It’s Tuesday! That means… American Idol? Glad I checked TV Guide! It was boys/mens night tonight, so we got a full night of tenors and basses en route to the top 12. Recap starting… NOW!
Clint Jun Gamboa – Up first was everyone’s favorite karaoke host covering “Superstitious.” While I haven’t been a huge fan of him personally, he really sounded great tonight and displayed more range than in previous performances. Great energy too!
Jovany Barreto – Following up the spirited performance by the karaoke host was a performance of “I’ll Be” that sounded strangely like… karaoke (I swear I wrote it before Randy said it). It was cheesy, dull, and barely on pitch. Jaycee or Chris Medina could have easily taken his spot in the Top 24.
Jordan Dorsey – In maybe one of the oddest song choices I’ve seen on Idol, his performance of Usher’s “Oh My God” was equal parts strange and fun. Unfortunately, it wasn’t particularly good (which is important). I’ll give him points for having a great time with it though, and it was nice to see something a little more edgy on Idol. I thought it was odd that Randy Jackson dumped Barreto for playing it safe, and then Dorsey for going out of his comfort zone. Pick a side man!
Tim Halparin – Tim sang “Streetcorner Symphony” by Rob Thomas, a song that I had never heard before but that sounded like every other Rob Thomas song. It was a decent performance of a song that just didn’t have much range to it. These kind of straight pop songs don’t generally go over well on Idol, and that was the case here tonight. He does sing expressively, which earns him some points with this Idol judge.
Brett Loewenstern – Maybe I am too much a fan of the Doors, but it was hard to see a classic song like that performed in this context. His hair looks a lot like my wife’s hair too. It was all just really confusing for me.
James Durbin – The Doors… and now Judas Priest?? What show am I watching? Is this Rock Star INXS? James Durbin has come to rock every week and this was no different. I’ve always thought that his biggest hurdle would be distinguishing himself from Adam Lambert, and doing a Judas Priest song does just that. Great work James!
Robbie Rosen – Robbie has a great voice, but singing Sarah Mclachlan was just not a solid decision. He struggled with the pitch, barely established the melody, and the arrangement just seemed off. It just wasn’t for me. Side note – Jennifer Lopez critiquing Sarah Mclachlan’s arrangement of the song made me wonder what Sarah would think of J-Lo’s hit… uh… um… what was that one hit she had? Yeah, right…
Scott McCreery – Of all the singers on the show, Scott McCreery is the most likely to find a career after Idol. The country music scene will eat him up. Just wait.
Stefano Langone – Stefano, Stefano, Stefano… how many songs has the Bruno Mars hit “Just the Way You Are” been performed on Idol this season? It was one time too many, simply not a great performance to me. Mr. Langone sings well and has strong range, but he struggled with hitting the high notes tonight. He did sell it well emotionally though. This performance may get him through this week, but he is really going to need to step it up to stay in the competition.
Paul McDonald – Performing Rod Stewart’s “Maggie May” made one thing abundantly clear – Paul McDonald is meant to front a Rod Stewart cover band. I don’t think he’ll stand a chance in the competition, so he should go all out and cover Rod every week. I’d vote for that!
Jacob Lusk – There were very few real displays of vocal talent tonight, but Jacob Lusk brought one of them. I love his soulful gospel style, and it appears the ladies do too. He would have been dynamite in the R&B explosion of the 90s, and he deserves a shot at stardom now. It’s performances like this that make me critical of the other performers – that was real vocal talent on display and he blew away the competition tonight.
Casey Abrams – Casey Abrams in the house! “I Put a Spell On You” was an awesome choice for his pipes. What more can really be said? He is consistently a top rate performer and tonight was no different. That man can sing.
All in all a decent show tonight, the separation between the top performers and the rest is very evident. My top three from tonight – Casey Abrams, James Durbin, and Jacob Lusk. There were other solid performances, but they were tops. We’ll see how the girls measure up tomorrow!
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