Tonight's episode starts out with Ryan Seacrest seated on the steps of the stage and let's us know that this season started with 125,000 and we are now down to the final six. Each is briefly shown as Ryan questions "Who is it going to be". This is American Idol!
Our judges and Ryan are introduced. Wow, Jennifer looks fabulous as usual. Steven Tyler is also fab looking in his silver outfit. I loved how Ryan looks so cute getting the audience going.
Tonight's theme is the music of Carole King. What a great career this 69 year old woman has had. At the tender age of 18, she and then hubby Gerry Goffin wrote the song "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" sung by The Shirelles. This was a huge hit in 1961. This singer/songwriter has had 25 solo albums with her most successful one being "Tapestry" which topped the charts for 15 straight weeks. It remained on the charts for an incredible 6 years. Her most recent album released with James Taylor is "Live at the Troubadour" which charted at #4, has remained on the charts for 34 weeks and it's first week sales were over 400,000 copies. Over 1000 artists have recorded her songs and she herself is a four time Grammy winner. Very impressive indeed!
Another plus tonight is that Jimmy Iovine has brought in Kenneth Brian "Babyface" Edmonds to coach the contestants. Babyface has also had an impressive career as a singer, songwriter and producer. This co-founder of LaFace Records has worked with many impressive artists such as Whitney Houston, Boys II Men, TLC, Toni Braxton and Madonna to name a few. His career has garnered him ten Grammy Awards so obviously he knows what he is doing. I was personally impressed with his suggestions to our contestants during the rehearsal scenes we saw.
One last note before we get to the performances is our remaining six will be doing duets tonight as well as their solos.
Jacob Lusk is first to perform and for the first time in several weeks I saw traces of the Jacob I liked during the Hollywood week segment. Tonight he is singing "Oh No, Not My Baby". In spite of the wild-looking jacket and shirt he wore I most noticed how improved his stage presence was. He showed personality and despite having a few off notes his vocals were indeed quite good. Steven Tyler liked how he shook his tail-feather and showed character. Jennifer Lopez mentions how tricky this song was. She also says he had small spaces that were not perfect but overall it was good. Randy also mentions the sharp notes but does think Jacob is a great singer. My grade: B+
I personally am getting tired of the insecurity that Lauren Alaina has been displaying for weeks now. We see she gets a pep talk from Miley Cyrus before her performance. This girl can sing but I think her real problem is song choice and not showing stage presence. However tonight, stage presence was improved as she sings "Where You Lead". She pulls up a young guy from the audience to sing to briefly but leaves him on the stairs to circle the stage behind the judges. She does come back to him later to finish her number. She looks lovely and in my opinion the vocals were good but not great. J-Lo is proud of her and the fact that she seems to be pushing her vocals which did crack along the way. Randy likes her extra swagger but calls the song safe and boring. Steven also talks about her fears and says "don't let your insecurity in". Before we get to Lauren's numbers, Ryan has a small chat with Brent (the guy Lauren pulled from the audience). Seems he is 19 years old and being Lauren is only 16 they have rules. Cute moment. My grade: B
First to perform a duet is Haley Reinhart and Casey Abrams. They are singing "I Feel The Earth Move". What I like about both of these people is they sing well together and have very good stage presence. I loved their cute intro clip and it is obvious Casey adores his Haley which is mentioned later by Steven Tyler. I felt this was the best duet of the night even though once again a few off notes crept in. My grade: B+
Scotty McCreery has been told for weeks now to get out of his comfort zone by the judges. Tonight he tries to with his rendition of the song "You've Got A Friend". Frankly I thought the beginning was sang almost too softly and could certainly hear the guitar better than Scotty. Once he gets going with the rest of the orchestra he seemed to be struggling to get out the notes. I definitely did not agree with all the praise the judges heaped on him. Randy thought the beginning was flawless and in spite of his falling off the high notes he did an excellent job. Steven felt it was the just right song but also mentions his higher register. Jennifer concurs on this but also loves the fact that Scotty tells a story when he sings and he did this beautifully. My grade: B-
One of the things I noticed about James Durbin who played the guitar was how pure his voice sounded as he starts off his rendition of the song "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" accapella. Once he gets into the chorus he does have some issues with the high notes but overall I love how overall consistent James has been during this competition which Jennifer also mentions. Steven tells us he was sold at the beginning with James's performance and also mentions how he made out with his first girl to this song. No he did not strike out he tells Randy. Jennifer calls James magical and amazing. Randy thinks James in not just a great rock singer but a great singer period and feels he might win this whole competition. This brings about a hug between Randy and James. I am certainly hoping James is in the finale for sure. My grade: A
Our next duet is Scotty and Lauren who sing "Up On The Roof" which was made famous by The Drifters. I have a feeling that Lauren has a crush on Scotty judging by the clip we saw of them. However, Scotty feels like they are more like brother and sister. I have enjoyed hearing these two sing together in the prior shows but tonight Lauren way out-sang Scotty during this number I feel. I think J-Lo thought so too as her compliments were stronger for Lauren. The vocals in my opinion were just okay and frankly I was bored. My grade: B
Casey Abrams is definitely unique and entertaining. His choice tonight is "Hi-De-Ho". I loved his Frank Sinatra look as he starts off his number with good vocals and even plays the piano for a few notes. His jazz version of this song involves him singing and growling with several different people who are playing instruments which include a harmonica, sax and horns to name a few. Once again his stage presence is very good and frankly I thought he was the best of the night. Randy also compliments Casey and feels his performance took him back to his growing up in New Orleans. Steven says Casey has found his niche and his performance made his scalp itch as it was that good. Jennifer thinks he was in his element but would like him to loosen up his body more when he sings (huh?). My grade: A+
Haley Reinhart is indeed a pretty girl and does have stage presence. However I was not thrilled with her vocals on the song "Beautiful". She did have some technical issues before her performance and maybe that threw the vocals off because I felt she had alot of flat notes in this song. I thought she sounded better in the chorus moments of the song but overall I really did not care for this performance. Steven goes overboard with his praise by saying she has God in her voice. Jennifer calls it beautiful. Randy was more on point by saying he did not love the beginning which earned him several boos but he also mentions he loved the end. I have a feeling Haley will end up in the bottom three once again. My grade: B-
Our last duet of the night involves James and Jacob which needless to say is a weird combination. Tonight they sing "I'm Into Something Good". Their intro was cute as well as how they pulled Jennifer out to sing/battle over her as they perform. I do not think their voices blend that well but I did think the performance overall was quite entertaining as their solo moments sounded very good. Steven liked how they seemed to be having fun with the song. My grade: B
It is so hard to figure out who will be leaving us on the results show with so few left in the competition. My bottom three consist of Scotty, Lauren and Haley. I have no clue who will be going however I am reading on the net that many think it might be Jacob. I personally would like to see Lauren go but think her fanbase will keep her in. Who knows?
I am looking forward to the results show as my girl Crystal Bowersox will be performing. Bruno Mars will also perform which will be a treat I think for his many fans. I will be back later with the results so until then have a great day!
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Subject: Carole King Week - 4/27/11 
Thu Apr 28, 2011 9:30 am
