Scotty McCreery, Haley Reinhart Deliver Highs and Lows on “American Idol”

Even though everything was righted when they gave her a standing ovation, Haley Reinhart seemed to have gotten an unfair shake on last week’s “American Idol” when the judges tore apart her first performance–relative to their usual “all is rosy” standard–despite the fact that it was not weak in comparison to her competition.

The mean-mugging of the judges did not make for her most endearing look, but it was hard to find too much fault with the contestant for her reaction.

This week, however, her heated argument with Randy Jackson, after he and J-Lo again felt underwhelmed by her opening performance, seemed more unlikable and less justified. Her “Earth Song” made for one of her worst performances since the opening weeks of the finals, and so breaking the rule of simply smiling and nodding at the judges’ remarks seemed inappropriate. There is a difference between feeling slighted and feeling as if one is untouchable, and Haley’s reaction to the comments on her shouty, disconnected Michael Jackson cover, which bordered on painful in the screaming middle, fell into the latter category.

Still, when push came to shove, even the possibility of judge bias could not hold Haley down in round two. Her “I Who Have Nothing,” part of the Leiber-Stoller theme, wowed the judges and America, scoring yet another standing ovation–and continuing her streak of being the only Top 4 finalist to receive such a reaction. Everything about the performance was honest, well-delivered and poignant; while it might not have reached the game-changing level of Jordin Sparks’ version in season six, and actually suffered in comparison to last week’s stronger “House of the Rising Sun,” it still topped everything else delivered Wednesday night.

More importantly, it gave Haley at least a chance of staying alive during a week in which it seemed like her competition was about to come to an end. If someone had said that the Final Four for this season was going to be James Durbin, Scotty McCreery, Lauren Alaina and Haley Reinhart at nearly any point in the competition, that same person likely would have said that the Final Three would be James, Scotty and Lauren. But between a tremendous second performance and a controversial first performance that likely motivated her fans (while, admittedly, turning off those who don’t like back-talk), it is at least possible she can keep in this thing.

That, of course, is not to say that the three favored contestants did not each do their parts to stay. While no one quite had a vocal moment like Haley’s “I Who Have Nothing,” the other contestants still managed to bring either very compelling performances or very taut “Idol” strategies to the table.

For James Durbin and Scotty McCreery, strategy was key. Durbin opened with a fairly run-of-the-mill version of “Don’t Stop Believin'” as his “inspirational song.” It definitely rose above the countless karaoke versions of the song from a vocal standpoint, but it was not the usual James performance–the vocals were fairly safe (he even went a bit low on the hook) and the engagement and movement definitely did not live up to his standard. Still, “Don’t Stop Believin'” is a song that seemingly never loses its ability to make people smile, and given James’ need to compete against two insanely-likeable teenagers and a female contestant who comes off like a “rebel” to the “Idol” machine, making people smile is pivotal to his survival ni this competition.

And it all seemed to align well with his show-closing “Love Potion No. 9,” which brought back the signature “James” that has been missing, frankly, since he stole the show with “Heavy Metal” way back on Movie Night. This was the James who is a world-class entertainer, the one who brought something new and fresh to “American Idol.” No, the vocals were nowhere near what Haley provided in that same second round, but the overall performance was even more exciting and thus nearly, if not equally, as memorable.

McCreery, meanwhile, selected one of the most ridiculously-perfect songs in “Idol” history for his inspirational number–Alan Jackson’s “Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning.” This is a song that would have worked with Scotty’s middle-America target no matter when he performed it, but to do it a week after the capture and death of Osama Bin Laden could not have been more appropriate. Better, for as strategic and calculated as the choice might have been, it also came across as sincere. The song meant something to Scotty beyond simply winning, and with that honesty came a true connection to his target audience. The vocals were not phenomenal and revealed that Scotty will not emerge as an Alan Jackson-level name in the short-term, but the delivery, authenticity and emotion were so pure that it, ultimately, did not matter.

His “Young Blood,” however, was something of a trainwreck. The whole thing was far too goofy, bringing back that “Jon Peter Lewis” vibe that has occasionally reared its head this season. The vocals, meanwhile, were just “there”–they were not horrible, but they never felt like a priority or focus of the performance. At the same time, being a goofy teenager has never hurt his appeal (and might even help it with teenage girls and their moms who think he’s cute), so it is not the kind of thing that should be looked at as a “competition killer” for Scotty. And, as a companion piece for the very heavy Alan Jackson song, it still made sense strategically.

And then there was Lauren Alaina, who delivered the vocal showing she needed on “Anyway.” Very predictable, this was not the unquestionably-strategic decision that James and Scotty made for their first choices, but predictable is not always the enemy of quality. And it definitely was not in this case–Lauren highlighted her tremendous tone and solid vocal range with a really strong vocal performance. Things got a bit off-track and uninspired at times–it was not better than the Martina McBride version–but it also proved that she’s in this for more than her cute interplay with Ryan Seacrest and her worry about singing lyrics like “I’m Evil.” This was a real “American Idol” performance that easily could have come from some of the big-name female winners from years past.

“Trouble,” her second performance and the one that featured that controversial “evil” line, started off with all the makings of the magical performances Carrie Underwood and Elliott Yamin had with the number. Lauren sounded sassy, confident and powerful at the open. Unfortunately, she and the producers went in the wrong direction with the arrangement, and it became far too uptempo and jumpy for Lauren to fully handle. There were still glimpses of strength, but her walk around the judges’ table just felt so flat and lifeless. Despite her nervousness, Lauren can be a tremendous performer if she keeps her movements to a small area on the stage. When she gets too excited about moving around, however, she often loses track of the vocals and audience connection–she gives the impression that her “movement” is everything.

Still, after being driven to tears by her placement in the bottom two last week, Lauren rebounded with some great work.

Elimination Thoughts:
This is, without question, the most competitive and unpredictable Top 4 since the epic season five battle between Taylor Hicks, Katharine McPhee, Chris Daughtry and Elliott Yamin. That week produced shocking results–thanks to underdog Yamin over-delivering, he and Hicks landed in the “safe” column, while Daughtry and McPhee ended up in the bottom two. Daughtry, viewed as the only real threat to Hicks’ presumed victory at that point in the competition, waved goodbye.

Given how the performances broke down, anything is again possible for the Top 4 in season ten. Conventional wisdom would say Haley Reinhart is leaving, but contestants don’t often leave after delivering “performances of the night” that garner standing ovations from the judges. Lauren Alaina’s fanbase came into question with her bottom two appearance last week, but she stepped it up this time and hopefully convinced her fans to push their texting to the limit. Scotty McCreery seems like the clear frontrunner and delivered a strategically-perfect performance with his first number, but in such a tightly-contested competition, will he be able to avoid the complacency factor? James Durbin never gets bad reviews from the judges, seems very popular and had a decent night, but he also has fallen off his “every performance is a ‘moment'” streak from earlier this season.

Performance Rankings:
Round One:
Scotty McCreery
Lauren Alaina
James Durbin
Haley Reinhart

Round Two:
Haley Reinhart
James Durbin
Lauren Alaina
Scotty McCreery

Overall:
Literally a four-way tie; over both performances, all four contestants average to the exact same ranking

Cumulative Rankings after Twelve Solo Performances
James Durbin – 2.6
Haley Reinhart – 4
Lauren Alaina – 4
Scotty McCreery – 4.3