I mean, they've got David Cook as a mentor, who I thought was outstanding, and a pretty huge list of songs to choose from. Yes, the theme was less than exciting, but they could've been bolder in picking their songs no? Things are getting a little frustrating! Oh, and Harry Connick Jr's antics tonight somehow annoyed me. Again, whyyyy?
On with the rankings!
Free Fallin
I was told before that if I couldn't think of ANYTHING nice to say, I wasn’t allowed to say the bad stuff. Therefore, my critique of this performance is over. Haha. 3
Keep Your Hands To Yourself
Can I just say how impressed I am with Dexter Robert's commitment to his strategy? This dude is flying so far under the radar he might as well be invisible. Haha. Yes, the whole production was rocking and I couldn't fault him for that, but he's just a man with talent but lackluster ambition. He couldn't care less about anything because he's quite happy with who he is at the moment. This was, yet again, another average song choice that did very little to help his cause. I don't think he'd get eliminated this week, but come on! 5
Call Me
Once again, Jessica's vocals were fairly impressive with spot on intonation, incredible tone, and intense vocal delivery, but the her lifeless and uninspired strut in the big Idol stage was uncomfortable to watch. Not sure if it was because I'm not used to seeing her move around the stage, but this was supposed to be her chance to let loose, and she didn't. If not for her stellar vocals, this would've been a total train wreck. 6
Every Breath You Take
Turning Every Breath You Take into something sweet was unique, but a terrible decision at the same time. Look, I love to see people take songs and do something new with them, but when the lyrics and soul of the song don't support what you create, you are in a bad position. This is a stalker song, and it's not something sweet. Think! You aren't being too clever for this. 6.5
Through The Fire
Malaya's take on Through The Fire was a bit uneven, but I have to give her few points for picking the most difficult song of the night. I thought the first part was restrained, planned, and allowed her to deliver a beautifully subtle verse, but when she hit the final third of her performance with a ridiculous amount of glory notes, her vocals started to wobble. She did hit a lot of them with great precision, but it wasn't as on point as I expected. Still, this was pretty decent. 6.5
Faithfully
This was an overdone song choice for Caleb and I didn't see what's so different about this performance that made Harry say that he finally highlighted his subtle side. Umm, where was it? Caleb was still loud and while the verses were delivered softer than usual, it still didn't showcase him as someone capable of subtlety. Don't get me wrong, he sounded good for the most part, but I want to see something different. 7
I Love Rock N Roll
There was a weird arrangement choice where she decided to try and seamlessly move from something softer with a piano during the opening verse to the pulsating chorus and it somehow sounded really awkward. That's not to say, it was bad though because this was still a very dependable performance. She was confident, on point, and really seemed comfortable with the dynamics of the song. There were moments where her lack of breath support caught up to her, but she didn't let the song overtake her and managed to hit a solid stride towards the end. Good enough. 7
Time After Time
Hey, Sam! Welcome back! Where did you go for the past weeks? Because some robot dude was masquerading as you and he absolutely lacked any real emotion while performing. Haha. Kidding aside, while this will never go down as Sam's defining moment on American Idol, Time After Time was a solid solo performance, as he proved, yet again, how radio ready he sounds. The effort that was seen on his face as he told the story of the song was palpable and measurable. His vocals were flawless, the liberties he took with the song was fantastic, and the acoustic arrangement did him wonders. If he can build on this, he can somehow sneak his way to the Final 5. 7
PREDICTION
Who should go?
CJ Harris
Who will go?
Malaya Watson
3 comments:
Welcome back, Sam Woolf! You may not win but you deserved the SAVE.
I think a girl will get the boot but hopefully it will be CJ Harris. He's overstayed for quite a while now. Malaya should be the last black contestant standing and not CJ.
Sam is the most radio-ready artist from AI Season 13. I am fond of listening to the mp3 version of his live performances and I must say he is ready to rule the CHR/HAC formats.
malaya T_T
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