Well Idol fans, we have reached the 2014 semi-finals. We have also reached the 500th episode of the show and there is a lot to look back on tonight. The episode opens with Ms. Kelly Clarkson walking into the audition room for the first time, so I'm already very happy with this 2 hour journey. Our Top 3 recently celebrated their status with the hometown celebrity treatment, which is always pretty cool to watch...even if the hometowns totally turn their back on the two losers of this competition. These hopefuls will also take on three songs tonight: one chosen by The Dawg himself, Randy "so yo" Jackson, one song chosen by the judges, and the final song will be an encore performance chosen by the contestants' hometowns. We have a full night ahead of us, so let's get going.
ROUND ONE
Contestant: Caleb Johnson
Song: "Never Tear Us Apart" by INXS
Caleb has a bruise on his vocal chords...which a doctor had to come out and explain...because we apparently wouldn't have believed that news without a doctor physically on stage with a microphone. Randy gives us a narrative about how he wanted to pick a song for Caleb that is current to show the type of artist he could be, so he went with this INXS song from 1987. Now, this is a great song, don't get me wrong. This was the first INXS song I ever heard and I loved the band immediately. I just wouldn't have picked this song for Caleb. His vocal issues, however, do not keep him from being all sorts of loud during this performance. I think that the yelling and hard core guitar action behind him takes away from the lyrics and story of the song, so it's not my favorite performance with or without bruising.
Judges Say: I'm noticing the three earrings in Keith's left ear for the first time tonight. Granted, this is the first year that we have ever seen Keith's ears but I still feel a little silly not noticing those sassy rings before. Keith compliments Randy on the song choice and says Caleb is a pro. JLo thinks Caleb on his worst night is better than most people on their best night. Harry tells Caleb not to hurt himself tonight.
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Contestant: Alex Preston
Song: "Pompeii" by Bastille
Randy explains that Alex should really excel with a song by a popular, poppy band. Totally. It's really almost the same as being a solo coffee house artist. Except for where it isn't. The drummers behind Alex are a nice touch, and Alex taking on a drum himself is pretty impressive...but vocally, it's not great. And when Alex steps away from the mic stand with the guitar slung over his shoulder, he tries to walk the stage a little, which again, I appreciate. But as he grab the hands of people in the audience, while holding a microphone, while keeping the guitar from coming off his shoulder, it's just awkward. Thank goodness there are two more rounds.
Judges Say: JLo sees Alex. Awesome. She likes that Alex tried a bunch of different things in the performance. Harry agrees, saying Randy picked another great song. He does say that we could see the wheels turning too much and Alex could have been more comfortable. Keith mentions the shaky parts of the performance as well, but he gives Alex credit for playing the drums.
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Contestant: Jena Irene
Song: "Titanium" by David Guetta
Jena says she was actually going to sing this song last week, so she's really excited about this performance. She starts the song at the top of a very scary looking platform. It's a very "Defying Gravity" moment from Wicked but it works for her. Everyone deserves the chance to fly? Elphaba would be proud. Anyway, Jena comes down to Earth eventually and her vocals never falter...which is pretty amazing because this is a challenging song. Seriously. Just ask Pitch Perfect. Jena is a total diva though (in a good way) with ridiculous energy, and I'm excited to see what else she is going to do tonight. I think Round 1 goes to Jena.
Judges Say: Harry says the high notes in that song are always risky, but it was no problem for Jena. Keith loves that Jena has a great balance of being a killer singer and performer while also having a lot of fun. JLo thinks the beginning was shaky and says Jena didn't loosen up the way she usually does. I totally disagree...and so does the audience.
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ROUND 2
Contestant: Caleb Johnson
Song: "Demons" by Imagine Dragons
Well congrats, Idol judges, for picking an actual current song for Caleb to sing tonight. He has some breathing issues in first half of this performance and I really feel for him and that vocal chord. When he moves into the second chorus, he starts to sound like the guy we know and love again, but you can just tell how frustrated he is not to give 100% of himself to the song. I think Caleb would have completely brought the house down if he had been healthy this week.
Judges Say: Keith says Caleb is doing a great job working through the vocal issues and thinks he killed that song. Interesting. JLo understands how scary it is to not know what's going to happen to your voice (and that fear is super evident in all of her lip syncing performances), and she says he'll be fine. She thinks he hit his stride in the performance once he started thinking more about the lyrics and less about the notes. Harry wants to know what type of album Caleb would make, because you know, we need Caleb to give a narrative about these things while he is saving his voice. Harry doesn't really touch on the performance though.
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Contestant: Alex Preston
Song: "Stay" by Rihanna
Yesssssssss. This is a great song choice by the judges and I love Alex's rendition. He plays the guitar for this performance and he is backed up by a pretty awesome strings quartet. Alex does some different things with the song... and these different things still allow Alex to be Alex. My main problem with the first performance was the way Alex was pushed completely out of his comfort zone. Here, he has a Rihanna song, which isn't necessarily the type of album he would make, but he's still able to put his own spin on it and make it totally believable.
Judges Say: Keith and JLo give him a standing ovation, with JLo calling the performance beautiful. Harry says the performance was really strong and then does some more Q&A, which I don't understand. "What will your concerts be like?" Alex goes with "fun" and then we move onto Keith. He says Alex owned the song from start to finish and uses the word "goosies." It's wayyy cuter when Keith says it.
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Contestant: Jena Irene
Song: "Heart Attack" by Demi Lovato
Confession: I love this song. This and "Give Your Heart a Break" make frequent appearances on my iPod. In terms of Jena's version, her pronunciation of certain words confuse me sometimes, but I think that all goes to her uniqueness and ability to "Jenafy" a song. JLo should have no issues with Jena loosening up in this performance because she rocks out and enjoys herself from beginning to end. JLo really enjoys herself too...she can be seen doing her best Paula Adbul impression throughout the performance. I miss Paula...
Judges Say: Harry asks Jena what she would do if there were no cameras around? Jena says she would like to have more instrumental breaks to interact with the audience. Keith compliments Jena's pitch and range and JLo says the performance was awesome. For me, Round 2 actually goes to Alex.
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ROUND 3
Contestant: Caleb Johnson
Song: "Dazed and Confused by Led Zeppelin
I think Caleb has been saving as much of his voice as he could for this last performance. Keith and JLo are up and grooving about 20 seconds into the song. It's okay though, because if they hadn't stood up in the beginning, they sure as hell would have by the end. Caleb not only looks like a rock star, he closes the performance by killing the mic stand, slamming it into the ground as the drummer does his thing. Unbelievable.
Judges Say: JLo is still completely flipping out over the performance well after it ends and she desperately tries to get Harry to stand up. But you know...that's not what he's there to do. He's probably too busy preparing the Idol FAQs for next week. Keith has to wait quite a while before he can even begin to talk due to the lengthy "Caleb! Caleb!" chanting from the audience. When the room finally quiets down, Keith proclaims "if ever there was a complete moment of miraculous healing, that was it." He then says the performance makes him want to throw stuff. Me too, me too! JLo is just beside herself and tells Caleb he had a true Idol moment tonight. Harry agrees, saying Caleb took full advantage of his opportunity with that song and performance.
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Contestant: Alex Preston
Song: "The Story of My Life" by One Direction
Alex has this really neat back drop thing happening on the screen behind him, and if you do not know the song's title, the screens and banners throughout the venue totally have you covered. It's tough to follow Caleb's performance (on so many levels), but Alex does his best with a song that you definitely can't break equipment with. The first time we heard him sing this tune, we were seeing a Top 10 Alex trying to stand out from the other contestants by making songs his own. The performance then was endearing and refreshing. As an encore performance, it's still pleasant, but there's definitely no "wow" factor. Round 2 was definitely his best.
Judges Say: JLo says America has their work cut out for them because they have a tough choice tonight. Harry thinks it was a strong performance but Keith says this performance is a step down from his second one. He does think Alex's "average" tonight is still really good though.
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Contestant: Jena Irene
Song: "Creep" by Radiohead
North Farmington High School, I thank you for allowing me to witness this performance again. If I knew zero background on this song, I would honestly assume Jena wrote it herself. The way she owns the words as she performs is just unreal. I do think Round 3 goes to Caleb, but this was a wonderful way to end the show.
Judges Say: JLo and Keith stand again. Harry mentions that Jena takes the stage in so many ways (mic stand, dancing on stage, behind the piano, etc.), but the way she sang the song tonight was better than the first time. Keith says "you SO belong here." See what he did there? He tells Jena she has grown leaps and bounds on the show this season. JLo says the performance was brilliant and Jena will be hard to beat.
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Tomorrow night we will find out who moves forward to the finale, and at this point it might be a very tight race. I think all three contestants claimed a round this evening and the results show tomorrow is going to have me on edge. I definitely see Jena in the Final 2 (and based on her momentum, I think she'll win it all) and I've been hoping allllll season to see Caleb there as well. I'd like to think Caleb's fans are loyal and passionate enough to vote for him in spite of his vocal problems in the first two performances tonight, but will Alex's fans come through instead? We have only one last elimination show to find out. Til then!
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