American Idol Season 10 - The Final Four Go with Inspiration and Leiber & Stoller

     Kind of weird last week when Steven Tyler did the non-eating of the popcorn. We rewound and watched that a couple of times. It was like magic! Really, he must have been taught at least a little slight of hand. All to avoid popcorn, I wonder? Is he allergic? Then you'd think Randy wouldn't stuff a piece in his mouth, which Steven then had to remove and toss out into the crowd. Maybe he just really hates popcorn. The mystery remains unsolved here. Maybe someone out there has an answer, but after I saw something unexpected the last time I searched for some simple AI info, I've sworn off until after the finale. 

Wow! Lauren looks amazing tonight!

     This is a strange theme, especially for a double. The theme artists aren't really being given the respect and adulation they have received in past seasons. It's too bad. Before, I would think it would inspire kids to seek out and learn more about artists they might not know much about. Now I think they'll barely remember their names, and won't even have a solid idea of who the artists are or what they have contributed to music. 

     James Durbin has taken inspiration very literally and gone with "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey. Recently I discovered that Journey is "reunited" with a totally different singer. I don't know how I feel about that. I mean, I don't feel good about it. It seems pretty cheap of them. It's one thing if your singer is dead, like Alice in Chains. It's quite another if he's just not with the band and you hire some other dude and say you're the same band. Of course I feel this way because I love Journey. And their Atari game (based on the album Escape) was one of my absolute favorites. The main theme of it was, in fact, Don't Stop Believin'. I mean the literal themesong of the game. So I have nothing against the song---it's fantastic. But you have to understand that if I have problems with a professional singing it with the actual other members of the band, I'm going to expect a lot from someone attempting it anywhere if they're going to stand out in my mind. 

     This is a very popular karaoke song, and is ably done by so many people, I think you really have to deliver something special if you plan to impress an audience. I hope James has that in him, because I don't know many who do, especially when standing in the long shadow of Steve Perry. 

     I didn't like his talking to the audience start, but I guess I could see he was trying to work a real stadium rock vibe. The judges and audience seemed to like it. The song also sounded a little slow to me, which is unusual, since often it seems like they speed up the songs to fit into a certain time window. Since as I said, the song is a karaoke staple, it's pretty disappointing he didn't do a damn extra thing with it. Bad choice on his part, especially with vocals that paled in comparison to any night's bar singer, much less Mr. Perry. When you have an original singer that gifted, you really need to kick out the jams, mofo, and James did not. 

     I think James did an okay job, but unlike the judges said, I don't think he "did it" in terms of really giving a great performance. Actually, the performance was probably the best part: he paid perfect homage, as usual. It's clear he knows and has respect for the music. But week to week, that can't be all there is. And apart from that, the singing was just fine, not extra good. 

     The judges' reactions seemed to continue their bias toward James, which I don't understand. I do understand it in terms of liking the guy, but not in terms of being judges who want the show to determine the artist who will sell the most. 

     Haley Reinhart is doing "Earth Song" by Michael Jackson, which is a bad choice since once again, it's not a hit, and (for a Michael Jackson song) is somewhat unknown. Again, and as the judges told her straight out last week, never a vote-gaining tactic, Haley. But it's a twofer week, so maybe she can take a risk. 

     The performance was weird. The way she used her voice, the first part sounded like a foreign song (Japanese or Eastern Block). Then she got to the long end of constant scream-growling. This girl is going to have no voice left by the time she's 25. And it's a stupid move, because it's painful to listen to, not pleasing. 

     Jennifer had it right and explained the perils of a non-hit to Haley (again). Randy agreed, sensibly so, and pointed out that it wasn't Haley's style and the end wasn't a good delivery, just screaming. Steven liked Haley's spunky reaction to that, and therefore disagreed with the others, but it looked like that was mainly because she stood her ground on her choice and he likes a sassy girl. 

     I didn't like it, but I want to point out that her attitude, while a little too uppity for this show, is a better one for a performer to have than the shaken and apologetic one we have seen on occasion from Lauren when the judges have criticized her. 

     Haley's post-stage talk was a little weird. You can't shorten words if they mean something else specific when shortened, Haley. One thing you've never been is "emo."

     Scotty McCreery is inspired by "Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning," maybe because the song tugs heartstrings? We didn't get a good explanation for why each contestant chose his/her song, so we don't really know. But Scotty went right for the emotional jugular with this one. It was touching and well done. However, I've really resented the interference of the backup singers on so many of the songs this season, and this was another one where they were too loud and intrusive. Maybe they were trying to patch in some loss of him when he got a little taken by sentimentality, but that's not really their place. 

      I will say this song wasn't anything we haven't heard from Scotty before. But we don't really have to hear much new from him, because he's shown us all he needs to. The judges must agree, because they were gentle and complimentary, without much advice to offer.

     Lauren Alaina has selected the aptly inspirational "Anyway" by Martina McBride, and prefaced her performance with a little package offering sympathy for all the people in the South suffering from the recent tornados. She needs to learn how to do that with a little more sincerity and less pearlescence. I mean, it seemed heartfelt, but she seemed just too perky-perfect in her sympathies. 

     I love her Louis the 14th Courtesan/Saloon Girl gown! As she started, there was a tiny bit of nerves in there, but on the whole, this was the most gutsy and believing performance Lauren has given in a long while. It sounded like her show. 

     Steven came right back in complimenting her like days of old, and got us in for a close up revealing that once again, in spite of how great it looked form far away, once again the stylists put her in animal print! Blech.

     I love that Jennifer put Lauren in the scene of being there when the confetti flies, and Randy did the same, praising her utterly. I think it's best for her when she believes others see that, and I think it's best for voters to know the judges believe in her too. 

Round Two!

     Lady Gaga arrives on the scene to (inexplicably) assist with the Leiber & Stoller songs. Unsurprisingly, she wearing a leather bathing suit. She's a great showman, and given this pack, she may have some decent wisdom to give.

     Haley Reinhart has lucked into "I (Who Have Nothing)." I totally agree with Lady Gaga's summary of Haley, and her advice. Unfortunately, does Haley know who Edith Piaf is? We can't assume on AI. Haley doesn't seem to understand Lady Gaga'a advice on the dramatic breath in her vocals. I'm shocked to hear that Haley was into theater, since she never emotes more than jaw craning with her face and never seems to know what to do physically besides the stoop n' poop. 

     Lady Gaga's dramatic advice may have slid in a slice to Haley's performance, but there wasn't much there dramawise, certainly not what she was supposed to do. There was a nice arm movement across her waist. Blessedly, otherwise she was still, simply singing at the microphone. But who cares about the drama! The singing was superspectacular. I totally agreed with the judges: amazing, one of the best of the year, and definitely Haley's best performance ever. Fantastic.

     Scotty McCreery came back with "Young Blood." He was hilarious with Lady Gaga, and Jimmy Iovine kindly noticed that. I think the best advice she gave him was to use the microphone properly, but as she later realized, it may have been coached in more suggestive language than he can comfortably translate. 

     Still, it seemed like he tried to follow the advice. His performance was very cute, upbeat, and fun. After Haley, it was a little anticlimactic, but it was really polished and well done. 

     I agree with Jennifer that it was very like "Gone" last week, and I would like to see him give more, or maybe go in a slightly different direction. Johnny Cash might have been fun. Not that he could do that with Leiber & Stoller, though, I guess. . 

     Lauren Alaina returned with "Trouble." The package with Lady Gaga was a little strange, because why is Lauren so worried about saying she's evil? No one would ever think she was, except she seems so worried about it. . . AHA! Or not. Live a little, Lauren. You're 16. Say you're evil. No one's going to believe it unless you're hoisting a bucket of pig's blood at the prom. 

     In spite of her nerves about the evil appearance, Wow. I don't know where this confident, strong Lauren is coming from this week! Performing, she was all-powerful, even pushy, with only one skirt tug of insecurity. The song wasn't perfect, but she's sung more perfectly before, so I think the important part here was the punch in the performance. 

     I totally agree with Jennifer about Lauren's performance "attack" and maturity. And like Randy, I enjoyed the bluesy fun she had with the song.

     I was pleased to hear Lauren explain what we saw in her this week in her post-performance talk: she just decided to stop letting the nerves get to her and go out there and do it. Well, good. I think that's what she was doing at the auditions and the beginning of the competition, and that's what she should do, so I'm relieved she could and did. 

     James Durbin ends up with "Love Potion No. 9." As usual, he has just the idea of how he wants to do it. Lady Gaga had some excellent advice for him to loosen it up even more and dance into it. I thought James's Bad Company angle idea was a good one, especially after the disaster of I'm Into Something Good, but Lady Gaga's advice was also important.

     In the performance, I got a lot more Skid Row (for the second time) than Bad Company (except from the guitarist) until the very end, which seemed almost Zeppelin-y. It was a great physical performance, though it lacked most of the swingy, sexy dance feel Gaga tried to infuse. But vocally, it just wasn't the tops. He did a few amazing vocals in it, but throughout he didn't show consistent vocal superlativeness. I wish all of it was as great as his yelps, but it just wasn't. 

Tonight's ranking:

1) Lauren

2) Haley

3) Scotty

4) James

Who should go? As much as I hate to say it, James should go. He just isn't as good a singer as the others. 

Who I'd like to stay: Well, this is too close to the end. I enjoy all of them. But I think Lauren is the best choice overall, and I'd like to see what Haley does. 

Who I'd bet on: Shee! At this point, it's too tough to call. After Lauren getting a bottom three last week, I don't know if I'd bet at all for real. But just for fun's sake, I'd say Lauren and Scotty. 

American Idol Season 10 - The Top Five Sing Songs from Now and Then

     

     An interesting theme this week. And I wouldn't ever call Sheryl Crow "rock royalty," but she's certainly seasoned enough to give good advice. 

     James Durbin starts off the show with "Closer to the Edge" by 30 Seconds to Mars. It was cute to see him perform with Sheryl Crow, but seeing him perform, I'd disagree with Jimmy Iovine's assessment that he does this (modern sound, supposedly) better than what he has been doing (again supposedly, '80s rock). He began off key, and his voice didn't sound powerful through the bulk of the song. After his scream (bad choice), he was on key for a while, briefly off again, and ended on. I thought the song was a poor choice that made him sound run of the mill and inconsequential; dismissable. I think he has to appeal to a wider sector of the audience than he has been, though, so I don't know if his technical ability matters as much at this point (as much as his widening that appeal). It's also true that he's done better "different" songs before, and this did show another (albeit poor) side of him. 

     Jacob Lusk has inexplicably chosen "No Air," a male/female duet, and is planning to sing both parts. More on that later. He's from Compton? How come I feel like I've never heard that before? This leaves me thinking Compton must not be what it used to be, or what I used to think it was. Jimmy Iovine reminds me of Sophia Petrillo. 

     So I think Jacob's made a disastrous choice singing both parts of the duet. I mean, we who love to sing love to do that in the car and the shower, but it's generally understood that it's such a bad idea that even drunk karaoke-ers know well enough to avoid it. Singing both muddles both parts, and neither sounded very good or on key here. It also highlighted the fact that while not quite feminine, his voice doesn't sound very masculine. It's an uncomfortable middle ground. 

     Jennifer is so skilled at bullshitting! Let's avoid the issue of your opinion or judgment and just give him some advice. I totally agree with Randy: the duet was a bad choice, he was sharp, and neither performer fit who he seems to be. 

      Lauren Alaina keeps to her country with "Flat on the Floor." I loved Sheryl's advice to her to stay still and channel the power into the song. She did that for Candle in the Wind and it was worked seamlessly. Of course, I don't know how this song is conducive to that delivery. 

     She didn't do it anyway---rather, she did it as much as she could, the song not being conducive to stillness, as noted. She didn't travel too much, which was good, because it conserved her energy for her voice. Se sounded great and looked cute in spite of that horribly unflattering and cheap-looking metal bead fringe "skirt" they gave her.

     Scotty McCreery is going a little off the straight line with "Gone" by Montgomery Gentry. He really needs to quit the face making, as much as some people may find it charming. 

     He sounded really good and this was a very different song for him, sort of cute rockabilly country. I think I prefer his more serious and tender songs, but this is still a fun side to see and know is there. Of course Randy has to say it's a private personal concert again tonight, but in this case I can excuse it in light of the air of Scotty's performance. 

     Haley Reinhart is singing an unreleased Lady Gaga song called "You and I." If it isn't released, I don't really see how we're supposed to properly evaluate her performance of it in comparison to what the others are doing. And historically speaking, songs few people know don't score well for contestants. In my estimation, it's also a bad move that it came from Jimmy Iovine and not her. That means it's not her passion, and her not knowing it at all beforehand might weaken her performance. Also, having someone outright tell a singer what to do makes them less respectable in my opinion. Although I don't know that Idol is really the place to look for a display of that sort of respectability. 

     The song brings Haley right back to the first few weeks of the competition, when she was the creepy growling baby beauty contestant. I'm not saying her voice hasn't progressed---the end with this song was especially good---but it wasn't an attractive song from her. To see a young girl singing some of these lines is just unsavory, and together with the baby pageant tipsy walk effect, it's just creepy. And again, it was a verse then jam format song. Not really singing through a full song. Something about it reminded me of Billy Joel's Scenes from an Italian Restaurant.

     I agree with Jennifer and Randy that it was a dangerous move---I actually thought maybe Jimmy wanted to get rid of her! But also publicize Lady Gaga. No big surprise she's guesting next week. Wonder what she'll sing. . . 

     Round Two!

     Wow, Jimmy must really love Harry Nilsson! I don't think I've ever heard any of his (sung, not written---credit to poor doomed Badfinger on this one) songs on Idol before, much less two in one season.

     James Durbin hits his second round with "Without You." It's sweet that James felt the emotion of the song, but it's not really a song for him. There were maybe two lines that he was able to get out decently, but of course he was also crying. Let's hope that lets him still keep some votes. You tend to sound sucky when you're crying. 

     And Randy immediately notes it: emotional singing can really win a lot of people over. Usually I feel like that's at a concert, where you already know the talent of the performer. But it works here too, it seems. And I guess it's true, as Jennifer notes, we do know he can sing. I just wish he were more consistent. I think other contestants are stronger vocally, but he is an interesting and really nice guy who is very creative, knows and appreciates a lot of good music, and is a hard worker. And if nothing else of that does, he creativity should definitely score him points. 

     Jacob Lusk is surprising us all with "Love Hurts," which is a brilliant suggestion for him from Jimmy. But Jacob should have understood how to do it without being coached by Sheryl, although she certainly did some lovely coaching. I'd like to hear her do a cover of it. The fact that Jacob didn't really get it at first makes me worry how limited he is in his own musical mind. He could do all sorts of stuff, but maybe this limitation of imagination is what's been keeping him sounding largely the same throughout this competition even more than his consistent vocal patterns. Sheryl sang it beautifully, so I hope Jacob really gets it and doesn't do a version that sounds too like his usual self. 

     Of course he ended up sounding more feminine than Sheryl! And he had to put in his weird throat gargle singing. But not too much, in comparison to what he has done. One "true" was totally off, but on the whole, I'd say this song was a big improvement from his first performance. Sound-wise, huge. I don't think he quite did it right for the song, but it showed what he could do if he wanted to. 

     Jennifer made too much of the off-key "true." Randy was nice, and I agree with him that the high note was impressive.

     Lauren Alaina is doing "Unchained Melody." Oh! Che-rist! Is what I thought to myself . . . but didn't she sing this in the auditions? And it was good. So we'll cross our fingers.

     What a gorgeous dress! And here, she was mostly standing still. It was very lovely. She looked a little nervous, but so beautiful. And in spite of the fact that I wanted her to go high on the "I need your love," and I knew she could, the song was transfixing as she sang it. I think she sang it better at the auditions, but this was stellar nonetheless. You could really tell that high note shook her, though, the way she grabbed at her skirt nervously afterward. I hope it doesn't bite her.

   

     Scotty McCreery is back with "Always on My Mind." I love this song. Immediately, I'm pleased not to hear any Willie Nelson in there, despite the country. I'd hoped to avoid that since he's such a true Elvis fan, and Elvis had a haunting spin on this no one else has yet to match. Scotty sang it so prettily, he really seemed to understand the touching Elvis nuances in it. I think this one is my favorite from him. Yay! I'd buy a single. (In theory. I don't do that.) 

     As soon as I heard Haley Reinhart was doing the Animals, I thought "Oh god! What's she going to do?! Not House of the Rising Sun!" My sister proclaimed, "She's going to sing her way off the show." But entering and singing a cappella is a great idea, because she's got a great voice.

     It was all good and nicely Fiona Apple until the "one," when the backup music and growling began. Then it was okay, until near the end, when it devolved to just growls and "hunh" singing. The ultimate finale was great, though. 

     "I guess she redeemed herself," my sister decided, as I considered "does that cancel the stinky early one and get her 5 points of 10, or does it get her even closer to 10?" After quick reflection, I think it gets her to 7. Impressive. 

     I disagree with Jennifer's enthusiastic and ridiculous statement that the song has never been sung like that before, unless she was going with the most basic truth of that kind of observation, like Haley hasn't sung it, so it hasn't been sung by her. Still, good show, Haley.

Tonight's ranking: 

1) Scotty

2) Lauren

3) Haley

4) James

5) Jacob

Who should go? Jacob. He's lost with the others here. He's not what they are. 

Who do I want to stay? Everyone else.

Who would I bet on? Scotty. I am not much of a gambler. I could win a lot, but I don't bet unless I really think I know it's a sure thing.