Idol Chatter & Voice Views

While the contestants are rehearsing their songs this week, I’m hoping American Idol’s three judges are practicing ways to say something critical about a performance.

Hey, they don’t have to be as sarcastic as Simon. He was needlessly cruel at times.

But we need someone who’s willing to be critical.

And, while we’re at it, let’s do away with these rotating critiques.

I liked it much better on the first night of the semifinals when Randy had the final word on each performance.

If you haven’t heard, Idol is returning to an old and familiar theme this week — songs from the year they were born.

1. Casey Abrams (1): Nothing that happened on stage in week one suggests Casey should be anywhere on this list than at the top. But one has to wonder how continuing health problems will affect his performance in the weeks ahead. Two trips of the hospital in two weeks of competition don’t seem to bode well.

2. Scotty McCreery (4): The teen from Garner, N.C., pretty much laid out his strategy last week. He’s going to keep doing what he does best — country music. And I’m sure he can pick a country song from the year of his birth that will match that deep voice of his.

3. Pia Toscano (2):Two sensational vocals back-to-back have pretty much established her as the one to beat on the gals’ side. And I like the way she filmed last week’s interview with glasses on and hair pulled back. Very non-diva like even if she is blessed with a diva’s voice.

4. Lauren Alaina (3): The girl I’ve praised for looking so fearless on stage looked downright fearful during Thursday’s elimination show. Have no fear, Lauren. You’ll coast through the next five weeks or so. And it’s best to build up to greatness in this competition than to sparkle early, then fizzle.

5. James Durbin (7): I thought “Maybe I’m Amazed” was one of the more surprising song choices last week. And one of the best. We were reintroduced to James Durbin the singer as opposed to James Durbin the screamer. Ryan proclaimed “Durbin is dangerous.” He could be, for the contestants.

6. Paul McDonald (5): I imagine opinions of Paul’s performance last week ran the gamut. If only he had sounded as good live as he did in the studio version of “Come Pick Me Up.” Will he go for a song Jennifer Lopez knows this week?

7. Stefano Langone (7): I’m telling you, this kid comes across as likable, modest and pours his heart into every performance. And he hasn’t delivered a Tim Urban clunker yet. I’m predicting he’s going to be around a while.

8. Jacob Lusk (8): I don’t think there’s any doubt Jacob will be recording gospel music once his run on Idol ends. The question is how widespread his appeal will be on the show. So far, I’ve appreciated the vocals. But I’m about 50-50 on enjoying his performances.

9. Haley Reinhart (10): Probably totally wishful thinking on my part, seeing as how she narrowly escaped elimination in week one. But I’m attributing part of that to a song choice (LeAnn Rimes’ “Blues”) that I think fell well short of being a crowd pleaser. Besides, I like Haley more than the remaining ladies on the list.

10. Thia Megia (9): If Thia has young and fun in her, I’d suggest she dust it off and put it on display this week. Because “Smile” was sleepy and pageanty and again left me wondering how she made the finals when so many worthy females were left behind.

11. Karen Rodriguez (11): Another contestant who needs to jar herself out of her ballad-filled comfort zone. Because Pia does what Karen has been trying to do, albeit in just one language and without showing us her Barbie doll collection.

12. Naima Adedapo (13): Strip away the special effects, the bizarre outfit, the breakdown in the middle of the song and Naima’s “Umbrella” was a bit of a vocal mess. It turned out to be good enough with her performing last. But what if she performs early this time around?