American Idol Goes to the Movies

Tonight's show was more flop than
blockbuster.

The Top Eight took on songs from the movies tonight. So far this season, I have been impressed by this crop of contestants but tonight ... not so much. I wish instead of movies, they could do songs from TV. I bet Jacob could do a mean cover of the Jefferson's theme song. I digress.

Paul McDonald kicked things off with Old Time Rock-n-Roll. Okay, I think I'm sort of over Paul. I still like his energy and his smile but his voice is starting to work my nerves and please, lose the floral suits! I've heard his band Grand Magnolia and he's a solid singer with his group. But as an Idol contestant, I'm over him. If it doesn't work out with his band, maybe he could do commercials for Orbitz gum or Crest White Strips.

Lauren Alaina had an uphill battle with Miley Cyrus's The Climb. I hate this song but I usually like Lauren ... not tonight. She bored me. Sure, she hit some big notes at the end, but it was too little and too late.

Ironically, it actually could be The End of the Road for Stefano Langone. He can hit the big notes but for me his interpretation of the song is always off. Tonight, it felt rushed to me. The judges loved it but me? Meh. And what was he wearing? He looked like he was taking a walk down Sesame Street!

Scotty McCreery was going to sing Everybody's Talking At Me and I thought that would have been a great song choice. However, he changed it up and decided to do George Straight's Cross My Heart. Don't know the song but he seemed to do it justice. I always feel off-center watching Scotty. The way he tilts his head and his mic are just odd.

Casey Abrams went creepy jazzy with Nat King Cole's Nature Boy. The jazzy feel was nice. It was actually a bold choice. He gets a few points for that. However, he loses points for the weird grunts, the creepy glances and the scatting. Of course, I could be wrong, after all, he ended up getting a standing ovation!

Hayley Reinhart channeled her inner Debbie Harry and sang Call Me. As a huge Blondie fan, this song is actually harder than it seems to pull off. She started off well but by the end was way too screamy and screechy for me. Loved the dress and the boots though.

Jacob did his version of Bridge Over Troubled Water. I loved the dressing down Jimmy Iovine gave Jacob in his intro package. Jimmy asked, "How is he going to lecture 24 million viewers about The Man in the Mirror when you haven't even recorded a record yet?" Jacob needed to be humbled and he was. He emerged this week more restrained and not so full of himself. I sort of hoped he'd do the Aretha version of the song but I'm sure he didn't want to alienate people by going too gospel.

James Durbin closed the show with Heavy Metal. Jimmy and Will.i.am had a few different song suggestions for James but in the end he went with his gut. I'm not sure whether or not that was a good choice. He nailed it but it was really heavy metal so I don't know if he might have turned a few people off.

My picks for the Bottom Three:

1. Lauren
2. Haley
3. Stefano