American Idol 2012 - Week 7 - 2010s

1. Skylar Laine - Didn't You Know How Much I Loved You (Kellie Pickler)
Skylar performed that like it was the winner's single, throwing all of her emotion into it and stretching her voice to its limits, but in a very, very good way.

2. Colton Dixon - Love The Way You Lie (Skylar Grey/Eminem & Rihanna)
For a man to pull off a song with such a large range that was written for a female vocal is impressive indeed. No bells and whistles, no showboating, no screeching. Just respect for the song, and a great delivery.

Again with the duets.
First up, Phillip and Elise do "a Gotye track" and surprise everybody by choosing "Somebody That I Used To Know". It was evidently Elise's choice, if Phillip's stropping is anything to go by. As it turns out, it wasn't a great choice as the song suited neither of them, let alone both of them.

3. Jessica Sanchez - Stuttering (Jazmine Sullivan)
Back in her comfort zone of ballads, I don't know the song, but it sounded absolutely perfect to me.

4. Joshua Ledet - Runaway Baby (Bruno Mars)
I felt his moves were a bit cringe-inducing, but at least he's trying something new. He managed to get a few of his trademark screeches in, but it wasn't his usual car crash. I heard the first duff notes of the night though.

Duet #2 sees Colton and Skylar reunite for Kelly Clarkson & Jason Aldean's Don't You Wanna Stay. Apparently people think they're dating, although it appeared to me more like that's what they're hoping people will think. Colton had the vocal edge as Skylar's harmonies sounded a little off, but they do make a good team.

5. Hollie Cavanagh - (F***in') Perfect (P!nk)
I flat-out adore this song, and quite liked (though certainly didn't prefer) Hollie's slowed-down interpretation. Surprised by the judges' muted reaction as the vocals were phenomenal. No it wasn't [hesitates] "perfect", but yes it was a huge improvement on last week.

6. Phillip Phillips - Give A Little More (Maroon 5)
What is it with Phillip and slowing songs down to a near dirge? The original has a similar vibrancy to Moves Like Jagger, and this was more of a mellow jam. Ironically, the more the band kicked in, the closer to 33rph it felt. Phillip actually managed to fall below Joshua for me this week. Yawn.

Joshua and Hollie are joined by Jessica for Kelly Clarkson's What Doesn't Kill You (Stronger) for the final triet. Jessica sounded inexplicably awful, Joshua was mostly tolerable (until the end) and Hollie looked a bit lost. Oh dear.

7. Elise Testone - You and I (Lady Gaga)
It's a pretty dreadful song, but a good one for a show like this, as it's an excellent vocal showcase. And it showed Elise to be an excellent, if not perfect vocalist. Had this been last week I'd have said she's on a roll, but I'm not sure if it was strong enough to save her after last week.

RESULTS SHOW

We're treated to a familiarly shambolic performance from the remaining contestants. P!nk's awesome Raise Your Glass got the "honour" of being massacred this week. Elise, WTF was that?

Last year's rocker James Durbin performed a song- possibly the heaviest track from an Idol contestant yet. But just poppy enough for me to find rather catchy, so no doubt will alienate his target audience.

Another Idol alum, Jennifer Hudson, performed a rather disposable duet with Ne-Yo. But it's worth her visit if only to remind us why the judges' save was created.

Back to agreeing with Jimmy Iovine again this week. Mostly.

The bottom three are a total shock.
Elise (okay, not that much of a shock), Joshua (I literally punched the air in delight), and Jessica (W.T.F????????)

And we say goodbye to... Jessica!?!?!?! Well, no we don't, as she's barely two lines into her "Save Me" song and the judges storm the stage in outrage to announce they're using their save. For quite possibly the first time EVER, it was used correctly. Phew. Next week promises to be exciting stuff!!!