American Idol’s most entertaining man, Heejun Han is now gone. Even thought the judges lauded his version of Song For You, it was apparent that his vocals just weren’t up to par with the rest of the folks.
(I have a friend named Hea Jin and I would love to reenact David Letterman’s Uma/Oprah bit from the Oscars several years ago, with her and Heejun. Heejun … Hea Jin. Okay, that original bit died, but that idea did run through my mind.)
Ryno says that tonight’s show will feature songs from the 1980s. We’re down to the top 8 and this thing is still 2 hours long. Sheesh.
They’re doing these short packages with the contestants talking about the things they miss. Yes, I’ll be fast forwarding through those.
Gwen Stefani and Tony Kanal from No Doubt are helping Jimmy Iovine mentor the children. I have a feeling Tony isn’t going to talk very much.
DeAndre Brackensick is singing DeBarge’s I Like It. This is actually a great choice, but he’s going to have to up the swag to rock with DeBarge. I also have a feeling that much of Idol’s audience hasn’t heard a lot of DeBarge, which could hurt him. He was definitely feeling this performance more than past performances. I thought it was one of his better performances of the year. Jenny Lo says she likes it a lot and it was a natural performance. Steven says it was exceptional. Randall says it was perfect and he could be a new age El DeBarge. Well, except for the drug problem.
Elise Testone is up next with I Want to Know What Love Is. She was going to do Hallelujah, which sounded awesome, but she changed it up. I’ve decided that I’d be in love with Elise if she didn’t remind me so much of Droopy Dog. Damn, I wish she didn’t remind me so much. Her performance was fine, but it just took too long for her to get to the show off spots of the song. I think I’m just bitter that she didn’t do Hallelujah. Not my favorite Elise, but still pretty damn soulful. Steven says he didn’t know if it was the right song. Jenny Lo says it wasn’t totally right. Randall says she wasn’t ever on pitch until the end. Oh man, I hope she’s not outie 5000 because of it (hey, it’s 80s night).
Colton Dixon and Skylar Laine are singing Kenny and Dolly’s Islands In The Stream. This song is probably more memorable lately for being the chorus that Pras jacked for Ghetto Supastar. Anyone seen what Kenny Rogers looks like these days? My man has had some work done on that face of his.
(By the way, Skylar had to say that she and Colton aren’t dating. I didn’t know that was the rumor. If I was Colton, I would’ve put the swoop on Droopy, I mean Elise.)
Phillip Phillips is singing That’s All. This is the first time all season that I’ve thought Phil was out of his league. He couldn’t charm and growl his way through this one. Steven says to keep it up. Jenny Lo says it wasn’t great in the beginning, but he picked it up in the end. Randall says it was a great song choice and great performance.
DeAndre is back with Hollie Cavanagh and they’re performing I’m So Excited. Let’s just say that DeAndre sounds much more like a Pointer Sister than Hollie does. It was corny as all hell.
Joshua Ledet is singing If You Don’t Know Me by Now, which makes me sad because my boy Stefano performed it last year and I loved it and I know that Joshua is going to knock his version out the box. Joshua looks like he’s the most polished singer/performer in the competition and I’m not sure it’s close. Joshua actually fits better in the late 80s R&B world though. I hope that doesn’t hurt him. He was excellent. Simply amazing. Jenny Lo says it was spectacular. Steven says it was perfect. Randall says he’s gotta have it. What is this, a Spike Lee movie?
Jessica Sanchez is singing How Will I Know. We needed to take the Whitney songs out of this list. It was fun and young and that’s what she is, but for the second week in a row, I think her song choice is her worst enemy. She keeps talking about her alter-ego BBChez. I’m not sure I can tell the difference. Also, Jessica, we don’t really like Sasha Fierce. Jenny Lo says it was really, really good. Steven says every thing she does is beautiful. Randall says she did an amazing job.
Phillip and Elise are singing Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around. I think Elise is trying to make up for her other performance. She’s kind of singing my man under the table.
Hollie is singing Flashdance… What a Feeling. Sigh. She’s going to have to come with a some energy and not be so robotic. This was weird for me. You know that show where the moms prep their daughters to make them look like women and put them in pageants? That’s what Hollie looks like. She’s pretending to be a stage singer. Steven says that her pitch was all over the place. Jenny Lo says she needs to feel it and let it go. Randall says she’s thinking too much and not living it.
Jessica and Joshua are singing I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me). It’s kind of unfair to the others to pair these two up. I’m not sure it was good for Jessica to be paired with Joshua. His stage presence just kind of exploded all over her.
Colton Dixon is singing Time After Time. And here I thought he was going to sing The Goonies song. Gwen really needs to flip this one for herself. You can bet that if Gwen’s available, she and Colton may sing together on the Idol finale. Or maybe even Cyndi herself. I’ll give it to him. He’s the most emo singer I’ve seen on American Idol and even though I keep thinking that if the Twilight series had any muskrats, he’d be perfect for the role, it was pretty darn good. I just wish I didn’t have to see him emote on stage. Steve says he could do a record right now. Jenny Lo says it was amazing. Randall says he’s ready to go.
Skylar is singing Wind Beneath My Wings to close the show. It took a little while to get to the good parts of the song, but she closed it well. I’m not sure it makes up for the early, not-so-good parts though. Randall says it’s her best performance of the year. Jenny Lo says that was a don’t count me out performance. Steven says it was so fine.
Since we’re down to eight, I’m going to do top 2 and bottom 2 now.
Top 2
1. Joshua
2. Colton
Bottom 2
1. Hollie
2. Phillip
I think it’s going to be bad, real bad (Michael Jackson) for Hollie tomorrow night, but I do wonder if my girl Droopy is going to get some flack from the fans. I hope not. Seacrest out!
9 comments
JUSIPER says:
Apr 5, 2012
I have to confess I hadn’t kept track of this season of Idol; the show finally lost me last year, which is saying something since I had been on board since season 1. So you can imagine my shock seeing the first episode I’d seen all year, more out of curiosity than anything else, only to hear Joshua Ledet sing a commanding, mature version of “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” that, really, he should have been 38, not 19, to pull off.
Then I discovered his version of “You Pulled Me Through,” which was positively stunning. I don’t think he’s a versatile enough performer (and this is where Fantasia [though not necessarily J-Hud herself!] was a better contestant) to make it past a few more rounds. But these two performances, along with his Hollywood week version of “Jar of Hearts” have me on board for the long haul.
GG says:
Apr 5, 2012
Glad you’re in on Joshua. That was my worry too early on. However, I do wonder if his stage presence and command comes off to most like it comes off to me. If I walked into this show as a casual viewer based on last night’s show, I would be thinking that he’s head and shoulders above the rest in any singing contest. I started to think last night that he could really win.
- Pop Rock Nation says:
Apr 6, 2012
[…] way to let the people know that Hollie wasn’t good. I compared her to a child pageant winner on Popblerd, so I didn’t really like her as much […]
JUSIPER says:
Apr 6, 2012
I hope you’re right that he can win. But I think there are a bunch of issues here, none of which are related to his singing, which make it unlikely. But for the first time in *years* I actually have someone I’m invested in. It’s kind of scary, because that only ended well once. I think it’s reasonably obvious which time that was.
I do hope he doesn’t get to believing his own hype too much and make his entire performance like the last fifteen seconds of his last one. His voice is far more effective when it’s controlled. It was last night, and it was scarily, scarily so on “You Pulled Me Through.”
What is his future in the industry? What kind of record would he put out? Fantasia could have sung the damn phone book, and to an alarming degree, that’s pretty much what she’s done post-Idol. No present industry box would work out for him, I fear. There would have been a nice one for him about 35 years ago.
GG says:
Apr 6, 2012
What’s funny is that I said he would’ve fit well in the mid-to-late 80s R&B era since they were doing 80s songs. But it will be tough. Deserves a shot though.
JUSIPER says:
Apr 8, 2012
Melinda Doolittle watching Joshua Ledet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EozURi6PDzg
GG says:
Apr 8, 2012
Great clip! They just need to bring her back to work on the show. Such a great person to be on their brand.
Cindy says:
Apr 8, 2012
“… I keep thinking that if the Twilight series had any muskrats, he’d be perfect for the role…”
Funniest line ever- I am dying here!!
GG says:
Apr 8, 2012
Hahahah. Glad someone liked that one. Thanks.