Well, viewers, I think American Idol has found us some singers.
Season 10’s first finals episode was five singers old and we’d already heard as many top-notch performances as we were likely to get in any show from the past two seasons.
Now what we need are some judges who know how to deliver a little criticism.
To hear the judges talk tonight, there would be at least 11 potential American Idols among the final 13.
Karen Rodriguez and Thia Megia were the only contestants who got across-the-board critiques bordering on negative.
Jacob Lusk lost control and oversang, but the judges loved it.
Even the lightning bolts and special effects couldn’t disguise the fact that Naima Adedapo couldn’t hold a candle to Rihanna vocally. But Jennifer Lopez didn’t care about pitchy.
Anyway, enough griping because, all-in-all, it looks like we’re embarking on a much better season of American Idol.
The recap:
Best of the Night: Casey Abrams, hands down. He entertained. He sang wonderfully. He’s still a character. He’s still the contestant to beat in my book.
Runners-up: Idol judges tell contestants to shy away from singing songs by Whitney Houston, Celine Dion or Mariah Carey. Pia Toscano ignored the advice, tackled a Celine song and won. Then there’s Scotty McCreery, who displayed his rich vocals again on a near-perfect song choice. Loved the a cappella bit in the middle of Garth Brooks’ “The River.”
Deserves to go home: If all Karen Rodriguez is going to do is stand center stage and sing diva songs, she should pack her bags right now, because Pia can do the same much better. Her vocal was the least impressive of the night; her performance one of the sleepiest. Thia Megia goes here, too. Thia, you’re 15. Entertain us. Don’t give us a performance reminiscent of something that we’d see at a teen beauty pageant.
Please keep her: I worry for Ashthon Jones for three reasons: 1) she sang early in the night; 2) she sang between some of the most popular contestants (Casey and Pia); 3) she played diva again instead of showing us her fun-loving, upbeat R&B side. She has that side and pulls it off well. I’m just hoping she gets a chance to show that. I’ll put Haley Reinhart here, too, because I think she brings a musical diversity — the bluesy female singer — that Karen and Thia don’t.
Surprise of the night: Instead of rocking it out, James Durbin decided to sing Paul McCartney’s “Maybe I’m Amazed.” He controlled the shrieks and, in the process, reminded us what a great voice he has. Well done, James.
Baffled by the judges: Jacob got background singers; Naima got special effects. Sorry, neither vocal did much for me. The only thing interesting about Naima’s performance was the raggae part in the middle. And I know Jacob has amazing range, but parts of tonight’s performance bordered on shouting. But they got praise from the judges.
Best line of the night from the judges: Steven Tyler, to Scotty McCreery: “Someone wrote a song and the lyrics go, ‘Carpet’s all paid for, god bless the TV, let’s go shoot a hole in the moon, Roy Rogers is riding tonight.’ Well, you’re riding high tonight.” By the way, if you were wondering, the song is “Roy Rogers” by Elton John.
Who will go home: Ashthon Jones. I’m a fan, but I fear her performance will be lost among those by more popular contestants at the start of tonight’s show. By the way, I would have loved to have seen her tackle “Umbrella” as a show-closer.
Song by song grades (blog here)
Casey Abrams: “With a Little Help from My Friends” — A-
Pia Toscano: “All By Myself” — B+
Scotty McCreery: “The River” — B+
James Durbin: “Maybe I’m Amazed” — B
Lauren Alaina: “Any Man of Mine” — B-
Paul McDonald: “Come Pick Me Up” — B-
Haley Reinhart:”Blue” — C
Stefano Langone: “Lately” — C
Naima Adedapo: “Umbrella” — C
Ashthon Jones: “When You Tell Me that You Love Me” — C-
Jacob Lusk: “I Believe I Can Fly” — C-
Thia Megia: “Smile” — C-
Karen Rodriguez: “I Could Fall in Love” — D+
5 Comments
I disagree with a lot of what you said tonight. This even though the arrangement sucked sounded very good. Jacob in excellent and I don’t mind if he goes a little crazy with it. Scotty was monotone. Other than that not too bad.
Hey, thanks for commenting.
Agreement is by no means necessary.
This is Idol, after all.
One more thing. Paul was Horrific.
Ashton should go home.
Naima had X Factor flavour on “Umbrella”. I’m so sick of everyone being so worried about pitch-perfect. So much entertainment value! J.Lo hit it right on the head. I fear that Naima will go home if her vocals isn’t on point the next few times though, undeservingly so.
If you look up X Factor (UK) performances, you’ll see great performances, not necessarily pitch perfect. This is why I think Idol (I love Idol, but I’m being realistic) is becoming increasingly irrelevant, and why I think X Factor will blow Idol off the stage.