“Who Was In The Bottom Three? We Still Don’t Know!” by Guy Aoki

Thursday, April 28.  It was another surprising results show.  And for the first time this season, we weren’t even told which of the remaining contestants were in the bottom three!  First, we saw tape of the Top 6 going to the British Counsul in honor of the impending marriage between Prince William and Kate Middleton with Scotty McCreery and Casey Abrams offering their best British accents. 

     On stage, the “Idols” appeared one by one to perform a medley of five songs written by Carole King.  Haley Reinhart started it off with King’s first hit as an artist, 1962’s “It Might As Well Rain Until September.”  James Durbin joined her then did his version of “Take Good Care Of My Baby” with Scotty McCreery.  Casey Abrams and Jacob Lusk added their voices to the old Bobby Vee classic and surprisingly, Durbin hit his first sour note that I can remember.  Lauren Alaina and Haley Reinhart paired up for “One Fine Day,” McCreery handled “Go Away Little Girl” all by himself, and everyone came together and blended well on “It’s Too Late.”

     The Ford Music Video of the Week was “Our House” by Madness.  This was actually the first short I actually wanted to see more of.  The Idols drew furniture with black magic markers, the insides were quickly colored then transformed into the actual 3D objects.  Neat.

     Last year’s runner-up, Crystal Bowersox, with darker, browner hair, returned for “Ridin’ With the Rainbow,” an uptempo rootsy track with harmonica played by some fat, nerdy guy that was (thankfully) buried in the mix.  She sure looked happy.  Too bad (like most songs done by artists on this show) I’ve already forgotten the song.

     Ryan Seacrest talked to the contestants, who were sitting on the couch.  The Q&A from fans feature was back with various comments appearing and disappearing on the screen behind him.  They were really distracting.  The host asked the singers various questions from their fans.  Laura Alaina sent out well-wishes to those in the south who were affected by the hurricanes.  Seacrest said he’d be pulling up the singers on stage in random order, whatever that meant.

1.  Haley Reinhart was the first one brought up to hear the results.  For the first time in the history of the show, instead of Seacrest quoting what the judges had said the night before about a performance, we actually saw video of it.  It was probably an improvement.  Then, on tape, Jimmy Iovine gave his own take on how the previous night went and of each singer’s standing with the voters.  He agreed with Jennifer Lopez’s assertion that Reinhart had one of the best voices in the competition, but he believed the contestant still doesn’t really know who she is as an artist.  He sensed the audience felt that as well, so if she went home tonight it’d be because of that.

     The singer must’ve swore because the sound went out for a few seconds!  The 20 year old expressed frustration at the record executive’s opinion because she felt she knew who she was by this point.  Reinhart was safe.

2.  Scotty McCreery.  Iovine says the singer “has a subtly that’s magnificent,” but he’s worried that in this competition, that can get lost and he could be in trouble tonight.  “After the nationwide vote,” Seacreast said, building the suspense… then he sent McCreery back to the couch not indicating whether or not he was safe.  What?!

3.  Lauren Alaina.  Iovine says she “only hears the negative in the critique.”  Still, “My prediction’s she’s here for the long run.”  Seacrest also asked her to take a seat.  OK, this is annoying.  Why bother going through all the feedback from last night then not tell us how it panned out?

4.  Casey Abrams.  Iovine admitted, “I was disappointed because he was on, but he felt that he had to growl.   Casey’s got to realize that the family dog does not vote on this show!”  Great line.  Still, Iovine thought Abrams would be safe tonight.  Seacrest wasn’t letting us know one way or the other.  Like the previous two contestants, he told the bearded one to relax on the couch.  Then, he teased before going to commercial, “More results!”  Pfft!  If you mean more like you gave the last three people, I’ll go watch something else instead.

5.  James Durbin.  Iovine asserted that singing heavy metal (as Durbin loves to do) is not believable and that the rocker will do better when he matches great melodies with a rock feel.  “If he picks the right songs, he can win.”

6.  Jacob Lusk.  Iovine joked (as I did yesterday) about what Lusk wore.  Noting “Idol” is right next to where “Dancing With The Stars” tapes, he said Lusk must’ve gone into the wrong dressing room.  Iovine felt the singer could go home:  “He’s on banana peel status.”  Seacrest asked the other three who were in limbo to join Lusk on stage.  Alaina was safe.  Left on stage were:  Jacob Luski, Casey Abrams, and Scotty McCreery.  Then the host went to commercial.

     I thought it was anti-climatic that after all of his shenanigans, Seacrest didn’t make it clear that these three people were in trouble, in the bottom three.  However, after Bruno Mars and his band performed his current hit, “The Lazy Song,” a reggae-inflected lightweight puff piece (another forgettable song), Seacrest repeated that the results were in random order, meaning, for all we knew, two of the three could’ve received the most number of votes last night.  Why not just reveal to the contestants and the audience where everyone stood?

     I was salivating at the thought that Lusk would finally be sent packing.  Crap.  He was sent to safety.  Really?  Scotty McCreery, who’s never been in the bottom three before could go home?  Had to be Casey.  It was.  Looking back on it, it was telling that he received the only negative feedback from Iovine (as I thought he would), and it was because Abrams became a scatting caricature again as he did five weeks ago on “I Heard It Through The Grapevine,” which would’ve gotten him booted weeks ago had the judges not saved him with their one-time-only veto power.

     Still, he was in high spirits, reprising “I Put A Spell On You,” growling his way into the studio audience, kissing girls, even rolling back onto the stage to sing to his fellow competitors.  Tellingly, he looked into Haley Reinhart’s eyes, grabbed her by the shoulder, and delivered the last words:  “You’re mine!”

     All in all, a confusing and unsatisfactory night because all we got out of it was that Abrams received the lowest amount of votes, and there was no inkling of how the others had fared with voters (embarrassingly, in his recap, the reporter for Billboard Magazine failed to understand this, believing McCreery was in the bottom two).  Ah well.  Maybe next week they’ll at least reinstate the bottom two.  Check in here Wednesday as we zero in on the Top 5.

“The ‘Idol’ Contestants Take On the Songs of Carole King” by Guy Aoki

Wednesday, April 27.  Tonight, the Top 6 were asked to sing something from the 50-year hit catalog of Carole King whose first success, “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” by the Shirelles, hit #1 in 1961.  In the video package, the screen flashed though the many different artists who’ve recorded her songs, but I was annoyed that after focusing on Rod Stewart, the camera went up to the title of his album If We Fall In Love Tonight.  Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis wrote that one, not King.  So why even bother “going there?” 

     To fill time (well, Fox could’ve given us an hour show and not the now-usual 90 minute one), in addition to their individual performances, the contestants sang duets with each other.  I was rather disappointed with the song choices because too many of them came from the catchy yet less sophisticated ‘60s era and stopped at the 1971 Tapestry album.  I’d hoped to hear more mature ‘70s King classics like “It’s Too Late,” “So Far Away,” “Jazzman,” or “Nightingale.”  No such luck.

     Babyface joined Interscope Records chairman Jimmy Iovine in the mentor seat, which was a good idea since he’s a real singer who can address more technical vocal issues than Iovine (glad they finally gave Will.i.am a rest). 

1.   Jacob Lusk:  “Oh No, Not My Baby”/Maxine Brown.  Several people recorded this and only Brown managed to get it into the Top 40 and not very far (#25 in 1965).  My favorite version was by Linda Ronstadt in 1994, but it only became an adult contemporary hit.  It was telling that during rehearsal, Iovine and ‘Face made Lusk sing it 65 times.  Ironically, the lone black guy left in the competition has no sense of rhythm—he couldn’t sing the chorus on the right beat!  Which makes sense because he’s driven me up the wall with his “all over the place” style of singing which means no discipline and just unchecked emotion.  However, because last week, the judges said they wanted Lusk to take off the restraints again, Iovine reversed his earlier direction to not overdo it by telling him to go for it. 

     The performance started off strangely with Lusk appearing--in a ridiculous plaid dark blue jacket which clashed with his ‘50s-looking light blue vest, yellow shirt, and old-fashioned bowtie--then back-up singers entering the stage.  At first, I thought he was going to do a duet.  It says a lot that in the end, Lusk only attempted the chorus once and was flat climbing up to it.  He never sang the succeeding choruses, instead letting the background singers do them so he could let out long “ahhhhhhh!”s (which were meant to impress the judges) and spend a lot of time doing vocal riffs.  But he couldn’t sustain his final long note without again veering off key. 

     Steven Tyler said the singer’s strut was magic.  Jennifer Lopez tried to be complimentary but had to acknowledge that he was “having so much trouble with it.”  Randy Jackson noted Lusk went sharp in a couple of places but liked the energetic performance, believing “the scatting was incredible.”

2.   Lauren Alaina:  “Where You Lead”/Barbra Streisand.  Not the strongest song (even though it later became the theme for “The Gilmore Girls”) as Streisand released this as a single twice in the early ‘70s, one in a studio version and another in a live concert medley with “Sweet Inspiration.”  She barely made the Top 40 both times, reaching #40 and #37 respectively.  During rehearsals, the 16-year old admitted being afraid to go for high notes because she was afraid she wouldn’t pull them off.  Babyface asked if she ever failed while attempting them, and she admitted no.  “Duh,” he responded.  Miley Cyrus walked in and, with her 40-year old whisky drenched voice, gave Alaina encouragement advising her not to worry about what people say on the internet as they’ve said horrible things about both her and Iovine (yeah, but they’re right about you, you little eye-pulling, self-absorbed, spoiled brat!). 

     During her performance, Alaina looked confident, picking up a guy from the audience and dancing with and singing to him (Ryan Seacrest later find out he was 19 and warned him “we have rules!”).  She tried the high note at the very end, but it wasn’t quite as pure in tone.  Lopez said it was OK that her voice cracked because she was at least pushing herself.  Jackson agreed with me that he didn’t love the song calling it “a little bit safe and boring” but felt she managed to make it into something more.  As she listened to Tyler’s compliment with a sweet smile and tears in her eyes, I have to admit for probably the first time ever, I felt for her (later in a backstage interview, she explained her emotional response saying she knew she blew the note so was so happy the judges liked her performance anyway).   

3a.  The first “filler” duet featured Casey Abrams and Haley Reinhart taking on “I Feel The Earth Move.”  Reinhart looked confident--radiant even--especially when smiling across the judges table looking at Abrams (no wonder; they’re supposedly a couple).  Abrams sounded terrific when he added his harmony for the first time.  And toward the end, he deviated from the melody (a good idea because it can quickly become monotonous) enough to make it his own.

     Seacrest only asked one judge for feedback—Tyler—who said it was “nothing but good.”

4.  Scotty McCreery:  “You’ve Got A Friend”/James Taylor.  Acknowledging that the judges actually criticized the country singer for the first time last week (about time!), Iovine and Babyface wanted McCreery to really concentrate on starting soft so he could build to something and to not rely on his security blanket--singing baritone all the time (remember during his audition and Hollywood week, he did the same song three times simply because it showed off his lower range?!  It became a joke).  Good advice.  And although the arrangement was still country, we’d never heard it with that flavor, and the strings took it to another level.  For the first time, McCreery actually looked (no smirk, no weird eyebrow movement) and sounded sincere in what he was singing as opposed to looking like he was thinking, “Sh*t, I’ve got the audience eating out of the palm of my hand!  Just wait till I get to that low note!  They’re gonna flip out!”  It certainly helped that it’s one of the best songs ever written.

     Jackson felt the beginning was flawless but advised him to hold on to the high notes longer because he fell off of them too quickly.  Tyler said, “I don’t think you ever sounded better.”  Lopez loved hearing the higher range in his voice and that “you told that story beautifully.”

4.  James Durbin:  “Will You Love Me Tomorrow”/The Shirelles.  The rocker wanted to prove he could just sing a ballad.  He started the song with a single strum of his guitar (which was totally unnecessary--he shouldn’t have played it) then sang a cappella for a while before the band kicked in and made me feel like I was at a sock hop.  Durbin may’ve fooled most people, but he still ended up shrieking from the middle of the song on, so this was not purely a ballad performance.   

     I knew the judges would be fooled.  They were.  Lopez called the beginning “totally magical” and said he was the first performer to get her moving all night.  However, she rightfully asserted he’s been consistently strong every week (unlike the others—ahem.).  Jackson felt Durbin proved he wasn’t just a great rock singer but a great singer, period.  He went as far as calling it the best performance of the past two months:  “This guy might win the whole thing!”  At Seacrest’s encouragement, the judge even went on stage to hug the guy!   In all fairness, if Durbin doesn’t win this contest, it’s a joke.  He really is the strongest vocalist here.

4a.  Lauren Alaina and Scotty McCreery teamed up for the umpteenth time to sing “Up On The Roof,” first made popular by the Drifters.  Wish they’d done James Taylor’s more sophisticated 1979 version instead.  McCreery was back in his element relying on his annoying, ever-animated eyebrows and baritone again.  Ho hum.  Well, they’re not really getting judged on this one, so what the hell.

     After coming back from a commercial, Seacrest seemed a bit lost.  He looked into the audience and said, “Carole King is over here.  Carole King’s daughter Sherry!” 

5.  Casey Abrams:  “Hi-de-Ho”/Blood, Sweat & Tears.  This should’ve been a perfect choice for the bluesy singer.  He began his performance in top hat and tickling the top half of the ivories as a pianist played the lower notes.   Great touch and impressive that he can play yet another instrument.  But soon, the band kicked into a clichéd blues riff you’ve heard since childhood, and I realized the bearded one wasn’t so much singing the song as much as growling and scatting through it.  Of course, Jackson loved it, saying it was entertaining and that he felt like he was watching “The Casey Show and Revue.”   Tyler, chose his words carefully (perhaps because he said so many bleepy things last week):  “The best mother… lovin’… show… I’ve seen… It made my scalp itch, it was so good!”  Lopez liked it too but advised Abrams to loosen up physically--especially his legs. 

6.  Haley Reinhart:  “Beautiful”/Carole King.  I was not looking forward to hearing this obscure track from Tapestry.  In rehearsals, Iovine kept forcing the singer to put more emphasis on the word “get” as in “You got to get up every morning.”  It made a big difference as the singer confidently took to the stage to a strong beat and blaring horns and gave an aggressive performance (the singers have really benefited from getting coached by Iovine and his team this year; before, the contestants were left to come up with their own arrangements, and that’s probably why so many of them failed every week).  She then transitioned into quieter, more reflective verses, and I have to admit it was pretty good for a non-hit. 

     Tyler made quite a declaration:  “I just saw God.  I heard God in your voice.”  Lopez:  “Beautiful.  You have one of the best voices in this competition.  Amazing.”  Jackson didn’t love the beginning but loved the end.

     For the only time tonight, instead of hearing only one performance before going to commercial, we heard a second song, Jacob Lusk and James Durbin doing “I’m Into Something Good” by Herman’s Hermits.  They took turns serenading Lopez with the judge turning her seat to face the audience, gamely looking at each of the singers alternately, and putting on an “oh my gosh!” face.  It was pretty funny.  Again, Lusk went off key toward the end on the title of the song (not good).  Tyler asked, “Where were you going with all that?!”

     Once again, none of the six contestants gave a really bad performance but tomorrow night, half of them will wind up in the bottom three no matter how well they did.  So it comes down a lot to a popularity contest.  Lauren Alaina, Scotty McCreery, and James Durbin have never landed in the cellar before, and I don’t believe any one of them did anything to get there this time.  So I’m assuming Jacob Lusk, Casey Abrams, and Haley Reinhart (she’s been there the most) will be in the bottom three.  Going home:  Jacob Lusk (he received the second lowest votes last time, and he’s still going off key).

     Check in here tomorrow night for a breakdown and analysis of the results.  Last years’ runner up--Crystal Bowersox--and coke addict Bruno Mars will perform.    Till then, remember:  Don’t try melisma at home.  If you don’t know what you’re doing, you could hurt yourself.

“How Often Can Someone Be In The Bottom Three Without Going Home?” by Guy Aoki

Thursday, April 21.  Fans of television’s #1 show cast more than 52 million votes last night and we heard some eyebrow-raising performances before learning the results.  Jacob Lusk, Stefano Langone, Lauren Alaina and Haley Reinhart teamed up to cover Train’s “Hey Soul Sister” with the two guys singing together then the two girls doing the same.  The Ford Music Video of the Week was for “World” which featured a memorable scene of Idols lassoing the clouds.

     The real surprise of the night was the great, textured vocal blend the remaining contestants generated for Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida.”  Scotty McCreery’s country vocals actually fit in fine alongside Casey Abrams and James Durbin meaning he can sing in a higher range just fine if he only tried it once in a while.  Someone was a bit off key on the final “oooh.”

     Ryan Seacrest wanted to give Lusk a chance to defend himself against his fellow contestants jokingly calling him a diva the night before.  Oh, really, is it wise to bring attention to that?  Lusk said he assumed it was more about the notes he hit and not his personality.  No, man, it’s your personality.  Diva as in Elton John, your idol Luther Vandross, and skater Johnny Weir.  In other words, very gay.  Last night, Lusk himself warned his fellow competitors, “Let’s not go there.”  Oops.  Too late.

     Casey Abrams and Lusk were called to center stage to hear their fate.  Seacrest asked Abrams if he’d planned on kissing Jennifer Lopez at the end of his song last night.  Nah, he was “just gonna breath in her face,” but she gave him an opening.  Lopez said she liked the kisses better.  Lusk expounded upon the technical problem he faced last night:  At first, he heard music then it stopped.  Then he heard only drums and kept debating if he should stop or keep going; he continued singing.  Jacob was making a return to the bottom three.

     Season 7 winner David Cook returned to debut “The Last Goodbye,” the first single from his upcoming new album which will be released next week.  Surprisingly, his voice actually veered off track on the first verse.  Although the title of the song was given away too early in the verse (supposed to save it for the chorus, silly), it was upbeat and kinda catchy.  It might grow on me, meaning it was probably a good choice to lead off that important second post-Idol album.  Cook said his Mom wanted to see Steven Tyler, so she was given the chance to go over to the judge’s table to hug him.

     The host brought Lauren Alaina, James Durbin, and Stefano Langone up to hear their status.  Seacrest asked Randy Jackson if Stefano had performed well enough to stay out of the bottom three this week.  He said yes.  Oh well.  He was there for the fourth time.

     Haley Reinhart and Scotty McCreery were the last two standing.  Because the judges finally gave the country boy his first real (and long deserved) criticism last night, I was hoping the voters would acknowledge it by not supporting him as much as they’d done in the past.  Well, maybe that happened, but not enough to place him in the bottom three:  He was safe and Reinhart was back there for the third time.

     Seacrest almost immediately sent her back to safety on the couch, leaving Jacob Lusk and Stefano Langone.

     During the commercial break, we were treated to a cool one-minute long trailer for the Green Lantern movie.  I have hopes for this one because I’ve been collecting comics since June of 1972 and Hal Jordan has been one of my favorite superheroes of them all.  Just wish they hadn’t messed with his mask and let him keep the white gloves (it’s green in the film).  And that lantern doesn’t look right.

     Katy Perry and Kanye West took to the stage to sing their #1 hit “E.T.”  Perry was dressed in a white space-looking outfit with glowing pink trim and too much eye make-up.  Can’t believe this is what America likes these days.  It was a boring, dreary track.

     Before revealing who was going home, Seacrest asked Jennifer Lopes to summarize her feelings towards the two men in the bottom two.  She remembered Lusk fondly for his rendition of “A House Is Not A Home” and marveled at how far Langone—their wildcard save—had come.  Steven Tyler said that neither of them deserved to be up there.  Of course, he didn’t offer who should be either.  Going home?  After four appearances in the bottom three, time finally ran out for Stefano Langone.  James Durbin hid his face in his hands.

     Langone was eager to sing his swan song, Stevie Wonder’s “Lately.”  Did a pretty good job too.

     Next week, the Idols will sing hits written by Carole King.  At that point, fully half of the Top 6 will be in the bottom three no matter how well they perform.  Check in here Wednesday night to hear the blow by blow.  And remember:  Don’t try melisma at home.  If you don’t know what you’re doing, you could hurt yourself.

“The Free Ride Finally Ends For Scotty McCreery” by Guy Aoki

Wednesday, April 20.   With the “Idol” contestants cut to seven, some of the judges (thankfully) finally began expecting more from singers who’ve been coasting through from week to week.  In order to fill an hour-and-a-half, the producers stretched it out by showing us pre-taped footage of the Top 7 making fun of each other and bringing back “the bottom six” to sing Lady Gaga’s “Rock Star.”  Once again, we were reminded of the also rans:  Naima Adedapo, Karen Rodriguez, Ashton Jones, Thia Megia, Pia Toscano, and Paul McDonald.  It was clear how biased the voting has been this year when five women appeared on stage then McDonald joined them with a shredded voice that sounded like the cat dragged it in.  He could barely keep up with the song’s upbeat tempo.  The ever-animated Adedapo made such a big jump on the stage she almost crashed into the back of Megia.

     Tonight, the contestants had to choose songs from the 21^st century—anything from 2000 on. 1.  Scotty McCreery:  “Swinging”/LeAnn Rimes.  Interscope Records chairman Jimmy Iovine encouraged the 17 year old to move around the stage more so he would get the non-country fans in his corner in addition to his country base.  The music sounded great with horns bringing more excitement than a typically arranged country track, but as usual, our boy wasn’t singing any differently, at times not seeming to keep up with the beat.  His ridiculous, corny expressions with his eyebrows were increasingly getting on my nerves.  I guessed the judges would once again be fooled into thinking McCreery actually changed it up when, in fact, he actually did the same vocal just with a different instrumental dressing.

     I was pleasantly surprised that they didn’t fall for it.  Steven Tyler said the singer should run around the stage more.  Jennifer Lopez said that at this point in the competition, they had to push past their comfort zone.  Randy Jackson agreed, saying it was “so safe, it was actually kind of boring for me from you (God, I hate when he does that!  He avoided that unnecessary phrase for most of the season but couldn’t help himself tonight.  As opposed to “for everyone from you?”  When he starts using the totally redundant “for me personally,” I’ll throw something at the TV).

     But hallelujah!  The judges, who constantly gave this guy a pass with all this bull about him staying true to his (boring and never changing or challenging) country roots, finally held him to the same standard they applied to Pia Toscano and Thia Megia, whom they criticized for doing too many ballads.  At this point, if we know McCreery’s going to do another traditional sounding country song—and he does—how is that a good thing?

2.  James Durbin:  “Uprising”/Muse.  Before going to the break, Ryan Seacrest said for the first time, a contestant was going to sing an original song.  So how cum this one’s already been recorded by Muse?  The best rock singer on the show began performing by walking through the audience, but his first few notes were too low or unintelligible.  Eventually, he wound up to a screaming range them seamlessly dropped down to his regular range, which was quite impressive.  It wasn’t as smooth the second time he attempted it, but he’s clearly the best singer left in the competition and should win this contest.

     Lopez exclaimed, “I think that was the highest we ever heard you sing--or anybody on the show!”  Jackson called it “unbelievable,” even going as far as saying “I think this is probably gonna be the best performance of the night.”  Actually, it was. 

3.   Haley Reinhart:  “Rolling In The Deep”/Adele.  Apparently, the 20-year old was singing the song but—once again—not really thinking about what the lyrics were about because Iovine asked her—as he’s done in past weeks--what the person in the song was feeling.  She’s supposed to be pissed off, and he wanted her to convey that.  Of course, Reinhart smiled throughout most of her performance (she takes direction real well, that kid!).  The selection allowed her to display quite a range including a brief falsetto, but her upper range sounded limited as if she had a slight cold. 

     Jackson said in addition to determining who sang the best, he was also interested in what kind of record a contestant was going to make, and he felt she chose a perfect direction for herself.  He did feel her falsetto was a little sharp (glad he didn’t rely on his usual, too-generic “pitchy”).  Tyler felt she had a slow start but made up for it.  Lopez said there were moments where Reinhart brought her own personality into it. 

4.  Jacob Lusk:  “Dance With My Father”/Luther Vandross.  When Seacrest teased that Lusk was going to sing a something by the man he’s always being compared to, I immediately thought:  Luther Vandross and “Dance With My Father.”  I was right.  In his pre-taped video package, Lusk revealed that his Dad died when he was 12, so he related to the song about a son wanting to see his dead father reunited with his mother.  He cried during rehearsals, and Iovine told him he could understand how he felt because he lost his Dad when he was young too.

     Shortly after he began singing on stage, Lusk looked to his right as if he couldn’t hear the band, lowered his mike, and didn’t quite bring it back up to his mouth in time for his next word.  Weird (he later explained he could only hear drums).  Ironically, the original record had the most annoyingly, mundane but loud drum beat, so I knew this arrangement would have to sound better, but Lusk’s performance was entirely forgettable. 

     Tyler mentioned his stumble, praising him for continuing on.  Lopez recognized it was hard to sing an emotional song and stay in control and that “emotionally, it was a beautiful performance.”  Jackson said his vocals were good “but it didn’t make me jump up and down.”  He felt he was holding back and wanted the restraints off so he could hit the glory (high) notes again to make it more exciting.  First of all, if you have an interesting tone to your voice (as Karen Carpenter, Basia, or Ronald Isley did), you don’t have to throw in vocal calisthenics to impress us.  So Lusk’s voice is basically boring. 

5.  Casey Abrams:  “Harder To Breathe”/Maroon 5.  Taking to the stage with his guitar, the bearded one delivered a fast vocal against a relatively laidback musical backdrop until the rest of the band kicked in.  He didn’t quite hit the upper notes with his growl, but he ended the song memorably by going up to the judge’s table, getting in Lopez’s face, and kissing her. 

     Lopez swooned (I hate to think what Paula Abdul would’ve done had Abrams done that to her; she might’ve gotten undressed right then and there.  You know, out of force of habit).  “See, now, Casey’s not playing fair!  OK?” she protested.  “Casey’s got soft lips!”  Tyler joked, to roars of laughter from the audience, “You did what I’ve been trying to do for four months!”  Lopez continued:  “I loved it!”  Then she clarified:  “The performance!”  Jackson appreciated that Abrams was always full of surprises and that he’s become a “jazz, indie rock guy.”  Tyler must’ve swore because the sounded dropped out for quite a while.  Getting into the spirit of things, Jackson joined in and was also “bleeped.”  That’s greaaaat, Randy.

     After the commercial break, Tyler’s mouth was taped shut. 

6.  Stefano Langone:  “Closer”/Ne-Yo.  When the singer began pleading during rehearsals, Iovine told him to be more confident instead.  During tonight’s performance, Langone went off key on the first verse, and although he stalked the stage and the back of the judges’ table, once again, I wasn’t sure who he was performing to because he was closing his eyes a lot or looking more towards the ceiling than at the audience.  He was back to disconnecting himself from the crowd.

     Jackson was worried how this was going to go but he praised Langone for taking his time singing the verses, feeling he did a “very good job.”  Lopez said, “Speaking for the girls in the audience, I thought it was very, very good.  You really had your swag going on” and that it felt like she was at his concert.

7.  Lauren Alaina:  “Born To Fly”/Sara Evans.  In taped footage, the 16 year old said that after hearing herself on TV, she realized she had “a little bit of an accent.”  Pfft!  Once again, she mumbled the song she was going to do.  I had to look it up just to be certain.  Iovine talked about her confidence problem and how she held back.  After he brought in Rock Mafia, the team which produces Miley Cyrus, he felt her confidence drop again and had to build her back up.  I can’t remember how the song went.  Just another country track with a fiddle.

     Tyler said he’d love to hear her do more Alison Krauss, Faith Hill, and Shania Twain.  In other words, probably something that’s actually melodic.  Lopez praised her for having so much color and character in her voice (again, what the hell is she talking about?).  But she wanted the big boned singer to at least practice those big long notes in private to see if she could do them or she’ll fall behind the others just as Alaina earlier said she feared doing.  Jackson reiterated a tired line he’s used throughout the season:  The singer doesn’t know how good she is.  Uh, I think she does, Randy, because she’s really not that great!

     After seeing a montage of practice footage of tonight’s performances (they’re never the actual performances because unlike the football people, the producers of “Idol” apparently can’t do instant replay fast enough), Seacrest asked the judges for their perspective on the remaining contestants.  Lopez and Jackson said they were all so good that any of them could win the contest.  Jackson, proving how little he thinks about what he says, called all of them, “Dude.”  Not “dudes” but as if they were just one person:  “Dude, come on, please!  Bring it hard.  Be all you can be—every time!”

     Predictions for who’ll be in tomorrow night’s bottom three:  Scotty McCreery (finally!), Jacob Lusk, and Stefano Langone (three times in the bottom three—including the bottom two last week-- more than anyone else).  Going home:  Stefano.

     Check in here tomorrow night to see who winds up going home. 

“The Voters Finally Reverse A Trend” by Guy Aoki

Thursday, April 14.  Since the Top 13 contestants were established last month, “America” has chosen—each and every week—to boot out a female (giving fuel to the theory that screaming teenage girls—the ones more apt to vote numerous times for their favorite performancers—were supporting guys they thought were cute and neglecting singers of their own sex).  That finally ended tonight.  The remaining contestants sang in groups before learning how well they did the previous night.

1.   As they did two weeks ago, Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina teamed up for a country song, this time, Lady Antebellum’s “American Honey.”  There was nothing special about it.  It was such a humdrum performance, in fact, that even when the pair continued singing in the back of the judges’ tables, the three just talked to each other!

     But the fate of McCreery and Alaina was put on hold as we saw a behind-the-scenes look at the Top 8 getting an anti-makeover as most played zombies for this week’s Ford Music Video of “Animal.”  Since these weekly ads-within-the-show go by so fast (thankfully) the singers walked pretty fast even for zombies.

2.  Casey Abrams and Hailey Reinhart got together for the jazzy “Moanin’” where they traded growls and scats.  It was kinda fun but ultimately a forgettable song.  How weird that Ryan Seacrest went to the judges for their opinion.  Randy Jackson was all excited, telling Reinhart that’s how she should’ve performed last night, showing more of her personality.

     Finally, the previous four singers were brought to center stage to hear the results.  McCreery was sent to safety (big shock) and the rest were told that one of them was in the bottom three.  It was Haley Reinhart.

     In a taped segment, director Rob Reiner hung out with the contestants answering any questions they had about anything.  In the end, he thanked them for listening “to a fat Jew.”  Oh come on.  Not funny.  Please explain what distinguishes a “fat Jew” from a “fat gentile?”  I loved this guy as Mike Stivic on “All in the Family.”  Over the last 25 years, with his balding head, increasing white hair, and large girth, he’s been unrecognizable.  I would love to see him put on a wig, dye his hair, and play that character again even though Carroll O’Connor’s no longer with us (I know, without Archie Bunker as his antagonist, what’s the point right?).

     The original winner of the first season of “American Idol”—Kelly Clarkson—returned to the stage with Jason Aldean to sing “Don’t You Wanna Stay,” their #1 country duet.  Aldean’s cliched headgear (“I’m a country singer so I gotta wear the big hat”) was so large it cast a long shadow over his eyes.   Pretentious.  Even though she wore a black dress to hide her weight-gain and the cameras tried shooting her from side angles, it was clear how much Clarkson has ballooned since we last saw her.  She had enough hips for two people.  After the song was done and she playfully sparred with Seacrest, the camera finally caught her head on.  Man, she looked like a whale.  She also lacked the star quality we’d previously seen in her.  Maybe it was due to the boring song but she’s really gotta slim down before her album comes out in the fall.

3.  Just like two weeks ago, the four remaining guys performed together strumming their guitars.  This time, they took turns singing a medley of two Simon and Garfunkel classics:  “The Sound of Silence” and “Mrs. Robinson.”  Paul McDonald’s voice was so weak when he came in on his line that it was offensive.  Kick this guy off the show already!  Not surprisingly, he and Stefano Langone didn’t sound all that great together.  But on the first song, I give Jacob Lusk credit for supplying solid harmony to James Durbin.

     More than 53 million votes determined that two of these four men were in the bottom three.  It was Stefano Langone and Paul McDonald.  So after correctly guessing the bottom three the first week, I’ve now accurately predicted two of the bottom three for the fifth week in a row.  Speaking of predictions, last week, I asserted that Pia Toscano--who was shockingly eliminated-- would be picked up by Interscope Records but that the announcement probably wouldn’t be made until after the competition was over so as not to take away from the importance of winning the contest.  Well, within a couple of days came reports that the label had done just that but the company wasn’t officially confirming it.  In an article in Billboard Magazine tonight, even the singer’s sister said she couldn’t speak to that rumor.

     One thing to thank the producers for this year:  We no longer have to put up with Seacrest corralling the contestants to hear a recap of the judges’ comments from the previous night only to have to wait for commercials to hear who’s not safe.  That really pissed off too many people.

     Before we learned who was going home this week, Seacrest introduced two audience members:  Chaka Khan and Anita Baker.  Then Rihanna took the stage to sing her new single “Califonia King.”  Sonavagun, she actually sang the entire thing without going off key!  Whoda thunk it?

     Calling the bottom three up again, Seacrest pointed out that since the audience started voting on the Top 13, only girls have gone home.  For the first time, it was gonna be a guy because Reinhart was safe.  Jennifer Lopez was happy, clapping, probably relieved that her feedback on the singer’s performance last night didn’t doom her.  I thought Langone would finally be put out of his misery so I was a bit surprised—but nevertheless happy—to learn that the person receiving the lowest number of votes was Paul McDonald.

     Based on his performance of “That Old Time Rock ’n Roll” last night, he didn’t deserve to go home, but he should’ve been ejected weeks ago for past crimes against eardrums.

     After we saw video clips of his “Idol” journey that led him to this point, Seacrest asked McDonald to sing his swan song.  He said he didn’t know which one to do.  Jennifer Lopez made a request:  Rod Stewart’s “Maggie May.”   Wow, the band must be mind readers because someone started playing the mandolin introduction of that hit before she even named it!

     Great, now, if we can get rid of Stefano Langone and Jacob Lusk, it’ll be easier to listen to the show in the future.  Check back here Wednesday night to see how the Top 7 do as we count down to the winner of television’s #1 show.

“Some Idol Contestants Clash With Their Mentors” by Guy Aoki

Wednesday, April 13.  In the past, “Idol” singers usually listened to the advice Interscope Records chairman Jimmy Iovine gave them on song selection and approach.  But tonight, more of those vying for the crown decided to follow their own gut instincts, and it paid off.  The theme this week was hits featured in motion pictures which made for some real stretches.  Apparently, the “Idol” producers like Black Eyed Peas member Will.i.am so much that he’s once again serving as a mentor alongside Iovine.

1.  Paul McDonald:  “That Old Time Rock ‘n’ Roll”/Bob Seger.  Iovine suggested McDonald add a beatbox section in the middle, but Will.i.am wisely reminded him of the song’s lyrics celebrating rock and said such an idea would run counter to that pride.  The singer’s first few words were bad from the get go.  When he asserted that “Today’s music ain’t got the same soul,” I felt the same way about Idol contestants like him and the quality of their voices.  This was McDonald’s second upbeat song in a row which helped hide his vocal shortcomings. 

     Jennifer Lopez felt he kept getting better as a performer and that he “killed it again.”  Randy Jackson declared, “America, you just witnessed the first number at the Paul McDonald concert!”

2.   Lauren Alaina:  “The Climb”/Miley Cyrus.  If I didn’t already know the title of this song, I certainly would never have known it from the way this southerner mumbled it.  Iovine told Alaina she was a better singer than Cyrus, which embarrassed her.  It’s hard to keep remembering this contestant’s just 16 years old because her face and size make her look like she’s 40.  She did all right except she didn’t quite make “the climb” vocally on the first chorus, taking a bit too long to get there.  Nevertheless, Lopez said it was “beautifully done.”  Jackson felt she made the song sound as if it was written for her.  Steven Tyler said “I love what you bring to a song, and I love more what a song brings to you.”  Huh? 

3.  Stefano Langone:  “End of the Road”/Boyz II Men.  Will.i.am said the singer, who was in the bottom two last week, had to shake the feeling of “I’m next” or he wouldn’t do well tonight.  Iovine told him, “I’m always giving you a hard time because I believe you can win!”  Liar.  If he was that great a vocalist to begin with, you wouldn’t have such trouble with him.  Langone has one of the weakest voices amongst those remaining in the competition, and he’s the last of the judges’ wild card choices to survive (he should never have been put in the Top 13; his spot should’ve gone to Clint Jun Gamboa).  Still, he sang the song just fine.

     Jackson asserted that the original lead vocalist of that hit--Wanya (pronounced Wan-YE as he corrected me--shaking his head--in my interview with him and the group in 1995; stupid me:  I should’ve known it’d be pronounced that way!) Morris--was going to text him that he “just slayed the song” declaring it “your best vocal on this stage to date!”  Lopez revealed that a few weeks ago when Langone was in the bottom three, she’d given him advice:  “You gotta stop singing to stay; you gotta start singing to win.  You looked at me, and I knew you could do it.  And you did it.  You did it tonight!  That was (I think she said “the shit!” because the sound cut out).” 

4.  Scotty McCreery:  “Cross My Heart”/George Strait.  Our country boy initially tried doing Nilsson’s “Everybody’s Talkin’” but settled on something safer.  He’s making us believe he doesn’t have much of a vocal range (OK, he did go for a high note toward the end but still…) Isn’t it time the judges give the “boy who can do no wrong” the “it’s time to stop being safe and quit doing the same old thing?”  Guess not.  Apparently, Lopez read criticism that the judges are too easy on the contestants because she explained that it’s hard to be tough when they give such great performances.  At least she admitted it wasn’t the greatest song choice.  Jackson, displaying hypocrisy once again (he kept telling Thia Megia and Pia Toscano to stop singing ballads all the time), asserted his supposed motto in life: “If it ain’t broke, don’t you even consider fixing it!”  Somewhere, our two former contestants just flipped a bird at the television screen. 

 

5.  Casey Abrams:  “Nature Boy”/Nat King Cole.  Redbeard wanted to go with this classic but Iovine said it was too quiet.  Abrams tried his second choice--“In The Air Tonight” by Phil Collins--but wasn’t feeling it, so he decided to stick with his original choice.  Iovine told the camera that at this point, the contestants should take the advice of their mentors.  “And Casey chose not to.  So he better be right!”  Woah!  Abrams sang it quietly (going off key a couple of times) playing his upright bass accompanied by a pianist.  They even took a 15 second break just to let the instruments seep in with the singer only scatting over them.

     Steven Tyler started the standing ovation, which was quickly followed by Lopez and Jackson.  Lopez admits she was worried at the beginning but she loves that contestants are performing in so many different styles.  “You don’t have to be a pop star.  You can be Norah Jones” and still sell millions of records and win Grammys.  Jackson said he was happy that they have “real true artists” on the show and he could see Abrams making a jazz album.  “The world cannot live on pop stars alone!”  Tyler said his Mom sang that song to him way back when and the singer made it sound cool again.  He pointed out that Abrams defied Iovine and that he was a true artist for it.

     Conclusion:  Though we don’t know how Abrams would’ve sounded doing the Phil Collins hit, it’s such a sparse song that there’s not much you can do with it vocally.  He probably made the better choice. 

6.   Haley Reinhart:  “Call Me”/Blondie.  She started off on a rough note and once again seemed to be playing “dress up” adding her growl as opposed to it flowing naturally out of her as her normal voice.  She did some high stepping across the stage but it still seemed insincere until she did some cute cooing in the middle that gave it some personality.  Jackson felt it sounded like karaoke in the beginning.  Tyler agreed but still felt she did a good job and liked her (short) dress.  Yuck!  Lopez sided with Jackson though worried she was influencing the public to once again vote off another female when Reinhart was one of only two left.  Still, she felt the singer hadn’t maintained the level of her last two performances. 

7.  Jacon Lusk:  “Bridge Over Troubled Water”/Simon and Garfunkel.  I appreciated the fact that Iovine chastised my “favorite” singer for saying last week that if the audience didn’t like his performance of “Man in the Mirror” that they weren’t in touch with their own feelings:  “Don’t preach to people.”  Lusk thought he’d either do “The Impossible Dream” or “You’ll Never Walk Alone” but Iovine dismissed both as too corny.  He suggested the Simon and Garfunkel classic which was featured in “The Pursuit of Happyness.”  Isn’t that a stretch?  A song which hit #1 in 1970 and was included in a film 36 years later is “a movie song?”  I disagree with the record executive.  Lusk’s choices were rather good ones with very inspirational lyrics.  Jerry Lewis has kept the latter alive all these years as his closer for the Muscular Dystrophy Telethons and I tear up with him every time I hear him try to finish it without crying.

     Anyway, in the taped package, Lusk humbly said, “I hope America likes it.”  No “and if they don’t it’s because they don’t really have hearts?!”  OK, he’s learning.  He screwed up the line “When evening falls so hard.”  It sounded like “when here and fall so hard.”  Ay sos madia!  Otherwise, he did it OK.  I just can’t stand his wooly voice.  It’s not that I can’t appreciate gospel influenced performers; I love Gladys Knight and some of the Staple Singers (“Let’s Do It Again”) stuff.  Lusk is like most of the younger generation of singers who don’t know when to turn off that shakiness in their voices—or can’t.

     As usual, the judges fell over themselves praising him.  Tyler said he sounded “angelic” and that he loved “your crenscendos (sic).”  Jackson said he believed every word he sang. 

8.   James Durbin:  “Heavy Metal”/Sammy Hagar.  Iovine hated this choice saying it didn’t have a great hook.  Durbin argued it’s hard to hear it when it’s played on the piano (during rehearsal).  Iovine seemed taken aback, as if this punk kid was questioning his experience and expertise:  “You think I’m an accident?  I heard a song before it was on the piano and knew it was a hit—somebody just hummed it.”  Still, Durbin--like Abrams--decided to go against Iovine’s advice giving a confident performance where he even sang on top of the judges’ table and shook their hands.   Yes, the hook wasn’t that strong, but the overall performance won over the crowd, and it was the best of the night.  Lopez asked, “Who woulda ever thought that on ‘American Idol’ we would have metal?!”  Why not?  Jackson felt he was at Durbin’s concert  adding, “I’m happy you stuck to your guns.” 

     The case of Abrams and Durbin--and to a lesser extent Lusk (since he went along with Iovine’s advice instead of going with this gut)--illustrates the kind of tension that often exists between recording artists and record company executives who mean well but often assert too much of themselves into the creative process and sometimes wind up forcing performers to make albums they hate or which fail to connect with the public.  On the other hand, there are hundreds of stories of brass forcing artists to record songs they hated which resulted in big hits.  Some examples:  “Do You Know The Way To San Jose” and “Heartbreaker” for Dionne Warwick, “Knock Three Times” and “Tie A Yellow Ribbon ‘Round the Ole Oak Tree” for Tony Orlando and Dawn, “Can’t Smile Without You” for Barry Manilow, and “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” for Steven Tyler’s band Aerosmith.

     Again, predicting the bottom three for tonight is difficult because the contestants are more consistent this year than in the past, but I’m going with Stefano Langone (because he’s been in the bottom three twice even when he sang well the last time he was put there), Haley Reinhart (the only across-the-board disappointment from the judges and she’s also been in the bottom three twice before) and Jacob Lusk (I don’t think the voters have forgotten his arrogant statement from last week).  Going home:  Stefano Langone (he was in the bottom three more recently than Reinhart).

     Check in here tomorrow night after we learn the results and see performances by Rihanna (ugh!) and the original winner of “American Idol” Kelly Clarkson.