American Idol Season 10 Takes on Elton John

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Not that I’m a fan or anything, but I think I officially know every single Elton John / Bernie Taupin song ever put on vinyl. So I was prepared for some disappointments. It was not a bad night though, on the whole. I wish the American Idol kids would dig a little deeper for the good songs, but maybe they can’t (or just don’t know enough). Here’s how the Elton John night went down on Idol.

Scotty McCreery - “Country Comfort”
I give Scotty credit for digging into the Elton John library a little deeper than the rest. Even though he only chose the song because it had “country” in the title. Shows his youth. He did well, even giving a shout out to his grandma in the audience. The last note was a little off, but he tried to throw the baritone in there for good measure. Like Jacob Lusk and the high notes, you don’t need them every week. I would have liked to heard Scotty sing "Blue Eyes" instead.



Naima Adedapo - “I’m Still Standing”
Set to a reggae mix, Naima gave it another shot this week. I really hope it’s the last we hear of her. Naima will make a great back up singer for someone, complete with dance moves. I think she enjoys that more anyway.

Paul McDonald - “Rocket Man”
I was a little scared for Paul on this song. Even though it’s not one of my favorite Elton John songs I didn’t want it butchered. Paul put his own twist on the song and played his guitar, which really helps to keep him from flapping all over the stage. At the end, I kinda liked it …I’m as stunned as you all. I like Paul McDonald and am sure he’ll be fine no matter how Idol turns out for him.

Pia Toscano - “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me”
Big yawn… as Pia pulls out another ballad. She did walk tonight, even in killer stiletto heels. She was as spot on as usual in her vocals, but again… so boring. Clay Aiken owns this song from Idol for me, and Pia did nothing to change my mind. It was good, but not great.

Stefano Langone - “Tiny Dancer”
Oh Stefano. What do you do with a guy like this? So pretty, such a good voice… so little stage presence. It never seems like a Stefano concert and that’s a real problem for him. Not to mention that all I could think was “Hold me closer Tony Danzaaaaaa” while he sang. He did keep his eyes open tonight. It did not help.

Lauren Alaina - “Candle In the Wind”
I’m not feeling Lauren Alaina tonight. The song was over so fast it seemed like she was on for half the time of the rest of the Idol kids. She’s a good singer, but I saw (felt) no emotion from her on such an emotional song. In fact, I completely forgot about her before the end of the show… again.

James Durbin - “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting”
I knew James would do this song. So did most of Twitter apparently. He did rock it, as usual. Tonight James started in the audience behind the stage and worked his way to the stage then out to the front audience. I tell you, this guy knows how to work a crowd (and that shocks me the most about James Durbin). He had the piano light on fire and afterwards told Ryan Seacrest that he had so much hairspray in his hair he was worried about having a “Pepsi moment” on the Idol stage. Ryan quickly told him Idol is a Coke show. (For any who don’t know, Durbin was referring to when Michael Jackson got his hair/head lit on fire during a Pepsi commercial.)

Thia Megia - “Daniel”
I so wanted to love Thia when I first saw her on the Idol audition show. Now, not so much. Thia continued to bore tonight with a Disney version of “Daniel” that was just not very good. I get the feeling Thia is having trouble connecting. Ya think?

Casey Abrams - “Your Song”
I cringed when I heard Casey was singing this song. It’s so well known (and over played in my opinion) that you can’t do anything with it, right? Wrong. Casey Abrams got a hair cut, a beard trim and took all the growl out of his voice and just sang. With feeling. It was one of his best performances and hopefully changed some minds to get the votes he needs to stay on Idol this week. This was a really good performance.

Jacob Lusk - “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word”
Again I was disappointed with the song choice. So predictable that Jacob would choose the most dramatic song from Elton John. I wanted to hear Lusk sing “Border Song” with a big choir behind him. Or really any other song but this one. He did well to hold back as much as he could, but by the end it was the same old same old. I like Jacob and think he’ll be there to the end, but I want him to mix it up more. He’s falling into Pia territory (boring).

Haley Reinhart - “Bennie and the Jets”
Starting out sitting on the piano like a lounge singer, Haley finally got it together by the chorus and end of the song. The beginning was so bad for me though I barely noticed. Again I think she picked the wrong song. It was arranged well for her, but there are so many others she could have done better with. It was pretty karaoke to me.

My picks for the American Idol stools o’ shame tomorrow night: Naima Adedapo, Thia Megia, and it’s a toss up for third between Haley Reinhart and Stefano Langone. My biggest hope is that Naima goes home with Thia. Haley and Stefano are right behind them on my list.

Best of the night goes to Casey Abrams, James Durbin and Paul McDonald. Don’t throw things at your screen just because I said Paul’s name on that list! At least Paul knows how to work a crowd and looks comfortable on stage. Many of the others have yet to find themselves.

That’s it for tonight on American Idol. Tomorrow night has Fantasia and Jamie Foxx performing and two (count ‘em 2) Idol hopefuls go home. Who was your favorite tonight? Who do you think will take the stools o’ shame?



Oh, and here are my favorite Elton John songs:
Top 10 Elton John Songs


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