‘American Idol’ Season 10: Who Should Be Headed for the Final Four

This week the top five on “American Idol” Season 10 sang songs from “Then & Now.” In other words, one current tune, one oldie-but-goodie. We definitely saw some range from a couple of the finalists. A couple stayed in their safety zones and the last, well, it’s time to go home Jacob.

Scotty McCreery proved himself the one to beat with his double song choices of “Gone” by Montgomery Gentry, and later “Always on My Mind” by Elvis Presley. Both perfectly safe song choices, but Scotty has such a cool country voice he’s fun to hear. Song choice and stage presence have been McCreery’s biggest flaws, if you really want to be picky, and tonight he nailed them both twice.

James Durbin started the live show with his version of “Closer to the Edge” by 30 Seconds to Mars, and later performed “Without You” by Harry Nilsson. Neither were up to Durbin’s usual standards. The first song was performed while running around slapping hands with audience members and the vocals were mixed poorly. James shouted his way through it, but it was one of his worst “Idol” performances. He did redeem himself with his second song. Singing with feeling, the vocals still not spot on, James had the crowd nearly in tears by the end. Durbin was left crying too.

Lauren Alaina started off strong tonight with her performance of Carrie Underwood’s “Flat on the Floor.” Mentor Sheryl Crow and Jimmy Iovine told Alaina to stand still and sing the song powerfully like it was meant to be sung. She did so and it worked. Lauren was back, or so I thought. Her second song was “Unchained Melody” by The Righteous Brothers. Alaina looked scared to death from the minute the song started. When it came time for the big note, she backed off and had to wait for the song to catch up.

Haley Reinhart joined Lauren Alaina in a 50-50 split tonight. Reinhart started slow, and ended the show big. Her first song, “You and I” an unreleased Lady GaGa tune, sounded lazy and more like an encore song after a concert. It did nothing to light up the crowd. Closing the “American Idol” live show with “House of the Rising Sun” by The Animals was a killer choice for Reinhart. She owned the song completely. Mentor Sheryl Crow suggested an a cappella start for the song and it worked perfectly. Haley can sing, I just don’t think she’s consistent enough to win.

Jacob Lusk had a bad night. His first song, “No Air” by Jordan Sparks and Chris Brown, had potential. Jacob tried the duet, but started way too high and had nowhere to go. His second song was worse, “Love Hurts” by Nazareth. It started out well enough, Jacob held back and just sang with feeling, then he hit a huge clinker at the bridge. From there he let his emotions take over and completely over compensated. Jacob should be going home tomorrow night on the live elimination show.

If that happens the “American Idol” Season 10 final four will be Scotty McCreery, James Durbin, Lauren Alaina and Haley Reinhart. Perfect for the duet pairings on group night. The judges have been on Haley Reinhart’s case more than Jacob Lusk’s. Maybe his voting numbers have been so low it’s not an issue. At any rate it’s a sure bet that Scotty McCreery likely has the largest fan base to secure his ultimate win.


Copyright @ 2008 TV Review

Find your favorite TV shows in box sets at amazing prices! Thousand of titles at your fingertips. Merchandise from your favorites shows for true fans. 

Find just the right gift!

Buy TV series DVDs and merchandise now safely on Amazon!