The Top 10 Take On The Piano Man

Tonight is “Billy Joel Night” on American Idol. I’ll admit there will be a bias in this post because I loooove Billy Joel. Have all of his albums, seen him in concert, and sing his songs loudly in the shower…um, I mean…he is always on my iPod.

P. Diddy is helping Jimmy Iovine as our guest mentor this week, and my first thought is: did he interact with J.Lo at all? Was this awkward for them? Is she still the one that got away? I’m not sure any of these questions will be answered, but here’s hoping Diddy doesn’t spend his time making up words like Will.I.Am did last week (that role is already being filled by Randy Jackson).


Contestant: DeAndre Brackensick
Song: Only the Good Die Young

DeAndre sings this song like it’s his own rendition of “Who Let the Dogs Out?” instead of a song about trying to land a Catholic girl. I’m pretty sure Jimmy and Diddy explained the context of the song to DeAndre during rehearsal, but I still feel like I’m participating in a block party at Disney World. He seems to be having a good time though.

Judges Comments: Steven says something into his microphone which is disguised as a Hawaiian lei tonight. I can't concentrate on his critique. J.Lo likes DeAndre's laid back vibe (again no connection to what the song is actually about). Randy isn’t jumping up and down. Big surprise there.
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Contestant: Erika Van Pelt
Song: New York State of Mind

Erika is from Rhode Island. Diddy thinks a New Yorker should sing this song Billy Joel style, and now I wonder if Diddy has worked with Randy. Erika has also undergone a makeover, chopping off her blondish/pink hair and dying the rest jet black. I’m distracted by this, but it’s her journey. Take a risk, take a chance, make a change, right? She is still singing the song well – very soulful but she still maintains a “rock” image. I really do like her and wouldn’t have guessed she was from Rhode Island otherwise.

Judges Comments: Randy loves the look. Thank goodness, because the man who wears sparkly beaded pins on his blazers should approve of each contestant’s image. But then Randy just unloads his wisdom on us: Erika can sing the phone book (please refer to my first post on this), and “those who can do, should….those who can’t do, shouldn’t. “ Take a moment and reflect on that.
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Contestant: Joshua Ledit
Song: She’s Got a Way

This is one of my favorite songs. Ever. It’s so emotional and moving, and it gets me every time. I hope he doesn’t stray too far from Billy on this one, but I know he has to “make it his own.” And…I’m not too pleased until the very last few lines. Again, probably just a biased view, but I’m not sure why anyone would need to mess with that melody.

Judges Comments: J. Lo does not think he was connected to the song, but he still has an amazing voice. Steven does not know this song…and now I can’t listen to anything else he says. Randy tells him to “grab that lyric and make it your own.” I’m not clear on which lyric broke from the herd, but I hope Joshua can rein it back in next time.
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Contestant: Sklyar Laine
Song: Shameless

Skylar loves Diddy and asks him to autograph her music sheets. This makes me smile. She begins the song sitting down and I worry we won’t see her shake and stomp around the stage like she usually does. We’re still in luck though because when she moves to the mic stand she’s all animated with her hands and I feel better. No “moment” for her this week either, but I thought this was solid.

Judges Comments: Randy asks her if she was inspired by the Brad Paisley version of this song. Uh, I’m pretty sure Brad Paisley has not recorded this song, but I could be wrong. Skylar kindly tells Randy she likes Garth Brooks’ version, and he pretends to know that Brad Paisley and Garth Brooks are two different people. Imagine what would have happened if someone had thrown the name "Chris Gaines" in there. Steven says she sings with conviction and J.Lo thinks the audience is with her. So I guess there’s no jumping up and down here either, but I think she'll make it through to next week.
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Contestant: Elise Testone
Song: Vienna

Elise does the walking through the audience thing to connect with the people more (probably due to being in the bottom 3 the past two weeks). This isn’t one of Billy’s most famous songs, and I don’t know how many Billy fans will love this version, but I actually like her take on “Vienna.” I don’t think Elise will ever become one of my favorites, but she is growing on me, and I hope she is safe tomorrow.

Judges Comments: Standing O. Steven says it’s beautiful. J.Lo wants to shake her because it was beautiful (no one seems alarmed by this). Randy says “Yo, so, yo” and then something about no other singers being able to sing Elise’s run the way Elise does. Yup – that’s probably why she does it.
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Contestant: Phillip Phillips
Song: Movin’ Out

Diddy wants Phillip to get rid of the guitar and get into the groove. Tommy Hilfiger wants Phillip to dress more like a star. P squared wears gray and plays the guitar during his performance anyway, giving another angry, gritty performance. He does, however groove a little during this song, so at least he was willing to compromise. I love it. This is how you make the song your own.

Judges Comments: J.Lo tells him he has to be who he is. Steven says “you Phil Phillipsed it,” and then gives him his scarf, but I’m not sure why. Randy blows my mind again: “Those who do should, and you just did because you do.” I pretend I’m squinting at my laptop, but I know inside I just suffered the loss of several brain cells.
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Contestant: Hollie Cavanaugh
Song: Honesty

Hollie is looking sassy tonight - she’s wearing heels AND standing on a small platform, and this totally takes care of the “I’m afraid the stage is going to eat her because she’s so small” worries I’ve had in the previous weeks. I hope the fact that she chose another ballad doesn’t hurt her tonight, because her voice is awesome (talk about singing the phone book). She doesn’t need to move around the stage or groove, she just sings, and I’m such a fan.

Side note – anyone else notice how quickly the violinists exit the stage when the song ends? Someone must have had a stopwatch out there during rehearsals.

Judges Comments: Steven believes she is over-thinking the song, and I boo him. Randy and J.Lo say it was pitchy, and I guess I just missed that part or just refuse to believe it. Randy compliments her style though, and I’m sure Tommy Hilfiger just breathed a huge sigh of relief somewhere.
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Contestant: Heejun Han
Song: My Life

Good song. Who else watched Bosom Buddies as a kid? Anyone? No matter - Heejun wants to dance, and I want to dance with him…for the first 10 to 15 seconds at least. This performance is not great vocally, but no one can say he’s boring. I have a soft spot for this guy, but he’s in serious trouble.

Judges Comments: J.Lo loves that he had fun (is she channeling Paula?). Randy is entertained. Steven is not amused and tells Heejun he needs to take the music business more seriously. At least I think that’s what he said – I was distracted again by the flowers on Steven’s microphone.
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Contestant: Jessica Sanchez
Song: Everybody Has a Dream

Diddy cautions her to not over sing the song – to feel it instead. I’m happy she’s going back to a ballad, and when she takes the stage, I believe her 100 percent. Nicely done. I can see her releasing this song as a single (that I would purchase), and that’s high praise coming from someone who does not like other singers covering Billy Joel songs.

Judges Comments: Steven gives another shout out to capital H-I-M saying “when God was giving out vocal chords, you were at the front of the line.” Randy says “Yo” four times in what should be two sentences, and I realize I shouldn’t be expecting complete sentences to begin with. They love her though, and I’m thrilled that she had a good night.
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Contestant: Colton Dixon
Song: Piano Man

Colton has the final spot tonight and picks the song everyone has probably been waiting for. He decides to sing “Piano Man” while playing the piano, so he is already on the right track. He has no backing from a band or other singers, so he’s quite vulnerable here, and his performance is reallllly good. It’s nice that he can rock out on top of a piano one week and sing softly while playing the piano another week. I hope this TV show generates a career for him.

Judges Comments: J.Lo doesn’t know whether to call Diddy “Diddy” or “Puffy” and I giggle. She might be blushing, but then says Colton received good mentoring. He receives great reviews all around, and his praise is well deserved.
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Tomorrow we go down to a Top 9, and I have to believe that DeAndre and Heejun should be worried. Last year’s 3rd place finisher, Haley Reinhart, will perform and so will Lana Del Rey. We’ll see if either of them can do, could do, or should even attempt to do any sort of do.