Top 5 - Two Themes - 5/2/12

Hi there. Sorry I have not been around much this week but have had some real issues with my daughter who had to have her gall bladder out yesterday. Anyhow I was able to catch the show so here are my thoughts.

I loved hearing the song "Give Me Shelter" by The Rolling Stones as repeat scenes of the Elise Testone departure and comments of our remaining five were shown.

A welcome to our judges, Ryan Seacrest and our top five followed as usual. We find our contestants will be doing two numbers tonight. One is a song from the 60's and the other a British pop song. Our mentor with Jimmy Iovine is Steven VanZandt who is a member of the E Street Band (Bruce Springsteen is of course the lead singer of this group). Steven was also featured in The Sopranos which was a very successful series. Being friends with Jimmy Iovine was a plus and these two acted pretty much like two little kids during their moments on the show. Let's get to the performances, shall we?

Hollie Cavanagh is up first and picks Tina Turner's classic song "River Deep Mountain High" for her 60's number. I have to say I was pretty impressed with this young lady. She had great stage presence and the vocal was awesome in my book. Even the judges liked it with Steven Tyler commenting on how bluesy Hollie was. Jennifer Lopez liked the production alot and called Hollie very good. Randy Jackson loved it especially the second verse. My grade: A

Hollie's second number was "Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis. Again I felt Hollie gave a very strong vocal to this number. Wow, this girl can really sing! I was dumb-founded that Steven never heard of this song but he loved, loved, loved it. Jennifer felt it was beautifully done and intimate. Randy calls it unbelievable and feels Hollie is peaking at the right time. My grade: A



Next up is Phil Phillips who I have liked in the past performances but for some reason he was off his game tonight I think. His first song is "The Letter" by The Box Tops. He changed the arrangement and the lyrics abit and overall it was just okay in my book. Steven would have loved to hear more melody on this number. Jennifer agreed but feels Phil is compelling to watch. Randy thinks he made it his own and loved it. I didn't. My grade: B

I was more disappointed with Phil's second performance of the song "Time of The Season" by The Zombies. He appeared to be struggling to sing the notes throughout the song. I was surprised the judges were so complimentary. Steven liked the melody part he sang. JLo liked the mellow mood and calls it good. Randy agrees it was a nice relaxed performance. My grade: D



The judges love Skylar Laine but tonight I was not so impressed. Her first number is "Fortunate Son" by Creedence Clearwater Revival. Her energy was great but vocally it was just so-so for me. Steven loves it when she boot-scoots a number like this whatever that means. Jennifer thinks she is fearless and the number was packed with energy. Randy calls it great and feels she was born to be on stage. My grade: B

Again I am not impressed with Skylar's rendition of the song "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me" by Dusty Springfield. The vocal was okay but I missed the passion that Dusty did when she recorded this number. Steven thinks she brought this song into the 21st century (he loved it). Jennifer thinks Skylar just might win the competition if she keeps doing what she is doing. Randy called it flawless (huh?). I am definitely not feeling it, sorry. My grade: B



Jessica Sanchez is really showing a lot of energy in the last few weeks. Tonight her 60's number is Ike and Tina Turner's "Proud Mary". However watching this performance, Tina she is not. The vocal was okay although she seemed to be screaming some of the lyrics and overall her stage presence seemed forced to my way of thinking. Steven thought she was great. Jennifer liked her moving around the stage and feels we got a little bit of Tina Turner and Beyonce. Randy however called this performance "barely okay". I agree here. My grade: B

Jessica's second number is "You Are So Beautiful" by Joe Cocker. Here she shined more than on her first number. It was a pretty nice vocal although it did not blow me away totally. Steven thinks her voice is beautiful. Jennifer calls her captivating. Randy feels she topped the leaderboard on this second round. My grade: B+



Joshua Ledet can be so entertaining to watch perform although he seems so dead-pan otherwise. His take on the song "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" by The Temptations was entertaining and the vocal was pretty good. Steven thinks he sings so fine. Jennifer feels he is a throwback from another era and likes it. Randy agrees and feels he could bring back the R&B that Terrence Trent D'Arby showed years ago. My grade: B+

Another standing ovation from the judges as Joshua performs a song he did not know and learned in 15 minutes. The song is "To Love Somebody" by The BeeGees. This was great in my book, period! Steven feels Joshua is a great artist. Jennifer goes overboard and thinks he is one of the best singers of the last 50 years. Randy sort of agrees and loved the passion Joshua showed. My grade: A



By the way two duets were done by our group: Joshua Ledet and Phil Phillips did the Righteous Brothers song "You've Lost That Lovin Feeling". They do not mesh well together I think. Phil sounded kind of flat most of the song but Joshua managed to somewhat save the number a bit. Steven thought so too I think by mentioning the high notes Joshua sang. Jennifer felt they seemed scared to sing this number but were great when they let go in the second part of the song. Randy also liked the letting go part. My grade: C

Hollie, Jessica and Skylar perform "Higher and Higher" by Jackie Wilson. It was good but not great for me. Steven however thought it was great. Jennifer calls it a treat from these three little dolls. Randy did not care for the arrangement but thought vocally they were good. My grade: B



Prediction time. Well I hate to say this but my bottom three consist of Phil, Jessica and Skylar. I felt Hollie and Joshua shined the most during this show. Sadly since Hollie has been in the bottom 3 so much I think she is probably the one who might be eliminated. Hard to tell at this point of the game.

Good news on the guest singers for the results show as Carrie Underwood and Coldplay will be featured. I welcome your comments as I wrap up this re-cap. Have a good day all!

Hi Crystal. Sorry to hear about your daughters surgery. Hope all is well with y'all.

I love Phillip but have to agree. This week he was off his game. Still voted like crazy for him though.
I think Joshua has some mad skills when it comes to singing but lately I feel he is sounding more and more like Fantasia. I really hated his 2nd performance for that very reason. Sounded like he was screaming Fantasia style. I could barely listen to the song as it was slaughtered.
Hollie was absolutely gorgeous and did a great job despite what Jimmy says about her.
Jessica's second song was the one to nail a position for her next week in the finale four.
Over all the performances were good but nothing that blew me away.

I know I posted this just before tonights show (which I missed because fox channel was out tonight) However my post didnt show up :( Arggg this is another rough night for me... go away bad Karma be gone!