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'American Idol' Top 13: James Durbin wows, Naima Adedapo rocks some reggae
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Ryan Seacrest "unleashes" the talent of the Top 13 upon us and the "American Idol" finals have officially begun. Who will be left standing in 11 weeks? The theme this week is each Idol picking a song by his or her personal idol. Just FYI - we are listing the song's artists based on each contestant's idol, then who may have originally done the song.
Here are your Top 13, from best to worst:
Safe Idols
1. James Durbin: "Maybe I'm Amazed" by Paul McCartney
The song starts off great, nice and quiet with a good build to the chorus, which just explodes in a shower of lights and screams and awesomeness, then he brings it right back for the falsetto "oooh ooohs" and the ending. Nice understated performance without losing his rocker sound. Randy takes time out of his busy schedule of talking about himself to say that James slayed it. Yes, he did. And shut up about Journey, Randy. And we know this is Season 10. And that you're still here for The Remix. Shut up.
2. Pia Toscano: "All By Myself" by Celine Dion (originally by Eric Carmen)
I don't love this song, but Pia nails it vocally. She needs to rein in the waving hand gestures like she's some kind of pageant robot stuck on "wave," but that is the only criticism. The vocal is gorgeous and she nails the big note and the key change, which is tough. She also looks beautiful (and sparkly!). The judges are pumped.
3. Casey Abrams: "With A Little Help From My Friends" by Joe Cocker (originally by The Beatles)
This is a great version of this song and the quiet opening shows off that Casey can actually sing instead of just growl and scream (we all knew he could, he just doesn't always let the vocals shine). The chorus is gorgeous, growl, quiet, growl, scream. Very dynamic. And then they show his family and his dad is Joe Cocker! Ha, not really, but seriously, did you see that? Not the most mellifluous vocal performance, but he owned that stage and sounded perfect for the type of stuff he would probably record. The judges are very complimentary.
4. Scotty McCreery: "The River" by Garth Brooks
The first verse is a little off in spots, but on the chorus he finds his groove (and gets some backup help) and settles down. The bridge is OK, the a capella chorus goes pretty well and then he hits a sweet spot on the last "'til the river runs dry." I love how Steven Tyler is just grinning at him in amusement. If Scotty can just keep singing country, he is going to ride and rope his way right to the finals. His demo is perfect for this show. Randy pretty much says "stay in your box" but is positive. Tyler has some Paula-esque word salad about Elton John's "Roy Rogers" song, but is complimentary. And J.Lo loves the way he connects with the audience.
Probably Safe Idols
5. Naima Adedapo: "Umbrella" by Rihanna
Interesting choice of song, plus she looks like Good Will threw up on her, but she totally rocks the performance. She handles the tricky, fast words with aplomb and sounds very current, even if she isn't completely on pitch. Then she busts into the rap-ish reggae bridge and that's hilarious and awesome. Vocally, this isn't really showing off her voice, but it's more entertaining and relevant than most everything tonight. Big props to her for taking the risk and she's ranked so high because that was more about the total package than just a straight-up good vocal. The judges advise her to work on her control and her pitch, but they dug it on the whole. Randy says she's got to be careful about dancing and the pitch, but he loved her reggae vibe.
6. Lauren Alaina: "Any Man of Mine" by Shania Twain
I can see how Shania is Lauren's Idol, but there are better songs by Shania to show off her voice. Predictably, the verse is weak. It's just a mish-mash of words with no real singing. The chorus gets a little better, but Lauren sounds really out of breath and she is not working that stage at all. This is a really milquetoast performance. Tyler is on point with saying he wants it to be a little more "kick ass." Yep.
Her post-performance interview is super-awkward, since she thought she had nailed it and the judges really took the wind out of her sails. It's OK, Peaches.
7. Stefano Langone: "Lately" by Stevie Wonder
Stefano has some weird pronunciations going on and the first part of the performance about slips me into a coma. When it picks up, it gets better but then it becomes very Broadway. He's running around like he's a Jet, a Jet all the way. Vocally, it started off rough, but got very good (as long as he keeps an eye on his Broadway-ness). The judges go nuts, which I don't get. It just didn't do it for me.
8. Jacob Lusk: "I Believe I Can Fly" by R.Kelly
Another ballad that is not my favorite - and Jacob starts off a little mush-mouthy and he's dropping the ends of notes. The lead up to the chorus is terrible, whoa. Sounded totally off to me. Then the chorus gets way too gospel. I appreciate that that is Jacob's background, but it was too much on this song. Pull it back and just show off your lovely voice. My least favorite Jacob performance so far, but the judges go absolutely bonkers over it. At least Randy calls him on losing it in the middle.
9. Paul McDonald: "Come Pick Me Up" by Ryan Adams
*GASP* - just figured out who Paul reminds me of - he's attractive in the way Laura Linney's on-screen brother on "The Big C" is attractive. Grungy and possibly homeless, but super sexy. It's a weird dichotomy. Anyway, Paul is wearing Sgt. Pepper meets Kenny Rogers while still having those weird Ed Grimley affectations, but if you close your eyes, it gets better. If you aren't familiar with this song, it's very faithful to the vibe of the original. Paul has such an interesting voice - it's probably not showy enough for him to stick around on "Idol" very long, but that was right in his wheelhouse and sounded very current, despite a few pitch flubs. The judges pretty much agree.
10. Karen Rodriguez: "I Could Fall In Love" by Selena
Thank God they had video of Karen singing Selena when she was really young because otherwise this just looks like complete J.Lo pandering. I can at least buy that she's always been a big Selena fan. It starts off real shaky, breathy and unsupported and it almost sounds like she can't hear her accompaniment. The chorus is better, but the low notes are still getting missed. That really bugs - find a way to do something else instead of going for a low note and dropping/missing. The mid-range and the high stuff is alright, but overall that was not the strongest vocal. J.Lo cites the not being able to hear very well and Karen says that was true. Yikes, that's tough. Randy thought it was sleepy. Yeah.
Are in Trouble:
11. Haley Reinhart: "Blue" by LeAnn Rimes
This is a great song, I am skeptical on how it will sound on Haley's voice. Then she sings and - huh. She's got the yodeling part of it down, but she can't hit the bottom end stuff and that's annoying. The bridge is pretty weak too. Also, her style is making this is "Blue" as sung by Jessica Rabbit. She just needs slit in that dress up to her hip and she'd be all set. Other than the "bluuuuu-ooooooh-oooh-OOH-OOH-OOH-OOH" lines, I wasn't in love with it. Tyler is complimentary, but Randy says it was a little boring. J.Lo loves her sensuality, but she has to watch that. It's like when there's a girl on 'America's Next Top Model" who is too sexy - her pictures skirt the skanky line. Haley is starting to have that problem. Somewhere at home, Haley Scarnato is nodding.
12. Ashthon Jones: "When You Tell me That You Love Me" by Diana Ross
She took the judges' advice literally and decided to sing Diana Ross. The middle range stuff is beautiful, but she can't hit the low end notes (probably because they lowered the song so she could hit the high end). Hmm. The bridge is nice and she gets in a glory note that's a little flat, but the voters always love and her ending is nice. The judges like it, but aren't over the moon.
13. Thia Megia: "Smile" by Michael Jackson (originally by Charlie Chaplin, recorded first with lyrics by Nat King Cole)
Is it weird she doesn't know who Charlie Chaplin was? We are divided here at the Zap2it offices. Anyway, Thia's first run-through is nice (if a little boring) and then the faster part kicks up and she loses it. It's not a ballad now and more of a slow jam and she doesn't really have the groove to pull that off, plus it's not always on pitch. Vocally, it was like two different songs. Wish she had stuck with the slow part. The judges agree. I fear that Thia only has the "slow ballad" gear and she can't pull off something fast.
Who should go home? If judging by body of work? Ashthon. If judging by tonight? Thia. I think for having such a bad semi-final, Ashthon didn't bring it strong enough tonight and she will get the boot.
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Photo/Video credit: FOX
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James nailed it again tonight. Good move taking his foot off the pedal a bit, because a lot of people just won't get harder rock/metal. Scotty was awesome. This kid is ready to record an album. Pia was brilliant again vocally, but how long can she really sing ballads for? I'd like to see something current and relevant from her. Casey wasn't quite as WOW as last week, but he was still very good. It was a more straightforward performance and he reminded us all that he can really sing. I was surprised, because Jacob was a bit off tonight. I Believe I Can Fly is one of my all time faves, and what he did with it just didn't work IMO and subtracted from people noticing just how great his voice is.
Pretty funny analysis! LOL. Can't wait to read more.
how the **** is Haley in danger of going home but Naima and Stefano are safe. Are u stupid seriously. U thought Naima and Stefanos were good. stop writing review until u stop being tone dead
Overall, I enjoyed the group tonight. Pia was definitely the best for me. I'm just not into paul's voice or style at all. All the movement around the stage was a distraction for me. I wish jacob would let up on the antics, he has a really good voice but it is getting to be a little too much for me. But, it was a very fun night. I think paul should go home.
That wasn't word salad on Steven Tyler's part. Those are some of the actual lyrics to Elton John's Roy Rogers song. Google is your friend here, y'know.
Devon: Naima's arrangement was too much for her and Stefano did not hit the notes he thinks he did. Both were not good. However, Haley was horrendous. If you can't see that, methinks you have a crush on Haley.
Viva Naima!
TO Zap2it & Andrea, what you said in this article about Thia also applies to past Idol David Archuleta... he too "only has the 'slow ballad' gear" and can't pull off something fast or rock type songs. I always thought David was a one trick pony.
Stefano, if he survives could be a sleeper (if Jacob goes for being too "gospel", Paul continues to look like Taylor Hicks on acid on stage, Scotty shows no variety in tempo, ppl get tired of James' screaming, and Casey just bites a song). No, not being funny, but AI voters are fickle and as many times as there are frontrunners who do well (Archie and Doolittle) throughout, there are ppl who surprise (Cook) and ppl that people do grow weary of (where the hell is Blake Lewis?). So Stefano could last longer than anticipated. Girls? Karen needs to stop looking like a Miss America contestant and just sing. If Lauren continues to act like Kelli Pickler, don't care how talented she is needs to go home, if only to make Tyler seem less creepy. Ashthon needs to go, but Haley might go first. Other than Pia, not sure a girl can win over the guys who are all, on the whole, just more interesting.
This blogger doesn't like, understand, or know anything about black music. She doesn't like black artists or black music regardless of the race or ethnicity of the singer; she doesn't like it when ANYBODY sings in a black musical style. Given the fact that several of the artists of various ethnicities are strongly influenced by black music, she's NOT the best person to write these blogs. She should only write for all-white musical shows because that's the only style of music she respects or appreciates.
She calls the gospel singer "too gospel," but never calls the country singer "too country" even though Scotty's singing was every bit as country as Jacob's was gospel. Is there any gospel music that isn't "too gospel" for her? She couldn't even appreciate the value of Jacob's voice because of her aversion to black music styles.
She says that if Karen hadn't made a big deal out of loving Selena, then this would have been J-Lo pandering. Excuse me? Did you write that because they are both Latina? Selena was a huge star before and after J-Lo performed that role; she continues to be a major musical influence. The blogger would never accuse James Durbin of pandering to Steven Tyler just because he's singing rock music.
The blogger mockingly calls Naima's toasting"a rap-ish reggae bridge." She has never heard of toasting, a musical form that historically precedes rapping. Does she know anything about music other than white pop and country?
Somebody who knows so little about different kinds of music simply should not be blogging about a music show that features artists who perform in diverse musical genres. Get a new blogger who is able to appreciate non-white musical styles.