Tonight the remaining 9 Idols took styling tips from Gwen Stefani, mentoring from will.i.am, and asked to do just one thing: ROCKED IT for 90 minutes (the length of tonight's show). The songs performed were chosen from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame catalogue--a veritable potpourri of musical choices.
First up on the Idol stage was Gospel singer Jacob who originally selected "Let's Get it On" by the great Marvin Gaye, but ultimately opted for Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror". Dressed in white from head to toe and standing like a statue behind the mic stand, Jacob showed great restraint and injected his big voice for the first half of the song. When he hit the chorus he grabbed the mic, did a little simulated movin' and shakin' with one of his back up singers, and at the bridge really let loose. By song's end Jacob had everyone lovin' him...and me missing Michael. The judges were unanimous in their praise for Jacob, but would leading off the night hurt him with the voters? We'll find out tomorrow, but let's listen to the other eight Idols before passing judgement.
Hoping to convince the voters that she deserves to continue in the competition, Hailey took on a classic from the hey day of Rock and Roll; Janice Joplin's "Piece of my Heart". Looking hot in leather leggings, four-inch heels, and big hair, Hailey did her best Janice impression, but was it more karaoke than Rock n' Roll princess? You be the judge...or listen to the Idol judges who thought Hailey nailed it and launched herself into contender status (according to J-Lo). Looks like we got a hot one! As the Dawg might say.
With the goal of continuing the strong run of performances, Casey took to the stage next to sing Sting's "Everything She Does is Magic"...but switched it up to CCR's "Have You Ever Seen the Rain". To add a special Casey flair to the performance, he broke back his trusty stand up Bass and was accompanied by a mandolin playing partner who sat on the stage below Casey. Watching Casey perform what in my opinion was the best song of the night (three songs in), I was very impressed with not only his vocals, but his personality and am SHOCKED that he almost went home a couple of weeks ago. Randy gave him serious props for making the stand up bass sexy and Steven called him a true musician. J-Lo said she'd pay top dollar to be in the front row of his concert--which is kind of where the judges already are; or maybe she's lobbying for a Fly Girl spot in the Casey entourage.
Whatever J-Lo's motives, she'll have the same seat for Georgia Peach, Lauren, who selected the Aretha Franklin classic, "Natural Woman". As the Idol stage doors parted and in walked Lauren, I was first taken aback by her crazy hair style (did Gwen advise that?), but then I got a look at the outfit she chose and was a bit surprised with the checker board top and ill-fitting shorts. All of that was a bit distracting for me, so when it came to listening to her perform her song, I didn't really find it all that great--certainly not compared to the first three Idols. But the judges didn't agree with me...Steven and J-Lo offered little critique and Randy credited her with taking a tough song and doing a good job with it although he admitted it didn't have him jumping out of his seat.
With Lauren's sub-par performance in the rear view, it was time for the Idol resident Rocker to hit the stage and show everyone how it's done on Rock night! But James decided to throw us a curve ball and selected George Harrison's mild tune, "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"--a questionable decision in the eyes of will.i.am and me...so how would the normally high energy singer do when he dialed it back? Well, here's what happened...we found James sitting perched upon a stool on the Idol stage bathed in a single spot and surrounded by smoke. For all but about 15seconds of the performance, James showed great restraint and then delivered his signature high note to appeal to his fans making his song selection worth it! The judges enjoyed the performance and while they heaped their praise on him, James gently weeped and openly showed his emotions. A great performance for a great performer. We're BACK to a HOT ONE!
With the audience ridig high from a number of great performances, Country Boy, Scotty, called on the King of Rock 'n Roll for his song selection. Scotty chose Elvis' "That's Alright" and started his performance sitting on the Idol staircase with his back ground singers--his version of the Jordanaires, I guess. As the stairs made their way to the stage, Scotty hopped off, walked around the cat walk behind the judges, and then back to center stage where I thought he under delivered a King classic. But when the song ended, there were some excited female fans who felt otherwise and rushed the stage to hug on him like he was the REAL Elvis. Randy praised Scotty and said he was "in it to win it"; Steven credited Scotty for not being a "cowboy who is all hat and no cattle"; and J-Lo wondered if he listened to Rap...which made no sense, right Paula?!
Last week after getting chastised by the judges (and everyone else) for only singing ballads, Pia promised to go up tempo if she made it another week (like that was in jeopardy). For her song, Pia chose Tina Turner's "River Deep Mountain High". Looking hot in a cat print jumper, steel band chocker, and big hoop earrings, Pia showed she could change speeds and sang directely to the judges gaining their approval before turning her attention to the Idol audience. Finishing on a huge note and hearing it from the fans in the studio, Steven assured her that there were "a million guys in a million bars having a million drinks to her". Then J-Lo did her "check" list and told Pia that she is "going to push her to do more" including adding some movement to her already total package.
With the crowd still buzzing from Pia's performance, Stefano was up next and chose Percy Sledge's "When a Man Loves a Woman". Stefano got a lot of advice/instruction from will.i.am primarily around making the audience wait for the next line in the song after "when a man loves a woman..." Dressed in black on black on black, Stefano did his best to persuade the Idol voters that he was singing to them...problem is he hardly kept his eyes open long enough to see the little red light on top of the hot camera. Predictably J-Lo gushed all over him and called the performance "magic". Randy said he wasn't jumping up and down about it...prompting J-Lo to call her fellow judge crazy. Is anyone else over J-Lo and her obvious favoring of what I believe is just a mediocre singer?
Ponder that while you read about Paul and his version of "Folsom Prison Blues" by the Man in Black, Johnny Cash. As he prepared for his performance, he was adviced to turn it loose just like Johnny would. With his trusty acoustic strapped around his neck and his now familiar greeting to the audience, Paul set out to remind people to vote for him and keep him out of the danger he was in last week. Around the half-way point in the song, Paul and the electric guitar player next to him got into a little duel on the dance floor (with their guitars, of course) before he got back into the vocals. All three judges "loved it" and agreed it was a great way to end the show.
Nine Idols performed tonight and three will be in danger tomorrow, but which three? If it were up to me the B3 would be made up of Lauren, Scotty, and Stefano with Stefano going home.
Tune in tomorrow to see how your votes were distributed among the Idols. Until then, I will continue watching TV so you don't have to...
Charlie
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