Idol Chatter & Voice Views

What happened: Fans voted Ali Caldwell and Aaron Gibson into the Top 12. That left Belle Jewel, Darby Walker and Sophia Urista on the verge of elimination. Miley Cyrus saved Darby Walker.

What should have happened: I’m thrilled fans recognized Ali’s talent and voted her through; her iTunes rankings to date have been surprising lackluster and I was afraid that wouldn’t happen. Based on Monday’s show, I wish Sophia would have advanced rather than Darby, but anyone who’s been watching Miley’s reaction to Darby’s performances can’t be surprised by the outcome. All in all, not a strong night for Team Miley.

Song by song grades —

Aaron Gibson: “Round Here” by the Counting Crows — Good song choice, but somehow if fell short of being a great match for Aaron and his raspy vocals, which sort of surprised by. One of Team Miley’s clear front-runners, he turned in an adequate vocal, but not a performance folks are likely to remember. Grade: B–

Ali Caldwell: “Times Have Changed” by Irma Thomas — This was far and away the performance of the night on Team Miley. Ali delivered a great vocal and performance. I’ll be eager to see how that does on iTunes, because Ali hasn’t been a favorite on the charts so far in spite of a string of impressive performances. Grade: A

Belle Jewel: “Runaway” by Del Shannon — I really like the way Belle opened this performance by slowing the song down. But that wound up being the highlight until the performance ending glory note. Everything that happened in between wasn’t enough to overcome Belle’s disadvantage of being montaged in the first two rounds of Season 11. Grade: C–

Darby Walker: “Those Were the Days” by Mary Hopkin — I like this song. I’ve heard it done very well by singers other than the original artists. I didn’t like Darby’s cover, or her vocal choices much as all. That said, I appreciate the originality she was trying to bring to the performance. Grade: C–

Sophia Urista: “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” by Rod Stewart — Huh? First, Sophia’s the only singer montaged during the knockout round. Then the show’s only female rocker is saddled with a 1970s disco tune in the live playoffs. Sophia did the best she could, but that wasn’t a winning combination of singer and song. Grade: C+