Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The Top 11 take on songs from the movies tonight on American Idol.

And, judging from the spoiler list I just saw, the Idols have managed to choose a broad array of songs for tonight’s show.

Let’s just hope the performances are a little more special than they were a week ago.

Sam Woolf

1. Sam Woolf: He’s decided to sing “Come Together” by the Beatles, saying he wants to show another side of himself. An immediate improvement — he isn’t sitting among adoring female fans. He’s turning in a solid vocal, and it is nice to see him going upbeat for a change. But he’s done nothing really imaginative with the song. And if you’re looking for vocal spark … well, it really isn’t there. The judges give him credit for opening up. Jennifer says he gave them “baby rock star” and they’re looking for “big rock star.” She also says he could have injected a little more personality into the vocal. Harry says it was an “average” performance and that he’s “on the way.” Grade: B–

Jess Meuse

2. Jess Meuse: She’s going to sing “The Sound of Silence,” and I love this song choice. It’s one longtime Idol watchers will be familiar with and she says it’s a part of her set when she’s performing solo pre-Idol. Love the start of this song. Love Jess’ tone on it. That was Jess’ best performance to date and one of the best we’ve seen so far in the finals. Though there was an odd moment when the band didn’t seem quite in sync with her. Jennifer says the song seemed to be right in her wheelhouse. I’d love to tell you what the other judges are saying, but the satellite just went out on FOX, so I’m staring at a yellow screen. Ooh, it came back. Keith is saying something about Jess adjusting from smoky bars to Idol’s stage. Who cares? That was very, very good. And Idol has Jess looking like a star. Grade: A–

Curtis (C.J.) Harris

3. C.J. Harris: He shows up with a new guitar and a song he says he’s been performing for the last four or five years. That would be “Can’t You See” by the Marshall Tucker Band. Well, C.J. is immediately showing more emotion tonight. Like Jess, he’s picked a fine old classic that should be recognizable by longtime Idol watchers. But the vocal execution isn’t as good as Jess delivered. I’m just not a big fan of C.J.’s voice. Harry calls the performance very, very strong and says C.J. brought himself back to the forefront of the competition. Keith says he nailed it. Jennifer calls him a front-runner. Wow, great reviews for C.J. Afraid my grade won’t be that great. But it was C.J.’s best performance since the live shows began. Grade: B

Dexter Roberts

4. Dexter Roberts: The country guy has picked another classic, “Sweet Home Alabama.” What could be a better song for a guy from Jasper, Ala.? The last time Dexter went upbeat, you couldn’t hear him over the backing music. That isn’t a problem tonight. But this is striking me much the way Sam Woolf’s performance did earlier in the show. Dexter is turning in a decent vocal, but not doing anything special with the song, except for that ending. Keith says the same thing, that Dexter needs to find a way to make the song his own. Jennifer, too, says he needs to put more personality into the performance. She calls it a good performance. Harry calls it a “good” performance, but also says Dexter needed to bring something special to that very well-known song. Grade: C+

Ben Briley

5. Ben Briley: Ben is going to sing “Bennie and the Jets.” Interesting to see what he brings to the song, because he’s shown the willingness to shake things up. Wow, and look at Ben’s makeover. He says his mom used to play Elton John all the time. Love his willingness to admit he never saw the movie. And look at this, Ben is sitting behind a piano. OK, for all that, this is my least favorite Ben Briley performance. He seemed to veer badly off pitch while sitting at the piano and some of the flourishes he brought to the song once he left the piano didn’t really work for me. Jennifer isn’t sure the song suited Ben, but called it a “good” vocal performances. Harry says it felt like a lackadaisical walk through the song. Keith said the performance didn’t feel authentic. Grade: C

Majesty York

6. Majesty York She’s singing “Let It Go” from Frozen and says this song should have been written for her. The opening is barely audible over the backing music. Majesty’s voice soars once she hits the stage. Unfortunately, there are large parts of this that sounded more shouted than anything. Very energetic performance, but the vocal was nowhere near what Majesty was shooting for. Harry says he’s beginning to wonder who Majesty is because she’s done such a wide variety of music, but he called it a good performance. Keith encouraged her to ease more into the number. Jennifer loves the fact that she can tackle such a wide range of material. Sorry, didn’t like it. Grade: C–

Caleb Johnson

7. Caleb Johnson: He’s going to sing “Skyfall.” Yes, you read right. The Adele song from the movie by the same name. Caleb is a very good singer, but I’m not sure this was the wisest song choice. And the vocal was just OK until that ending, which was out of sight. Now that’s the way to close a song. Oh, and give Caleb credit for this. He showed much more vocal control on that song. Keith compliments Caleb on not being as predictable this week. Jennifer says “this is what I’m been waiting for.” She liked that it strayed from the “rock thing” but was still Caleb. Harry calls his performance “fantastic” and predicts that he’ll be very hard to beat. Grade: B+

Emkay Nobilette

8. M.K. Nobilette: She will sing “To Make You Feel My Love.” Come on, M.K. Please do better tonight. OK, she is doing better I would not call this a superb vocal, but compared to the past two weeks, it’s a vast improvement. Jennifer says she “loved it” and that she felt M.K. trying harder to connect with the audience. Harry said he liked the performance, but thought the runs were a little overdone. Keith says she’s still working on her performance style, but compliments M.K. on her vocals. Let’s not get too carried away. The vocal would still rate as just average on the Idol scale, and M.K. really didn’t do anything special with the song. Grade: C

Alex Preston

9, Alex Preston: He’ll sing “Falling Slowly” from the movie “Once.” I think Crystal Bowersox and Lee DeWyze did a duet of this back in Season 9. Very well, if I recall. Well, the pants legs are still rolled up. Harry calls that performance “simply stated and elegantly done.” Keith loved the fact that Alex holds his attention because of its “raw fragility.” Jennifer calls it a perfect song for him and says he sang it perfectly. I thought it was an OK performance. I’m afraid I’m just not a fan of Alex’s voice. I liked the Season 9 duet much, much better. In my mind, Alex is the most baffling contestant. Just not sure what voters are going to think of him. Grade: C+

Jena Irene Asciutto

10. Jena Irene Asciutto: She is going to sing “Decode” by Paramore from “Twilight.” It’s a song she says she’s wanted to play ever since making the finals. She starts at the piano. And again, I really like the tone of her voice. I liked the quiet parts of that better than when the music swelled, but that was more because of the backing music than anything Jena did wrong. The crowd clearly loved that performance. Keith loved the ferocity of her performance. Then called her Jenna. Jennifer says she has no idea what Jena was doing in the bottom three last week. She credits her with the best performance of the night. And she encourages Idol voters to get on board. Harry called it very, very strong. Grade: A–

Malaya Watson

11. Malaya Watson: She’s going to sing “I Am Changing,” a Jennifer Hudson song from “Dreamgirls.” Wow, is Malaya up to this? Malaya says this song brought her to tears when she saw it in the theater. Really nice opening by Malaya. That’s the best she’s sounded this season. And that was an excellent performance until Malaya walked away from the mic stand. Then I’m afraid she lost a little control of her vocal a couple of times and started shouting rather than singing. But she ended with a really nice glory note and definitely delivered her best performance since the finals began. Jennifer calls it a perfect way to end the show and called it killer. Harry says Malaya just showed everyone there is a “big belter” on Idol this year and called it a nice job. Keith called it the perfect song to play to her strengths. Grade: B–