Marissa, James and I saw HAIR tonight, so I’m forced to watch Idol via various Youtube videos, courtesy of rickey.org. I’m watching them in reverse order (as they are posted on the site). I’m going to keep it brief tonight. So without further adieu…
- James - Living for the City - not too shabby. Not his best performance, and a tad screechy…. but could certainly have been worse.
- Naima - Dancing in the Streets - I give Naima credit for changing it up musically (both her style and the arrangement of the song) every week. The beginning of the song was a bit sleepy for me…. but I totally dug the African rhythm section. Yay Idol firsts!
- Paul - Tracks of My Tears - FINALLY with the guitar. I like this performance. Nothing spectacular or different from Paul here, but not too shabby. Definite improvement.
- Pia - All In Love Is Fair - Oh yay, Pia’s journey to uptempo song selection was a one-week affair. Did you know that Pia is pretty, can drive a ballad and can hit soaring high notes that just barely stay in tune? Because I did. But reinforcement is necessary, apparently.
- Scotty - For Once In My Life - I wasn’t sure what to think when this one started up… but once it picked up, I TOTALLY dug it. A bit of a chance with the song choice, but pulled off wonderfully.
- Haley - You Really Got a Hold On Me - Another one that took a little while to get into it, but Haley ripped into it. Not my favorite thus far, but solid. Safe, but solid. Not so sure if it’s enough for her…. Sidenote: careful on the heels, honey.
- Stefano - Hello - Gotta agree with the judges. I liked the little changes Stefano made, I liked the vocals well enough…. but it felt like Stefano was going through the motions.
- Lauren - You Keep Me Hanging On - This song has historically been an Idol trainwreck… but Lauren avoided that mess. She’s still not at the level she set in the semi finals, but she’s working her way back. I wish she re-worked the arrangement a bit more, however (make it a bit more current or country-fied).
- Jacob - You’re All I Need to Get By - This is the most shocking performance of the night for me. I… didn’t hate it. In fact, I’ll go as far as saying I enjoyed it quite a bit. Probably not a surprise that motown fits Jacob, but he more or less owned this song. Well played.
- Thia - Heatwave - Is it possible to do this song without sounding like you’re in a cheap karaoke bar? I’m going to say no. Swing and a miss by Thia…
- Casey - Heard It Through the Grapevine - Following up last week’s comment…. nope, I don’t get Casey Abrams. I found this to be one of the weakest of the night… but of course, everyone loved him. I’m not seeing “original” here.
All in all, a pretty solid show tonight. I don’t think anyone did anything to distance themselves from the pack tonight, but there were very few cases of someone hurting themselves.
Have a mini-rant, though. What happened to ‘no theme weeks’ this year? Last time I checked, “Motown” is not only a theme, but one done to DEATH on Idol. While I’m on that topic…. do the contestants only get a list of 15 or so songs for this theme? I know the songs are iconic… but really? They do the same songs year in and year out. I’m fine with this as a theme, honestly (since I love the music and the week typically features solid performances), but why do the same songs EVERY SINGLE YEAR? Ugh.
Winner of the Night: Jacob’s finally moved up a category! I’ll say that my favorite performances of the night are probably his and Scotty’s.
Loser of the Night: Gotta go with Thia here. “Heatwave” is a notorious Idol trouble song, and she did herself no favors by doing it like everybody before her has done it.
My Prediction: I really don’t think anyone that I figured to be in “trouble” last week did anything to improve that this week. So, Thia & Haley, in the bottom 3 you stay. I’ll stick with Naima in there as well (based more on past performances than this one), but a “surprise” addition to the bottom 3 wouldn’t shock me.
