Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Tonight on Idol, we get 12 songs, with a little British pop thrown in.

There will be a round of British pop, followed by a round of 1960s pop.

Or vice versa. Idol leaked the set list. It didn’t leak the order.

But get ready to hear some Bee Gees, some Dusty Springfield, even some Leona Lewis.

Oh, and many of the tunes have been tried before on Idol.

In between, we’ll get a duet and a trio, meaning each Idol will take the stage three times.

Well, as I wrote earlier today, if you’re going to have a two-hour performance show, best to fill it with as much music as possible.

Steven Van Zandt is going to be this week’s guest mentor.  Interesting.

Hollie Cavanagh:  She closed last week’s show, so she’s opening this week’s with “River Deep, Mountain High.”  Steven’s suggestion: Don’t care what anyone thinks.  And eyes wide open, Hollie’s looking lovely and sounding like she’s in fine form.  Wow, she looks so much more natural than when she first tried to go upbeat just three or four weeks ago.  Playful even, with the finger wags, a little hopping around. And there’s that glory note.  Hey, nice start to the night.  Just call Hollie the show’s most improved performer.  Grade: B

Phillip Phillips:   He’s going to sing “The Letter” by the Box Tops.  He says he’s changed it up a lot.  Yep, he changed it up.  Oh, my.  Is anyone getting this?  I mean, it’s interesting.  But would this version be a hit today.  Whew, I don’t think so.  David Cook was the master at changing up songs. Thing is, when he changed them up, they sounded great.  Not sure about that one from Phillip.  Grade: C

Skylar Laine:   She’s going to sing “Fortunate Son” after changing her song choice.  Well, Jimmy’s right, this is the type of song Skylar should be singing, something that involves a kick-butt performance. Problem is, it sounds like she’s shouting again. There was a section there where they slowed the song down a little, and Skylar found her vocal groove.  Otherwise that was pretty much a shout-fest.  Not impressed.  Grade: C.

Joshua Ledet and Phillip Phillips:  Interesting pairing.  They’re going to sing “That Loving Feeling.”  OK, this is a throwaway performance.  Individually, they sound fine, but their voices don’t mesh.  Hold it, two-thirds of the way through, Phillip and Joshua started really getting into it.  But the chorus was still a mess when they sang together.  No grade.  It wouldn’t be fair.

Jessica Sanchez:  She’s singing “Proud Mary.”  Steven admits wanting to talk her out of it, until he heard Jessica sing.  Jessica starts the song off a little slower than I expected.  OK, now she kicks into high gear.  My, my, my.  That girl can perform. That girl can sing.  Not sure it was the younger music Jimmy was calling for a couple of weeks ago, but she ripped into it.  Loved the ending.  Loved the look.  Loved the performance.  Grade: B+

Joshua Ledet:   He’s singing “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg.”  OK, I can tell already this is going to be special.  Joshua was on mark from the first note.  I think this guy has found his groove.  He was exceptional last week.  He slayed that song.  You don’t need to change a song if you can sing it like that.  Best of all, it was brilliantly controlled.  Steven calls him one of the best two Idols of all time.  He doesn’t name the other.  That might be a bit of an overstatement.  Grade: A-

 Hollie Cavanagh:   Interesting song choice.  She’s going to sing “Bleeding Love” by Leona Lewis.  Tall order. Hollie looks sensational tonight.  Better yet, she’s singing the heck out of her songs.  If Jennifer Lopez tells her she wasn’t connected to that song, someone should smack her on the side of the head.  Very nice performance, Hollie Cavanagh.  Wow.  And to think I counted you out tonight.  That was just splendid.  Grade: A-

Phillip Phillips:  He’s going to sing “The Time of the Season.”  It’s a sexy kind of song, Phillip says.  Hey, look, Phillip isn’t changing this song.  He’s making strange faces every time he goes for those high notes.  Hmm.  He’s having a heck of a time hitting them, too.  There were spots in the song where Phillip sounded very good.  There were other spots where he simply wasn’t capable of hitting the notes.  And given the singers remaining in this competition, that just wasn’t good enough. Grade: C.

Jessica Sanchez, Skylar Laine, Hollie Cavanagh:  They’ll sing “Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher.”  High energy performance by three ladies who are in a groove.  Much, much better than when the guys took the stage.

Skylar Laine:  She’s going to sing “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me” by Dusty Springfield. Skylar is starting off this performance very strong. I was loving that performance, until Skylar started shouting again at the end.  When Skylar goes loud, it just doesn’t sound nearly as good as when Jessica and Hollie do the same thing.  Grade: B-

Jessica Sanchez:  She’ll slow it down with “You Are So Beautiful.”  Pulling a page of the Kat McPhee bag of tricks, singing sitting on the stage.  She’s singing the song very well, too.  Another wonderful vocal by Jessica, who has been the most consistent singer throughout the competition.  Randy calls her talent level “unbelievable.”  Grade: B+

Joshua Ledet:   He’ll sing “Love Somebody.” Great song, and in great hands with Joshua.  He is going to slay this too.  Fabulous opening. Don’t oversing, Joshua.  Don’t oversing.  He didn’t.  But now he kicks in with Joshua taking a great vocal into the stratosphere. Amazing.  And the judges are on their feet for Joshua.  Again.  Well deserved, too.  Grade: A.

OK, I have no idea what will happen tomorrow night.  But I’m going to try to gather my thoughts, sort out all I’ve heard, maybe listen to a performance or two a second time and come back with a recap by 11 p.m.  So check back.