James Durbin Shines, Ashthon Jones, Thia Megia Disappoint on “American Idol”

Undoubtedly reacting to concern about the level of praise they showered on the contestants last week, new judges Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez were more willing to deliver negative comments on this week’s “American Idol.”

But a mean streak was largely unnecessary Tuesday night. Though there were some definite duds, quite a few members of the season ten Top 13 delivered with some show-stopping performances, assuring the opening round of the finals would go down as a memorable night.

Leading the charge was Casey Abrams, who aligned his unique style perfectly with Joe Cocker’s cover of “With a Little Help from My Friends.” A natural fit that was destined for excellence even if Abrams stuck religiously to Cocker’s version, the fact that the talented musician improvised with tremendous growls and runs again proved that his gift is simply unmatched on the “Idol” stage. Additionally helpful about this performance was the fact that he picked a song with great mainstream recognition–he did not seem nearly as “self-indulgent” as he has in past weeks.

After emerging as a surprise frontrunner last week, Pia Toscano continued her momentum with another brilliant vocal take on “All By Myself.” Matching La Toya London’s masterpiece rendition from season three is an uphill battle, but Pia did everything possible to make her own impression, simply soaring through the vocals as the number progressed. The arrangement left a little bit to be desired–the constant repeating of “All By Myself” felt monotonous at times–but Pia’s voice was powerful and rich enough to keep the audience engaged.

Ever since David Cook took the “make it your own” advice to the next level in season seven, few “pure vocalists” have been able to leave lasting impressions on the show. Pia Toscano appears to be ending that trend.

James Durbin also positioned himself at the top of the heap. The comparisons to Adam Lambert continue to go without saying, but his surprisingly-controlled rendition of “Maybe I’m Amazed” showed a level of rock authenticity that Lambert never had. If voters open up to accepting James’ distinctions from Lambert and very real level of talent, he has a chance to make a real impression in this competition.

But delivering a breathtaking performance is not the only path to success at this stage of the game. Insofar as building a fanbase is still crucial, contestants like Paul McDonald and Scotty McCreery were able to make legitimate impacts without necessarily coming across as “brilliant.”

McDonald’s “Come Pick Me Up” made for a pleasant but unremarkable performance. He sounded alright, and his James Blunt-esque tone is definitely something different for “American Idol,” but was the uniqueness really enough to make this a good performance? Is being a horrible dancer with a weird look on one’s face at all times enough to make one charismatic?

In most worlds, the answer would be no, but on a show that is looking for someone new and fresh to get behind, McDonald is scoring points by sticking to his gimmick. And his resemblance to Bradley Cooper is certainly not hurting his standing with the over-30 female crowd.

Scotty McCreery continued to coast on his deep voice with a respectable version of “The River.” Yes, he sounded composed and marketable, and he did start to demonstrate some life and presence on stage (as J-Lo correctly noted). But the vocals were certainly not earth-shattering, and one could not honestly compare the musical value of this performance to that of the Casey and Pia showings.

And yet, insofar as Scotty is delivering exactly what his fans are going to want, he is building himself a comfortable status on the show. Those drawn to Scotty are not looking for excessive runs and powerhouse vocals–they are looking for humility, reliability and honesty. No one has consistently topped Scotty in that department.

Hollywood and semifinals standout Jacob Lusk showcased tremendous talent on “I Believe I Can Fly,” but in the process of simply “slaying” some of the vocals, he also aligned himself with Haley Reinhart’s debated performance from the prior week. Jacob seemed to want to do “too much” with the song, and his tremendous range and vocal techniques were wasted on the performance, feeling, in fact, quite excessive and forced at times. Yes, Jacob’s vocal style is gimmicky, but he does not need the gimmick to cover for a lack of talent. And insofar as that is true, he needs to occasionally feel comfortable singing the song as intended and letting his ability do the talking.

On the subject of Haley, her “Blue” came across as one of the most painfully-awkward performances of the night. There were glimpses of beauty in her take on the country song, but there were also some brutal spots, and, more importantly, the whole thing simply came across as unauthentic. She was also quite stiff and restrained, showing little of the sultriness and confidence that made her an intriguing contestant to follow.

One would have trouble locating even a hint of the performer who made waves with a soulful rendition of “God Bless the Child” in this number, and while moving away from soul might be a strategically-beneficial move in theory (this style of country is fairly unique for the competition, whereas soul pits her against Casey Abrams and Jacob Lusk, among others), no “American Idol” strategy can be applauded when it makes the contestant come across as inferior and uncomfortable.

A fairly-disliked but still accurate episode of “Glee” talks about the role “Hairography” can play in making audiences ignore the shortcomings of a performance. Naima Adedapo applied that principle to her very mediocre take on Rihanna’s “Umbrella.” With dancing, a vivid stage show and even some reggae-style rapping, the wildcard contestant worked hard to convince viewers they were seeing something unique and special. The unique part is probably true, but as for special, absolutely not. The vocal shortcomings were very transparent, and Naima simply did not seem poised, confident and enthusiastic enough to make everything work. She definitely made more of an impression than fellow wildcards Ashthon Jones and Stefano Langone (although she was not “better” than the latter), but it was not enough to suggest she will seize her wildcard reprieve in the way Clay Aiken or George Huff did.

Jones’ “When You Tell Me That You Love Me” proved that she is no fan of wrestling personality Paul Heyman. The “accentuate the strengths, hide the weaknesses” policy was applied in reverse by the Diva, who dressed and performed like someone who was a pure vocalist, rather than a charismatic entertainer. Ashthon has the look, attitude and stage presence to be a contender in the music world; it is only the power of her voice that raises doubt. Unfortunately, in wearing a stiff dress and moving very little in her attempt to tackle the very slow, ballady-arrangement, she put all of the attention on that weakness. So many “American Idol” fans do not get why Ashthon’s personality makes her such a special contestant, and the prevailing thought over the past week is that she did not deserve the wildcard selection. In confirming the weakness of her vocal instrument, Ashthon only reinforced that aura of doubt.

Stefano Langone, meanwhile, managed to seamlessly shift between vocally strong and vocally abhorrent on a dance-version of “Lately.” As he demonstrated in his wildcard “sing for your life” performance, Stefano indeed possesses a gift, but for an “Idol” finalist, he manages to shine that light far too infrequently. For the most part, he seems out of place on stage–the notes are rough, and the facials seem a bit too hammy and forced. The kid is likable and seems to have backing from the judges, but when the meatier part of the competition kicks off, he’ll be way outclassed.

Notable trouble fell on the younger females Wednesday night. Thia Megia aggressively crossed over the line from “elegant” to “boring,” delivering one of the most snooze-inducing renditions of “Smile” ever performed on stage. Her lack of a clear emotional connection to the song or audience compounded the problem, and insofar as her pitch was not even perfect this time, it made for a real letdown of a performance.

Frontrunner Lauren Alaina, meanwhile, set herself back a few places with a very ‘karaoke’ rendition of “Any Man of Mine.” She looked far prettier and classier than she did with last week’s trainwreck of an appearance, but the strides she made from a style standpoint were countered with backward paces from a vocal standpoint. She never really took control of the song, relying only on the appeal of her tone–her usually-appealing stage mannerisms also felt forced and insincere. This was a “good” karaoke performance, not a star’s performance, and it was one that definitely questioned whether Lauren, no matter how demographically-appealing and popular, can beat powerhouses like Casey and Pia as well as younger standouts like Scotty McCreery in this competition.

After emerging as a legitimate vocal talent last week, Karen Rodriguez set herself way back with a truly-boring, overly-restrained take on “I Could Fall in Love.” The notes were painful at times, and it was also disappointing to see the contestant, who had been playing on her Latina flare, stiffen up her look. This was a textbook “pageant performance” and one that certainly did not do wonders for a contestant who, despite killing it vocally in the semifinals, had already been accused of lacking excitement.

In terms of who will leave, Ashthon Jones and Karen Rodriguez appear to be likely candidates, as there levels of support had been suspect already. Thia certainly made no case to stay Wednesday night, so it will be interesting to see if voters decide her previous week’s show-stopper was enough to retain their support.

Haley and Naima are wildcards–they took risks and did not entirely succeed, but the uniqueness of each performance might have been enough to make an impression with voters. Scotty, Lauren, James, Pia, Casey, Jacob and Paul should all definitely be safe. Stefano should be as well, but insofar as someone so young female-skewing needed a wildcard selection to get through last week, one has to question the degree to which he is clicking.

Performance Rankings:
Casey Abrams
Pia Toscano
James Durbin
Jacob Lusk
Scotty McCreery
Paul McDonald
Lauren Alaina
Haley Reinhart
Stefano Langone
Naima Adedapo
Ashthon Jones
Thia Megia
Karen Rodriguez