Rosado's Recaps-American Idol - The Cultute of Pop, DVD, Movie, TV, Pop Culture Review

Rosado's Recaps-American Idol

Posted: Fri, 18 Feb 2011 14:40:43 PST

SEASON 10, EPISODE 10

When last we left American Idol: 100 very nervous, drained hopefuls thankful to have survived phase one of Hollywood week take on the solo section of the competition...let the recap begin.

Haley Reinhart, Milwaukee, WI- Despite a very poor performance on group day, she brings it to the table with God Bless The Child. “We almost sent her home yesterday,” Jennifer whispers to Steven.

Ashton Jones, Nashville, TN- Thrilling version of I'm Telling You I'm Not.Going that sounds like a brand new song and she's beautiful, too. One to keep an eye on.

Thia Megia-Ah, my cute little teeny bopper fave California. Cool version of Wonderful World...Very impressive with nice variations on the notes, too.

Clint Gamboa-Boo, he was mean to Jacee! But let's see if the ego can survive the solo trip, and he does...I think he's a little over the top with Georgia On My Mind, but what the hey...those glasses must have hypnotic powers. Kendra Chantelle isn't bad...I like her kind of Georgia (On My Mind). Sophia Sohia offers another take on the Ray Charles standard, and hers may be the best of the three I've heard tonight...and love those bangs!

Up next, another repeat play set of auditions as Chris Medina and Carson Higgins tackle My Prerogative. The latter does a more traditional take...although rough around the edges, Carson's adorable quirkiness works. Medina's acoustic take isn't as entertaining, but his voice remains impressive.

A series of instrument wielding hopefuls displayed wonderful agility including Julie Zorella, Colton Dixon and Robbie Rosen quite comfortable on keyboards, while Caleb Hawley, Brett Lowerstein, and Robbie Rosen picking their six strings effectively.

But with all due respect, their efforts paled in comparison thanks to Casey Abrams who made a gutsy move to tote a stand up bass (with no frets, by the way) on stage; an instrument that's tricky to maneuver much less sing and play at the same time. But for Casey, it was a piece of cake as he glided soulfully on the most original take on Georgia On My Mind I've ever heard...and our resident 4, 5, 6 and 12 string bass playing judge was over the moon as you can imagine. Onward, dude!

But just as it seemed this was gonna be a perfect day, Jacqueline (the way cute blonde who had to say goodbye to her fiancee who got booted last week) took ill and had to leave the competition mere seconds after she took the stage, devastating her friend Chelsee, with whom she shared a special bond, becoming fast friends...and now Chelsee has to take the stage after this (not to mention her ex-boyfriend still on her mind after his disastrous performance the day before)...and her performance reflected this.

Lauren Alaina, the down home Georgia girl who got a big boost of singing I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing in Nashville looks beautiful and sounds even better than her audition at the Opry. Jacob Lusk was next, and I think we have a potential top 2 finalist here already...he's got a great acrobatic voice that doesn't sound showy, with a gospel tinged tone and delivery that brings to mind legends like Al Green and Otis Redding....One we MUST watch (and he gave it everything he had as judging from those tears he shed in the lobby...what a moment...maybe the Idol moment of the year so far.

Quick takes on other hopefuls:

John Wayne Schultz-Smooth country boy voice from TX.....Big potential.

Ashley Sullivan-So happy at first, but her come those breakdown nerves again with blown lyrics following. Still, she exudes such personality and sounds wonderful when she gets the words right...

Stefano Langone-Sir Duke is fine vocally, but he's all over the place stage wise...

Jovanny Barreto-Not bad....

Jacee Badeaux-Smooth, tender and sweet...I love this kid.

Now for the funniest moments of the night: Scott McCreery and Tatnisa Watson both blow the words to Lee Anne Womack's I Hope You Dance....badly...Scott's vocal are so jumbled and fakey, we have to have subtitles...and then I get the giggles thinking, hey, this is just like the jive sequence of Airplane!

But at least Scotty stayed on key...Not a good way to end the day.

Then Steven and J-Lo depart with Randy for their first ever experiences of delivering good and bad news to four sets of contestants..In the unlucky rooms, faves like Chelsee, Mark, Brielle and Corey fell, while in the thumbs up confines, Jacee, James, Robbie, Ashley, Brett, Carson, Scotty, Julie and 42 others will see their potential dream come true continue on the road in Las Vegas as the hopefuls take to the LOVE stage, home of the now-classic musical spotlighting the music of The Beatles..

...and you TCOP readers know how seriously I take Beatles cover versions...I may even watch with my hair brushed back, white t-shirt on and arms crossed.

Sound like someone we once knew who's “Factor”-ing in a new series for FOX?

-J.R.