So, I was incorrect with my Stefano pick for the second straight week. I had 2/3 of the bottom three right, though! I wasn't surprised at all by Paul going home. He was bad more often than he was brilliant, so, there you go.
"Songs from the 21st Century." That sounds so.... futuristic. I mean, sure, it actually means songs from the last 10 years or so, so technically the past, but still. Futuristic. Anyhoo, whatev. My thoughts after the jump.
The AI season 10 losers (so far) - So What - P!nk
TRAIN WRECK ALERT… The girls together sounded fine, but Paul's solo? Eek. Gotta love filler on performance shows!
Scotty - Swingin' - Leanne Rhimes
Hella awkward performance. I don't know what was the most awkward aspect - Scotty being aware of his awkward mic "technique", the eyebrow wiggling, the strange facial expressions, the aimless wandering, or the vocals. Safe to say Leanne Rhimes isn't meant for Scotty McCreery. Bad song choice leading to a performance that came off as, well, cocky. Scotty, feeding the haters.
James - Uprising - Muse
James doing Muse… who knew?!? I suppose if one must do Muse on the show, it's best to do one of their least bizarre songs, like this one. But, he has a drumline following him onto the stage through the emergency exit. So, there goes that thought. Pitch problems throughout, almost seems tentative to the lyrics or something, screeches galore. What a mess. And, once again, the judges saw a COMPLETELY different performance.
Haley - Rolling in the Deep - Adele
I TOTALLY CALLED HALEY DOING THIS SONG. Written before the performance: this is going to be MAGICAL. Post performance… good Haley is BACK. I thought she wavered a bit on her focus on the lyrics, but she completely made up for it with the vocals. I completely agree with Randy saying that the Adele vibe is perfect for Haley (hence why I picked the song. Duh.). Overall, easily the best of the night thus far, and probably my favorite Haley performance of the season.
Jacob - Dance With My Father - Luther Vandross
Now, see, there's a difference in Jacob this week. Here, he's singing with REAL emotion. I'm still not a fan, and wouldn't call that performance his best by any means, but he gets kudos. A truly great performer would have had the audience sharing his emotion there, however… but he failed at that. A shame.
Casey - Harder to Breathe - Maroon 5
Innnnnteresting. And I'm not sure if that's a good thing. Casey Abrams, one interesting dude… in a weird way. To me, that performance seemed like he was trying to hard… as previously noted, I don't get Casey.
Stefano - Closer - Neo
Aw, Michael Sarver, represent! Something tells me that Stefano will be doing this number on tour. It actually felt like a live concert performance moreso than a singing competition song… which is an interesting choice, I suppose. It's definitely an improvement over some of his past endeavors.
Lauren - Born to Fly - Sara Evans
Aaaand Lauren shows everyone how it's done. I predicted Lauren would win this whole competition… and this performance makes me feel VERY good about that prediction. Perfect song choice, she looked great, sounded fantastic… great stuff. Probably her best performance since the semi-finals. She's getting better and better every week, so watch out competition! Idol saved the best for last.
Winner of the Night: Lauren or Haley, Haley or Lauren. The only two females left were absolutely fabulous this week, so I'm going to make them co-winners of the night. It's my blog, I can do that.
Loser of the Night: I'm going to have to go with James and Scotty here. Scotty's song selection absolutely killed him tonight, and performance came off incredibly cocky. James's song choice was logical, but his performance was a mess. Keeping with the "co" theme, I'll go with both of them for my co-losers of the night.
Prediction: Might as well keep going with it: I enjoyed Stefano tonight.... but I don't think he did enough to save himself. It also wouldn't shock me to see Haley go (as much as it pains me to put that). In a perfect world, my bottom three would be Stefano, Casey and Jacob... but based on past results, I'm expecting Haley to be at the chairs as well. Who she replaces? Not sure. Probably Casey.
