American Idol, Top 13

America, here’s your top 13!

Same as last week, I’m writing down my impressions as I watch American Idol tonight. If that’s interesting to you, read on. If not…well, it won’t hurt my feelings. Feel free to chime in with your impressions and opinions, too!

This week, the contestants were told to choose a song by your personal idol. They were also teamed up with top producers to put the songs together.

 

And…here we go!

1. Lauren Alaina (Any Man of Mine)- She doesn’t look quite as comfortable as last week. This is just a lot of words to squeeze out, you know? A little pitchy. I don’t know…she’s trying her hardest to get the audience into it, but nobody seems to be biting. (Ming Wai just walked in. “I like that girl! She’s so beautiful!)

Steven – I like that song, but I wish it’d been a little more kicky.

Jennifer – You don’t have to try. You’re that good. But we need to hear you kicking it into high gear.

Randy – I love Shania. You sang that well. But we were hoping for that girl that we first saw. You don’t even know how talented you are. We want to see you shine beyond belief. But this was good.

 

2. Casey Abrams (Get By With a Little Help From my Friends)- Oh my goodness, his voice just kills me. It just pours out of him like gold from a paper sack.  He’s got a few spots that are a little affected…sitting on the stairs, he looked like he was shivering his head around to try and look more like the original artist. Little weird, but he (to steal the phrase) blew that one out of the box. THAT is how you do it!

Jennifer – Casey!!! You know what? I go by what I feel. At one point I grabbed Randy, and just said what am I watching right now?! Blew me away.

Randy – What Jen was watching was Idol Season 10! I’m always excited to see what you do. You make listening to you sing FUN, and I loved it.

Steven – What Randy was trying say was you are a rainbow of talent, man, and a plethora of passion.

 

3. Ashton Jones (When You Tell Me That You Love Me)- This is starting out a little slow for me, a little pitchy. I’m holding out hope that she belts it out on the chorus. And…there’s the end of the song. Oh, I am so disappointed. It was too high.

Randy – I was a little worried, seeing that song. It sounded like it was a little bit of a safe move, but I saw you grow, pulling yourself back onto pitch with your vibrato.

Steven – I agree with Randy. You’ve got a lot more than you’re showing us.

Jennifer – You look so elegant, and we’re seeing how professional you are. Now I want to see you start singing songs we can sing along with.

 

4. Paul McDonald(I Put a Smile on Your Face) – Love his voice. His dancing makes me smile, too, but for different reasons. This is interesting, because this is not a sing-along-able song…but it has something Ashton’s didn’t have. It makes you want to dance, and that makes all the difference.

Steven – I love the character in your voice, so it doesn’t matter WHO you sing. You make it yours. You were a little pitchy, though, so be careful.

Jennifer – While you were singing, I was watching the audience members…and they were smiling. There’s something about you. You DID move the crowd.

Randy – After last week’s performance, this wasn’t the most exciting thing for people, but I love who PAUL is. I get it, and I hope America gets it.

 

5. Pia Toscano (All By Myself) – Good on you, girl, for taking on Celine! And nailing it. Her voice gives me chills. Man, this season is PACKED with talent. I’m worried, though, that she didn’t make it enough HER OWN, you know? Then again, I don’t know the original that well. And the crowd? Goes wild.

Jennifer – We love you Pia. <speechless> You topped last week. There it is.

Randy – This has been a lot of years on this show. Mariah, Whitney, Celine are the big three. You have that quality. You HIT those notes dead on without even thinking about it. I love it.

Steven – That was the sum total of all your work. That was beautiful.

 

6. James Durbin (Maybe I’m Amazed)- Ok. Hrm. Yes, he’s singing this well. That said, I don’t totally see who he is through this song. The judges are all grooving, though, so maybe he’s just Classic Rock? Is that his vibe? Remind me – is this the mini Steven Tyler? And the crowd? Goes wild. Heh.

Randy – James, you are one of my favorites. I love these voices that can sing anything. You just showed that you have a sensitive side, you can do ANYTHING.

Steven – You have taken everything you ever felt, and kicked it into next week.

Jennifer – Everyone knows you have the high notes, but you also have a melodic quality. You’re everything.

 

7. Hayley Reinhart (Blue) – Well, this just isn’t my thing. She’s yodeling. And I’m not sure she’s doing it all that well. It’s not really an exact science, but you need to make it sound like it is. Didn’t do it for me.

Steven – Hayley, that was beautiful. I knew LeAnn way back when, when she recorded this. You did a great job.

Jennifer – I think America’s getting to know you now. You do special things with your voice, so unique.

Randy – Good: you’re diverse. Alicia Keyes to LeAnn Rimes. Bad: That was a little sleepy for me. 

 

8. Jacob Lusk (I Believe I Can Fly) – Ok, I’m starting to sound like a total stick in the mud, but this is weird for me. His voice sounds constricted, somehow. Fake. It hasn’t sounded this way before, so I think it’s the same issue as Hayley. If you sing a song that you have been singing to yourself for 10+ years…you’re going to sing it closer to the 9 year old version of yourself than to the current version of yourself. It’s really difficult to RElearn a song you’ve sung forever. (Go ahead – try and sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and do it well. It’s tough!)

Steve – Pure passion, pure music, I can’t even judge it. You are so good.

Jennifer – Good job.

Randy – Who found this kid? Oh, right! We did! Such a unique sound, unbelievable. I’m excited every time you hit the stage!

 

9. Thia Meghia (Smile) – Well, Thia, my dear, you’re showing me this week why the judges are so in love with you. For the first time, I don’t look at you and think, “Oh, look at the cute 15 year old!” This is a great, great job. Still not my favorite, not exciting, but she nailed it.

Randy – I loved the intro! It got a little pitchy in spots, during the jazzy parts. But you, with a mic and an instrument, is golden to me.

Steven – I gotta agree. A little pitchy in the middle, but you’re so young, and you’ve got a great future. (Again, with the “young”! Prove you can play with the big dogs, girl.)

Jennifer – The intro reminded me of last week, and obviously that’s where your strength is. You sing like an angel.

 

10. Stefano Langone (Lately) – Techno (Stevie) Wonder. At least Jennifer is loving it! I don’t really have anything else to say. Not my favorite, but he didn’t make any mistakes.

Steven -  You pulled it off. It built from the beginning to the end, double time in the middle, went off like a volcano in the end. Beautiful.

Jennifer – You had me dancing there for a minute! You did a dance remix, but it was really you. You sounded great.

Randy – It started off a little rocky for me, but Stevie would be PROUD of you!

 

11. Karen Rodriguez (I Could Fall In Love With You) – Well, Karen, you pulled out the Latina again this week (I mean, duh!), but it’s not doing it for me. This is pretty pitchy. It was ok on the high notes, though.

Jennifer – You look like a star tonight! I could tell you were a little uncomfortable on the lower and the higher end. (Turns out, Karen can’t hear her monitor speaker. Oops. that explains it a lot! Glad Jennifer said something.)

Randy – It felt like you were fighting the song. And it was a little sleepy.

Steven – The energy it took to get to the end didn’t pan out.

 

12. Scottie McCreery (The River) – Scottie has such an old fashioned “country” sound…nothing cross-over about this boy! And I love that about him. He’s doing a good job, but I think he’s hamming it up just a smidge. Good job, boy. Good job. And the crowd? Goes wild. Again.

Randy – That’s a great Garth Brooks song, and it just shows that this is exactly where you belong.

Steven – Scottie, you did the Garth justice.

Jennifer – (Sorry, we’re having some Weather, which means my reception is spotty. Which means I didn’t hear whatever Jennifer said, but I’m sure she loved it.)

 

 

13. Naima Adedapo (Umbrella) – (First off, I’m super excited. Second, this is smart to do something more current.) And now…well, it’s just alright. Same issue as Lauren Alaina – it’s a lot of words, and it’s pitchy. And now..wow. What did she do there?! A little rap in there? That was awesome. And now she’s crumping. Oh, she is unique alright. Now, what will the audience think? That was a risk, for sure!

Steven – You’re crazy good, and I love ya. A little pitchy, you brought flavor tonight that nobody else brought. I adore you for that.

Jennifer – I don’t care about all the pitchy, you got FIRE girl. You’re DOING it. Like stars do it. You need to work on the control. I’m glad you did what you did.

Randy – I differ a little from Jennifer. I care about the pitchy, but you’ve got to get the breath control in there. But I LOVED the whole reggae thing. Make a whole album!

(Has anyone noticed that the last contestant is usually one the producers feel sure about? Or is it just me?)

Overall, a great night. What did you think?

Call 1866 Idols (XX) to vote.