Recap: 'American Idol' Top 8 - Songs from the Movies
Casey and James defy Jimmy Iovine and one singer actually gets criticized
James Durbin of 'American Idol'
In case you've forgotten, Pia Toscano was eliminated on last week's "American Idol." Don't worry, "American Idol" isn't going to let you forget.
But how will last week's shocking results impact Wednesday's (April 13) show? What will the blowback be? Can we expect a newly feisty judging panel, ready and eager to voice their criticisms? Can we expect an judging Affirmative Action program to protect the endangered species known as the "American Idol" female?
Click through to find out...
Singer: Paul McDonald
Song: "Old Time Rock 'n' Roll"
My Take: Our first song and our first cheat. Yes, this Bob Seger song was featured in "Risky Business," but it was a hit several years earlier. Is this part of the "Idol" conspiracy to get a man eliminated? Surely Jimmy Iovine knew this wasn't a good idea. Yes, Paul's energetic and he appears to be getting the crowd bopping around, but he's barely singing any of the notes in the actual song. There isn't a single high note remaining. Not one. Sometimes he whispers the high notes. Sometimes he speaks them. Nothing at all is sung. This is less of a performance from Paul and more of an early evening jog. Oh look, "Old Time Rock and Roll" just came up on his iPod. How cute that he's pretending to sing along! And what a funny track suit.
Steven, J-Lo and Randy Say: "I love your crazy, wild abandon," Steven Tyler says, clearly not instructed to be substantive. "It's like watching a diamond in the rough and every week, a little more polish," J-Lo says, clearly not instructed to be substantive. "Dude, I love it. I love that you're not a typical singer," raves Randy, clearly not instructed to be substantive. It's pretty much official: The judges don't care. They don't care about this being a singing show, but they don't even care about this being a talent show. That was cartoonish dreck from Paul and nobody wanted to even bat an eyelash.
Singer: Lauren Alaina
Song: "The Climb"
My Take: Jimmy Iovine is not a fan of Miley Cyrus. Why is Jimmy Iovine not replacing the entire judging panel? For one night and one night only, "The Hannah Montana Movie" has ascended to the ranks of "cinema." When I think of all of the songs from tremendous artists Lauren could have sung that she decided to equal Miley Cyrus... It's just perplexing. She's entirely average and she has no aspiration to be anything other than average. You'd think the Pia elimination might have shaken her, but the shaking may have been into deeper complacency. The crowd loves her, but half the time Lauren was being drowned out by the background singers. Miley Cyrus wouldn't let that happen. She'd have gone all diva on those chumps. It's a middle-of-the-road cover of a middle-of-the-road song. And you want to know the most damning thing of all? There is no notable way in which Lauren is confirming Iovine's contention that she's a better singer than Miley Cyrus.
Steven, J-Lo and Randy Say: J-Lo loves the "tear" that Lauren has in her voice. "You don't need to steal anybody's votes. You're getting plenty of your own," J-Lo says. Apparently J-Lo continues to have a fundamental misunderstanding of the "American Idol" voting process. Randy thinks the Lauren they saw in Nashville is "roaring back." Steven loves what Lauren brings to a song and what the song brings to her.
Singer: Stefano "The Aneurism" Langone
Song: "End of the Road"
My Take: Leave it to Will.i.Am to properly sum up Stefano's sense of Survivor Guilt. More earnest mumbling and vein-popping falsetto from The Aneurism, who is attempting to generate enough emoting for an entire '90s-era boy band. And yes, Stefano is probably the most boy band-ready "American Idol" contestant since the glory days of Grammy nominated songwriter Ace Young. Stefano is better this week than he was last week. Thanks to Paul's abuse of Bob Seger, I don't even need to root for Stefano's elimination. Stefano would be terrific on a Canadian teen variety show. He should be doing double-entendre-laden duets with Robin Sparkles 10 years ago.
Singer: Scotty McCreery
Song: "I Cross My Heart"
My Take: Scotty selected the correct song in "Everybody's Talkin'." It was perfect. Too perfect. So he backtracked and decided to do the most banal George Strait song ever, because apparently he needed to go back to his country roots. I'm assuming that J-Lo's confusing comment about his hip-hop swagga left him genuinely terrified. Oh well. He does a Scotty performance, all cock-eyed sneering, deep-throated purring and unsteadiness on the higher notes. Sorry y'all, but absolutely everything about this show is beginning to annoy me.
Steven, J-Lo and Randy Say: "Scotty, I just love your voice," Tyler says. "Everybody wants us to be tough with you guys, but the truth is you guys are so darned good," J-Lo says, though she admits this wasn't her favorite song choice. "I love it when you return and stay at your roots," Randy says, before adding "a star is born on this stage."
Singer: Casey Abrams
Song: "Nature Boy"
My Take: "Nature Boy" or "In the Air Tonight"? Only Casey Abrams would be having this particular dilemma. He chose "Nature Boy" and Jimmy Iovine tosses him right under the bus. It's another of Casey's standing bass performances, one which gains absolutely nothing from the foot of smoke pouring over the stage. This performance is on a totally different musical level and performance level and even vocal level from anything else we've seen tonight. He's totally steering the music with his bass-playing and he basically stops singing for 20 seconds for a bass-and-piano solo. Anybody else think Casey's tired of this and ready to go home? Because that was *not* a performance for casual fans at home. To follow J-Lo's obscenity-driven lead and quote Rage Against the Machine, that was a "F*** you, I won't do what you tell me" to Jimmy Iovine and probably to "American Idol" as a whole. Will see if he's rewarded or punished for his indolence.
Steven, J-Lo and Randy Say: The judges give Casey a standing ovation. J-Lo blathers for a while and eventually says that music crosses boundaries and there's no reason why a jazz performer can't win "American Idol." Randy calls it "a Grammy-kind-of-performance." Randy thinks that "American Idol" is about education. Randy then calls it "brilliant" and "genius." He adds, "The world cannot live by pop stars alone." Tyler throws Jimmy Iovine under the bus and says Casey's an artist in the truest sense. Casey invokes the name of Esperanza Spalding, just in case he hadn't already alienated the Bieber Generation sufficiently.
Singer: Haley Reinhart
Song: "Call Me"
My Take: Janis one week, Debbie Harry the next week. Haley Reinhart is not shy. Nobody would accuse Haley of shyness in this particular short-skirt-and-side-boob ensemble. Yes, one day after the Yuri Gargarin anniversary, we have another bold new frontier: Haley brings side-boob to "Idol"! Where did the girl who could barely take two steps while still singing? She's prancing and flouncing about, practically daring the director to get an up-skirt shot. And the vocals? Sigh. I'm not paying any attention to the vocals. Sometimes I can be a superficial guy. It beats listening to a so-so Blondie cover.
Steven, J-Lo and Randy Say: "Honest, I didn't love the beginning of it," Randy says, using the "k" word. Wow. This is a historic moment, kids. That is the first truly negative critique from our judges in two weeks. Yes, in the glory days of Simon Cowell, that might have been a compliment, but we take our negatives where we can get 'em. Steven agrees, but he didn't care, because Haley named the chorus. "That thing you have on is gorgeous, too," Tyler says. "I'm so afraid to say anything about any of the girls," J-Lo says, before saying this wasn't the best. Congratulations to Haley for overpowering the judging mandate to protect the two remaining "Idol" women! Will tentative side-boob be enough to keep Haley safe?
Singer: Jacob Lusk
Song: "Bridge Over Troubled Water"
My Take: Jimmy Iovine blasts Jacob Lusk for preaching at the audience. ZING. Jimmy also forces Jacob to sing "Bridge Over Troubled Water," which Jacob approaches as a punishment. Apparently this song was used in "Pursuit of Happyness," so it counts for the theme. Even though it shouldn't. Jacob tears into the song. It's a big vocal, thanks to his "I Believe I Can Fly," I can honestly say it's not nearly as showy as he sometimes can be. And those last notes? Those suckers are high. I'm talking dog whistler high. Is that good or bad for Jacob's chances? I don't rightly know. But we're reminded, once again, that Jacob can do things vocally nobody else on the show can (or should) do. Remember, America: If you don't vote for Jacob, you hate bridges and the troubled water wins.
Steven, J-Lo and Randy Say: Somebody -- Steven? -- is so pleased they have to swear. It is, indeed, Steven. He swears again before being astounded by his "crescendos and innuendos." Tyler ends by blessing Jacob. J-Lo's full of rapture and goosebumps. "It was like perfect, perfect, perfect harmony," Randy says. Ah, the judges are BACK!
Singer: James Durbin
Song: "Heavy Metal"
My Take: James Durbin wins tonight's song choice competition. Sammy Hagar? From "Heavy Metal"? Love it, James. The mentors? They're not so pleased. If their job was to help James with his confidence, they pretty much failed poor Jimmy. I adore James' fidelity to his roots. Unlike Scotty, it's not like he hasn't tried other things. He's displayed quite a bit of range and this just happens to be what he loves. And he just happens to be most excellent at it, especially accompanied by Zakk Wylde shredding it on the guitar. Oh, James Durbin. You'd definitely have made a Top 4 on "Rock Star." I'm also beginning to think James Durbin is making a strong case to win "American Idol" 1988.
Steven, J-Lo and Randy Say: "That felt really, really REAL," J-Lo raves. J-Lo wants to make it clear that no matter how things sounded at home, everybody was killing it in the theater. "Tonight, you did you," celebrates Randy. Tyler also a fan.
TONIGHT'S BEST: As much as I salute Jimmy Iovine for giving the night's only substantive critiques, I'm also included to salute the singers who had the fortitude to tell Jimmy to take a flying leap. So I'm recognizing Casey Abrams and James Durbin as the night's best.
TONIGHT'S WORST: Sorry, Paul McDonald. I love your whimsical spirit. I hate that you can't actually sing. Sorry, Haley Reinhart. I love your short skirts and your increasingly strong stage presence. This just didn't cut it. Sorry, Lauren Alaina. You were barely mediocre and "American Idol" voters hate women like they're characters in a Neil Labute play. Oh and don't think I'm letting you off the hook, Stefano. You're still not actually good.
IN DANGER: I think Stefano gets a pick-up from the extensive pimping from both Seacrest and the judges and he escapes the Bottom Three. Until the voters give me any reason to think otherwise, I'm going to assume that the girls are in trouble. Haley and Lauren are in the Bottom Three along with... Paul, who becomes the first man actually sent home this season.
Who did you like? Who did you dislike?
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupKaryn
April 13, 2011 at 9:54PM EST Reply to CommentWow, I hated Casey's "direct from the corner of the Four Seasons lounge" performance. Reminded me of the Rat Pack doing "Sway", but not in a good way. I mean, I give him points for creativity and don't want him to go home, but I thought he went way off the reservation in his attempt at artistry. The judges definitely overpraised him.
James on the other hand really brought a good performance tonight. And I quite liked Haley though her vocal wasn't particularly strong. She's fun at least!
I'm guessing Lauren, Paul, and Stefano are in trouble, with Lauren going home.
Yeah. No. Unlike they said tonight, this isn't a who can perform show. It's a singing contest and Casey did that. Better than anyone else on the show. James screams and yells. That's his thing. You remember the judges saying people at home wouldn't get it. That's you they're talking about
April 13, 2011 at 9:59PM ESTKaryn Hm, I don't think he really did. Like I said, I give him points for creativity - singers should noodle around and take risks and try to make something new, but that doesn't mean it works every time. There were pieces of the song that he did well, and other times where he lost the thread and it devolved into a lounge-y kind of camp.
April 13, 2011 at 10:05PM ESTAnd regardless of whether you liked it or not, the judges most definitely overpraised it. I "got" it just fine, but I think he took the song to a place where it didn't need to go and didn't really work in.
No of they judges overpraised anyone, it's the person they overpraise every single week. Stefano. Loungey isn't really a criticism when that's the way he performed. He didn't devolve into that performance it was that kind of performance from the start. Loungey isnt necessarily a bad thing.
April 13, 2011 at 10:10PM ESTBMK I agree with Karyn a bit. I "get" what he was doing. Everything was great, except the actual vocals. He didn't hit a single note, it seemed. It was definitely a hotel lounge version of a very good song.
April 13, 2011 at 10:44PM EST
Are you serious? Loungey is a complaint I disagree with but it's at least viable. But to say he didn't hit a single note? I can't even comprehend how wrong that is.
April 13, 2011 at 10:47PM ESTBMK Well he did hit notes. I shouldn't say he didn't hit a single note. But having heard that song countless times, mainly by NKC, I just felt like he didn't hold up. The notes that he hit just sounded weak to me. I thought it was bad.
April 13, 2011 at 10:59PM ESTPam Ellwood
April 13, 2011 at 10:01PM EST Reply to CommentWrite a comment...
April 13, 2011 at 10:02PM EST Reply to CommentSo... the judges have learned nothing?
Fumi It seems so Matt... To me it seemed like the AI judges and producers thought, "Last week there were a ton of articles and commentaries about how bad last week and this season has been terrible so you know what we should do? The exact same thing that we've done before. Because it worked tremendously. F*** all the critics, they don't know what they are talking about!"
April 13, 2011 at 11:11PM ESTtheholyavenger
April 13, 2011 at 10:05PM EST Reply to CommentDan I think we feel the same way about everything. Someone should pull Jennifer Lopez to the side and explain how American idol works. And don't the judges realize that giving Haley the only negative comments of the night guarantees that she's going home tomorrow? How long before idol change the voting process to keep the girls from getting taken out so quickly? Haley definitely deserves votes just for the numerous attempts at an upskirt. Also, when they said metal I really thought James was going to sing The metal by Tenacious D. That would have been a much better song choice than that terrible Sammy Hagar song. Oh yeah and why was Zach Wylde there?
rosengje
April 13, 2011 at 11:19PM EST Reply to CommentI think that's the first time Neil LaBute has been mentioned in the context of American Idol. I like it.
dan Thanks for noticing. I worried that I buried that a bit too deep...
April 14, 2011 at 12:08AM EST-Daniel
Jay
April 13, 2011 at 11:24PM EST Reply to CommentYou know, I may be in the minority, but I enjoy having Paul on the show. He may not always hit the notes, but he has stage presence. Overall, tonight was pretty lackluster compared to last week. Jacob was good, but he just comes across as a diva.
Razorback
April 13, 2011 at 11:39PM EST Reply to CommentWhy even have the judges anymore? Lauren sounded fine but that performance was stiff like Han Solo in carbon freeze. Stefano... I wish he was being eaten by Jabba. Casey, as the Brits would say, is having a laugh. And then the FIRST real criticism of this horror fest is given to Haley, the only performer WORTH REMEMBERING. Damn, she is HOT (I didn't notice the vocals)! Jacob was actually understated enough for me to nearly appreciate him, and James is still very confident despite the mentors being douchie. So, James wins for having big balls.
Razorback
April 13, 2011 at 11:43PM EST Reply to CommentOh and heavy metal is Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Metallica after the 80s. Not Sammy. That is just hard rock.
nic919
April 13, 2011 at 11:59PM EST Reply to CommentIt is unfortunate that Pia was eliminated because she was the only girl who I thought was a good singer. Lauren and Haley don't sing as well, can't hit the power notes or do the power ballads and are just boring. (Pia may have been a robot, but she was a singing robot). So I don't see any of these girls making it past the next few weeks. And I don't think the young teen girl vote will to blame for it, they are just boring. Most of the guys at least have a hook, even if they aren't great singers, Paul is the creepy stalker guy, Stefano is the Buble wannabe (but will go sooner rather than later), James is the hard rock guy, Scott is the country guy, Jacob is the R and B guy and Casey is the guy who most versatile. I actually liked Casey's performance tonight, and I think he should stick around. Jacob was also good and while this particular performance of James' was not my favourite, he still has something interesting to watch.
I find that I just skip through everything but for the actual performances and that makes the show more tolerable overall. The judges are not worth listening too anymore.
thegeniusking
April 14, 2011 at 12:53AM EST Reply to CommentJimmy Iovine is a huge prick and can go fuck himself. Glad these kids are getting an early lesson about what brain dead, talentless, egotistical fucks record producers are.
You clearly know nothing about Jimmy Iovine. Almost every single criticism he said was true, except for telling Casey his song was too quiet.
April 14, 2011 at 12:46PM ESTK Rovinsky You know who else is a huge prick and can go fuck himself? Ryan Powell
April 14, 2011 at 2:29PM EST
That does seem to be the general consensus.
April 14, 2011 at 3:10PM EST
April 14, 2011 at 1:34AM EST Reply to CommentLauren Alaina was the best but I wouldn't be at all surprised to see her go home since she is a chick.
I actually like Haley for one week but she still can't really sing and is a chick so I would be surprised to see her leave.
Casey and Paul were both just really bad though Paul was much worse but they are guys so I wouldn't be surprised to see them both stay
I'm really attempted pick Casey to go home just to go for the upset.
April 14, 2011 at 1:39AM EST Reply to CommentIf i have to watch Scotty "Turn the Lights Down" McCreapy doing his shoulder-leaning, flute-playing microphone wagging one more time i think i might puke. Luckily tonight i DVRed it and FFed right through his performance, but PLEASE AMERICA stop giving this guy more votes.
brettb3
April 14, 2011 at 4:14AM EST Reply to CommentThe judges are simply an embarrassment at this point. Everyone "slayed" it, everyone was "brilliant," everyone was a "true artist." Looks like they'll have to make changes yet again next season. Steven in particular has already checked out.
Paco
April 14, 2011 at 4:15AM EST Reply to CommentBlech. This season is done. I don't know if it was the Pia thing that opened my eyes, or if it just finally became too much. Everyone is just eh. And the judges overpraising them week after week has gotten soooooooo old. I thought it was bad last year with Ellen in terms of having to ff through the judges. Oh how I miss Simon. Hell, I even miss Kara!!!
Iovine's candor during the rehersals is such a breath of fresh air. Too bad he can't judge. And even if a couple of the kids did ok after telling him to jump off a bridge, his suggestion for Screamy McFroggerson (you all know who I'm talking about. Don't lie) led to probably one of his best performances of the season.
Paul is terrible. He deserves to go home. But thanks to AI voters hating women, and the fact that the judges pummeled Hayley and didn't say a single negative thing to anyone else. Hope the guys watching enjoyed her performance tonight. Because from here on out all we're getting is bland ass 10 year old Lauren.
Truthiness
April 14, 2011 at 4:40AM EST Reply to CommentPAUL. That. Sucked. Terrible song choice. Bad performance. He is a skinny, creepy looking, poor man's version of Taylor Hicks. And that's not a good thing. D+
LAUREN. This girl needs about 10 years of seasoning, that is how timid and inexperienced she is. I was with Jimmy Iovine when he told her that her idol, Miley Cyrus, was a talentless hack, and that she was a better singer. But she sure as hell didn't show it tonight. That wasn't good at all. C-
STEFANO. I actually didn't hate it. I have no clue why. But it wasn't as terrible as Danny wants it to be. I get that he sucks at all the technical stuff. And usually I do think he is less than good. But he pulled this one off. Still impossible to look at and take seriously. Needs to work on his facial expressions BIG TIME. C+
SCOTTY. Bor-ing. I hate country music. I hate how boring and easy and mindless it is. It's the Michael Bay movies of music. And I hate how Scotty holds a mic. He's still going to win it all thanks to this being a hillbilly run farm country. But booo, that sucked. D
CASEY. Wicked smooth performance. Nice job. Not going to help him on this show one bit. Way to make sure America forgot what you did before the show ended. But I dug the deal. performance: A- strategry: D-
HALEY. Awww, poor Haley. So sexy and fun. Yet so doomed. She's pretty much guaranteed to go home thanks to the judges choosing her as the ONLY contestant to actually judge. Comparatively to how they mindlessly gushed over crap like Paul, Scotty, and Lauren, and what they've been doing the past few weeks, what they did to Haley was the equivalent to taking her out back and shooting her. Nice knowing ya, honey. SEXY performance. Average vocal with some fun at the end. C+
JACOB. Way to go Jimmy Iovine for putting Man-diva in his place for his comments from last week. I can only hope he said more that was cut out. And nice suggestion on the song as well. Very good performance. And actually quite restrained, at least in Jacob terms. Also, nice move at the end scoring points with the bible crowd. If politicians have taught us anything, it's that middle america and the reglious crowd can definitely be pandered to. B+
JAMES - MEH. It was ok, I guess. For what he did, he did it well. But beyond that, I wasn't impressed. The kick ass guitar stole the show and did most of the work. James constantly gets by on his musical accompaniment. He stands there and makes hand movements while not singing. 80's rock is fun live, and I'm sure thats why the judges dug it. But it's not exactly hard to do if you have the right voice. James is terribly overrated. C
JUDGES - Simply embarrassing week after week. At this point there is no reason for them saying anything. We can just play canned praise and repeat it every week. That is unless they choose to execute a particular contestant, which they did tonight with Haley. F+
BOTTOM 3: Haley, Casey, Paul. (I'd include Lauren. But her non-threatening country girl thing gets her a break that none of the other girls got.)
Eliminated: Haley. And I don't think it will even be close.
eriklk I'm right with you in hating Scotty's performance, but country music is not "boring and easy and mindless". This song was all those things, but I dare you to sit and listen to a bunch of Hank Williams-records and say that again.
April 14, 2011 at 2:47PM ESTI was annoyed that Scotty called George Strait the King of Country Music. Reserve that title for Hank or George Jones or even Johnny Cash (I guess Dwight Yoakam can only aspire to Crown Prince of Honky Tonk), not for some AOR-poser.
Truthiness
April 14, 2011 at 5:02AM EST Reply to CommentCouple other thoughts:
What a stupid theme. And even stupider use of it. By AI's logic, any song ever could have been fair game. Ridiculous.
If Randy says, "In it to win it" one more time, I'm gonna implode.
Am I the only one who noticed Steven Tyler tell Haley that he wanted to "look up her old address"???? Wow.
I was liking J-Lo as a judge about 5 or so weeks ago when she started actually giving critiques and advice. But she quickly fell back into Steven Tyler gush-o-matic mode and is no only worth looking at.
My Idol winner odds from most likely to win to least:
1 - Scotty
2 - Scotty
3 - James
4 - Stefano
5 - Lauren
6 - Paul
7 - Jacob
8 - Casey
Snowcool
April 14, 2011 at 6:23AM EST Reply to CommentOf all the bad performances to finally take a stand and actually give some constructive criticism, the judges choose Haley's performance. As if the girls didn't have enough trouble getting votes in the first place.
My vote tonight goes for Zakk Wylde. He was the one performing, not James.
MatthewL
April 14, 2011 at 8:54AM EST Reply to CommentI'm not entirely sure I agree with your assessment of cheating the theme. Sure, "Old Time Rock 'n' Roll" may have been an existing hit, but it is a song that is at this point paired irrevocably with Tom Cruise in his underwear. I've never even seen Risky Business, and I think of that film whenever I hear the song. It's an iconic music moment from the movies, and is therefore legitimate. Same thing if someone sang, say, Stuck In The Middle With You (from Reservoir Dogs), The End (from Apocalypse Now), or perhaps Tiny Dancer (from Almost Famous). They may be existing songs, but they are still remembered as being songs from the movies.
On the other hand, Bridge Over Troubled Water because it was in The Pursuit Of Happyness? That is cheating the theme. No-one, not even Will Smith, thinks of Will Smith when they hear the song.
I haven't heard his performance yet (the show airs here tomorrow) but I'm dreading it. Even if you say it's not as showy as normal, that suggests it is showy to some degree. And what makes that song so powerful is the simplicity of the song and the way Garfunkel's performance is so simple but eeks every ounce of emotion out of that song. James' performances, even his less showy performances, are all about "look at me! look at me!" without ever connecting to the emotion of the song. And that does not work with a song like Bridge Over Troubled Water.
dan MatthewL - There were definitely different tiers of "cheating" the theme. Like you say, "Old Time Rock 'n' Roll" may have been a hit before "Risky Business," but it's unquestionably associated inextricably with that movie and that scene. I assure you that if Paul had gone last after the other theme-cheating that took place, I wouldn't have even mentioned it. Like you say, "Bridge Over Troubled Water" was by far the biggest cheat. And Jacob was going to do "Dream the Impossible Dream" instead, which would have been an equal/bigger cheat, since I've never thought movie versions of musicals should count towards this theme.
April 14, 2011 at 12:30PM EST-Daniel
Andy
April 14, 2011 at 10:07AM EST Reply to CommentI'm voting for Neil Labute (great comment, Dan).
I like Paul, but that was awful. He should have been the one to sing Everybody's Talkin'.
We lost audio during several parts of the show (apparently Cablevision is still ticked about Pia) so I missed a good sized part of Casey, but I liked what I heard.
I'm convinced the Jimmy Iovine stuff was totally orchestrated to allow the judges to continue their "good cop" routine. Still have no idea what Will.I.Am is doing on the show other than mugging for the camera.
I happen to be reading Sammy Hagar's book (I have a one hour commute - don't judge me) so it was funny that James picked that particular ditty. I thought he did a pretty lousy job with it though. And why, when you have such a limited time to perform, would you spend a chunk of it giving Zakk Wylde a guitar solo?
I don't like Haley but it seems to me she's the same every week so I can only assume she lost the pre-show game of judges criticism roulette.
Andrew
April 14, 2011 at 11:10AM EST Reply to CommentI honestly feel with Pia gone watching American Idol was like eating a pie with no filling. It may have wrecked the season for me.
Moving on....Paul McDonald has been awkward to watch since day one. Not only do I not like his voice, which the judges seem to love, but I don't like anything about him. He would be my pick to go home. I think you were right on with him hardly singing a high note Sepinwall.
My favorite to win it: James Durbin.
Also, I think we are deep enough into this season to judge it as a whole. I think overall its better than last and a unique season. Steven Tyler has been great. I am still waiting to see his performance with James Durbin in the finals if he makes it. But I find myself wondering more and more....what would Simon Say.
Rachel
April 14, 2011 at 1:43PM EST Reply to CommentThere is absolutely no way Scotty McCreary doesn't win. The dust belt rules America! Learn that people. You'll see when the tea party takes back the white house and bombs the rest of the world. we city folk and yankees are powerless.
April 14, 2011 at 2:36PM EST Reply to CommentThat hair is scary not hip like he probably thinks it is.
eriklk
April 14, 2011 at 3:18PM EST Reply to CommentWhat a horrible night. I fast forwarded through almost everything except for the performances, and most of those were painful. Paul and Stefano have to go home now, and Scotty is boring as hell.
Jacob once again showed that he is the only singer in the competition, even if he used too much vibrato. James was fun for once,and he at least makes an effort.
I love Casey, and I don't think he should go home yet, but I kinda thought that performance was disrespectful to the audience. It didn't belong on AI, and much as I love jazz, this wasn't good jazz. It was like a lounge-y double bass solo, but for vocals (and bass solos are the worst thing about jazz. Fact.). Even if he hit the notes, he didn't sing a song or an emotion, he just sang notes, and he did it in an uninvolved way, making for an akward and boring performance. I think everybody is giving him way too much credit for attempting the unexpected, even if he doesn't deliver.
I also think there's a double standard in the comments regarding Jacob and Casey. When Jacob uses vibrato and modulation, he's oversinging and showing off, but when is Casey ever being critisized for growling through every. Single. Song? The Nat Kind Cole original is the softest, sweetest, most lullaby-y song imaginable, but here Casey chooses to emphasize the last syllable of every other line with a growl or a hiss: "There was a boy-EHH" "but very wise-ZEHH". (Also, the addition of drums ruined the ethereal quality of the song. Almost all music is worse off with drums. Worst instrument ever.)
April 14, 2011 at 5:27PM EST Reply to CommentCasey's indolence really irks me too! Also, James should win just for doing "Heavy Metal" and giving Zakk Wylde his best TV spot since guesting on Aqua Teen Hunger Force