Idol 2012: Top 12, The Songs of Stevie & Whitney

Whitney/Stevie week. Probably the two most over-done artists in Idol history, in one night. Love it. And dueling themes! Guys do Stevie, girls do Whitney. Doing the opposite would be too interesting and unexpected. Ah well. Here goes nothing.

• Joshua Ledet - I Wish - Dug this completely. Nice change of pace from last week.
• Elise Testone - I'm Your Baby Tonight - Struggled to make it her own. Kind of got screwed…
• Jermaine Jones - Knocks Me Off My Feet - Song sat right in his voice, but awkward performance.
• Erika Van Pelt - I Believe in You and Me - Played it straight, but trusted her stuff. Well done.
• Colton Dixon - Lately - Pitch issues, but I don't care. Such honesty, such tenderness.
• Shannon Magrane - I Have Nothing - Didn't listen to coaching. Voice crack aside, not organic enough.
• Deandre Brackensick - Master Blaster - I really don't get Deandre. 
• Skylar Laine - Where Do Broken Hearts Go - Hands down, the best of the night so far.
• Heejun Han - All Is Fair in Love - Sleepy and super dramatic, but not bad. Not my favorite.
• Hollie Cavanagh - All the Man That I Need - Nailed it, but I wasn't enthralled for some reason.
• Jeremy Rosado - Ribbon in the Sky - I felt nothing from this performance, positive or negative. Meh.
• Jessica Sanchez - I Will Always Love You - Wonderful, yet by the numbers. Simultaneously awesome and disappointing.
• Phil Phillips - Superstition - Strange performance. Definitely made the song his own, but… yelly.

Decently strong, entertaining night, all things considered. I really wish they'd retire these themes, however… I mean, Whitney had to have her own theme this year, but talk about played out. Anyhoo. Going on.

Oh, random sidetrack. Last week, someone said something about a contestant singing their own stuff, and how awesome it must be (after Elise Testone was declared safe, I think? I'm not 100% sure). This week, Jimmy Iovine had Colton Dixon sing an original piece to get into the right mindset to sing his Stevie song. Disregarding how silly (yet effective) that is... are these signs that we are going to see an original song theme this year? Fingers crossed!

On topic!

Winner(s) of the night… I'm going to go with, for the guys, Colton Dixon. Josh Ledet's performance was better, I think, but he went first, which is not a good thing for him. The obvious choice for the girls is Jessica Sanchez. She did *THE* song and brought the house down with it. Skylar Laine is a closer than expected second for me.

Better watch out… Shannon Magrane and Jeremy Rosado. Neither blew me away last week, and turned in meh performances. Elise Testone, Jermaine Jones and Deandre Brackensick are also towards the bottom for me, as well.