Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The week after the twist that didn’t work, American Idol’s Top 4 return to the stage with a lot on the line.

Specifically, this week’s three surviving contestants can look forward to triumphant trips home this weekend.

The Top 4 on American Idol, Alex Preston, Jena Irene, Caleb Johnson and Jess Meuse. (FOX Photo)

That means a reunion with family, a parade, a hometown concert …

“The girls, the hookers, the cocaine,” Caleb Johnson joked in just part of an ill-advised post-show interview (more on that later).

But before we get to all of that, the Idols will be asked to sing songs about makeups and breakups, at least two apiece again tonight in a theme that seems most ill-suited for Caleb, the rocker among the bunch.

Also remaining in the competition, of course, are Alex Preston, Jena Irene and Jess Meuse.

Yep, cutie Sam Woolf is gone, in spite of Idol’s best efforts to keep him around to play heartthrob for another week. My, oh my. Who will give Jennifer goosies with Sam gone?

As always, I’ll be providing song by song grades throughout the show and posting a recap and photo gallery once it ends.

Whoa! First piece of big news for the night: Each Idol will perform three solos.

That means more grades, more to judge them by. Meanwhile, for a recap of tonight’s show, head here. For a photo gallery, go here.

Round One: Breakups

1. Caleb Johnson: He upset some folks with comments he made after last week’s show, referring to some people who send him song suggestions with the “R” word. Tonight, he kicks things off with “You Give Love a Bad Name.” A nice match for Caleb’s voice and a nice opening. Also a bigger hit than many of the rock songs he’s tackled this season. Interesting, he’s singing his love song to Keith. Hey, great way to start the show with a great vocal, a high-energy performance, a couple of great glory notes. Heck, he even made good use of the Idol background singers. Keith calls it great. Jennifer says she thought she was at a rock concert. Harry thought it was great as well. Grade: A– (only because someone might change up a song in a more interesting fashion.)

Jess Meuse: Hmm, interesting first song choice for Jess. She’s going to take on “Since You’ve Been Gone,” a big hit for the original Idol, Kelly Clarkson. Jess says she’s been in a couple of relationships where it was a relief when it ended. She’s looking for someone who will fit into her lifestyle and says “I’ve met a lot of duds along the way.” Speaking of duds, there was that opening. Well, I’m glad this is Jess’ first song. Maybe people will forget it before voting begins about an hour and a half from now. There were some bum notes in the opening, and Jess went sharp when the volume swelled and the chorus kicked in. One of her weaker vocals, to be honest, and I’m a fan of Jess. Jennifer liked the attitude she showed, but didn’t like the fit of the song and Jess’ vocal style. Harry says he’s glad she has two more songs. Grade: C–

Alex Preston: He has some momentum, coming off last week’s performance of “Say Something.” For a first song, he’ll take on Alex Clare’s “Too Close.” Alex says his first heartbreak came after senior year of high school when he went off to college and his girlfriend didn’t want to “do the long distance thing.” But he says it helped him write some “dope songs.” Alex has stripped this performance down nicely. It’s not a “Say Something,” but he’s turning in a nice performance, delivered a nice little twist at the end and has the crowd cheering him on. Pretty well done. Harry says he likes the fact that Alex made the song his own. Keith thinks he could have done more with the phrasing of the song. Jennifer calls him “unique,” but wonders if it will provide “the moment” that would win the competition. Grade: B

Jena Irene: She’s going to rock it out on her first song, singing “Heartbreaker” by Pat Benetar. And it looks like we’re going to get a pretty much straight-forward cover from Jena. She rocked it out, emphasizing the comment Jennifer just made about Alex’s performance. In the process, she nailed a couple of killer notes, displayed lots of vocal power and delivered a huge glory note at the end. Keith says it didn’t seem like she was fully committed and invested in the performance, and I sorta agree. That’s an aggressive song, and Jena didn’t seem all that aggressive. Jennifer liked it, calling it a controlled performance. Harry says it was a “10 out of 10” vocally, but he too sensed a disconnect between the song and her performance. Grade: B+

Round Two: Dedications

Caleb Johnson: He’s going to perform “Travelin Band” by Creedence Clearwater Revival for his dedication song, and he’s dedicating it to his band back home in Ashville, N.C. Hmm, think Caleb might have performed this a time or two in his life. Well, no one has to tell Caleb to loosen up on stage do they? He delivers a great ending to the song. He lifts the mic stand triumphantly into the air. Jennifer says” “You’re going to be tough to beat, I feel.” Harry and Keith loved it too. Caleb had a minor stumble with the Aerosmith song last week, but he’s making up for it this week. Grade: A–

Jess Meuse: She’s going to sing “So What” by Pink and dedicates it to all the non-believers who pushed her to prove them wrong. Jess is delivering a better vocal this round, but wow, did this young woman pick some great singers to try to cover. One thing that threw me off was the way Jess was smiling throughout that first angry verse. She’s certainly showing more attitude on this song, punching her first into the air repeatedly, flinging the mic stand to the stage. Much better than the first song, but this isn’t a song that’s allowing Jess to show off what’s unique about her voice. Harry, Jennifer and Keith are both telling her the truth: They agree, the song wasn’t the best fit for her voice. Jess needs a knockout performance in round three. Right now, she’s a distant fourth on the night. Grade: B–

Jena Irene: Her dedication song will be Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance.” Not sure the Idol ladies are making a wise choice tonight by trying to outrock Caleb. Though Jena pulls it off better than Jess. Once again, Jena delivers a solid performance. Once again, she moves around the stage and entertains well. Once again, the performance isn’t quite up to the standard Caleb is setting tonight. Keith called it “very good.” Jennifer says she gives Caleb a run for his money in terms of big performances. Jennifer wasn’t thrilled with the changes Jena made to the arrangement. Harry thought she did well, too. Grade: B

Alex Preston: He’s going to sing “I’m Yours,” and he’s playing a ukulele, which is a page out of the Jason Castro Idol songbook. But he’s really changed up this very big hit song, and his version isn’t working for me at all. I expected this to be an Alex moment. Instead, he’s stripping the song of what made it so popular. He gets a solid reaction from the crowd, but I did not like it one little bit. Jennifer still wants more dramatics from Alex. Harry wanted his version to be more different. Keith liked the ending, but not the rest of the performance. Grade: C–

Round three: Makeups

Caleb Johnson: Oh, Caleb, no. After two blistering performances, he’s going to sing “Maybe I’m Amazed,” which has been done way, way too much on these shows. That said, Caleb is doing much better with this ballad than he did with “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing.” And for the first 80 percent of that performance, Caleb sang a straight cover, albeit very well. But he added one heck of a flourish at the end of that song. Now that’s the way you finish a song. Wow, Caleb Johnson just wrapped up one heck of a night on American Idol. Those three performances should definitely earn him one of those trips home. Harry calls that phenomenal. Keith says he couldn’t agree more. Jennifer thought it was his best performance. Grade: A

Jess Meuse: Needing a huge performance, Jess is going to take on Lady Gaga’s “You and I.” Hey, a much better fit for her voice. She’s giving it a bit of a country twist. Really like the part in the middle where she slowed the song down. Then she follows that up by belting out the You and I conclusion to the song. That was far and away Jess’ best performance of the night. Keith calls it “killer” and says that was a nice song choice. Jennifer says it highlighted all the “great qualities and strength of her voice.” Harry also says she killed it. Could that be the song that takes her back to Slapout … in a triumphant way. Grade: A–

Jena Irene: Hmm. Interesting choice. She’s dipping into the Elvis songbook — “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” She’s sitting at the piano. And Jena is going to sing the crap out of this song. Holy, Toledo, Miss Jena. That gave me the goosies. Talk about a moment. Talk about a fabulous vocal. She has Jennifer in tears. Little wonder. That was simply fabulous. The oddest song choice of the night, and Jena Irene just made it work. Jennifer says she was moved more by that performance than any she’s heard in three years as judge. Harry calls it “incredible.” Keith called it “spellbinding.” I call that the performance of the night. Wow, wow, wow. she’s going to get the best grade of Season 13. Grade: A+

Alex Preston: He’s going to sing “Yellow” by Coldplay. Really nice song choice. Unfortunately, Alex is going to once again take liberties with the song that makes me enjoy it less than the original. This can’t hold a candle to the Brooke White version of the same song, for those who remember Season 7. Alex did add a nice little ending. But that was far from my favorite Alex performance. Harry says he really needed a performance that strong. Keith and Jennifer also enjoyed that performance. Apparently, much more than I did. The judges clearly want a Jena, Caleb and Alex final three. We’ll see. Grade: B–