We are down to three contestants on American Idol, and each performed three songs.  Beyonce was there to coach ’em up, and the usual corporate sponsorships were there to remind us what Idol is all about.  Oh and by the way, James Durbin wasn’t there, and as a result the show was a whole lot less interesting.  Sad face.  I really do look at this top 3 and wonder how we got here with this final 3.  Not that they are bad by any stretch, but I never would have thought any of them were the class of the competition vocally.  But, kudos to each of them for improving throughout the competition.

Now, how did they do tonight?

Scotty Mcreery – Scotty got the night started with country cheese in the form of Lonestar’s hit “Amazed.”  Just think – Scotty was probably about 4 when that song came out, it’s a golden oldie for him!  Anyway, the performance was nice and Scotty showed his range.  His second performance was of some generic country song that I had never heard before.  Much like Lauren’s first performance of the night, it came and went.  For the judges pick, Scotty had to sing some Kenny Rogers.  The judges plotted against Scotty by making him sing a chorus where he had to actually hold long notes, and well, he showed them by actually doing it!   In the end, the performance wasn’t great because the song wasn’t a “Scotty song,” but hey I’m just glad he nailed the notes.  Kid is a shoe in for the finals.

Lauren Alaina – Lauren first sang some fun, upbeat Faith Hill.  Honestly?  I changed the channel.  Lauren is capable of really great vocals, but this was just safe and boring.  Her second song, chosen by Jimmy Iovine, was much more interesting.  Lauren loves to do country and she does it well, but she is capable of doing much more than that as evidenced by this performance.  It was an emotional and touching performance, there were problems but I was just glad to hear her do something that wasn’t country.  Her final song was “I Hope You Dance” and Lauren sang it as well as she does any big country ballad.  She has such a big voice for a 16 year old, I just hope that her managers don’t continue to turn her into Carrie Underwood part 2 though, because she deserves better.

Haley Reinhardt – Haley was the first to actually pull out an interesting song choice by singing Led Zeppelin’s “What Is And What Should Never Be,” and she did a really solid job with a really tough song!  Her father performed with her on electric guitar, providing a nice touch to an already hopping performance.  Her second song was another Jimmy Iovine special, and it was a Fleetwood Mac track that was far too boring for Haley.  If I didn’t know better I’d think he was trying to help her lose.  She did the best she could with the material, though.  I was glad to see the Jimmy round of songs go, as the only one that was really strong was Lauren’s.  Haley got the best judges’ pick of the night though, performing the Alanis Morissette hit “You Oughta Know.”  This might have been the most heavily censored song in Idol history, but it also might have been Haley’s best performance.  Great choice by the judges!

It is hard to say who will be in the final.  I think Scotty has punched his ticket by default, even though he probably had the weakest performances of the night.  I’d like to see Haley make it just so we don’t have a stale country final, but America will pick what America wants!

Related – American Idol James Durbin Heads Home

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