American Idol 11 – Top 13 Perform – Live Blog Recap
Reality TVIt’s Whitney Houston and Stevie Wonder night on American Idol 11! Oh. Joy. The Idol Pad has a few song spoilers for tonight, and Idol posted the entire set list on their Facebook. I’m not too impressed. I’m hoping the show isn’t a complete trainwreck and/or snoozefest. I could see Elise doing well, simply for the fact she seems to have quite of bit of originality in her bones.
I will be live blogging right here for your enjoyment. I’m pulling for my girls Elise, Erika, and Jessica to make it worthwhile.
This…is AMERICAN IDOL!
Here we go! “We got some hot singing tonight,” Randy says. There’s a disco-like party on stage. Ryan reminds us that tonight is the 400th episode! Congrats! He then introduces the Top 13. The girls look so glam! Love it!
BREAKING NEWS: The guys vs. the girls tonight. Tomorrow will reveal the bottom guy and bottom girl!!! The judges will decide tomorrow who gets the boot!!! OMG OMG OMG
Joshua Ledet is up first! He’s singing “I Wish” by Stevie Wonder. Come on, Joshua, bring it! Cool song. Some saxophones are on stage with him, giving it a nice throwback feel. Very jazz. I think this could be Joshua’s niche, but then again, he could sing “the phone book.” The vocals are really good. That was a great uptempo number to open the show. While I’m not a big fan of him, his fans will love this. Check out his full performance HERE.
Next up is Elise Testone! Let’s go girl! She’s singing “I’m Your Baby Tonight.” Originally, she chose “Greatest Love of All.” There was conflicting feedback for the song and how she felt about it. She’s insecure. No! Mary is afraid she’s gonna crash and burn. The band is on stage with her. Theme of the night. Hmm. This is interesting. I’m not hating it, but I’m not loving it. I wanna hear her do some originals. Her voice does fit this song, out of all the Whitney songs. OK, as the song goes on, I kinda…dig it? It was just OK. I’m hoping she makes it through to next week. VOTE VOTE VOTE!!!
I think J.Lo just threw her under the bus…kinda. Steven didn’t like it. NO NO NO! Randy felt like she was boxing with the song. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! =(
Jermaine Jones is up! He’s singing “Knocks Me Off My Feet.” Another ballad-ish song. This guy. Sorry. Not a fan. He shouldn’t have even made the show. I find this a tad too sleepy. He needs to show some versatility. Come on, dude…
The judges cream all over him. Sigh.
Next is Erika Van Pelt! She’s singing “I Believe in You and Me.” Oh. Hmm. She’s struggling with it in rehearsals. Come on, girl! I freaking love this song. In a gorgeous red dress, she’s standing in the middle of the stage. She exercises her lower register. Yes! Midway through, she breaks out some high notes and her great tone is evident. This is good. I just hate this freaking theme. Seriously. Erika might steal some of Elise’s votes tonight, as I suspect they have a similar fan base. The judges love her. VOTE!
Colton Dixon is up! He’s singing “Lately.” Jimmy tells him to approach it as a rock singer. He has him do an original for them. Oh. “Rely on your vulnerability,” Jimmy tells him. No piano action this time. He really knows how to work the camera. Those eyes. Colton is my favorite guy, by far. His vocals are pretty solid. He soars towards the end. He really brings his alternative/rock edge to this, without going overboard. He’ll easily soar through for a few weeks.
Oh. He adds a lovely falsetto ending. Deandre, take notes. A whole song does NOT need falsetto. Check out his full performance HERE.
Next is Shannon Magrane! Oh boy. She’s singing “I Have Nothing.” Are you kidding me?! Sigh. Mary can see her thinking. She’s rockin’ a leather jacket. She makes some interesting little melodic choices. She certainly has a big set of pipes. She’s pitchy on most of the bigger notes, and on the big key change, ouch…that wasn’t good.
Oh snap, J.Lo starts her critique with “baby.” Death. lol Check out her full performance HERE.
Deandre Brackensick is next! He’s singing “Master Blaster.” Oh. Interesting. This guy. I can’t get into. This is reggae. OK, Naima 2.0. Heh. He starts on the stairs and makes his way onto the stage. So far, no falsetto. YAY. He’s jumping around like a crazy man. At least his hair is tied back tonight. NO HAIROGRAPHY! He ends with his staple falsetto. That was good, I’m just not jumping up and down over it. NEXT!
Yup. Steven name drops Naima, at least I’m not alone. J.Lo and Randy love him. Sigh. Check out his full performance HERE.
The next girl up to tackle Whitney is Skylar Laine! Oh, boy. This should be interesting. She’s singing “Where Do Broken Hearts Go.” Oh. She’s never sung Whitney before. I’m hoping she nails this. She gave Mary goosies. Aww. She’s seated on a stool stage left. I love her country twang–which is good for her, much easier to make a song different. She makes her way to center stage. I love that she is showing a different side of her, but I’m over ballads. Mid-way through, she powers some high notes. WOW. Damn girl. I got goosies! I did NOT expect that. VOTE! Check out her full performance HERE.
Heejun Han is up! They pull up some of his hilarious tweets on the jumbo screen. His ridiculata will only be funny so long. He’s singing “All in Love is Fair.” I love Pia’s version, so, yea. Jimmy has him try it with just the piano. He has some sweet vocals, but, this is a bit snoozy for my tastes. I didn’t feel the build that this song really needs. Pia really nailed it last year, so it’s hard not to compare. No need to worry, though, he’ll be around for a few weeks. I’d love to see him make the tour. Check out his full performance HERE.
Come on Hollie Cavanagh! She’s singing “All the Man That I Need.” Great song. Let’s hope she rocks this. She’s really caressing the notes. There are a few pitch problems in her lower notes. Once the song takes off, she really brings it. I peg her as the dark horse. I hope she doesn’t get stuck in balladeer land. Oh, she nails the key change, unlike Shannon. GO GO GO GIRL!
Yup. She’s the new chosen one. J.Lo says we just might get two girls in the finale. Hollie and Jessica? Hmm. Check out her full performance HERE.
Up next is Jeremy Rosado! He’s singing “Ribbon in the Sky.” He shouldn’t have gotten the wildcard slot. I like this kid, he seems really nice, but I don’t see anything special about his voice. This is rather bland. It isn’t a “wow” performance but it isn’t horrible–very middle of the road. Bye, bye, Jeremy. Check out his full performance HERE.
My girl Jessica Sanchez is up next! She’s singing “I Will Always Love You.” THIS SONG NO!!! Jimmy points out her doing too much vibrato. I love Mary’s advice to her about staying on the notes and catching them. Let’s hope she does this justice. In a pool of white light, she’s decked out in a lovely blue dress. She starts acapella as expected. She has a a great voice. She adds some vocal runs to the mix. As expected, she nails the big note. Overall, this is rather boring. I love the girl, but she should have brought more of her flavor to it. The girl has spunk. VOTE VOTE VOTE
The judges give her a standing O. SHE’S THE ONE! Yup. Pimp, pimp, pimp. =) Check out her full performance HERE.
Phillip Phillips gets the pimp spot! If they were smart, they would never give a guy the pimp spot. Just saying. He’s singing “Superstition.” Ugh. This song. Go away. He sang this during his audition, and it was horrible. Jimmy says he comes batteries included and that he’s a rare find. LOL. He brings a definitely rock edge to this, much better than his audition. I still don’t get the hype around this guy. His growl bothers me. He gets pretty shouty towards the end. Ouch.
He’ll sail through for weeks. He’ll win the show. I’ve accepted this. Sigh. Check out his full performance HERE.
My Ranking:
Top: Jessica, Hollie, Colton, Skylar
Middle: Erika, Elise, Joshua, Heejun, Deandre, Phillip
Bottom: Shannon, Jeremy, Jermaine
Shannon and Jeremy is my Bottom 2 prediction. They’ll send Jeremy home.
So glad tonight is over with. What a horrible theme, and what a way to put most of the girls at a huge disadvantage. My absolute favorite, Elise, didn’t do so hot tonight. I still love her, but I fear she may land in the bottom.
Who was your favorite tonight? What is your bottom 2 prediction?
