Matt Giraud fan than when I had gone in.”

    Interesting that you should say this, because the same thing happened to me. I was not a fan on the show, but during the tour, I thought he was also, the second best performer on that stage in Los Angeles. What can I say…Kris was my favorite. I had the opportunity to meet Matt after the show and found him to be very approachable and pleasant. And more than that he had this very dry wit which I am always drawn to.

    I enjoyed the mash up more than I enjoyed the original artists singing it and I may be mistaken, but I think adding Miley in there was maybe part of that dry wit I liked so much.

    I really do hope he gets a good agent who can do something for him. He deserves it and I’d like to see him succeed. I don’t know anything about who represents him or the like.

  • http://princessleia04.livejournal.com SarahBeth

    That really was pretty awesome, thanks TI for posting it! I’ve always loved Matty G anyway and I truly believe that yes, with the right opportunity he’ll go places. :)

    • http://topidolblog.com TopIdol

      I really enjoyed his set when he played Boston. He seems to keep getting better and better, too!