Haley Reinhart at the end of her performance of ‘What Is and What Should Never Be’ on American Idol Season 10
American Idol’s Top 12 will “perform unforgettable songs inspired by iconic ‘American Idol’ moments,” tonight, according to a press release from ABC.
Not sure what I think of that theme. Well, actually, I’m not thrilled by it.
I’d far rather see the Top 12 given free rein to chose whatever song they’d like to perform in hopes of creating their own iconic Idol moment rather than trying to duplicate or top a performance from a past season.
But the theme did get me thinking about iconic Idol moments I remember. Having watched since Season 1, I’ve witnessed plenty of great performance on the Idol stage.
Two stand out as most memorable. Not the greatest performances. Just two of the most memorable.
They would be Kellie Pickler’s Season 5 performance of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” and Haley Reinhart’s Season 10 performance of “What Is and What Never Should Be” by Led Zeppelin.
Kellie was a 19-year-old country singer from North Carolina with a southern draw and an endearing “aw-shucks” personality when she stepped on the Idol stage back in 2006.
She quickly became a fan favorite. Then came Queen night on Idol, with Brian May and Roger Taylor serving as guest mentors. Oh, my. What would Kellie sing?
“Bohemian Rhapsody!” You’ve got to be kidding. On paper, it sounded like potential disaster. Even Simon Cowell said as much.
It was far from disaster. You can tell from the smile on her face at the end of the video below that Kellie knew she’d pulled off one of Idol’s most improbable song choices. Ever.
Haley was 20 when she appeared on Season 10 of Idol in 2011. And she was not considered a front-runner.
That distinction went to Scotty McCreery. Or Lauren Alaina. Or James Durbin. Or Pia Toscano. Or Jacob Lusk.
This was back in the days when Idol revealed the lowest three vote-getters each week, then sent the lowest one packing.
Haley wound up in the bottom three on Top 13 week. And Top 12 week. She escaped both times and slowly turned herself into a front-runner in one of the biggest comeback seasons the show has ever seen.
She made it to the Top 3. Her first song that week was Led Zeppelin’s “What Is and What Should Never Be” with her dad Harry on stage playing guitar.
Wearing high heels, Haley made a brave descent down a long flight of steps at the start of the performance. She descended a shorter flight so she could dance around the judges table while singing.
She started back to the main stage when it happened. Boom. Down she went. She might have missed two or three words before jumping back up and delivering a rousing ending to the performance.
Unfortunately, Haley was eliminated the next night. I still think she should have won Season 10.
Anyway, I don’t except either of those iconic moments to make Monday’s list. But they’re two of the most memorable in my mind.
Enjoy.
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