After last week's inexplicable use of the judge's save on American Idol, the Top 8 take the stage again tonight to perform for America's votes. I start the episode still a little bitter but David Cook is a mentor this week, and the theme tonight is 80s music which is an era I hold near and dear to my heart. All things considered, I do have a bit of excitement going into the performances. Also, Keith is wearing a mullet...and that's just fantastic. Will we see any other throwback attire or hair styles tonight? Let's find out.
Contestant: Jena Irene
Song: "I Love Rock N Roll" by Joan Jett
Jena starts the song accompanied only by the piano she is playing, then a guitar slowly comes in, then the rest of the band. It's a really neat arrangement and by the end Jena is rocking out at the mic stand. This isn't my favorite Jena performance. "I Love Rock N Roll" isn't a song that was really going to let her shine the way some of her other song choices have, but her energy is great and she's wearing some pretty awesome pants.
Judges Say: Keith has demulleted, which is clearly a non-word that my spellcheck doesn't recognize. He gives Jena a lot of "woos" and tells Jena he loves her originality. For JLo, the performance lagged a bit in the middle, but she appreciates that Jena put her stamp on it. Harry did not like the arrangement and thinks the performance looked really choreographed.
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Contestant: Dexter Roberts
Song: "Keep Your Hands To Yourself" by The Georgia Satellites
Dexter picked this song because of the guitar solo...so I'm nervous about the vocals before the performance even begins. He has trouble with enunciation and doesn't quite go the solo route when he walks the stage. It's a fun performance and the audience is really into it, but I definitely think last week's performance was far superior. Now that I have really heard Dexter's singing voice and the tenderness it can hold, I want that each time.
Judges Say: JLo thinks Dexter showed plenty of personality tonight and she loved the performance. Harry says the song was another anthem song, sung in a basic way....but he also believes Dexter's performance last week, packaged with his performance tonight should get him through to next week. I'm not so sure I agree with that train of thought. I don't know that all of the people with the Idol app and speed dial are even thinking about last week when tonight's 2 hour episode is over. Keith says the first part of the performance was stiff but notes that Dexter loosened up at the end. He encourages Dexter to do something unexpected on stage like kick over a mic stand.
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Contestant: Malaya Watson
Song: "Through Fire" by Chaka Khan
The first part of this is actually pretty shaky for me. David Cook had asked Malaya to find spots to amp up the performance rather than going all out from the first line and tte judges have said similar things to her throughout the competition. I think Malaya has a hard time knowing what she should do with her voice when she isn't hitting the big notes. That being said, man does she hit the big notes. The second half of the song is much, much better than the first.
Judges Say: Keith asks Malaya to lay back in the song a little more and JLo agrees that she needs to relax when waiting for the big moments in the song. Harry says Malaya sacrificed what she was singing about during the first half of the song because she was so worried about hitting the big notes in the second half.
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Contestant: Jessica Meuse
Song: "Call Me" by Blondie
I LOVE this song. It's one of my favorite 80 tunes ever. When the song starts Jessica stands in front of a huge sign of her name...wearing a shirt that kind of matches the sign. I do a puppy head tilt for a second but then she begins to sing and the distraction is gone. One of David's critiques had been for Jessica to enjoy the song, but I really only see that during her tour around the judges table. Vocally she's fantastic though.
Judges Say: Harry says Jessica has a great voice and tells her to sing the shuffle and get into a groove. Keith thinks it's just a matter of her releasing completely. JLo says "Call Me" is a sexy song and Jessica needed to tap into that part of her.
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Contestant: Sam Woolf
Song: "Time After Time" by Cyndi Lauper
David advises Sam to connect with the audience (weird), so Sam goes back to standing in the middle of the teenage girls in the pit in front of the stage. He looks at the camera throughout the song though and does not give any of those poor pining kids the time of day. The performance on the whole is less snoozy than previous weeks and Sam is definitely on point tonight with his vocals. I'm just still of the opinion that he should not have been saved.
Judges Say: Keith loved the solo acoustic guitar vibe that Sam had going. He then tells Sam to loosen up. Yup. JLo thinks Sam did a great job tonight and she felt that he felt the song. So his feelings were her feelings...she feels what he feels. Harry says Sam is getting better every week (yeah?) and he notes that Sam shouldn't have looked at the camera the whole time. He also tells Sam to look up Ricky Nelson online and watch what he does. Um...I can already tell you that Ricky Nelson was a heartthrob who connected with the ladies in the audience from day one. Yes, I grew up watching The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet and I'm proud of it.
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Contestant: Alex Preston
Song: "Every Breath You Take" by The Police
I'm not always on board with Alex's choices when it comes to making the song his own. Tonight, however, I absolutely love what he does with this classic tune. It's a complete derailment from the original, but Alex really sells it. He emotes, he sounds fantastic, and this is my favorite Alex performance of the season.
Judges Say: Harry says the song sounded like a new tune but says Alex needs to know the difference between a performer and an entertainer. Harry doesn't think the "coffee house treatment" is going to get Alex much further in the competition. Really!?!?! That's who Alex is! Harry has been harping all season about the contestants "knowing who they are." The audience boos him and I agree. Keith says Alex grabbed his attention right away and thinks the bold choice to dismantle the song and rebuild it was a good one. JLo disagrees and thinks the soul of the song was lost in Alex's arrangement.
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Contestant: C.J. Harris
Song: "Free Fallin'" by Tom Petty
C.J. looks unsure of his performance from the opening notes. He slows down the song, which is okay, but where I was captivated by Alex's arrangement...I'm bored by this one. C.J. hits some pretty great notes, but he has some realllly shaky ones too. This performance wasn't for me.
Judges Say: The crowd is going crazy. Did I miss something? JLo says there has never been another contestant that she has rooted for note by note. She talks more about how C.J. touches people's hearts and Harry compliments C.J.'s connection. He also reiterates that C.J. needs to focus on his pitch. Uh huh. Keith says C.J. gave a great rendition of the song and tells C.J. that he has a "survivor tone" in his voice. I'm getting a little tired of the sugar coating.
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Contestant: Caleb Johnson
Song: "Faithfully" by Journey
This is another amazing 80s song. Who doesn't love Journey? As much as I want to sing along, I'm too into Caleb's voice to join in. He keeps the first half of the song subtle and quiet, which I'm hoping will shut Harry up, and he stays faithful to the song (see what I did there?) by then launching into the loud awesomeness of the second half. Keith uses the lighter app on his phone and JLo looks like she is having a religious experience. Best performance of the night. LOVE IT.
Judges Say: Harry got what he's been complaining about and he says he's proud of Caleb. Keith talks about fanny packs and I'm not sure why. JLo says Steve Perry is one of the gods and she thinks Caleb murdered the song (which sounds terrible but is actually a compliment).
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The contestants also took on duets again this evening, with Alex and Sam doing an odd rendition of "The Girl Is Mine" by Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney. Maybe I'm just too much of an MJ fan to get on board with this version. Jessica and Dexter were paired up for a mostly enjoyable duet of "Islands In The Stream" by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers, and much to my (pleasant) surprise, Malaya and C.J. teamed up for a pretty great version of "I Knew You Were Waiting" by George Michael and Aretha Franklin. Caleb and Jena, however, totally tore up "It's Only Love" by Bryan Adams and Tina Turner. Nothing about their performance is forced or awkward and the duet is the best of the night.
Tomorrow night we will definitely lose a contestant now that the judges' save is no longer in play. Will Sam go home anyway? Will his fellow bottom 3 dweller, C.J., finally end his journey? Will the save come back to bite the judges with a frontrunner leaving us tomorrow? We'll find out during the results show. Til then!
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