AMERICAN IDOL 5/5/11: Top 5 Results

Just a few thoughts about the results show tonight:

• How many weeks have these people been doing group numbers again?!  My god…they are TERRIBLE when they sing together.  Can you say HARMONIES?!  They sure don’t know how to sing harmonies AT ALL.  REALLY BAD.  I think this is the worst season for group performances.

• SHUT UP James…stop mouthing everything Ryan is saying.  Do you HAVE TO bring attention to yourself ALL THE TIME?!  This show is NOT all about YOU.  Ugh.

• I’m not necessarily the biggest fan of JLo’s music, but…her performance tonight of her single On The Floor was good!  She did a great job!  She sure knows how to put on a show!  For her to sing LIVE as well (she pretty much has to, considering she’s JUDGING these contestants who have to sing live every week), that was pretty good considering how much she was moving around…

BOTTOM 2:

• Wow, so I guess they really did tell us who the Bottom 2 are this week.  POOR LAUREN!  She was SO SAD when she found out that she was in the B2.  That’s one of the reasons I love Lauren…she really wears her heart on her sleeve.  It was cute how the audience kept trying to support her, screaming out “We love you Lauren” numerous times…

BOOTED:

• It’s about time.  Jacob did NOT do himself any favors last night with his song selections.  He really is talented, but as the weeks went on, he didn’t seem to be improving…in many ways he even was starting to get worse for some reason.  Maybe the pressure was mounting.  In any case, I think that was TOTALLY the right decision this week.
• I still really feel for Lauren.  When Jacob was singing his swan song, they showed the remaining contestants and you could just TELL that all Lauren was thinking about was the fact that she was thisclose to being eliminated.  The other 3 didn’t have to worry since they were all safe…she was the ONLY ONE who was in danger.  I hope this gives her the confidence to really come out with a vengeance next week!
• I do think Lauren being in the B2 can only help her.  Up until now Lauren had NEVER been in the bottom/in danger, so with what happened tonight, fans know she isn’t as safe as we all thought…so they will vote LIKE CRAZY next week to ensure her Top 3 status!  ESPECIALLY considering how much MOMENTUM Haley seems to have right now…

AMERICAN IDOL 5/4/11: Top 5 Performances + Predictions + *POLL*

THEN and NOW…2 performances each tonight.  Here we go:

JAMES  Closer To The Edge:

• James CANNOT sing and walk around at the same time.  His vocals are NOT very good when he’s moving and singing.  He sounded much more shaky and pitchy.  As usual, SMOKE & MIRRORS with those pyrotechnics in the back part of the stage.  Eh.

JACOB  No Air:

• OMG Jacob.  NOT GOOD.  I totally agree with Randy…this DIDN’T MATCH him.  He tried to go for the mainstream R&B pop thing…and it didn’t work.  He sounded slightly off key the whole time.  It was whiny.  I didn’t like it at all.

LAUREN  Flat On The Floor:

• Wow Lauren…GUTSY to do a Carrie Underwood song.  AND it was a DIFFICULT Carrie song on top of that!  The verdict?!  GREAT JOB!  I thought she really did Carrie proud!  She hit the notes and put her own spin on certain parts.  To me, she looked REALLY GOOD tonight.  Her outfit was appropriate and her hair and makeup was great.  I normally DO NOT like when contestants try to do Carrie…they can never do it justice.  If anyone could do it…LAUREN CAN…and SHE DID!  Yay!

SCOTTY  Gone:

• If you’ve been reading my commentary about Scotty every week, you would know I’m not his biggest fan.  I gotta say tho…SOMETHING about this performance…I actually kinda liked it.  I think he’s growing on me.   His voice sounded really good (mainly because it stayed in the lower range), and this guy can WORK THE STAGE.  His stage presence (especially for his age) was awesome.  Gotta give it to him.  Good job!

HALEY  You and I:

• Altho Haley sounded good, it really was hard to connect to her because it was such an unknown song.  I THINK I’ve heard Lady Gaga do this song before, but in general it did keep her disconnected a bit.  Too bad because she sounded good.

JAMES  Without You:

• I’m sorry, but I just didn’t feel James’ performance like everyone else.  Probably doesn’t help that I LOVE Mariah Carey’s version of ths song.  I KNOW he was emotional, and he so confidently said that he kept it together enough to make the song work…but imo, he didn’t.  It didn’t sound good at all…and if he’s THAT emotional, he shouldn’t do those screams like he ALWAYS does, ’cause he can’t pull them off well enough.  I just wasn’t impressed or touched.  Plus when James talks I don’t feel like he’s as humble as he should be.

JACOB  Love Hurts:

• Now that was a LOT better than the first song he did.  There were definitely parts that sounded quite good…but overall it was a “typical” Jacob performance…he kinda got out of hand in the second half of the performance.  A bit over the top again.  But this performance definitely matched him a lot better.

LAUREN  Unchained Melody:

• I’ve said it before…but Lauren’s voice is just so effortless.  I still can’t believe she’s only 16 years old!  Man.  And once again, all those “lifts” she does with her voice (almost like yodels)…I just LOVE.  Can’t get enough when she does that!  This song is very mature…and Lauren really handled it well, and was able to put her own “Lauren spin” on it.  Lauren had a great night tonight!

SCOTTY  Always On My Mind:

• ANOTHER Elvis song?!  Whenever he has to go for the “oldies,” it’s like he HAS to pick Elvis ’cause that’s the closest he can get to country music.  Umm…Scotty should stick with the upbeat songs.  In this performance he was so vulnerable, and you could hear all the little imperfections in his vocal.  I didn’t think it was his best by a long shot.

HALEY  House of the Rising Sun:

• Last week Haley was the last SOLO to go…but then they ended the show with one of the DUETS, which I thought was unfair.  So I’m glad Haley got the pimp spot again this week.  And…she DESERVED IT!  She totally made up for the first number!  The acapella to start off was a good decision.  Very showy and so exposed.  I thought she growled a little TOO MUCH tho…more than was appropriate for this song, but that wasn’t a huge deal.  I gotta say that I still loved Siobhan’s version from last season, but Haley did a great job…and it was so WORTHY of the pimp spot!  Good job!

What did YOU think?

PREDICTION:

BOOTED:

JACOB

(GOTTA BE, right?  I don’t think this week made up for anything in his case, unfortunately.  It’s time.)