:) Are you ready? Well the crowd is ready as said by Ryan Seacrest. Now the top 13 will go head to head to win our votes. Welcome to the party, this is American Idol!
Hello all and welcome. After opening the show with the above teaser, we are introduced to our judges who look great by the way and of course our host, handsome Ryan Seacrest. The audience shouts out who their favorites are upon a request from Ryan. Next Ryan says hello to the judges and let's us know that Jennifer Lopez's song "On The Floor" is currently at numero uno (not sure on what chart however). Now we get a look at our top 13 who will be performing songs from their favorite idol.
Before we get to the performances I must say I was impressed with the group who helped our contestants with their performances. As you know Jimmy Iovine is the guy who will be producing the winner's album and he offers comments about each contestant before they perform. His crew is equally impressive which include Ron Fair, Rodney Jerkins, Rock Mafia, Tricky Stewart, Don Was and Jim Jonsin. Now away we go to the contestants performances.
Lauren Alaina is up first. This young girl has been a favorite all along this journey to the top 13. Tonight she is performing the song "Any Man of Mine" by her idol Shania Twain. Lauren says she is inspired by Shania as she is a country-western diva who managed to cross over into the "pop" world. First let me say Lauren's outfit did her no favors and frankly while her singing was okay it was a pretty safe choice that really did not make her shine. Steven Tyler sort of said the same thing. His comment was he loved her voice but wanted more kick-ass in the performance. Jennifer Lopez kind of agreed by saying Lauren's voice was amazing but she needed to kick her performances into high gear.
Randy was blunt with his sang well but she needed to shine more when she performed. My grade: B
What can I say about Casey Abrams. This guy is a true performer that knows how to entertain no matter what he sings. His choice tonight is "With A Little Help From My Friends" by Joe Cocker. His comment was cute that neither he nor Joe were very pretty. Jimmy reminds him to get physical like Joe before Casey performs. I was wondering if Casey would follow this advice as he starts off the song sitting on the steps and just sings (he can sing you know not just growl). I caught an off note here and there but once he kicked into the rest of the performance who cared. With the back-up singers he growls and gets physical plus sings with such greatness which gave me chills. J-Lo goes with what she feels and she feels Casey is someone important. Randy always looks forward to seeing what Casey will do because he is fun and he loved this performance. Steven calls him a "rainbow of talent" and "plethora of passion". I so agree! My grade: A
I must say that Ashthon Jones suffers the same problem that Lil Rounds suffered and that is impersonating different divas. Sure Ashthon has the look with the hair and dress but the voice while okay just does not have any real power or stand-out quality that will sell records. Tonight she sings Diana Ross's "When You Tell Me That You Love Me". The song starts out rough and to my ears pretty much sounded off-key through most of the song. Each of the judges admired how she tried to pull back to cover the off-notes. Randy liked it but felt it was kind of safe. Both Steven and Jennifer appreciate the voice but feel she could show us more. Maybe so but I doubt it. My grade: C-
I honestly do not know why Paul McDonald is such a hit with so many fans. He is cute but other than that I really do not see the "different and unique" quality the judges keep mentioning. His song choice is by someone I never heard of as also mentioned by Jennifer. The "idol" Paul digs is Ryan Adams and Paul will be singing the song "Come Pick Me Up". I found this performance the worst of the night. The singing was soft and boring and even the odd dancing did Paul no favors. (The best part was Ryan trying to do the same dance). Steven says he loves the character and rasp of Paul's voice but does mention the pitchy notes. Jennifer on the other hand thought he moved the crowd. Randy did not find the performance exciting but loves the fact that Paul is "different" and is needed on this show. Huh? My grade: D-
Pia Toscano looks beautiful even with her odd dress (the train should go). Her idol is Celine Dion and I was so hoping she would sing "The Power of Love" but instead opts for "All By Myself" which is not a favorite song of mine. Pia starts the song out softly but builds to the big notes which she does quite well. My problem is the lyrics are too repetative so that kind of put a damper on the performance. However I do think Pia is a contender and overall liked what she did. Jennifer was so impressed it basically left her speechless but she does add she topped her performance of last week. Randy calls her hot and doh and loves it. Steven thinks she slammed it. My grade: A
James Durbin is a rockstar in my book and surprises me with his idol choice Paul McCartney. His choice of song is "Maybe I'm Amazed". This was definitely a toned-down performance from the usual high notes that James has displayed in the past. That said however I absolutely loved this performance which showed that James can really sing anything as noted by Randy. Randy also adds he showed his sensitive side and slayed it. Steven basically says good job. Jennifer elaborates that he has such a melodic quality and he is everything. My grade: A+
I think Haley Reinhart definitely has the sex-appeal going and has at times shown she is basically a good singer. The sad part is she is somewhat forgettable. Tonight she sings "Blue" by LeAnn Rimes. I loved her yodel parts of the song but she did have a few off-notes plus as Randy mentions the overall performance was a little sleepy and boring. Steven thinks it was beautiful and so, so fine. Jennifer thinks her voice is diverse. I personally think she needs to step it up like she did during Hollywood week in order to stay in this competition. My grade: B
I really like James Lusk but this performance of "I Believe I Can Fly" by R Kelly left me cold overall. He had some pitchy notes throughout the song. The vibrato I liked in Hollywood is now starting to get old with me. Too much on the vocal gymnastics. I did like the back-up choir which helped cover some of the mistakes that Jacob made during this song. Steven calls his performance pure passion and music. Jennifer thinks he makes the audience feel so much and adds amazing. Randy thinks he has a signature sound but does mention the rough chain-over of the notes. My grade: C
This Megia is taking it to heart on the fact that Randy says her voice reminds him of Michael Jackson which is who Thia claims is her idol. She chooses to sing the song "Smile" which was actually associated with Charlie Chaplin. Thia looks blank when this point is told to her. This girl does have perfect pitch as shown with her soft-type style in the beginning. The second half is a little on the jazzy side but again she even sings this well. My problem is she is really boring to watch and I sincerely doubt I would ever buy a record of hers unless I wanted to be put too sleep quickly. I will say however I loved her dress. Randy calls the performance pitchy in spots but loved the intro. Steven and Jennifer agree with Randy's thoughts with Jennifer adding she would like to see Thia move more. My grade: B
Stefano Langone has been one of my favorites all along but tonight I definitely think he picked the wrong song to display his talent. His idol is Stevie Wonder and the song is "Lately". My thoughts are the arrangement was not very good and while Stefano was performing I kept getting this kind of disconnect with the lyrics. Stefano can sing for sure but I think I could have gotten more out of his talent with a different song choice. Steven thinks he pulled it off in spite of the crazy arrangement. Jennifer tells Stefano he had her dancing. Randy thinks the first part of the song was rocky but by the middle he was soaring. I guess I just never got to that soaring part. My grade: B-
Again I have to say Karen Rodriquez performed pretty much like Stefano with an uncomfortable performance of Selena's "I Could Fall In Love With You". She looked quite classy with her outfit but the singing was just so-so in my book. The pitchy notes at the end really put a damper on the whole number I think. Jennifer thought Karen looked beautiful but also mentions she seemed uncomfortable with the notes. Randy got the feeling she was fighting the song and it was not exciting. Steven mentions the lacking energy of the performance. Overall, I think Karen may be in danger of elimination with this offering. My grade: B-
Scotty McCreery is cute, has personality and to top that off sings country quite well. That is the problem I feel as every song he sings sounds exactly the same and tonight was no different as he performs Garth Brooks "The River". Nice tone for sure but by the end of the song I was totally bored. The crowd of course loves him so I believe he will be safe. Randy is of the mind "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" and loved it. Steven feels Scotty is riding high and did Garth justice. Jennifer does think he needs to open up as a performer and I certainly agree with this thought. My grade: B
:sing: Naima Adedapo has shined very little during her time with the show but on tonight's performance I could see the makings of a star as she performs the song "Umbrella" by Rhianna (her idol). She does lose some of her breath control as she dances and sings but I thought she had the same quality of voice that Rhianna has which I liked. Steven mentions she was pitchy but overall crazy good. Jennifer really does not care about the pitchy notes as she was entertained. She does add however that Naima needs to work on breath control. Randy mentions this also but did love the reggae parts of the song. My grade: B+
Okay final thoughts. Overall I enjoyed quite a few performances tonight but also was sort of let down by some of my favorites. My top four consist of James, Casey, Pia and Naima. My bottom 3 are Paul, Ashthon and Karen with runner-ups Lauren, Thia and Stefano. If all goes the way I hope I would eliminate either Ashthon or Paul. Who's your pick I wonder?
Anyhow, calling an end to this post by adding that on Thursday's elimination show Diddy/Dirty Money and Adam Lambert (yippee) will be performing. Until next time, take care all!
Front Page 
Subject: Top 13 Perform - 3/9/11 
Thu Mar 10, 2011 11:00 am
