Wednesday, May 11. At the top of the show, the producers made it clear what was at stake this week: As in past years, those who made it to the Top 3 would get to return to their hometowns for a welcome fit for kings and queens. So which of the Top 4 would make it and who would be “sent home” without that parade? (well, nothing’s stopping supporters from throwing a big street party to the “loser” anyway but you know, that makes it seem less dramatic…).
Tonight, the contestants sang two songs: one that inspires them, another written by ‘50s/60’s songwriting team Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. For the first half, we just saw the singers talk about their selection with no studio rehearsal footage and no comments from Interscope Records chairman/mentor Jimmy Iovine. For the second half, rehearsal footage returned with Iovine and Lady Gaga offering ideas for how to perform a song with the latter providing some great ideas.
1. James Durbin: “Don’t Stop Believin’”/Journey. He delivered a performance that “faithfully” stuck to the original version (get it? “Faithfully” was another Journey hit!). That was the problem. The rocker offered nothing new in his version. Shouldn’t the judges hold that against him? Apparently not; they all loved it. Jennifer Lopez loved his upper register and vibrato. Randy Jackson, who performed on Journey’s last ‘80s album Raised On Radio before the group temporarily broke up (but not on that 1981 hit) exclaimed that other than Aerosmith, Journey was one of the best bands ever and other than Steven Tyler, Steve Perry was one of the best lead singers and Durbin did both of them justice: “That was the highest degree of difficulty and you did it!”
2. Haley Reinhart: “Earth Song”/Michael Jackson. I got excited at this choice because it came from Jackson’s last album of great material, the underrated History: Past, Present & Future, and flopped upon release in 1995. The 20-year old’s voice sounded a bit hoarse, but she did an all right job. But although Jennifer Lopez recognized that “I really felt that; it did inspire you,” at this point in the competition, she wanted to hear a known hit. Jackson agreed because it—once again—confused him as to what kind of artist she wanted to be (unlike Scotty McCreery whose identify is never in question but who puts us to sleep with country songs each and every week). He felt she was screaming at the top of her range, but in order to top Michael Jackson, she had to go a few notes higher and didn’t (OK, keep this in mind because he didn’t expect that of Durbin and he wouldn’t expect it later with the country contestants).
Reinhart, probably tired of the double standard criticism, shot back that it wasn’t at the top of her range. She and Jackson kept talking back and forth. He wanted her to do vocal runs at the end (cos singing something straight without vocal gymnastics is never enough for him unless you’re doing country—then you it’s “you know who you are!” and “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”); she didn’t think she needed to.
Steven Tyler, who loves everything and everybody, said his colleagues were wrong (which of course, elicited cheers from the audience who wants to love everything and everybody too). Jackson kept repeating his advice and Reinhart said she already heard it.
3. Scotty McCreery: “Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning?”/Alan Jackson. Our country boy added nothing new (as usual) to this country song about 9/11. It’s exactly what you’d expect from him. Of course, Jackson should’ve advised the singer to add something new to it or sing higher notes. Instead--adhering to the same double standard we’ve seen all season with this boring performer—he praised McCreery for doing “a perfect song for where we are as a country” (meaning after Osama bin Laden’s been executed) even going as far as saying the 17-year old was headed for superstardom. Oh gag me with a fork! Tyler liked it that the contestant kinda lost it in the middle due to his emotion and that was “important.” Lopez, once again demonstrating the inability to impartially critique with this guy, just said, “I’m in love with you.” OK, now gag me with a spoon too. “You know who you are.” Yeah, so? He’s boring as hell!
4. Lauren Alaina: “Anyway”/Martina McBride. For the umpteenth time, this annoying, overweight southerner mumbled the name of her selection. She was doing it because of the tornadoes that hit the South. Timely lyrics: “One storm can come and blow it all away.” She used those long notes that judges “require” to get excited by so, of course, they loved it. Tyler: “You did it again—you broke my heart.” Lopez was happy that the 16-year old was listening to their advice. Jackson said he was a bit worried about her performance last week, but tonight, “Lauren is back! In it to win it!” Once again, he asked, “What was wrong with that performance? Absolutely nothing!”
Ryan Seacrest asked the judges who won that round. Lopez said it was hard and didn’t name anyone. Jackson said it was a three-way tie naming everyone but Haley, who was visibly annoyed, trying to smile when she probably wanted to give him the middle finger.
After coming back from a break, Seacrest said some were saying Jackson was being a little mean and Lopez punched him in the arm. Hell, they should all be a little more mean because they were letting some of these people skate on through. At this point, we were told of Lady Gaga’s importance, having an astounding 8 #1 hits in just the past three years. As she met the “Idols” during rehearsals, she looked like a skunk with blonde hair but a black strip running across near the bottom and black bangs. She also wore white eye liner above her eyebrows with black eyeliner below her eyes, and large beauty mark on her left cheek.
1. Haley Reinhart: “I (Who Have Nothing)”/Ben E. King/Tom Jones. Bad choice because 2007 winner Jordin Sparks turned it into a career-making performance. Before she sang that hit, I couldn’t have cared less about her. But she just stood at the mike, became a character who was devastated at the loss of a love, maintained a look of pain throughout the entire song, and left me in tears. Gaga asked, “How do you feel about getting a little psycho?” with the bug-eyed look of someone who was going on a killing spree. She suggested--to add a little Edith Piaf drama--Reinhart pause before saying “I love you!” It was a good touch, and the contestant sang it OK, but it couldn’t compare with Spark’s memory.
Proving how off they were tonight, all three judges gave her a standing ovation. Lopez shouted, “Look at what you’re capable of! That was amazing!” She called it one of the best performances of the year (what?!). Jackson agreed and assumed the singer was probably mad (backstage, she admitted she was) at them, and it helped her performance. Seacrest asked Reinhart to come over and hug Jackson, and she barely did (ooh, she holds a grudge, that one!)! 2. Scotty McCreery: “Young Blood”/The Coasters. During rehearsals, Gaga pointed out that when he turned his head away from the mike, no one could hear him, so she told him to pretend the mike was his girlfriend and to make love to her. Said Iovine: “Scotty McCreery, Lady Gaga: I couldn’t think of a better fit!” Gaga laughed in the background. This should’ve been a perfect choice because he could go to town with his voice getting lower and lower during “Uh looky there! Uh looky there! Uh looky there!” But he didn’t, only taking advantage of it while imitating the “Dad” of the song as in: “Then things got bad/I met her dad/He said: ‘You better leave my daughter alone!’” It was a missed opportunity, and I thought the whole thing fell flat. But you know those judges and how they feel about George Bush, Jr.: They loved how he was having fun with it and that it showed his upbeat side.
3. Lauren Alaina: “Trouble”/Elvis Presley. Our 16 year old felt awkward singing “I’m evil” so Gaga had to convince her it wasn’t that big a deal. Iovine told her she had to become that character. She kind of pulled it off, giving a vampy performance. Lopez loved seeing a different side of her.
After coming back from commercials, Seacrest introduced Mike Stoller in the audience who said it was always a thrill to hear others give new interpretations to their songs. Explaining the absence of his collaborator, Stoller said Jerry Leiber was feeling “under the weather tonight.”
4. James Durbin: “Love Potion #9”/The Clovers/The Searchers. Iovine felt the rocker was approaching the hit too casually, so Gaga went up and started moving Durbin’s hips explaining, “it puts the song in your body.” Great advice, and it would’ve been great to see Durbin follow through during his live performance, but he didn’t shake them at all! He did make this ‘50s hit sound contemporary though, with a rock vocal approach and managing to throw in his trademark yells. But he threw in two false endings which were kinda annoying (just end the damn thing!). Lopez admitted she wasn’t sure if he’d picked the right song but after hearing what he did with it, he proved he could sing anything. Jackson: “You’re having a moment every single week.”
Since the judges were being such idiots, I’ll prepare two bottom twos for tomorrow night: According to their critiques: Haley Reinhart and Lauren Alaina (last week, she was in the bottom two for the first time, so she’s no longer invincible and the guys seem to have too strong a following especially since the teenage girls have generally been supporting men over the women). Going home (especially since voters get turned off when contestants talk back—no matter how justified--and this one talked back longer than anyone in recent memory): Haley Reinhart. If I had my druthers, the bottom two would be Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina simply because she should never have lasted this long. Going home: Lauren Alaina.
Tomorrow night: A whole lotta performances from Jordin Sparks (speak of the devil), Enrique Iglesias, and Lady Gaga herself. And we’ll see the premiere for the video of Steven Tyler’s first solo single “It Feels So Good,” which sounds like one of his critiques.
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