Thia Megia, Karen Rodriguez Shine on “American Idol,” But Pia Toscano Leads

True, thanks to her breathtaking rendition of “I’ll Stand By You,” which garnered the first judge standing ovation of the season, Pia Toscano is the only legitimate “top of mind” contestant following the Top 12 Females “American Idol” performance show.

But while she was clearly the best performer of the night, she was not the only female contestant to make an impact. Several contestants, including the younger “Idol” hopefuls, also delivered the goods on a performance show that made the prior night’s Top 12 Males show look like amateur hour.

Among the standouts was fifteen-year-old Thia Megia, who brought the house down with an impressive, emotional rendition of “Out Here on My Own.” Even the best teenage contestants have occasionally substituted an over-the-top, “stage school” demeanor for artistry; so far, Thia is remaining poised, elegant and honest as a legitimate artist. Her stunning tone and great delivery added the flare, making for one of the most impressive vocal showings to date.

Karen Rodriguez also made an impact. Though her “pained” facials need work, the beauty, control and passion of her voice helped her excel on “Hero.” “Idol” contestants often struggle to escape the “bad karaoke stigma” when attempting Mariah Carey songs (David Cook’s clever take on “Always Be My Baby” is a notable exception)–Rodriguez did just that. So great about her performance was that she faced the original fairly head-on. While she did make some unique choices and wonderfully included lines in Spanish, she still stuck to the “singer’s song” concept and delivered a stunning vocal performance. She made no obvious attempt to “ease up” the task of following in Mariah’s footsteps.

Producer and judge favorite Lauren Alaina proved herself worthy of the hype with a strong, energetic rendition of “Turn On the Radio,” although she also revealed the superiority of Thia Megia in clicking as the elite teen contestant. While Thia lets her poised vocals and elegant delivery speak for themselves in proving she is mature enough to compete with this crop of females, Lauren focused more on superficial displays of maturity. Unfortunately, her sloppy makeup and outfit felt overly “forced,” coming across as transparent, insincere attempts to appear edgier and older. They took value away from a contestant who should be prioritizing her innocence, bubbbliness and youth to click with fans.

Luckily, the vocals were great, and Lauren came across as very comfortable on stage. Her charming post-performance interview also helped to assure that her presumably-large fanbase (although it might not be as large as one would expect given how hard she was pushed in the audition phase) will not soon be looking for a new favorite. She is the real deal.

One of the criticisms Headline Planet offered on Tuesday’s Top 12 Males Show was the disconnect between the praise new judges Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez served up and the actual quality of performances. None of the judges seemed to be watching the same thing viewers were seeing, but at least Randy Jackson showed some ability to deliver honesty and bad news. There was concern, therefore, that only Randy would develop the “Simon Cowell credibility”–that trust with viewers that lets them know that when he likes a performance, it was probably really good.

For the sake of the show, viewers were hopefully not so brutally hasty in dismissing Steven and Jennifer. In evaluating Haley Reinhart‘s “Fallin’,” they were the two that got it right. They were the two who correctly articulated Haley’s success and sent the proper message to America–that she belongs in the finals.

Randy was not totally off-base. “Fallin'” was an odd song choice that was not excessively compatible with Haley’s soulful, growling style of singing. She could have definitely found something more consistent with her identity as an artist. But the performance was still quite strong. On a show that frequently asks contestants to “make it their own,” Haley did just that, applying her trademark rasp and sexy, sassy vocal delivery to a song everybody knows. This was an honest, standout performance that does not deserve to be viewed as one of the night’s disappointments.

Yes, as Jennifer Lopez confirmed, Haley could benefit from loosening up and relaxing on stage. None of that changes the strength of the vocal showing.

Haley’s performance was especially impressive given the fact that several female contestants failed to color their renditions of big songs from big-name female artists. Karen Rodriguez took on Mariah better than Haley took on Alicia, but Kendra Chantelle did not do much with Christina. Julie Zorrilla bombed on a Kelly Clarkson nubmer.

Kendra’s take on “Impossible” was respectable enough vocally, but it had absolutely zero spark and sense of artistry. Being able to hold one’s own on a Christina Aguilera song is impressive, but amid such a strong crowd of females, it is not enough to simply sing well. Kendra offered nothing particularly innovative or unexpected in the vocals, and the overall delivery and connection to the song was sorely lacking. After seeing how brightly she shined on a country-esque rendition of “Blackbird” in Vegas, it was very disappointing to see the contestant attempt to hack it in the “Diva race.”

Of course, Kendra’s performance was groundbreaking in comparison to that of Julie Zorrilla, who threw her frontrunner status out the window with a very weak rendition of “Breakaway.” A terrible song choice, the number had Julie struggling to do anything with the vocals (which sounded quite poor on various occasions). Totally unattached to the song and totally dis-engaged with the audience, the gorgeous Zorrilla was also excessively stiff on stage, coming across as a textbook “pageant contestant.” It would be beyond surprising to see anyone justify this choice of song. How does one go from that show-stopping rendition of “Something” in the Vegas round to this?

Vocally, Rihanna is not in the same league as Divas like Christina and Mariah, but she brings tremendous stage presence and a very unique charisma to the table. Covering her is thus no picnic, as Ta-Tynisa Wilson discovered the hard way with her brutal attempt at “Only Girl (In the World).” This never reached the depths of Jordan Dorsey’s “OMG” from Tuesday, but it was still rather terrible. She frequently missed on the pitch. The movements did not seem organic (and were certainly not charismatic). The confidence and swagger was not there. Steven Tyler and J-Lo weirdly loved this performance, but it was not good, and it would be shocking if viewers have to deal with Ta-Tynisa in future weeks.

And despite the overall praise Headline Planet had for the evening, Ta-Tynisa and Julie were not the only ones to appear out of place. Rachel Zevita also faltered Wednesday, striking out with her version of Fiona Apple’s “Criminal.” The sultry, passionate arrangement of the original was replaced with a very “loungey” rendition of the song, and Rachel just never made it work. Made-up to look like a poor man’s Alison Brie, Rachel simply never looked comfortable and connected, and the vocals were not strong enough to compensate. This should absolutely be a “see ya” performance.

A strong performer who seemingly came out of nowhere: Lauren Turner. Although she had been shown in the earlier rounds, she had never truly been portrayed as a major contender for the “Idol” crown. She still might not be, but she definitely proved she belongs in the mix from a vocal standpoint. Thanks to impressive vocal delivery and tangible attitude on stage, Lauren made the retro “Seven Day Fool” come across as exciting and hard-hitting. Her lack of pre-show buzz, modest look and positioning in the show (Thia, Lauren and Pia all came later) might hurt her chances, but from a talent standpoint, Lauren Turner definitely made a statement.

A strong performer who did not come out of nowhere but might not be appreciated: Ashthon Jones. Ashthon Jones is a star. She has a phenomenal look and oozes the “Diva” personality. Any wondering about whether Ashthon belongs in the mainstream public eye should have been erased via the post-performance banter with the judges. This is someone who knows who she is and knows how to amplify that personailty for a mass audience.

The performance was great as well. The limits of “Love All Over Me” prevented it from emerging as one of the night’s vocal standouts, but the passion and conviction her delivery, combined with fiery facials and tremendous confidence, made it exciting all the while. Working against Ashthon is a history of “Idol” voters not valuing the type of charisma she brings to the table–“Idol” voters usually want an understated, humble personality. Ashthon is anything but understated and humble.

Who says outfit should not matter? What could have been a perfectly decent, albeit old-fashioned, take on “Summertime” was hindered by Naima Adedapo‘s wardrobe selection. Dressed in what appeared to be traditional African garb, Naima aligned herself with one of the jazzier renditions of the song. The style made no sense–Naima went in the direction of a lounge performance, yet she went in the opposite direction with her dress.

The performance was still reliably good; Naima has a good voice and knows how to make it work within the confines of a classic song. But the style clash and the general boring, unexciting demeanor of the performance likely prevented it from making any sort of lasting impact.

In terms of getting through to the finals, Pia, Lauren Alaina, Thia and Karen appear to be in the strongest contention. The last spot would presumably come down to Ashthon, Lauren Turner and Haley. Plenty of the females would be welcomed as wildcard slots, although it would be hard to justify putting through contestants like Julie and Rachel based on the caliber of their performances Wednesday.

Performance Rankings:
1) Pia
2) Thia
3) Karen
4) Lauren A
5) Lauren T
6) Ashthon
7) Haley
8) Kendra
9) Naima
10) Rachel
11) Ta-tynisa
12) Julie