Welcome to Wednesday, boys and girls. Time for another night on the Idol stage. And may I say I’m thankful for my DVR because I’m also a fan of Survivor, and I couldn’t bear not to know what happens to Russell on Redemption Island tonight. But I’ll watch that later.
The theme for this two-hour performance night is music from the contestants’s personal idols. Earlier today I read a blog that said this theme often shows the weaknesses of the singers, revealing how they don’t measure up to their personal singing idols. But there have been a few finalists over the years who have shown themselves and their talent equal to their idols. Let’s hope for more of the latter tonight.
Lauren Alaina (Shania Twain’s Any Man of Mine): It wasn’t her best performance to date. There were some definite weak points. I am a Shania Twain fan and love this song, so I totally get the blog post I mentioned above. It did seem to exacerbate where she was weak in voice. But she was very comfortable on the stage. She gets a 3.7 out of 5.
Casey Abrams (Joe Cocker’s A Little Help From My Friends): Casey’s performance got the full backup treatment, but he didn’t need the help from his friends. It was a fine performance with or without them. I love this guy. Each week I love him a little bit more. Fun, fun, fun. He gets a 4.9 from me.
Ashthon Jones (Diana Ross’s When You Tell Me That You Love Me): The first of the wild card picks from last week, Ashthon didn’t live up to Diana, but she did a fine enough job with it. She certainly looked the part of the diva. I’ll give it a 4.1.
Paul McDonald (Ryan Adams’s Come Pick Me Up): Ah … no … Didn’t do it for me. The opening was “breathy” but instead of feeling intentional it just felt horribly weak. He’s only getting a 3.4 from me this week.
Pia Toscano (Celine Dion’s All by Myself): First, I’ve gotta say I didn’t like the beige train on her short, sparkly, silver dress. But despite that, she looked fabulous! And did she ever nail this song. Loved it. The ending was perfect. The audience was on its feet. I guess I could give her a 5 but then what would she have left to achieve. 4.95
James Durbin (Paul McCartney’s Maybe I’m Amazed): I truly enjoyed the majority of the song, but when he went into shout-mode, he lost me for a bit. That said, this kid is flat-out one talented young man. The shout cost him some points with me, but not much. He’ll get a 4.75.
Haley Reinhart (LeAnn Rimes’s Blue): Yodels and slides and cracks in the voice and a bit of growl. Effortless. Wow! Another bang up performance.(Randy found it a little boring. What?) My favorite from her to date. Got to give her a 4.8.
Jacob Lusk (R. Kelly’s I Can Believe I Can Fly): Gracious. I think I was supposed to love this (the judges did and so did the audience) and rave, but I can’t. He seemed off key a number of times and I didn’t care for some of the runs. Anyway, I just sort of want to shrug and say, “Eh.” I’ll give him a 4.3.
Thia Megia (Michael Jackson’s Smile): The old fashioned intro was absolutely entrancing. I wasn’t as crazy about the second half arrangement, but that wasn’t her fault. She sang it well. Her voice is exquisite. She ends up with a 4.6 out of 5.
Stefano Langone (Stevie Wonder’s Lately): The second of last week’s wild card picks, Stefano gave a solid performance. A little weak at the very start, but nothing horrid. I’ll give him a 4.3.
Karen Rodriguez (Selena’s I Could Fall in Love): Hmm. Didn’t do anything for me. There were parts that were quite pretty, but the majority of it just never seemed to get off the ground. I guess I’ll give her a 3.9.
Scotty McCreery (Garth Brooks’s The River): Bang up job, Scotty. You did Garth proud. Only thing I would suggest to this young man is to use the stage a little more. But this was classic country (and I’m a country fan). I’ve gotta give him a 4.8.
Naima Adedapo (Rihanna’s Umbrella): The third of the wild card picks, Naima starts rough and it just never impressed me after that. It wasn’t truly bad, it just didn’t work for me. I’ll give her a 3.9.
Over all, it was another great night from the Idol stage. See you tomorrow for the results.
~robin, aka Judge #4
