It’s down to just seven contestants on American Idol. Wednesday night’s episode showcased the top performers with solos and group numbers. Some fierce talent fell flat while other contestants surprised the audience a bit. For a nice twist of modern feel, the singers had to select songs from the past few years.
First up was Skylar Laine who performed Kellie Pickler’s song “Didn’t You Know How Much I Loved You?” The song was perfect for her voice and she completely overtook the judges, setting the bar pretty high for the other contestants. While the judges weren’t overly impressed with the next performance, I’m going to have to agree to disagree.
Colton Dixon has been a crowd favorite this year. He’s got a unique style, a fantastic voice and he’s not afraid to take risks. This week he performed a relatively unknown version of what became a massive radio hit, “Love The Way You Lie.” He wasn’t spitting versus like Eminem and Rihanna, but rather singing and playing piano to the original, Skyler Gray version. In my opinion, he killed it. The judges weren’t quite as impressed.
The first duet to hit the stage was Phillip Phillips and Elise Testone’s rendition of Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know.” The performance wasn’t bad, but Phillip seems less and less motivated to continue in the competition. He through a bit of a fit because Elise was set on this song and he didn’t feel it did much for his voice.
16-year-old Jessica Sanchez took the stage next with an amazing rendition of Jazmine Sullivan’s “Stuttering.” It wasn’t an easy song choice, but she nailed it. No surprise there! Randy was incredibly impressed, but J. Lo was a bit of a Negative Nancy. Steven Tyler didn’t have much productive to say other than he liked her shoes.
Joshua Ledet has been known as a powerhouse performer in the competition. He took the stage singing Bruno Mars’ “Runaway Baby,” which earned him a standing ovation and tons of praise from the judges. Next up was the duet with Colton and Skylar. They performed Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson’s hit “Don’t You Wanna Stay,” which again, I thought was awesome, but the judges neglected to be overly impressed.
Next on the stage was Hollie Cavanagh who performed Pink’s “Perfect.” It was pretty rough. The judges weren’t feeling it and neither was the audience. The nicest comment she received was about how pretty she looked and nothing to do with her vocal abilities. I think it’s safe to say we’ll be seeing her in the bottom two tonight, likely with the next contestant Phillip Phillips.
Phillip tends to sound exactly the same in every single performance. There aren’t any risks being taken and there’s no versatility. He dropped the ball on his performance of Maroon 5’s “Give a Little More.” Jennifer Lopez said she was underwhelmed with his solo and Randy Jackson concurred. Phillip, you should have given the performance a little more! By far the worst group number of the night was the next one, which surprisingly had two of the competitions leaders in it: Jessica and Joshua.
Unfortunately for the two powerhouses, their duet became a trio to find a place for Hollie, and it was pretty rough. Jessica led the group without a doubt, but there were bad notes, flat notes and just overall pitch and harmony problems throughout their whole performance of Kelly Clarkson’s “What Doesn’t Kill You (Stronger).”
Elise Testone concluded the night with a pretty awesome version of Lady Gaga’s “You and I,” which was a perfect track for her voice. The song has been a bit overdone, but the judges liked her solo and gave positive feedback. Who do you think America will leave in the bottom two tonight? Which artist will be packing their bags and heading for home? Sound off in the comment section below.
Source: CBS
Photo Source: Fox-American Idol