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

Rosado's Recaps-American Idol

Posted: Thu, 19 May 2011 1:02:12 PDT

Week Of May 19^th, 2011

 

After a real let down of a top three last season, and despite the premature losses of Pia Toscano, James Durbin, and Paul McDonald, I must admit I'm a happy camper with this season's Top Three contenders. On a par with Season Eight's all male trio of Danny Gokey, Adam Lambert and Kris Allen, I also think this is the most likeable threesome since Season Five's Taylor Hicks, Katherine McPhee and Elliot Yamin....

...and so begins my next to last blog on Season 10 of American Idol. Warts, controversies and all, it's been a heck of a season. But let's not get too sentimental and teary eyed just yet; we've still got a whale of a competition going down...and that my friends, is an understatement.

If you listened to my podcast recap with Dana Weiss (Possessionista.com) last week, you'll recall that I said Haley Reinhart's remarkable turnaround after an awful start last week signified a potential late in the competition game changer, but it would take three killer performances from her this week to fully complete this mission...and did she ever kill.

For starters, she made the daring choice to cover a deep cut Led Zeppelin track from the band's legendary Led Zeppelin II album: What Is And What Should Never Be, a cut that covered the full range of front man Robert Plant's amazing voice going from tender coos to bone chilling wails.

In a moment worthy of the departed James Durbin, Haley more than delivered the goods in her best performance to date. Making the moment even more special? Her father playing lead guitar alongside which made for super television.

Naturally, even if Haley delivered a note perfect rendition of say, Whole Lotta' Love for her second effort (all three finalists had a trio of songs to deliver), it still would have been anti-climatic...and so it was with her Jimmy Iovine picked track of Rhiannon from Fleetwood Mac (sung by his former flame Stevie Nicks). Although it lacked originality, at least Haley kept it faithful until the end where she put some of herself into it.

But what really cemented Haley as the winner of the night for me, was her near perfect take on the powerful Alannis Morrisette track, You Oughta Know. Yeah, some of her lyrics were a little off the mark, but you try singing this song with the type of intensity it requires while keeping the words straight....and I've heard much worse butchering in previous seasons.

Taking into consideration her knack for inconsistency, this was a triumph of a night for Haley, and if she doesn't make the top two, it would be just as tragic as America not getting it right with Pia and James.

If I remember another of my comments on last week's podcast correctly, I said I'd love to see the first all female finale in Idol history...and given Lauren Alaina matching Haley in the three for three department last night, it could very well happen.

Like Reinhart, Lauren chose a near-forgotten Faith Hill gem of Wild One and sang the everlovin' bejeezus out of it for her first turn out of the batter's box. Then for song number two, she brought the house down yet again with the Iovine picked If I Die Young from recent Academy Of Country Music winners The Band Perry, despite losing her way toward the end, but recovering like an old pro (in much the same fashion Haley did after tripping during her first performance).

Capping off a flawless night for Lauren? A stunning take on LeeAnn Womack's I Hope You Dance which the Georgia girl took to unsurpassed vocal levels, especially during verse two and the final chorus with neat little runs and powerful high notes. A wonderful time to showcase growth and maturity, and hopefully that devoted army of fans will carry her into the top two.

Now, for Scotty (McCreery) and his body...Like I've said from like the first two to three weeks of the season, this kid's a natural born country singer. He hasn't needed this show from the start, and at the midway point, you regulars know he was really trying my patience with the mugs and such. But in a big surprise, he's really toned it down and made me like him again. However, I thought he only completely nailed one out of his three appearances yesterday.

Nit picks out of the way first: Amazed by Lone Star needs to be delivered full throttle emotionally, and that includes those high notes..but like Lauren did with Unchained Melody a couple of weeks ago, he opted for safety. Not a good thing to settle for on the verge of the final two. Secondly, I feel Scotty's a little too young to feel the lyrics of a song called She Believes In Me (the Kenny Rogers late 1970's country crossover smash); it wasn't a bad performance, but this tune requires the emotions of a man who's gone thru the bar band routine, being forced to leave his lady at home.

However, my fave performance of the night from Scotty via Thompson Square's Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not brings home in spades why America adores this former Lowe's worker to pieces. Effortlessly delivered, natural, playful, a good sense of who he is as an artist and indicative of the type of material he needs to anchor his career.

So, is it still anybody's game to you? All female finale? Scotty and Lauren? Scotty and Haley?

Have your say via the social network buttons above...and talk to you Friday morn with Dana Weiss on our post Idol Results Night podcast...

 

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