From the second Ashthon, Karen, Thia, Naima, Pia and Paul hit the stage for an utterly-embarrassing rendition of P!nk’s “So What,” it was clear that “American Idol”‘s streak of incredible performance shows was going to end this week.
Sure enough, each of the remaining seven contestants failed to live up to his or her potential, with the only true highlight of the show coming courtesy the pre-performance video packages. Those segments, which featured each contestant essentially getting roasted by the other six competitors, worked wonders in showcasing the fun, likable personalities of this year’s Top 7.
Vocally, however, there was little to celebrate on-stage Wednseday night.
Yes, the show featured James Durbin’s show-stopping take on Muse’s “Uprising,” but even that performance fell a little short vocally. Carried by another phenomenal stage spectacle and some ridiculous notes by Durbin, the performance was easily the best of the night, but it was definitely not a technical masterpiece.
Granted, even the talented Muse lead singer Matthew Bellamy has struggled to nail the full spectrum of notes in live versions of the song, but for an “American Idol” performance, this was definitely a bit rawer than is usually-desired. Luckily, Durbin is so far ahead of the pack in terms of stage presence, confidence, energy and musical identity that he can derive a great performance from an unspectacular vocal.
Playing it safe
While James reaped the rewards of taking another risk on the “Idol” stage, Lauren Alaina and Scotty McCreery caught heat for playing it safe.
The two collectively represent one of the biggest question marks on “Idol” this year. Neither has ever taken the risk required to capture that “moment” normally required of “American Idol” winners, and Lauren, in particular, has caught some heat for coming across as “Kelly Clarkson lite” every time she tries to go the Diva route with a powerful, soulful vocal. Yet all indications are that, prior to Wednesday, the two were the top vote-getters (they, along with James, are the only remaining singers not to have landed in the bottom three). So, are the voters really clamoring for Scotty and Lauren to push themselves to the next level at risk of a colossal misfire?
More importantly, both seem to have a clear channel for their post-“Idol” careers. As Headline Planet noted long before she took the stage with “American Honey,” Lauren is best-served by portraying herself as a more-talented, more-youthful alternative to Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott. That path will definitely require some big ballads, but nothing will be on the scale of “Natural Woman” or “Think.” Scotty will clearly achieve success with laid-back, deep-voiced country, so why go nuts with a crazy risk on stage?
What is less contentious, however, is that both definitely could have done MORE with their performances Wednesday.
Lauren’s gorgeous voice definitely had some chances to shine on “Born to Fly,” but the song, on an overall basis, did not seem ideally-suited for her strengths. There were not enough big vocal moments to bring the entirety of focus to her voice, and she does not yet have the confidence or stage energy to really “sell” the overall performance. The result was a perfectly-acceptable, but far from groundbreaking performance for a contestant who is likely right on the cusp of achieving great things.
Scotty’s “Swingin’,” made for one of the oddest moments of the season. A very hokey song, it nonetheless played perfectly into his very cheesy gestures and made for a decently-fun opener to the show. Unfortunately, virtually nothing was accomplished in terms of cementing Scotty as a recording sensation in the making, and even less was accomplished in terms of showing even a hint of versatility in the performer’s talent.
On paper, if one read that the deep-voiced Scotty took on a song attribuetd to Leann Rimes, he would probably assume a big risk was involved. But he would be wrong. Ultimately, the song was structured very much like his usual predictable, unoffensive country performance. There was no departure whatsoever from Scotty’s comfort zone.
And, yet, as a song most-recently performed by a female with no lyrical connection to Scotty’s real life, it was definitely not the most exact fit from the 21st century. If Scotty were going to play it so safe, he should have at least selected a song that perfectly-gelled with his strengths as a performer. Instead, he simply went with a song he could perform reasonably well.
Is the emotion there?
Jacob Lusk has sung himself to tears at various points in this competition. When it comes to spilling one’s emotions and wearing one’s heart on his sleeves, Jacob has everybody on “American Idol” soundly beat.
Or does he? Despite his loaded portfolio of emotional performances, when it came time to deliver “Dance with My Father,” one that has true emotional resonance with his life, he felt considerably detached and absent. The vocal subtleties, character and story-telling was absent as he basically delivered the song in a single gear with a single volume. He, as always, sounded great, but he literally could have been singing any song with this vocal showing (or, as Randy Jackson might suggest, he could have simply been singing names from the phone book). A performance that should have optimized Jacob’s talents fell flat, and it produced a missed opportunity for securing membership in the frontrunner pack.
The technical issue with his ear monitor undoubtedly set him off pace, but as a professional, one has to plan for the worst–there is no merit to blaming that error for a weak performance. More importantly, even if he ended up going off-key, the performance still could have been salvaged with a nuanced display of emotion.
In what had to be a “rebuttal” to critics who continuously claim that “Idol” unfairly pimps certain contestants, the judges went way above what was realistic in praising Stefano Langone’s “Closer.” The performance was about as karaoke as it gets, with Stefano never truly taking control of the vocals and never truly capturing the energy needed to work the room. He showed a bit more movement than he is in past weeks, but the personality and authenticity was possibly at an all-time low for the singer.
The only reprieve from what absolutely appeared to be an “I’m going home this week” performance was the attention placed on Stefano being a “flirt,” which simultaneously put over his looks. Based on his frequent bottom three placement, Stefano has not yet captured the hearts of the millions of young female viewers, but if there were ever a time for him to win over that demographic, it will be this week. If, however, America holds him to a performance standard, Thursday’s results show could be a tough hour.
Expanding on the original
Fresh off their dominant “Moanin'” duet on last week’s results show, Haley Reinhart and Casey Abrams attempted to expand their momentum with contemporary pop songs. Both had decent success, although neither came across like a surefire pop star.
Undoubtedly uncovering an ideal musical path for her career, Reinhart selected Adele’s well-suited “Rolling in the Deep” for her performance. Yet while the performance clicked, in so many ways, with Haley’s unique, jazzy voice, it also exposed some shortcomings in her game. Save for an absolutely-tremendous vocal stretch in the middle of the song, Reinhart was largely offering a slightly-less-impressive version of the original, with particular struggle coming in the chorus. Performance-wise, she remains a poised, energetic performer, but she seemed to ignore Jimmy Iovine’s criticism by not capturing the anger and intensity of the song. She still seems content to smile and wave her arms, going for “presence” rather than “impact.” Haley undoubtedly proved she could hang with most of this season’s contestants, but she did not prove she is “owed” the opportunity to advance much deeper into the competition.
Casey Abrams’ take on “Harder to Breathe,” was a fun, albeit fairly-safe endeavor. It was great to see some edge delivered to a song that SHOULD have been great but was always hindered by the disconnect between its rocker spirit and the stylings of Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine, and Casey still knows how to work the stage with his quirky presence. The vocals, however, were not particularly-challenging or unique–he just sang the song with a bit more of a growl. He made it cool, he made it rock, but he did not truly make it a masterpiece.
Elimination Thoughts
The positive judge feedback might help him avoid absolute elimination, but it still seems unlikely that Stefano will be able to escape the bottom this week. Haley’s growing fanbase (which likely loves the fact that she chose an Adele song) might help her avoid elimination, but we also have not yet seen much evidence that she can rank as a top vote-getter. Jacob could also be in danger due to one of his weakest performances of the season. Scotty and James seem definitely safe, and while Lauren’s performance might typically signal “bottom three,” her fanbase has consistently been powerful enough to keep her out of harm’s way. Casey remains a wildcard.
Performance Rankings
1) James Durbin
2) Casey Abrams
3) Haley Reinhart
4) Lauren Alaina
5) Jacob Lusk
6) Scotty McCreery
7) Stefano Langone
Rankings averages after seven weeks
James Durbin – 2.4
Casey Abrams – 4
Jacob Lusk – 4.6
Haley Reinhart – 5
Lauren Alaina – 5.1
Scotty McCreery – 5.9
Stefano Langone – 6.9