American Idol Season 10 - Top 12 Finalists Perform Songs from the Years They Were Born

     Properly, Ashthon was eliminated. She was clearly a waste as a finalist contestant/wildcard pick. It's too bad they chose her rather than someone more deserving. 

     This week the contestants shock viewers by choosing songs from the years they were born and displaying how frighteningly young they are. And so many of them are young and not musically informed, which is sad and not right if they're going to consider themselves musicians.

     Naima Adedapo is singing "What's Love Got to Do with It" this week. For the second week in row, I don't like her song choice, because it again doesn't employ a lot of singing. She got her on her voice. If she doesn't show it off, nobody's going to vote for her. This performance is even worse, because the parts she does sing are heavily mixed with background vocals. The end was totally incongruous, and the song itself was chanty and weird. She didn't sound bad, but it wasn't good. 

     I'm still confused about the general sound this season. It's really poor, and there's too much interfering production. 

     Paul McDonald has chosen "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues," a song I used to love when I was little. I was steeped in earlier Elton John, but this one was the first I felt was all my own. I guess the other people in my family didn't like it as much, or it didn't get as much radio airplay. I know it got a fair amount, but compared with some Elton on the radio in the '70s, not as much. It did get a lot of play on MTV, which didn't go unnoticed by me. 

     I don't know where the Paul from the auditions went, but this guy is not good. His voice is too faint, even understanding the little hoarseness they warned us about. He's off key, and seemed like he was trying to march it out. Plus, dude, you really need to shave. You're only 27, you easily look 44. 

     Paul's song reinforces another issue I have with the production this season: the songs are too fast and rushed in addition to sounding awful. Whoever is doing the producing is doing a terrible job. 

      Thia Megia chose "Colors of the Wind" from Pocahontas. I wish it weren't Disney, or this type of song, even though I actually think this is a nice Disney song that crosses over into "normal." Jesus! I just realized this is from the year she was born! That's disgusting. She's too young. Get this girl out of here. 

     She looked nervous, and had a touch too much vibrato in her voice for me, but otherwise, this was a very good performance. For this crowd of contestants, it was stellar! 

     Randy's got the critique right, in a way, but there's so few contestants with vocal talent this year that even boring stands out because it may be boring but it's actually good as well. 

     James Durbin brings us back to a reasonable birth era with "I'll Be There for You" by Bon Jovi. He's an exception to the absence of talent. He started off slightly lukewarm and extra Bon Jovi imitative in vocal tone. The performance was nowhere near Bon Jovi, who've got a way with a crowd, but it was pretty cute. It wasn't super-terrific, but it was fun and good. Except for the silly ending. Everyone has to stop throwing in those quick "fancied-up" endings. 

     Haley  Reinhart is going with "I'm Your Baby Tonight." Yes, she's way too old to be the baby voice she so often is---like tonight! Her voice sounds just like a child's. In spite of that and her excessive use of the gross growl, she's almost perfectly on and on-key throughout her performance tonight. The end was great; a terrific Sade-esque sound. The being on key immediately puts her in a better position in my estimation, even though I don't really like her. 

     Stefano Langone claims he chose "If You Don't Know Me By Now." But I don't think all these kids are really picking these songs. If Stefano had truly picked his, he'd know the lyrics at least well enough to understand the emphasis of meaning, and not be repeatedly criticized for not remembering what he should know. 

     In his performance, Stefano does too much with his lips, and with dramatics in general, closed eyes and pained looks---and he does it all at the expense of delivering his song into the microphone. Worse than that, even though he sings decently and in spite of the theatrics, he doesn't seem honest and sincere in what he's singing/saying. He performed pretty well vocally, but there was no connection, soul, or meaning. It was also pretty choppy: the phrasing was just wrong. It was another factor cutting all the meaning and emotion. Still, Stefano is likable, and I think the young girls will vote for him. 

     Pia Toscano is singing Whitney Houston's "Where Do Broken Hearts Go?" I used to like to sing this one when I was little, but I think it's one of her less exciting numbers. But it's good for not going too crazy with runs or extended notes. And it has a little drama, which Pia could use.

     She immediately wins me over with he Olivia Newton-John silky genie pantsuit. They're terribly unflattering, but they would be on anyone but Olivia Newton-John, so it doesn't matter. It's like a Barbie outfit. It's a little on the outlandish and less classy side, and not going to flatter you unless you're sticklike. But it looks so fun. It's endearing, and makes me want that outfit, ghastly as it would be on me. 

     The dance beat in the song was dumb, but luckily Pia's singing overcame it. It also overcame the de rigeur dumb rushy-rush production. I don't know if the drama could have come through better with the stupid production choices. But Pia really does need to dial it up a bit from power pretty diva voice here. I hope she gets to show some personality and verve soon. 

     Scotty McCreery plans to win over all the girls with "Can I Trust You with My Heart" by Travis Tritt. And he's got them. He's perfect. Basically, if you're looking for country, he's a dream. He's a ready-made, born star. And this week he seemed to take time to show through the performance that he really knew and understood what he was singing. He did that last week as well, but maybe better this week. I agree with the judges that I'd like to see him try some more challenging and dynamic country songs. 

     Karen Rodriguez has selected "Love Will Lead You Back" by cheesemongress Taylor Dayne. ("Tell it to ma hawt, tell me ahm the only one!") Ah, you've shown you're a class act here, Karen. And an outfit to rival the selection: Miss Rodriguez appears ready for Star Trek circa 1967. I don't know why, because this isn't the 1989 to Karen. To her, 1989 was apparently "bright colors and preppy clothes." I don't know where she was in 1989. 1989 was hip-hop, metal, hippieish, or Betsey Johnson flower power. Since you were only born then, I'll give you a pass, but if you don't know what you're talking about, shut up, eh? You're mixing together other much earlier years and phases of the '80s. 

     So I hate Taylor Dayne, and I hate this song, and I can't believe this schlock made it to number one after Appetite was released, but whatever. Karen does a good job, if a little thin and vibrato-nervous, at turning Taylor Dayne into Celine Dion---until she gets to the singing in spanish part again. BOring. You don't have to do that in every song, Karen. You're not on Telemundo, and we aren't grading you on being bilingual. It was a little faint/quiet (is it the sound system? I'd like to know already!), but not bad. Especially compared to her other performances. I felt a little more reality and sincerity from her here, less canned news hair.

     Casey Abrams has hilarious parents, and has made a truly devastating song choice in "Smells Like Teen Spirit." I feel like I could fill a page with "I don't know why he did it. Why did he do it? I don't know why he did it. Why did he do it?" I was concerned as soon as they said he was doing it, then more concerned when it sounded like Louie Louie in the pre-performance bundle. But at the same time, I admit I was intrigued at how it was going to come off without being an imitation. 

     And. . . it was by being an imitation. A bad one. Like a scary wedding singer. This was the worst performance I'd seen from him yet. Worst of all, I know he must take the song seriously, but it almost came off like sarcastic mockery. His bass was also not spot on. It sounded like your bass teacher (okay, like mine). The shitty iTunes visualizer backgrounds (so much worse this season) did him no favors, either. It was like a bad, Solid Gold performance of a Nirvana song, totally lacking truth or sincere passion and desperation. A nightmare that made you pity him but still want to cover your eyes and ears.

     Lauren Alaina has another perfect song choice with "I'm the Only One" by Melissa Etheridge. I was looking forward to it, because I love this song. In her other songs, I often find Melissa's voice too monotone, and/or uniformly deep and gruff (for my taste). So I was especially looking forward to Lauren's take on this higher, more melodic showcase of Ms. Etheridge's voice. 

     Hmm. . . there was another M.E. song I really liked. . . it was one of the many they used in Where the Day Takes You, which I used to love! Haven't seen that in a few years. I should watch it again. So maybe "Precious Pain" or "You Can Sleep While I Drive." It's only a little sickening that these songs, and the movie, came out before Lauren Alaina was born. When did I get old? Well, at least she could only barely, and quite scandalously, be my daughter.

     I don't really like the runs on the "you"s, and it sounds a teensy bit messy, but she's again the most complete performer of the night: vocals + performance. And even though you could hear a little flu, or maybe even moreso nerves about the flu, the vocals were strong and she was awesome. Plus, I loved her top. Before I realized it was leopard and not crochet. I'm old, the eys are going. 

     Jacob Lusk is doing "Alone" by Heart, always scary as a prospect. But it could work. Immediately, it's obvious they're rushing him in the production sound. But he comes through that strong and fine. Only his yell was a smidge off. The rest of the actual song was good, but like last week, I feel like they have him start off a song and then send him into some breakdown gospel jam on it rather than singing it through. i think Randy and Jennifer had things very well said on the matter. 

     

Tonight's ranking: 

1) Lauren

2) Scotty

3) Pia

4) Jacob

5) Thia

6) James

7) Karen

8) Haley

9) Stefano (I had trouble deciding between 8 & 9 for these two) 

10) Casey

11) Naima

12) Paul

Who should go? Paul, because that was inexcusable and he's just not showing up. A couple of the cheesers (Stefano, Karen) should go as well, but Paul's really the most serious offender at this point. 

Who do I most want to stay? My top 6

Who would I bet on staying? My top 4, plus James.