1. James - Don't Stop Believing (Journey)
An oddly copycat performance. He had nothing else to add, neither do I.
2. Haley - Earth Song (Michael Jackson)
As usual, she showed both her strengths (nice, soft start) and weaknesses (horrid growly end). I can't say I felt any emotion from her performance.
3. Scotty - Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning? (Alan Jackson)
As I said last week, old Scotty's back and more's the pity. Wow, that song is one mawkish piece of sentimental jingoistic crap that made Earth Song look subtle.
4. Lauren - Anyway (Martina McBride)
Very well sung, though again I didn't really get the emotion.
Round 1 to Lauren.
5. Haley - I (Who Have Nothing) (Shirley Bassey)
After Jordin Sparks won the competition a month before the final with this song, it's a wise choice. But then it's not wise to try to outdo someone else's moment. Gaga's idea to drama it up amused me too, especially as Haley interpreted this as meaning to shout and growl louder whilst waving your arms. No, Randy, she did not have a "moment".
6. Scotty - Youngblood (Coasters)
And now Gaga's trying to take the Scotty out of Scotty. Fair play. Boring song, but a weird stalky psychotic performance. Randy's right that we've seen both sides of Scotty tonight. Both. As in all. Meaning two. Spot on.
7. Lauren - Trouble (Elvis Presley)
"Evil isn't that bad a word, is it?" Lady Gaga wisdom, there. But it worked- Lauren totally got into character, and nailed the swagger. Then it went all up-tempo gospel-style and sounded absolutely horrid. Hmph.
8. James - Love Potion #9 (Coasters)
Just like old Scotty, old James is back. Confident and screechy, competent and... whatever.
Round 2 to... Oh, whoever. I honestly don't care anymore. Anyone but Haley.
Results Show
Scotty & James - Start A Band
Obviously, they must cow-tow to Mr All American so the duet is a country song. No offence, James, I'm sure. The song only came alive when James joined in anyway, so maybe they did him a favour after all.
Haley & Lauren - Gunpowder & Lead
Second duet and oh, it's country again. Maybe they've started to realise who their audience REALLY is. Or maybe I am. The girls' voices blended very nicely, actually, though my toes kept curling when Haley sung her solo spots.
Comedy VT time, and it's Skype calls home. LOVED how Lauren's accent was suddenly turned up to 111. Adorable. Saying that to vote for her will mean she can visit them next week isn't really wise, since they'll see more of her if they don't. Nothing really of note with the others, though I didn't realise James had a kid. And I really hate Scotty now. Like, proper want-to-punch-his-face-in-and-kill-his-first-born hate.
"First through... is the pride of..."
Oh for fuck's sake, it's Scotty isn't it?
"...(insert place name)... Lauren!"
Tidy!
Lady Gaga performs (via VT) a slightly more decent version of the boring song Haley premiered a week or so ago, You And I. Better heard and not seen, for sure. There's showmanship, there's controversy, and there's just out-and-out WTF? Thanks, but not for me.
Speaking of VT, Usher stays home and leaves Enrique Iglesias to do all the work on their duet, Dirty Dancer. By the first chorus he gives up and does I Like It instead. No Pitbull VT though. I swear I heard autotune in there too.
Jordin Sparks returns with a song that falls somewhere between Beyonce and Nelly. Meanwhile, she proves that dancing is not her strong suit. Best stick to the power ballads, then. And if she was singing live, I'm a heterosexual.
Back to the VT performances, this time it's judge Steven Tyler's new single "Feels So Good" (I'm guessing). Disappointed he didn't show his judge credentials by performing live. Even JLo managed that.
Oh, bollocks. Haley is through. So it's Mr Tourette's Vs Jesus Boy. No brainer, bye bye James. At least it got JLo crying. But I am getting very worried about the demographics watching and voting on Idol in the States.
He says goodbye with a rather emotional version of Maybe I'm Amazed. An occasionally pitchy, screechy version, but an emotional one.
Posts
Caught up at last. Couldn't agree more, apart from the lady gaga bits (she is super talented). The huge Country market in the USA has dominated this year's show and to some extent it's not surprising given the success of carrie underwood and kelli pickler???? (who was crap on the show).
ReplyDeleteIf Cowell had been there billy bob Scotty and his comedy voice wouldn't have lasted 5 minutes - 'is this a joke? Are you being serious?'. And all the suck ups including Randy would have agreed.
Pia and James by far the best and i share James' anger at the outcome. That talentless diva child Haley can keep her head up her own arse as far as i am concerned. Sorry Adam Lambert, appreciate the tweets but i don't share your excitement about Haley. In fact she has not had ONE good performance as far as I can see. Cowell would have said 'blown it' several times by now but somehow she's still there.
Come on Lauren, if only cos she seems the nicest and most real person left.