Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The X Factor is down to a final four, and tonight we finally get to hear those Pepsi choice songs viewers helped pick.

You know, the ones we were supposed to hear last week before some glitch forced the contestants to sing their save-me songs instead.

And, we’ll find out if the show will continue to push for Chris Rene, whose original save-me song “Where Do We Go From Here” was proclaimed as “genius” last week by none other than Simon Cowell.

Look, I listened to that performance a second time. Chris sang one verse reasonably well. He sang the line “Where do we go from here?” 12 times.  In two minutes.

As I said in my ranking blog, it was more lyrically challenged than genius. Heck, he made Taylor Swift looked like Tolstoy.

Let’s just say I’m not ready to jump on the Chris Rene bandwagon.

Hear that, folks, no more judges meddling in the decision on whom to send home. It’s all up to voters.

Marcus Canty: Hold it, Chris got the pimp spot last week. Shouldn’t he be performing first?  Of course, not.  X Factor would rather sacrifice Marcus.  He’s singing “I’ll Make Love to You.”  He looks very classy.  Unfortunately, these vocals are, once more, far short of special.  Sorry, not impressed.  I agree with Simon.  Having those red-clad zombie dancers in the background bordered on silly.  OK, it was silly. Grade: C.

Chris Rene: Oh, no. Viewers have picked “Fly,” not “Young Homie,” for Chris Rene.  Good thing we have the chorus chiming in occasionally, because otherwise this is a vocal train wreck. Let’s see if there’s even an ounce of honestly along those lines from the four X Factor judges. Well, not from Nicole, or Paula, or L.A. Reid. But Simon rated it as a 7 out of 10 and told Chris he has to do better on his second song. Grade: D.

Melanie Amaro: She’ll sing “Hero.”  Please, folks.  Listen to this young lady sing.  Then listen back to Chris Rene.  And please remember this is supposed to be a singing competition.  Love the fact that they’re keeping this so simple, just Melanie and a piano.  Oh, no, here comes that dang choir.  But wonderful vocal. In an absolutely separate league from the first two we heard. Grade: B+

Josh Krajcik: Nicole gave away Josh’s song in her intro. He’s singing “Come Together.” This is not Melanie Amaro special.  But Josh is turning in a good performance.  And a perfectly adequate vocal.  Way more adequate, again, than the first two we heard tonight.  Grade: B-

Marcus Canty: He’s been in the bottom two or three for three straight weeks. I cannot imagine him surviving to make the finals, though I think he’s better than Chris Rene. He’s performing “Careless Whisper (Never Gonna Dance Again),” and the dancers are back.  The choreography was better than the vocal.  Back when this competition began, I thought he would be something special. He’s wound up being merely average.  Grade: C.

Chris Rene: I swear, they’re doing their best to push this guy.  Chris is playing piano for the first time on this song.  Well, the piano playing ended pretty quickly.  He’s singing “No One” by Alicia Keys.  This might be one of Chris’ better performances.  Of course, the chorus gets a big assist.  And Chris owes a big thank you to producers for that heart-tugging segment about his dad.  Grade: B-.

By the way, L.A., thanks for clearing up that this isn’t a singing competition. I’ve been wondering why I’ve been watching some very pathetic singing on this show.

I mean, why don’t we just make the show all back-stories and interviews. Then I would have a wonderful reason to stop watching this crappy show.

Melanie Amaro: She’ll sing “Feeling Good.”  And she’s going to slay it, of course. Wow, great ending.  Great final note. Best vocal of the night. No doubt.  Still a diva song, but more upbeat than we’re used to from Melanie. Grade: A.

Josh Krajcik: Well, when you need a killer performance, you reach into the old bag of songs and pull out an Idol standard — “Hallelujah.” That was probably better than the Lee DeWyze version; I don’t think it was as special as the Jason Castro version.  Except for the ending from Josh, which was wonderful.  Not sure the vocal was as good as what we just heard from Melanie, but it was certainly good enough to earn Josh a spot in the final. Grade: B+

Conclusion: Melanie and Josh should be locks for the finals.  Marcus deserves the third spot, based on vocal talent.  But it’s going to go to Chris Rene, who’s been getting major plugs from the judges for the past two weeks for little good reason.