HOW can Jacob still be here and WHEN will he be gone? More on that subject in a moment.
First, our friends at Vote For the Worst pointed out it was rather odd to see Sheryl Crow mentoring, since in 2007 she trashed Idol for its commercialism. If you care to see her opinion,click on this link http://www.buddytv.com/articles/american-idol/sheryl-crow-doesnt-get-america-4988.aspx. She has evidently changed her tune or she is big buddies with Iovine and has decided that he has taken the *commercialism* out of Idol (yeah...thats it as Iovine has recording rights to all the Idols and their offspring). I know she is very highly regarded but I don't know her music although perhaps I should get to know her music. All I know about her is her suggestion to use only one square of toilet paper to solve global warming. I think she may have also suggested that people stop washing their hair. I have to say, she looked clean enough tonight but I don't think I would want to shake her hand. Enough about her.
So, down to the bottom 5 and Randy tells everyone how important tonight is. After tonight, I am pleasantly surprised to say that I was right all along in my favorites as the three of them stood head and shoulders above the other two.
Lets start with Jacob Lusk who early on talked about his ability to put his *skank* on a performance. Or was it *stank*. After all these weeks, Randy has just discovered that Jacob doesn't *know who he is as an artist*. Randy is probably right about that but why bring it up now? He sings some song by Jordin Sparks (who?) and the guy who beat Rihanna up (I think) and undulates his body with his legs apart reminding me eerily of Kristy Lee Cook in her finest moments. I don't know what that was about except as he was singing about needing air I think he ran out of air (at least the kind you breathe in and out through your nose and mouth) but given his position he m ay have been expelling some through the posterior. Then... to further accentuate Randy's criticisms he chooses a rock song, Love Hurts as his second offering of the night. Which had an unfortunate refrain of *It Hurts*. I cannot have been the only viewer thinking *Yes, it hurts... please go away Jacob!*
And then there is Lauren. Who is not the next Carrie Underwood but wants to be. She does not have Carrie's range so cannot sing one of her heartwrenching songs and instead chooses an upbeat song about being on the floor. She sounded like a pageant contestant doing Carrie Underwood. Sheryl at least told her to quit moving her butt around the stage and stand still and sing. And that is not a reference to her butt being big...I bet she is like a size 4 or something. In Hollywood, that is fat. She chooses Unchained Melody for her second song because it her her parent's song. Her parent's have a lot of songs because I'm pretty sure she charmed Steven at her audition by telling him that *I Don't Want To Miss a Thing* was her parents' song...but maybe her parents just have dozens of special songs. The Righteous Brothers are old time favorites of mine and the song is a classic. She did not know what to do with it. At the beginning she started to countrify it and I thought eerily again of Kristy Lee Cook and her rendition of Eight Days A Week. Then she slid into an Archie melisma treatment. If she had a moment it was a Pia moment as I was completely bored, felt nothing, and couldn't wait for Scotty to sing.
And...if the top three are not James, Scotty, and Haley then I guess I will have to relax and watch America pick another Taylor Hicks. I cannot say which one of them was the best tonight because they all had moments, so I will go in order of performance.
James always delivers. I did not know the first song but enjoyed it. He was back to his *wheelhouse* of high notes, lots of energy, and special effects. Then he sings Harry Nilsson...bringing back lots of memories for me of a guy who was not all that well known even back then. This guy is so NOT Adam Lambert. There is not one bit of contrivance about him. And he did control his emotions and it was a moving performance. And..another way he is different from Adam...he cares about his fans. During the Idol tour of the Kris Allen season, Adam frequently refused to meet with fans after the show to sign autographs. It was just too taxing and exhausting for him. The Idol forums have several people who are reporting about James sending letters to them, drawing pictures for them etc. He REALLY wants to win this and you cannot help rooting for him for his hard work and his excellence each week.
Scotty is still my guy. I really was sort of *Whoa* with his first performance as he was moving everywhere and I couldn't keep up with him. So much for the *boring* critics. Then he sang Elvis again. And it was simple. But that boy knows his phrasing. There are several critics on the Idol forum boards saying that Scotty is no better than thousands of singers in Nashville. I don't know. Sheryl Crow seemed impressed by him and since she lives there, I guess she ought to know if he is special or not. She seemed to think that he was.
As for Haley. I am no fan of Lady Gaga and I was thinking *oh no...another bad song choice from her*. Then we get the story of Iovine suggesting it to her, getting special permission from Gaga herself and I'm thinking...maybe Iovine has changed his tune and is actually going to help Haley out. NO. It was pure Iovine sabotage. Haley...do not listen to that man again...ever! Someone said that Iovine was once in love with Stevie Nicks who rejected him and Haley reminds him of her and thats why he hates Haley. Actually, however, I liked the song. The judges did not. Of course to me, NONE of the current songs sung by the Idols was recognizable so when Haley sang this unreleased song it was no different to me than the songs sung by the rest of them.
And then, Haley sings *House of the Rising Sun*. I do not know if you all remember when Siobahn sang it last year and Simon crucified her for it (too harshly I thought then). After hearing Haley sing it tonight, I think Simon was probably too gentle on Siobahn. Randy was right..best single performance of the night.
For like the 5th week in a row I am predicting that Jacob will go home. At some point he has to...right?
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