Thursday, March 31, 2011

American Idol Recap: Time to Crocodile Rock!


Tomorrow two Idols are eliminated.
 I'm a huge Elton John fan and he's got enough songs to accomodate all of the Idols. So I was looking forward to what would happen ... especially since this week two people will be going home. So without further ado...

Scotty McCreery: As long as he can find a country song, he's alright. He even managed to find an Elton John song that he could countrify. I had never heard Country Comfort before, which might be a good thing, because I did not like what some other contestants did with some of my favorite EJ songs (see below). I could see this guy in the top three.

Naima Adedapo: I'm a big fan of I’m Still Standing; but I'm not a big reggae fan. I do give Naima credit for being one of the biggest risk takers we’ve seen on Idol since Adam Lambert. It was very mellow (almost too mellow) and I agreed with Randy when he said it was kind of corny. Let me add this: I would not have been standing if I had to wear those platforms!

Paul McDonald: Like Paul. Like Rocket Man. Didn’t like his interpretation or voice on this so much. Again, I’m agreeing with my dawg Randy that he did have some pitch problems. Will he make the bottom three, I'm not sure, but I think his chances are greater this week than they have been.

Pia Toscano: Despite what the judges told her last week, I just knew she’d be back with yet another balland. She nailed her version of Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me. She also looked amazing in her short sparkly dress. She promised if she’s back next week (and I don’t doubt that she will be) that she’ll pick up the tempo a bit.

Stefano Langone: His version of Tiny Dancer left something to be desired. The judges noticed that he connected more with the audience. In other words, he walked across the stage and didn’t just sing with his eyes closed. Yet for me, he lacked emotion. He didn’t connect with the song. He could take a lesson from Casey and Jacob on how to interpret a song with feeling and meaning. He could be in the bottom three.

Lauren Alaina: Like Pia, Lauren nailed her song. She chose Candle in the Wind and put a country spin on it. Surprisingly it worked. She should be safe for at least another week.

James Durbin: No matter what, the boy’s got energy. He chose Saturday Night’s Alright. He walked through the audience and interacted with the judges. In previous seasons, Simon would have called his performance ‘indulgent.’ But the judges ate it up. Not a great vocal but a damn good performance.

Thia Megia chose Daniel because she has an older brother she’s close to. Nice sentiment. Nice girl. Nice performance … but I need her to go home. It’s time.

Casey Abrams: I’m sure last week gave him a shock. So this week he did a little soul searching. He got a haircut and trimmed up his beard. He also dialed down his performance of Your Song: less histrionics, fewer growls and a more measured performance. We got to hear him sing. His performance showed that the judges didn’t waste their save.

Jacob Lusk seemed to have taken a few cues from Casaey because he delivered a more subdued performance of Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word. This could have been a hot mess of oversinging and drama but he calmed down and his performance was better for it. Now if we could get him to dial back some of the facial expressions he makes while singing.

Hayley Reinhart: I had little to no expectations for the perennial bottom dweller but she surprised everyone by giving one of the best performances of the night with Bennie and the Jets. He was good. She got the crowd involved and she was actually a good way to end the show. It’s very possible that she won’t be in the bottom three this week.

Bottom Three

Naima Adedapo
Thia Megia
Stefano Langone

Going home Naima AND Thia

No comments: