IdolPhenomena

Tonight the Top 11 Finalists took the stage with some Motown Classics. I have to say it was by far the best show yet. Everyone has progressed so much and they all picked a song befitting of their vocal talents. I was very happy with the song choices for tonight’s performances. There were so many outstanding performances the show just seemed progressively better as it continued.

Casey Abrams opened up the show with Marvin Gaye’s I Heard It through the Grapevine. This was a great choice for Casey. It allowed enough room to be controlled and edgy all at the same time. It wasn’t my favorite Casey performance but it was definitely one of his better ones. I’m just not a big fan of his growl/yelling style but he puts on a great overall performance. Like Steven Tyler said I believe that Casey is the perfect entertainer and if he doesn’t win Idol he truly has a bright future as an entertainer following the Idol Summer Tour. For your not so outstanding performance tonight Casey you get a 2.5/3- Stars from me. I just want you to come down on that stage a little and not scream/growl so much.

Following Casey was Thia Megia performing Heatwave by Martha & The Vandellas. I think it was great for Thia to go outside of her comfort zone and perform something that wasn’t a ballad. It was nice to see her working the stage and seeing her having fun doing what she likes to do. She did forget the words a little in the middle but you wouldn’t have noticed if you were just enjoying her performance. However, she does admit to the backstage cam that she did mess up a little. Maybe being honest will save you from elimination this week. Compared to the rest of the finalists I would say Thia’s performance was just average tonight so that earns you a 2/3- Stars for Heatwave.

After Thia, Jacob Lusk took the stage with Your All I Need by Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell. Tonight Jimmy Iovine said something that I can’t help but agree with about Jacob and that is that he needs to hold back some. It was nice that he didn’t over sing and go into his vocal gymnastics right away tonight. However, I can’t help but compare his performance to Kelly Clarkson’s in Season 1 and his just was Blah. I feel like I was the only one that heard him mess up a little in the beginning he was always above or below the actual notes. Yet for all the emotion you bring to your performances you get 2.75/3- Stars tonight. This was definitely one of Jacob’s better performances since God Bless the Child.

Lauren Alaina made a comeback last week with I’m The Only One by Melissa Etheridge and tonight she continues to push forward as she performs You Keep Me Hanging On by Diana Ross &The Supremes. This Motown song has been a grave digger for many of the Idol Finalists who have sung it in the past. Vanessa Olivarez first sang it on Season 2 during Motown Week earning her elimination. Leah Labelle then sang it in Season 3 during the Top 12 Soul Theme and was eliminated. It wasn’t until Season 6 when Blake Lewis made the song more current did it not lead to elimination. What could this mean for Lauren Alaina. Will she for some unseen reason be in this week’s Bottom 3 and force the Judge’s to use their ever coveted Judge’s Save. We will find out tomorrow. Overall I would have to agree with Randy and how he feels that Lauren is now ready to compete in this competition. So Lauren’s above average performance earns her 2.25/3- Stars.

Stefano Langone would be third guy to take the stage tonight singing Hello by Lionel Richie. Stefano gave a phenomenal vocal performance this evening however; he lacked that emotional connection with the audience. Yet in my mind those flawless vocals earn him a 2.5/3- Stars this week. This was definitely the best we’ve seen from him thus far. Haley Reinhart would follow Stefano with Smokey Robinson’s You Really Got A Hold On Me. I still don’t see the value in Haley’s vocal talents. I will acknowledge that she is a good singer but the growl and all the over singing she doesn’t really do anything for me. She tends to shy away from the melody when she invokes that raspy growl of hers that so many people love. However, what I do like about her is how all of her performances show off her personality. Thankfully Randy and I were on the same page in regards to the performance. I can’t help but agree with when he expressed the she started out a little rough tonight. That growl just came out of nowhere-LOL. So for not impressing me and growling at me in my living room Haley gets 1.75/3- Stars.

Up next is the Scotty McCreery performing Stevie Wonder’s For Once in My Life. I do like how the arrangement was both a little bit country and a little bit Motown. It truly helped Scotty make the performance his own tonight. Now because people have been mentioning it on twitter I can’t help but see the Mad Magazine cover guy on stage every time Scotty performs. – LOL. For not being my favorite Scotty performance I give it a 2.25/3- Stars. It was good but not great and far from omg let me stand up and clap. We’re up to the last four performances of the night and waiting to take the Idol stage is Pia Toscano. She kept the Stevie Wonder theme moving forward with her choice of All in Love Is Fair. Pia as always delivers and amazing ballad but now I have a desire to hear and see her perform something more upbeat. I want to to see her have fun on that stage I can’t help but see the Pia robot up there performing doing everything right except working the stage. Like Randy said, “We can’t live on ballads alone.” However, for Pia’s outstanding performance I give her 3/3- Stars.
I have been waiting all night to hear Smokey Robinson’s Tracks of my Tears and when I heard that Paul McDonald would be singing it I was pleasantly surprised. I truly enjoyed his performance tonight. It was nice to see him onstage guitar in hand. That just meant there was no crazy dancing. Paul’s next lesson will be to tame the hair on his head. I couldn’t help but giggle when Randy said, “When you dang tender at the end, Oh My God.” I also agree with Jennifer Lopez’s comment stating that Paul is by far the most seasoned performer. So for your good performance I reward thee with 2.25/3- Stars tonight. Following Paul tonight was Naima Adedapo with Dancing in the Streets by Martha & The Vandellas. I do have to say that Naima’s performance was definitely her best tonight she really brought it tonight. I just can’t stop thinking that it is too late for. I see elimination in her near future. Tonight she really made the performance her own by incorporating the African dance. Good job 1.75/3- Stars for you. I still can’t believe that Jennifer got goose bumps from it, it was not that amazing.

Closing tonight’s show is none other than James Durbin with his version of Stevie Wonder’s Living for the City. This was truly a great way to end the show. James truly gave a knock out performance. For his amazing stage presence, working the stage and engaging the audience I give him 3/3- Stars. Great job tonight James. I can’t wait to see how he progresses through the rest of the competition. Each week he proves more and more that he is a contender in earning the title of American Idol. So with all the 11 Finalists having had a chance to perform I foresee this week’s bottom three being Haley Reinhart, Naima Adedapo, and Thia Megia. However, you never know when you might find someone like Lauren Alaina in the Bottom 3. The public never fails at surprising me when it comes to voting on Idol.

So last night’s results show like any other results show with a group song. The twelve Idol finalists took to the stage with a mash-up of Lady Gaga’s Born This Way and Born to Be Wild by Steppenwolf. There were the usual vocal stand outs; Lauren Alaina, James Durbin, Thia Megia, Casey Abrams and Pia Toscano. However there was something awkward about the track I felt like it was glitch at parts like Naima and Jacon had technical issues with their microphones. Then I remember something about the group songs being pre-recorded and lip sync so does that mean they were intentionally bad or was there a glitch in the TV sound??? Who really knows? That was followed by another one of those Ford commercials we all love, -LOL

This year marks 10yrs of American Idol so that means that you need to take a moment and check out the 10 Yrs Anniversary Compilation CD. Check it out [here] on iTunes. This album features tracks by significant Idol alumni like Kelly Clarkson, Daughtry, Clay Aiken, Fantasia, and Adam Lambert just to name a few. After Ryan so kindly pitches the CD and tells the audience to check under their seats for their free copy we get to learn a little more about the Idol contestants, for example Pia’s dog likes to sing with her and that Thia does a mean impression of Lauren Alaina – LOL. And next some results.

The first three contestants called center stage are Jacob Lusk, Lauren Alaina and Casey Abrams. As Ryan goes through a recap of the previous evening he talks about Jacob’s performance and about how the Judges thought it was outstanding. I don’t know what planet they live on but that has got to be the worst Jacob performance to date. I would also have to agree with Randy’s comment that Lauren should have a cold each week because I think it made her try twice as a hard it also made her voice slightly more raspy/husky. Typical America votes all of them through to the next round even after Casey’s wild performance of Smells like Teen Spirit. Next are Haley Reinhart and Paul McDonald both of whom delivered somewhat average performances last night compared to the rest of the contestants. I consistently agree with the Judges about how Haley needs to be more natural and about how she needs to find out who she is as an artist. I’m starting to think that she is a great karaoke singer but doesn’t have any true potential to be her own artist. Even though Paul was dealing with a cold and gave his worst performance ever the other night he still manages to escape the bottom three. So that means Haley is in the bottom three again. – I can’t imagine what that does to one’s confidence being in the bottom three on a somewhat consistent basis.

Lee DeWyze premieres his track Beautiful Like You. It is a great track off of his album Live It Up. However I felt Lee’s performance was like some type of essence on stage last night. It was almost like he was nervous until the last view bars or the song. Lee leaves the remaining contestants some great advice.

Just remember why u tried out in the first place and at the end of the day no matter when you leave you’ll still love music and your still gonna keep doing it so u guys are fine no matter what happens.

said she is more than just a balladeer.
So like I predicted Karen joins Haley and Naima in this we

Tonight the Top 12 Idol Finalists took the stage singing songs from their birth years. As usual there were some outstanding performances; some okay performances and some what happened to the melody kind of performances. Where do your favorites fall in?

Up first tonight was Naima Adedapo performing Tina Turner’s What’s Love Got to Do With It? I love how every week Naima gets on stage and does her thing even if it’s not incredibly amazing. Rodney Jerkins modernized the track for her tonight which is one good thing about this season, the contestants working with the producers. However, I feel she was always singing something else; her melody didn’t quite match up. It wasl almost as if she was singing the old version against the new accompaniment. Tonight you get 1.5/3- Stars from me. I know you got that amazing voice in there; you just need to bring it out more and find that comfort vocally to match your confidence on stage. Next Paul McDonald tackled Elton John’s I Guess that’s Why They Call It the Blues. Paul was just okay tonight. It didn’t feel like the normal Paul onstage tonight. I do agree with Steven Tyler we all think your swagger is way cool. So that would be 1.75/3- Stars from me this evening. Pick something that suits you better, I personally would have loved to hear you sing Dancing in the Dark by Bruce Springsteen. Highlighting that unique rasp and character in your voice you would have definitely been able to move around to that without a care in the world. ;-)

The first ballad of the night was done by Thia Megia as she took to the Idol stage with Vanessa Williams’ Colors of the Wind from the Disney Movie Pocahontas. It was a great Idea to choose a ballad like that; I personally loved the guitars and strings on stage with you. However I would have loved to hear you sing something that highlighted the uniqueness of your voice since you were compared to having and Adele type voice back in your Milwaukee audition. You keep trying to sing something out of a cookie cutter repertoire but I feel you have such incredible potential that you are just not yet tapping into. Don’t be afraid to take risks. For your average performance you get 2/3- Stars from me. Following Thia is James Durbin with I’ll Be There for You by Bon Jovi. I agree with Randy that you made the song your own. Great job 2.5/3- Stars.

I like how next contestant Haley Reinhart can take each challenge given her and consistently deliver a good performance. However, we still don’t know who Haley is as an artist and I feel that at this is important not only for the viewing audience but for the contestants as well. It will allow her to find a niche in the music industry. Tonight she delivered a good performance of Whitney Houston’s I’m Your Baby Tonight. 2.25/3- Stars from us and by us I mean me here at IdolPhenomena. Like several other bloggers out their tonight I wanted to hear Stefano Langone perform If You Don’t Know Me by Now by Simply Red. When he delivered his performance tonight he was by far the best compared what came before him. He’s outstanding I definitely feel he is a dark horse in this competition. I’m starting to see him become more and more Top 5 material even though I have envisioned him leaving before that portion of the competition. For your amazing vocal tonight Stefano you get 2.75/3- Stars from me.

Pia Toscano is up next with Whitney Houston’s Where Do Broken Hearts Go? Amazing as always tonight Pia brought a new spin to an incredible ballad. It was nice to see her tackle something more upbeat. As viewing audience we got to see another side of her as a performer. Rodney Jerkins did a great job making this song more current. I truly think she’s the one to beat, 3/3- Stars absolutely phenomenal job tonight. The great performances keep on coming as Scotty McCreery takes the stage with Travis Tritt’s Can I Trust You with My Heart. And in thousands of living rooms across the states there are girls replying yes, yes you can.

After Scotty’s amazing vocal Karen Rodriguez takes the Idol stage with Taylor Dayne’s Love Will Lead You Back. I can’t help having flash backs of Carmen Rasmusen of Season 2 and Mikalah Gordon of Season 4 both girls sang this the night before they were eliminated. Dare I say that this is a precursor for Thursday night’s results??? Karen is incredibly talented but and I do agree with Steven I love it when you break into your ethnic what it is-ness. I just don’t feel America is rooting for you but I still love you and wish you the best of luck in this competition 2.5/3- Stars from me. We are now down to the last three performances of the night. Up next is Casey Abrams with Nirvana’s Smells like Teen Spirit. Tonight for the first time ever, I was disappointed with Casey’s performance. The whole time I wanted to know why he was allowed to play an instrument at this point in the competition and nobody else did would have loved to see Paul because he’s in his element more with it in hand or even Thia pick up a guitar to change it up. Nirvana was definitely a risk for Casey it was just okay for me tonight 2.25/3- Stars tonight.

Lauren Alaina takes the stage with Melissa Etheridge’s I’m the Only One. She does an incredible job tonight way better than last week. Lauren is now headed in the right direction to being the contender they saw in her back at her audition in Nashville. Like Steven Tyler said you are a shining star. You have crazy star potential I can’t wait to see how the competition unfolds for you. 2.5/3- Stars this evening you still haven’t wowed me yet ;-). Last but not least Jacob Lusk has chosen to perform Alone by Heart. Why? God only knows. For the judges this performance was outstanding, but for me I just wasn’t feeling it tonight. There was just something awkward about the vocal that just wasn’t in tune. I was left wondering what happened to the melody in that tonight. However for giving it all you’ve got you get 2/3- Stars from me tonight.

So IdolPhenomena followers how did your favorites fair in tonight’s portion of the competition. I foresee the bottom three contestants being Karen Rodriguez, Naima Adedapo, and Thia Megia with Karen potentially being eliminated. What do you all think???