Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Anyone who reads my blog on a regular basis knows I seldom agree with the Idol judges.

My favorite moment of Wednesday’s show was when Joshua Ledet temporarily rendered them speechless.

Thanks, Joshua.  There are many times I wish I could do the same.

I’m far more inclined to put stock in what Jimmy Iovine says on results night.

Which is a little late to do any good, but that’s another blog for another day.

But I’ll agree with Jennifer, Steven and Randy on one point:  This is tough.

Whom to send home?  I mean, talk about an evenly matched final six.

And three contestants considered front-runners because of their popularity — Skylar Laine, Phillip Phillips and Jessica Sanchez — were not my favorites on Wednesday.

Which brings us to the recap:

Best of the Night:  Joshua Ledet.  Two times up, two very good performances.  I love it when he goes up-tempo like he did on Queen’s “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” because it reminds us that he can perform almost Skylar Laine style and still deliver a great vocal.  And Indie Arie’s “Ready for Love” was in Joshua’s wheelhouse.  One of the things I loved about Joshua on Wednesday:  He showed restraint, especially on the latter song.  If he has a fault, he sometimes oversings like Jacob Lusk did last year.  Tonight, he avoided that trap.

Runner-up:  Based on consistency, heck, I’d go with Hollie Cavanagh.  She took the stage twice, she performed well twice.  I have no idea what Jennifer was talking about when she was criticizing her performance of “Save Me.”  Sure seemed to me that she was connected to the song.  But I supposed Jennifer and the judges made up for it by giving Hollie a standing ovation for her version of “The Climb.”  It fell short of “an Idol moment” to my ears, but it was also an improvement over the Miley Cyrus version.

Please keep her:  I find myself rooting for Elise Testone all the time.  That’s because when she is on — and she sure was on when she performed “I Want It All” — she is as good as any singer on this show, including the gal named Jessica and the guy named Joshua.  Inconsistency is her problem, and it was again Wednesday night.  Along with song choice.  I mean, she’s decided rock is her forte, and she couldn’t pick a better known rock song than “Bold As Love” by Jimmy Hendrix.  And, unfortunately, Randy was right.  She was trying to do too much with the song, reminiscent of her “Let’s Get It On” performance from just a week ago.

Worst of the night:   Phillip Phillips, hands down.  This guy is supposed to be the master of making songs his own.  Queen offered a golden opportunity.  Take a classic Queen song everyone knows and change it up … surely that’s what Phillip would do.  Nope.  We got a pretty straightforward version of “Fat-Bottomed Girls” that wasn’t special at all.  Followed by Dave Matthews’ “The Stone,” which did absolutely nothing to convince me that Phillip deserves a spot in the finals, let alone the title of Season 11 Idol.  In my book, Phillip’s fading fast.

A minor disappointment:  If ever there was a song that was an Idol moment waiting to happen, it’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.”  Jessica Sanchez got to sing it Wednesday night.  I was expecting special.  What we got was just OK.  It certainly won’t dislodge the Constantine Maroulis or Kellie Pickler versions of that song from my memory.  The performance a minor disappointment, but the missed opportunity could be huge for Jessica as the judges turn their love in Skylar’s direction.

Baffled by the judges:  Skylar Laine has been on fire of late.  She’s got a big personality, a big voice and a bigger stage presence.  But the over-the-top praise heaped upon her Wednesday also seemed a little tone deaf.   Except for the big chorus, I didn’t like her vocal on “The Show Must Go On.”  And I thought she got both shouty and shrill on “Tattoos On This Town.”  What’s more, neither song gave her the chance to deliver the kick-butt on-stage performance that prompted Jimmy Iovine to call her the show’s “best performer” last week.

Line of the night from the judges:  Randy Jackson to Skylar Laine:  “I am a gi-normous fan.  That’s bigger than giant — gi-normous, my own language.”  Ah, that Randy. He’s such a master of the English language.  At least he hasn’t been spouting “in it to win it” every other performance this year.

What should happen Thursday:   A bottom three of Elise Testone, Jessica Sanchez (yep) and Phillip Phillips.  With Phillip Phillips heading home.

What will happen Thursday:  A bottom three of Elise Testone, Hollie Cavanagh and Jessica Sanchez, with Elise Testone heading home.  Hope it doesn’t happen, but that’s my prediction.

That said, don’t worry too much, Elise fans.  I haven’t been right on an elimination for four weeks, so I figure the best way to make sure Elise survives is to predict her ouster.

Now how’s that for strategy?

A heck of a lot better than a Phillip Phillips song choice.

If you missed the song by song grade blog, go here.

Check back tomorrow for a photo gallery from tonight’s show.

The grades …

Joshua Ledet:  “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” — A-
Josua Ledet: “Ready for Love” — A-
Elise Testone: “I Want It All” — B+
Jessica Sanchez: “Dance with My Father” — B+
Hollie Cavanagh: “Save Me” — B
Hollie Cavanagh: “The Climb” — B
Jessica Sanchez: “Bohemian Rhapsody” — B-
Skylar Laine: “The Show Must Go On” — B-
Elise Testone: “Bold As Love” — C+
Skylar Laine: “Tattoos on This Town” — C+
Phillip Phillips: “Fat Bottomed Girls — C
Phillip Phillips: “The Stone” — C-