The Idol contestants take on Elton John as they follow up the Casey save last week. Two will be gone tomorrow, so it’s a big deal. I think the save has been misunderstood. Yes, Casey was talented, but he was neither likeable or popular. The way he reacted after being saved didn’t help with that. He’s going to have to really pull something out this week to avoid wasting the save. No one should be thrown off by Elton songs, since they’re pretty broad to begin with.
Scotty, Country Comfort: Iovine’s right that it’s a heck of a trick, but the song choice emphasizes that he’s a one trick pony. There’s a lot of Elton songs he could have done with a twang. “Dont Let The Sun Go Down on Me”, “Madman Across The Water”, or anything off Honky Chateau would have worked well. He’s fine, but showed nothing that he hadn’t shown every other week. He’s a bit boring this week, but he’s safe for a while.
Naima, I’m Still Standing: She’s going pretty quirky with the reggae-ification of the song. Iovine didn’t help her by showing the planning of the dedication. She went full accent on this and it’s very, very affected. It’s not bad, but we’ve heard her for how many weeks now and suddenly she pulls out this? She was already on the edge and this probably pushes her over it in a double elimination week. Funny thing is, I probably like this performance more than the last couple weeks.
Paul, Rocket Man: He pulled out the Jeff Tweedy suit again and not really sure why. There’s a bit more Chris Martin in him this week and that’s not a bad thing (to me.) His phrasing was pretty odd to me and that counts since almost everyone knows this song. This got weaker as it went along. Trouble for him, and he makes it easy for the headline writers by going out with a whisper.
Pia, Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me : I have no idea what’s between Fergie and Axl Rose. It’s not somewhere I want to be. This song ought to be easy wheelhouse material for Pia. I’m curious how they choose whether someone gets a choir or special band assist. It seems a little arbitrary this season. In trying to be controlled, she held back what she does best. Good enough to get past and carry herself into Katherine McPhee territory, but still not a “moment.”
Stefano, Tiny Dancer: To do this song, Stefano is going to have to change up an iconic song. That might not play well after being bottom 3 last week. (By the way, Stefano looks exactly like Marco Scutaro.) He was fine, but he wasn’t great and that MIGHT not be enough this week. It’s too early to tell exactly, but there wasn’t enough there for me to think he’s safe now. Stefano has this lower thing in his voice that creeps in sometimes. It’s good in some things, bad in some, but for an iconic song, it didn’t work when it crept in because it’s nothing like what Elton sang.
Lauren, Candle In The Wind: If she nails this, she has her first single. There was a whole lot more of Carrie Underwood in her tonight than Kelly Clarkson. There was actually a lot of Natalie Maine in her voice that I hadn’t heard before. Good, not great, but certainly enough to keep her very safe. There’s not much more to say about it.
James, Saturday Night’s All Right For Fighting: It might be safe for him. He came down the stairs and it was more like Ripper Owens than Rob Halford. The rest was a bit too manic for mainstream America. (Wait, they didn’t rehearse much and they set a piano on fire? I don’t like the sound of that.) He’s definitely the best and most comfortable performer. If he gets to the two song part of the competition, he’ll kill. I’m starting to worry a bit that he could be too manic, make a crazy song choice, or stay with this rocking bit and bore people.
Thia, Daniel: I groaned on song choice, but you know what, I really bought this from her. Stefano needs to take some lessons from her on connection. She’s not great but I’m not sure she can do much better than that. She’s likeable enough that good could be enough for her at this stage. Randy seems done with her, but I agree more with Steven. She sang the song. (Wait, her brother’s name is Cleo? Cleo Megia? Who’s her parents, Hanna Barbera?)
Casey, Your Song: Trimming the beard was smart. Dialing it down this way was smarter. The downside is that it was boring and his voice wasn’t that special. I was hoping some of the bass-playing hep cat was going to show up, but by the end he was wound back up, grunting and growling and missing the last note by a city block. There’s going to be some sympathy for him for needing the save, but I still think he’s going to go out shortly. (And I picked him to finish in the top five.)
Jacob, Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word: He could go WAY over the top on this. I’m curious if saying that he knew the Mary J. Blige version will help, since that’s the version he’s singing. His demographic will know that one more anyway. That was a really long last note, but overall, he didn’t go too far with it. That’s a good thing in this case. I keep worrying that he’s going to burn himself out.
Haley, Bennie & The Jets: Jazzing this song? I’m not sure. I’m even less sure after the first verse. Wow, there’s just no connection here. She’s singing words — now granted, this isn’t the most coherent of Elton’s songs. That was downright bad … and yet, JLo loved it. I’ve heard from a couple people that there’s a big disconnect between how it sounds in the theater and how it comes off on TV. If I’m wrong on her in terms of how America hears it, it makes voting very interesting.
My bottom three would be Haley, Naima and Paul. If Haley’s not there, I really don’t know who the third would be. Stefano, maybe, since he was there last week. I won’t be stunned if Casey is there. The next couple weeks will be interesting since it seems that about six have a real shot.
