Tonight the American Idol hopefuls took on the library of those inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. I think it separated the kids from the adults. The older Idol contestants seemed to dig deeper this week for their songs. The younger ones went with the standards. Nothing really new there though. It seems this group is happy to recreate previous Idol moments. The problem is they always seem to choose the real defining moments of others and leave themselves looking like karaoke fans. Here’s what happened on rock & roll night on American Idol:
Jacob Lusk: “Man In the Mirror” by Michael Jackson
If Jacob Lusk falls into the bottom three tomorrow night it will likely be due to his comments pre-performance. “If I end up in the bottom three it’s because America wasn’t ready to look at itself in the mirror,” said Lusk. You haven’t won yet Jacob. The performance was okay, at best. He over sang the song again. It was only slightly better than Kris Allen’s performance on Idol season eight (and I only say that because the song writer, Siedah Garrett, joined him onstage. How fair is that?). Actually after re-watching the Kris Allen video it wasn't better at all.
Haley Reinhart: “Piece of My Heart” by Janis Joplin
It was obvious that Haley only chose this song on the continual advice from the judges. She has the husky pipes, but not the emotion of Joplin (not even close). Allison Iraheta did a much better job on this song in season eight… are you seeing the trend. It looked like a not so good night on Idol.
Casey Abrams: “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Great song choice for Abrams, taking the stage with his stand up bass. It was a little boring in the beginning, but he got it together in the second part and brought it home well. Randy Jackson is just so happy there’s a bass player on the show. It was not as good as last week for Casey, but it was by no means bad.
Lauren Alaina: “Natural Woman” by Aretha Franklin
I feared for Lauren right from the start of this song. Kelly Clarkson established herself as the clear winner in season one of Idol with this song. She still owns it, Alaina did nothing to make her mark on it. It’s sad when an Aretha Franklin song sounds boring and forgettable. She will likely avoid the bottom three since she has a big backing, but she did not light it up tonight.
James Durbin: “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” by George Harrison
Durbin picked rock & roll week to chill things out with a ballad. He did, however put emotion into the song. It was a far cry better than what we’d seen so far. He still gave his signature scream at the end, and really worked the note hard. By the end of the song Durbin was crying. Not bawling, but he did show tears. I don’t think it was his best, but it was still the best so far of the night.
Scotty McCreery: “It’s Alright (Mama)” by Elvis Presley
I knew Scotty would go for the King, since he’d mentioned him as his Idol early in the season. I wish he’d picked a better song for his voice though. It was going okay, when McCreery started to scat in the second verse. That was just plain weird. This was definitely his weakest performance so far on Idol. There’s virtually no chance he’ll end up in the bottom three, but he sort of earned a place there tonight.
Pia Toscano: “River Deep, Mountain High” by Tina Turner
Pia did as she promised last week, with the song choice that is. Dressed in what looked like a giant onesie with killer heels on again, Toscano did little to jazz up the song. The band was up tempo, but she remained standing or walking very slowly and concentrated too much on her movement (which wasn’t much). She walked to the judges’ stand and back to the stage. It was boring, even in a faster beat. Her vocals were, as usual, spot on. Give me Paul McDonald to watch in concert any day of the week in concert though.
Stefano Langone: “When a Man Loves a Woman” by Percy Sledge
The song started well enough, with Stefano singing tenderly sitting on the stairs. He hit all his notes, but again with no feeling. It was not Langone’s worst Idol performance, not even the worst of the night, but it may be the end of the road for him.
Paul McDonald: “Folsom Prison Blues” by Johnny Cash
It seemed to me that Paul McDonald and Scotty McCreery got their songs mixed up. I was scared for Paul, even though I do like his stage performances. He did pull it off though. Had he not had a big grin on his face while singing about killing a man “just to watch him die” that is. Paul is sticking with the guitar and I do love that. He played the heck out of the song. I actually think it was Paul’s best performance on the live Idol stage. He has the backing of the Vote for the Worst crowd, and I don’t care, as long as he stays on Idol.
Don’t get me wrong, all of the AI season 10 contestants can sing well. Most just don’t seem to know how to feel the emotion in the songs they choose. No matter how many times Jimmy Iovine tells them to “feel” their songs. It won’t happen if they don’t pick the right song to begin with.
Gwen Stefani mentored the Idol ladies on style for their performances tonight. Will.i.am (or B.i.ll as I like to refer to him) helped Jimmy Iovine in the mentoring tonight. Since there was no auto-tune involved tonight I guess they did not choose to emulate him. Jeff Beck was supposed to be the mentor and on stage, but he canceled due to lack of rehearsal time.
Who was your favorite American Idol performer tonight? Be sure to vote to keep your favorite alive in the competition!
My picks for the bottom three tomorrow night: Haley Reinhart, Jacob Lusk and Stefano Langone.
Copyright @ 2008 TV Review
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