Lauren Alaina Impresses, Pia Toscano Underwhelms on “American Idol”

Two weeks ago, “middle of the road” contestant Stefano Langone shocked “American Idol” viewers by delivering the performance of the night, topping even favorites like Pia Toscano and James Durbin. Since then, while he has not been utterly terrible, he has definitely fallen back under the shadow of some of the more dominant contestants.

Will that same thing hold true for Haley Reinhart? Though not quite as perfect as the judges led viewers to suggest, her Elton John night take on “Bennie and the Jets” was tremendous, with the song finally providing her an avenue to appropriately show off her very unique vocal style. No one has doubted the soulfulness and soultriness of her growls and yodels, but a consistent criticism for Haley has been her desire to “force” them onto songs. No one can make that case about Wednesday’s performance.

The arm waves and movements were a bit cheesy at times, but they also showed off a fun, engaging performer who possesses an infectious energy. She was not awkwardly trying to be sexy or edgy (as she has in the past), she was just performing the hell out of a song.

Working the room
As for Stefano Langone, his version of “Tiny Dancer” was fine vocally, but he seemed to get completely lost in the song. His exaggeraged facials did not particularly mesh with the vocal delivery, and while it was nice to see him moving a bit, the movements seemed to restrained and uncomfortable. It was as if Stefano were practicing a performance in front of a mirror rather than singing for a live theatre with millions of viewers watching at home. And, returning to the subject of the vocals, while they were good, there was nothing particularly groundbreaking.

James Durbin delivered the opposite performance. He, again, owned the stage, providing viewers with a rousing rendition of “Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting).” The vocals were solid (though not extraordinary) but the energy and “show” he put forth on stage was truly delightful. This was a seasoned professional’s performance, not a “fun” “Idol” performance, and Durbin remains a true pleasure to watch. Going forward, however, he will have to be mindful of coming across as redundant (or, worse, as masking vocal shortcomings with his performance tricks). For as good as a performance like “Saturday Night” and “Living for the City” can be, there is also value in a “Maybe I’m Amazed.”

Is it redundant or consistent?
Redundancy has, however, beyond come into play for Pia Toscano. Despite strongly implying she would deliver something uptempo if she remained in the competition, she returned with “Idol” ballad of choice “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me.” The vocals were strong, but everything that made Randy Jackson and others ask her to try something fresh (the safeness, the lack of engagement) was still present. This song has been magical for “Idol” contestants who had far less talent and likability than Pia. For Pia, it was just a good performance.

Of course, people will then turn around and question why someone like Scotty McCreery is consistently praised for staying with a very tight country lane. For starters, no one is truly jumping up and down over his “Country Comfort.” More importantly, while his performances are very similar week-to-week, they also come across as far more honest and unique. Pia’s redundancy comes down to the fact that she just sings random ballads for which she has a limited engagement. Scotty, however, constantly injects a youthful charm and legitimate country persona into his words. He feels the songs and, more importantly, seems to be growing each week in terms of being a singer rather than a kid with a good voice.

Also relevant is the strategic element. Pia is making it clear that she WANTS to wow viewers, and she has not done that in a few weeks. Scotty’s goal is to give his country, down home fanbase something genuine each week. If he had positioned himself as someone who needs to vocally-slay a performance in order to succeed, then harsher criticism would be warranted.

Pia is clearly a better singer than Scotty. But, right now, Scotty is a better “American Idol” contestant. (This is not to say Pia’s not a “good” contestant–as an attractive, confident, mainstream female, she pretty much appeals to everyone)

Escaping the overrated claim
Lauren Alaina, Scotty’s pseudo-competitor in the youthful country space, garnered tremendous praise for her “Candle in the Wind.” As Jimmy Iovine correctly noted, her tone and accent gelled perfectly with the song. Steven Tyler’s over-used “beautiful” would indeed apply to much of the performance; it was simply stunning. A raw, honest, glorious take on a very well-known song. Though a criticism about her diction is valid–there were definitely lines that just seemed ‘smushed’ together–it would be hard to argue Lauren is “overrated” after this performance.

People will, however, claim Jacob Lusk is overrated after his “Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word.” As with many of his most-polarizing performances, Jacob went too far with the dramatics in the second half, which made any otherwise-impressive notes come across as flat and uninteresting. There were, as always, glimpses of Jacob’s legitimately-amazing voice, but the well-crafted story he told with his performance last week was lacking this time.

Prior to his elimination last week (which the judges nullified), the overrated claim was also being waged against Casey Abrams. Many felt he relied too much on his unique look and vocal tricks to escape the fact that he is a fairly-mediocre singer and performer. Knowing he needed to make an impact and prove those people wrong, Casey cleaned up his look and delivered a very honest, restrained rendition of “Your Song.” The rasp that worked for him early in the show was still present, but he ultimately tried to come across as a good singer rather than as an in-your-face “artist.” It worked.

The vocals were not flawless throughout, but when Casey built towards the high points of the song, he did so in a big way. The tune may change fast if someone in the beloved Pia-Jacob-James-Scotty-Lauren group falls victim to an elimination in the next week or two, but for now, it is clear the judges made the right call by saving Casey Abrams.

Markedly less successful was Paul McDonald, who was in full “James Blunt mode” on a soft rendition of “Rocket Man.” Paul seemed to be struggling with the song throughout, never showing much in the way of vocal strength and never ringing a consistent emotional or storyline chord. Nothing occurred that would have changed his fans’ opinion of his talent and viability in the competition, but this will again be chalked up under the “don’t get it” column by those who have not yet been convinced. No new believers were made.

It is not working out
Naima Adedapo needs to go. In a bizarre, somewhat offensive move, she turned “I’m Still Standing” into a reggae song with a faux-Jamaican accent (ie, I’m Steel Stahndin). As bad and unfitting as this performance was, it at least could have been justified had Naomi previously-established herself as a true reggae performer with an unequivocally-Jamaican approach to music. Instead, she again deviated from any sense of artist and character she has developed and created this totally fake, dishonest “character” on stage. This wasn’t Naima “making the song her own.” This was Naima making the song–and herself–into something it is not and never should be.

Thia Megia gave her most controlled and most honest performance of the finals with “Daniel,” but in showing such improvement from prior weeks, she only further hammered home the reality that she does not belong. A “good performance” for Thia was still far more boring and vocally-unimpressive than mediocre performances from the show’s serious contenders. While the cute, charming female is very likable, she does not deserve to advance at the expense of the other talent in this competition.

Elimination thoughts
Because the judges used their save on Casey Abrams last week, two contestants will be sent packing. It would be a true shock if Naima Adedapo is “still standing” after this week’s atrocious showing, but the second elimination is a bit more of a toss-up. Both Thia and Stefano seem to be the most likely candidates for joining that bottom group, but as both were in the bottom three last week and recepients of judge praise Wednesday, they could end up benefiting from some fan-spurred momentum. Paul has never been in the bottom group, and the newfound charisma he has been showing should only make his fanbase more engaged, but he has also never had a performance as uneventful as “Rocket Man.”

Performance Rankings
1) Haley Reinhart
2) Lauren Alaina
3) James Durbin
4) Casey Abrams
5) Scotty McCreery
6) Pia Toscano
7) Jacob Lusk
8) Thia Megia
9) Stefano Langone
10) Paul McDonald
11) Naima Adedapo

Rankings Average After 4 Weeks
James Durbin 3
Jacob Lusk 4.25
Pia Toscano 4.5
Scotty McCreery 5
Lauren Alaina 5
Casey Abrams 5.25
Haley Reinhart 6
Paul McDonald 6.5
Stefano Langone 7.5
Thia Megia 9.75
Naima Adedapo 10.25