Thursday’s results show will speak volumes about how important early performances are in securing one’s status as an “American Idol” frontrunner.
Following a top eleven performance show in which nearly all contestants received positive feedback from the judges–a call for Stefano Langone to better connect with the song probably ranked as the most negative feedback of the night, with a note that this was not Scotty McCreery’s best vocal performance to date ranking as a close second–no contestant appears to be an obvious candidate for a trip home.
Particularly notable is the fact that Haley Reinhart and Naima Adedapo, two contestants who have already experienced the “Idol” bottom three and some judge softness, received glowing feedback from the judges. Randy Jackson gave his textbook criticism about Haley starting rough on “You Really Got a Hold on Me,” but all three judges ultimately praised the soulful quality of her voice, with J-Lo in particular raving about Haley’s talent in comparison to the show’s other females.
The judges also loved Naima Adedapo’s take on “Dancing in the Streets,” which included an African-inspired dance segment.
Thia Megia, who had been criticized for her previous two finals performances, was not showered with praise Wednesday night. She did, however, receive credit for finally showing some personality and stage presence on “Heat Wave,” which certainly read like positive, “please vote for her because she’s growing” feedback from the judging panel.
Given Thia’s previous limitations, she seemed as likely as Haley and Naima to be in danger going into Wednesday’s show. But with all three receiving positive marks, will the “expected” contestants indeed be the bottom vote-getters?
Perhaps. Limiting the impact of the rave reviews for the aforementioned three females is the fact that most of the obvious frontrunners (think Jacob Lusk, Casey Abrams, Lauren Alaina, James Durbin) received glowing feedback as well. The judges were comparatively soft on Langone, McCreery and Pia Toscano, but the latter two would not conceivably be in danger. Langone’s situation is undetermined–the fact that he needed a wildcard selection to get into the finals suggests a fairly-soft fan reaction, but many feel he emerged as a contender with the performance of the night last week. Paul McDonald received above average marks and has also avoided the bottom three so far, but he very much comes across like an unpredictable wildcard in this “Idol” mix–the type of contestant who could advance to the top three as easily as he could be suddenly eliminated in the next week or two.
Headline Planet’s full recap and analysis, including cumulative rankings after three weeks of finals, is due Thursday morning.