Last night's TOP 6 sang the 'Carole King Songbook', and I'll admit I was more impressed than I originally had thought of the depth of her music, far more reaching than I was aware of initially. That being said, it was surprising that more of her bigger and well known hits weren't performed, and more obscure ones were chosen by a few contestants. So, with 6 contestants left to perform, and half of them headed to the stools tonight......dim the lights, here we go with the grades and who is likely headed home tonight.....
Jacob Lusk- Sang "Oh, No, Not My Baby".....an odd song choice that is not a well known Carole King song and one that he struggled mightily with in the studio. From the song choice to the putrid outfit he wore on stage, this was just not very good. Easily forgotten as well in the opening slot, he'll be in the BOTTOM 3 tonight, and sadly, I think it's the end of the road for him. Grade C+...only for the energy he showed on stage!
Lauren Alaina- Chose "Where You Lead", again, not a great song choice in my opinion. She's very concerned about hitting the high notes, as she should be because she struggles mightily with them. Very staged and corny performance, esp pulling the 19-year old guy out of the crowd to sing to and dance with. It was was just OK, certainly didn't move me emotionally like it did J-Lo. BOTTOM 3 tonight for me. GRADE- C.....but, I won't be shocked if it's Haley and not her on the stools again!
Scotty McCreery- Solid song choice with "You've Got A Friend", made popular by James Taylor. I loved the musical arrangement on this, and a classic 'country' twist put on it by Scotty to a very well known song. I thought for the most part Scotty worked it out well. 2nd best of the night.....SAFE and FAB 5......Grade- B+
James Durbin- Chose "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" ........the soft a cappella opening gave me goosebumps and was purely magical! One of the BEST ever on Idol. The up tempo after that was Bon-Jovi like.....and I thought he might struggle with a Carlole King song. WOW!!! Agreed with J-Lo, he's consistently good EVERY week, and of course I agree with Randy....as I said in my post over the weekend, he's the FRONT-RUNNER and just might win it all! Grade- A.....not an A+, only because he closed his eyes a few times on the shrieks!
Casey Abrams- Chose a song made popular by Blood, Sweat and Tears, "Hi-De-Ho". Smart song choice for him, suits his style, and I was looking forward to it....BUT.... way too much growling and stomping, and WAY too much else going on with everybody else on stage. The one thing there was NOT enough of for me....actual SINGING.....after all, this is a SINGING competition Casey! BOTTOM 3 tonight! Grade- C-
Haley Reinhart- Chose a lesser known song in "Beautiful", so I'm not sure I was really crazy about the song choice, esp given that she's in the critical FINAL spot of the evening. I would have done solo the one she did with Casey in the duet, "I Feel The Earth Move", much better suited for her. Be that as it may, and aside from technical difficulties with her ear plugs, and being rushed off stage by Ryan at the end (WTF was that about anyway Ryan?!) I thought Haley performed beautifully and sang it quite well. Hopefully enough to keep her off the bottom 3 stools, but if she ends up there, she can thank Ryan and Idol for the rushed judge's comments as well, all for the sake of time in a 90 minute show that should have had plenty of time in it. FAB 5! Grade- B-
As for the Duets....by far the BEST of the night was Haley and Casey performing "I Feel The Earth Move", just as they were the previous time they sang together on "Moaning". It's the only time Casey actually has to sing to keep up with Haley's voice. Thought the other duets were silly and too karaoke-like.
Performing tonight on the Idol stage for the results show is Season 9 runner-up Crystal Bowersox, who's debut album "Farmer's Daughter" is selling stronger than winner Lee DeWyze's is currently on the Billboard charts. I really liked Crystal last year, and thought she was more consistent and overall a better performer and singer than Lee, and deserved the Season 9 Idol title. I'm really looking forward to her perform tonight.
Also performing on tonight's one hour (8-9PM) show is Bruno Mars.
More from Eddie Idol tomorrow.........after the votes are in and the TOP 'FAB 5' is announced!
Gotta run and cut the lawn before the vote results show, but wanted to throw in my two cents. As I've often stated in the past, it's a two man contest right now between Scotty and James. Apples and Oranges in their styles, and I think both have been solid every week (not just Durbin). It'll come down to who has the bigger fan base and bigger crossover appeal. James has to be careful he doesn't choose the wrong song down the stretch; otherwise it'll be real close. The judges love Durbin more than McCreery; I think the country 'thang' isn't quite as appealing to them, making it tough to judge.
ReplyDeleteJacob, in my opinion, was in 6th place going into last night, and he did nothing to move out of that position. I think he goes home.
Next week the cuts get really painful... and at the moment, it'll be tough to predict. A wild guess right now, based on past voting, would seem to indicate that Heley goes in week 5, Casey in week 4 and Lauren in week 3.