American Idol season 10's top 12
American Idol season 10 shook off the dust covering some of their old reliable themes and whipped out their “songs from the year they were born” theme last night. The top 12 scoured the song list, trying to find the perfect song from the year they popped into this big world. Some succeeded by choosing songs that were daring and bold, others did themselves a huge disservice by grabbing up the most predictable song they could find.
Songs by Whitney Houston proved popular last night, with Pia Toscano and Haley Reinhart both choosing songs from her epic catalog. But only one did the diva justice. It shouldn’t be hard to guess it was Pia. Haley growled her way through her performance, mistakenly covering her chin in red lipstick, and practically printed her ticket home.
Here’s a rundown of how the top 12 did:
Naima Adedapo – 1984 – What’s Love Got To Do With It: Working with Rodney Jerkins, Naima set out to update Tina Turner’s classic. The arrangement positively sucked, and Naima’s voice was much flatter than we’ve ever heard her. Total let down. This should have been a win for her. When it came time for judging, the judges finally spewed some real TRUTH — well, except for Steven. “I just loved it,” he said. How PC of him. “Last week I sorta gave you a pass on the pitchiness,” Jennifer started, praising Naima’s over-the-top performance of “Umbrella” for being purely entertaining once again. “But now I’m seeing you’re consistently pitchy,” she finished. Randy agreed. “The vocals were kind of a mess.”
Paul McDonald – 1984 – I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues: Paul’s performance was just….uncomfortable. To watch and to listen to. His druken stage demeanor and the shaky vocals were a disaster. The vocals were blamed on a cold, but there’s no excuse for that wobbling around the stage. We saw that last week as well. It’s becoming distracting. “You were struggling up there, but it sounded good,” Jennifer reassured him. “Some of the notes were very pitchy,” Randy said, but made sure to praise his originality. “You define cool dude in a loose mood,” Steven said, while agreeing with everyone on the vocal problems.
Thia Megia – 1995 – Colors of the Wind: If she’s anything,Thia’s consistent. She’s chosen yawn-worthy song after yawn-worthy song each week and performed them just decently. The problem is, she just never nails the song completely. Last night was no exception. It was your standard Disney cruise performance. “The vocals were OK…[but] that was kind of boring,” Randy said. We couldn’t agree more. Thia could be in real trouble if she doesn’t find some zest to go along with the great voice that’s been hiding away.
James Durbin – 1989 – I’ll Be There For You: You can never go wrong with a little Bon Jovi, and James didn’t disappoint his fanbase with last night’s choice, though we weren’t jumping up and down for joy. Loved the song, but the performance felt a little stale. But we gotta say, thumbs up to James for not ODing on the rocker scream — he saved that for when he got off the stage. Of course the judges loved it. But Steven did have one message for James: “Don’t get too pop-y on me,” he warned. Did James REALLY say he’ll perform some Aerosmith in the finale? Cocky, are we?
Haley Reinhart – 1990 – I’m Your Baby Tonight: Was that Haley on stage or was it a lion? With all of that roaring and growling she did we couldn’t tell. Oh, Haley. It’s just not going to happen for ya. Whatever it is the judges saw in her, she’s not pulling it out. Jennifer harped on her skills as a performer, asking her to trust her instincts more “because the voice comes so naturally.” Randy was still confused about where Haley wants to go as an artist. “The vocals were OK,” he said. “That was sweet and tough…we wanna hear more blues,’ Steven said. She’ll sing the blues, alright, when she’s singing for her life just before being cut tonight.
Stefano Langone – 1989 – If You Don’t Know Me By Now: Stefano’s goal with the performance was to focus more on the vocals and less on the arrangement like last week. He did a great job selling the song — he’s also lucky he got to choose a song originally made in the 70s and remade in the 80s. What we love most about Stefano is his contemporary pop/R&B voice. The judges loved it too. “The best performance of the night so far.You took a song with the highest degree of difficulty like the Olympics and slayed it!” gushed Randy. Jennifer was so wowed she started seeing the finale in Stefano’s future. “You could take this thing,” she said.
Pia Toscano – 1988 – Where Do Broken Hearts Go: Even more Whitney! This time the diva was done justice. Pia belted it out like a pro and sounded gorgeous. “You’re perfect every time you get up there,” Jennifer said. “Pia is in the competition to win it,” Randy warned the others. It’s really time for the girls to step it up. Pia’s definitely coming for them!
Scott McCreery – 1993 – Can I Trust You With My Heart: If it ain’t broke, Scotty isn’t going to fix it. He delivers another sweet, if a bit safe, country vocal performance. “You pushed it out there a little bit more at the end. Keep growing, keep learning, keep doing it,” Jennifer said. Scott really did step it up at the end of the performance. We’d like to see more big notes from him. “You did [Travis Tritt] proud,” Randy told him. “Keep knowing who you are, you’re gonna go places,” Steven said.
Karen Rodriguez – 1989 – Love Will Lead You Back: Karen doesn’t want to be known as the Spanish singer…yet she started singing in Spanish — again — by the end of her performance. Flip-flopping aside, Karen’s performance was OK…just not very interesting. “It started a little rough…I think it was definitely better than last week. I’m still not jumping up and down…but welcome back,” Randy said. He couldn’t have been less amused. Jennifer loved the way she pushed through the performance even though things were getting rough. Steven, well, he loved something. “I love when you break into your ethnic-what-it-is-ness,” he said. We guess he likes the Spanglish.
Casey Abrams – 1991 – Smells Like Teen Spirit: For the first time ever, Nirvana lands on Idol! It was…weird. Casey has an amaaazing voice. It didn’t show here. But what this did for Casey was show how fearless he is. That’s what made this work, and that’s why people are going to vote their booties off to keep him in the competition. We can’t wait to see what he’ll do next! “You love taking risks. I like that you’re fearless. That’s what we need,” Randy said. Truth spoken!
Lauren Alaina – 1994 – I’m The Only One: It’s a real shame Lauren was battling the flu. We have a feeling this could have been her Idol moment. The song was great. The arrangement was great. It should have been a true win. It was far from terrible, but the pitch problems were constant. Still, Lauren has one of the best voices this season, and the judges couldn’t find a thing bad to say. “She’s back!” exclaimed Randy. The rest of the panel echoed his statements.
Jacob Lusk – 1987 – Alone: We still think of this song as the one that made everyone notice Carrie Underwood in season 4. Jacob’s the R&B/gospel dude so it was interesting to see how he’d take on the rock classic and if it could make his idol moment as it did for Carrie. Nope. He oversang the sweet Jesus out of it. “Very very nice performance,” Randy said. He loved that he stepped out of his comfort zone. We do too, but next time he steps out of his comfort zone, it should be more than just the genre of song. How about surprising us by not oversinging? That would really blow people away.
Predictions: Seeing how we completely nailed the bottom three and the eliminated contestant last week, we’re feeling good about how our predictions will match up with the votes. Thia, Haley, and Karen will all be in trouble, but it’s Haley’s time to go.
The results are tonight! We’ll wait the results show out with performances by Black Eyed Peas and last year’s Idol winner Lee Dewyze!
hailey reinhart is so boring she should go home next week