1) Phillip Phillps - "Hard To Handle" (The Black Crowes)
Battling kidney stones (and prompting the great Jimmy Iovine line, "Phillip's changed what it means to have a sick day at American Idol"), Phillip came out and gave a strong performance. It was also the first time he didn't have his guitar with him and he had just had surgery for his kidney stones on Thursday. Steven was right about Phillip picking songs that match his character although he did warn him about the melody. Even singing in the spot of death, there is absolutely zero chance of him going home this week.
2) Jessica Sanchez - "Turn The Beat Around" (Gloria Estefan) (Originally Vicki Sue Robinson)
Jessica has probably been my favorite in this competition from a strictly vocal standpoint (she's light years ahead of everyone else) but I just don't think this song really did her any justice. The pace of the song is so scattered and I think that really worked against her voice. From a performance standpoint she did some good things and she clearly has a masterful command of the stage unlike anyone else from this season.
3) Heejun Han - "Right Here Waiting" (Richard Marx)
I must confess myself disappointed with his song choice this week. Heejun has proven he can sing the ballads well but he did the opposite of Jessica this week. He stayed in the ballad realm and I'm not so sure it was his strongest performance. His voice seemed to trail off on certain notes and he didn't expand his voice enough throughout the song in my opinion. I think this is a performance he will look back on and wish he could tweek some things. Randy was absolutely right about the pitch issues and I agree that he sounded out of breath for the whole song which Steven echoed as well.
4) Elise Testone - "Let's Stay Together" (Al Green)
While it wasn't her best performance, it was definitely light years ahead of her disatrous performance from last week. Elise is one of my favorites so I hope she gets the chance to stick around a little bit longer this time. She was also quite savoy in her intro tonight and made a concerted effort to show how receptive she was to feedback. I personally didn't find her disrespectful to the judges last week but many came away with that impression and the judges all felt she did a good job this week.
5) DeAndre Brackensick - "Endless Love" (Luther Vandross & Mariah Carey)
DeAndre has come on stronger over the past two weeks vocally and his command and greatly reduced reliance on his falsetto has certainly won me over much more so. The judges disagreed with the song choice and I actually still kind of agree with that but I liked it because it wasn't necessarily the best choice for him. While it might very well have been boring, I think it's been good for him to stay clear of the over the top theatrics that really haven't endured him as much to the voters as they have to the judges and studio audiences.
6) Shannon Magrane - "One Sweet Day" (Mariah Carey & Boys II Men)
Hmm....I actually had problems just hearing her. Her mic seemed to be getting drowned out by the band but I do remember a nice little run towards the end of the song. That's probably just me though. What I just don't get is why she'd dare to go anywhere near Mariah Carey and Boys II Men. I think Jennifer Lopez was out of her mind. Shannon did a decent job but it wasn't great. I do agree with Steven about Shannon singing her best when she doesn't try too hard.
7) Colton Dixon - "Broken Heart" (White Lion)
In arguabaly my favorite performance of the night, Colton Dixon killed it with the obscure White Lion song. Steven was the critic tonight and perhaps it was the rocker in him not feeling it as much. I felt he did a good job with it and I think that it was actually a decent song choice for him.
8) Erika Van Pelt - "Heaven" (Bryan Adams)
I really felt this was a great song choice for her so I was happy that Jimmy immediately followed up my own enthusiastic outburst at home. There were a few timing issues bookmarking the performance and I'm still waiting to hear her otherwise powerful voice hit the next range in it. I still thoroughly enjoyed the performance but I just worry that it wasn't enough for her to stay out of trouble this week.
9) Skylar Laine - "Love Sneaking Up On You" (Bonnie Raitt)
Skylar's one of my favorites this year but I just was not feeling this performance. It's not like it was horrible. It's just that there was nothing terribly distinctive or exciting about it. I think it was the wrong song choice by an otherwise great (and proper choice of) artist. I don't think I really felt this performance as much as the judges professed to. Luckily she's not in any known real danger of going home this week so I'm ready to see what she does next week.
10) Joshua Ledet - "When A Man Loves A Woman" (Michael Bolton) (Originally Percy Sledge)
I thought Joshua gave one of the better performances tonight but the vocals were really just too over the top. He gets himself into trouble time and time again by doing this and the shame is that he's actually got a really great voice. The studio audience and the judges loved it and he probably secured himself a spot in the Top 10. Jennifer Lopez called it the best thing she's seen on "American Idol" which of course was utterly ridiculous on multiple levels. He was definitely overpraised but despite the screamy nature of his vocals it still wasn't terrible either.
11) Hollie Cavanagh - "The Power of Love" (Celine Dion)
Hollie is really one of just a handful of the singers this year with any kind of range in which to dare to take on one of the real bigwigs but I was still surprised she chose one of the few titans of the industry. Despite that and a few pitch issues, Hollie delivered the best performance of the night. I still worry about her reliance on ballads but Hollie is still one of the strongest contenders this season and I would be surprised if she doesn't at least make the Top 5.
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