Last week, the world was shocked when for the first time, noone was sent home. OK, maybe not shocked. Annoyed, maybe, but not shocked. This week, TWO singers will be gone. This… is American Idol.
Opening Credits
The theme this week is Bon Jovi, so obviously the mentor is… Jon Bon Jovi (with keyboardist David Brian). Jon, by the way, is apparently not ashamed of shilling his Arena Football team, wearing a t-shirt that promotes it.
Phil Stacey, “Blaze of Glory”
Jon – Phil knocked this one out of the park.
Randy – I’m happy for you. Other than country week this is your best performance on the show.
Paula – This is a year out of your life that you will never forget.
Simon – I thought it was OK. I didn’t hear any authenticity. I felt you were a bad actor playing a role, and I don’t think you’ve done enough to last to next week.
OK, Phil has perhaps taken the country thing a bit too far. He made this sound like Tim McGraw singing Bon Jovi as pop country, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing (for a music career), but it’s kind of an unoriginal tack from where I sit. I was impressed by his ability to hold the final note though, and the fact that Phil is having fun out there.
Score: 6.5
Jordin Sparks, “Livin’ On a Prayer”
Jon – Jon notes that this song is difficult to sing, and they had to work a bit on the melody. That’s not a good sign.
Randy – You are definitely not a rock girl. Those verses were really rough. It wasn’t your best.
Paula – I give credit because you went for it.
Simon – Let’s just cue the boos in advance. It was just out of control, it was verging on shrieking. It was terrible.
From the first note, you could tell that this wasn’t gonna be a good week for Jordin. The passion and strength was simply not there for a song that demands it. The good news is that after last week’s shenanigans (where Jordin’s fans got a huge scare), Jordin is a virtual lock to be safe.
Score: 4
LaKisha Jones, “This Ain’t a Love Song”
Jon – This is a soul singer’s song. I would bet a lot of money that she’s not going home.
Randy – LaKisha’s back this week. You blew that out the bus.
Paula – You did give everyone a little sumpin’ sumpin’.
Simon – I actually could kiss you after that. You were so good. You absolutely nailed it.
This was a great song choice for LaKisha, and it came at a time where song selection is critical for the singers. I don’t know that it will save her this week, but if it doesn’t, she goes out on a high note.
Score: 8
Blake Lewis, “You Give Love A Bad Name”
Jon – He has to sell his interpretation of a song most people know and don’t want to hear it messed with. This is the one to me that is rolling the dice.
Randy – I give you the award for the most original version of a song ever on American Idol. You took a leap of faith and you won.
Paula – This was amazing. This was your night.
Simon – There will be half the audience that absolutely hated it and half that will love it, and it was the right thing to do. This is what will keep you in the competition next week.
If you didn’t realize it before, you now know that Blake Lewis has bollocks the size of grapefruits. This is undoubtedly a polarizing performance, what with the beat-boxing and giving it a hip-hop vibe. The thing was that when he was singing, Blake showed some really strong vocals, and given that his strength lies with softer songs, I was kinda surprised. Overall, I think it was a great performance that showed what Blake is all about, even though it’s was more akin to re-imaginings we’ve seen on Rock Star.
Score: 8.5
Justin TimberlakeChris Richardson, “Wanted Dead or Alive”
Oh, Chris didn’t like that.
Jon – He may have been a little nervous because he didn’t know all the words.
Randy – You did you thing, you made it your own, that was nice.
Paula – This is turning out to be a great night.
Simon – I think you did as much as you can do with that song because this is not your music.
Chris shouted the song more than he sang it, and showed that you should have better criteria when choosing a song other than “someone had to sing it”. He showed passion in singing the song, but was missing the “blues” element that Bon Jovi stressed upon, and I think that hurt the performance. Props for not using the “flaming” background though.
Score: 5.5
Melinda Doolittle, “Have A Nice Day”
Jon – Tells her to take it to church.
Randy – It’s definitely a great performance again.
Paula – From the first note, we knew the game was on.
Simon – Totally endorse what Randy just said. Vocally a different league from everyone else.
Exceptional performance from a woman that shouldn’t be singing rock this well.
Score: 8.5
Kevin’s Rankings
“Wanted Dead Or Alive”
Melinda
Blake
LaKisha
“Keep the Faith”
Phil
“Bad Medicine”
Chris R.
Jordin
Predictions
Bottom Three: Phil, Chris and LaKisha.
Eliminated: LaKisha and Chris.
That’s all for now.
