4/18 AI 11 Performance Show: Top 7 Redux **West Coast Spoilers**

[sheesh]

Hollie: best performance ever on first song/back to ordinary on second song.
Phillip: best performance ever on first song/good enough on poor choice for second song.
Colton: I didn't like either song choice, but he performed okay.
Jessica: She's a little pro, but now a little lost. Second song got screamy -- a first for her.
Skylar: did well with first song, although not my fave/reverted to screamy on second song which she hadn't done in weeks.
Joshua: Joshua needs to sing spiritual songs ... that's his niche. Wish he'd dial back his wailing to about 90% max.
Elise: Girl is a great singer, but not a star. Defeatist/victim attitude, arguing against the input instead of receiving it like Colton did tonight.

• Philip poked his head out as a contender for the first time tonight, but pulled back on second song.
• I think Elise leaves, but more for her attitude than her great voice.

[MsDiva2007]

My faves tonite

Joshua
Jessica
Skylar
Phillip

hope going home Hollie or Elise

Please Note Hollie only Adele needs to sing Adele songs you don't have the chops for it. Just no.

[Arielflies]

Did you notice no *star* mentor tonight? I loved that it was just Jimmy and the singers. We got to see his critiques and their Aha! moments.

I'm voting for Elise because, other than loving her cafe singer vibe, in her dialogue with the judges, she said that she usually has six minutes to develop a song and it is difficult to do in 1.5 minutes. I would really like to see how she would have styled her second song if she had had more time with it.

While Jessica seemed to find her soul on her first song, she went screechy at the beginning of her second destroying any good will she had built with the first. Same with Skylar...in fact all of them had trouble interpreting the Motown songs while they all did well with the current songs. Off to vote.

ETA: The first half hour of voting in the western zones had more busy signals than calls going through for Elise. I switched to Phillip and didn't get through once. Isn't it when they start singing multiple songs that they provide us with multiple phone numbers?

[mesachick]

Round 1 - Phillip owned it! Jessica came in second for me. They were all pretty good. The only one I didn't particularly like was Joshua. I am really tired of Adele too. Please no more Adele songs.

Round 2 - Motown - I wasn't really impressed with any of them. Joshua did well, but if he didn't do well with that style of song I would have been surprised. Did not like Colton at all in this round. Elise - no one should sing that song but Marvin Gaye - ever. Skylar - you don't have to make every song country, didn't work for me. Didn't like Jessica either. Phillip did well, but not like he did in Round 1.

[Fanny Mare]

I liked Philip's second song. I love him without the guitar! he moved! - the first song not so much

Coltons first song was great, second song not so good

Elise, she seems too old for this lot.She should be on The Voice

Skylar, loved song number one.Her second song meh

Jessica, liked her first song, second song was awful

Joshua, he's okay he has a good voice, I just cant like it enough.

Hollie surprised me, I loved her version of Adele's song .It was darned good, I have heard worse, the second song was not as good

I think Elsie should go home, besides, her dog is sick and needs her as well.

[BerryCrazy]

I think Hollie did a great job vocally in the first round, but she didn't add anything to it though. The same with Joshua and Jessica. They all sang it like the original. I think Hayley did a better job of singing Rolling in the Deep last season. Phillip did better than usual. Elise and Skylar were okay. It wasn't the best week for Colton, but his performances overall during the whole competion have better than most of the others, in my opinion, had a lot of memorable performances, so I hope he stays on.

[Fanny Mare]

I think Hollie did a great job vocally in the first round, but she didn't add anything to it though. The same with Joshua and Jessica. They all sang it like the original. I think Hayley did a better job of singing Rolling in the Deep last season. Phillip did better than usual. Elise and Skylar were okay. It wasn't the best week for Colton, but his performances overall during the whole competion have better than most of others, in my opinion, had a lot of memorable performances, so I hope he stays on.

I hope he does- he has more to offer.

[liedenfrost]

April 18, 2012: The Top Seven (The Repeat)
(I was right. At the start, the girls were light years better than the boys. But in these final hours, it is the boys who own the Idol stage).

1. Phillip Phillips. Unheralded territory for this kid. The trouble here is that Phillip had his best performance ever with Usher’s You Got It Bad, and one of his worst with Wilson Pickett’s Midnight Hour, but the first was perfect; absolutely mesmerizing; pure magic; a bona fide top ten hit; so very reminiscent of John Mayer. It was so good, I had to bring him here. Midnight Hour, on the other hand, was awful; never found the heart of this song; was goofy; theatrical; and completely bereft of both R&B and soul. But give him his props; what he did with the first was pure genius. Good job Phillip, and welcome to the front of the line.
2. Joshua Ledet. It was definitely not the equal of the original but I still think his version of Fantasia’s wonderful I Believe was a magnificent performance. This kid is learning how to balance all that naturally occurring gospel runs with mellifluous melody, and I am honored to witness this transformation. Joshua is a wonderful gospel singer but must adapt to be successful in a contemporary music market. I call it the “hold and chase”; e.g. holding and manipulating a note longer than required, allowing the band to run ahead, then spitting lyrics to catch back the band; musicologists call it melisma; and when done right is breath-taking, but it is not a proper vehicle for all melodies and must be used selectively. I also enjoyed A Change Is Gonna Come. It, too, was beautifully measured with crescendo and powered through to the end. Tonight Joshua was a swiftly moving, underwater tsunami, coming at us from the deep. We knew it was coming but not when; and therein lies the mystery and excitement of the new Joshua Ledet. Each of these performances forced us to wait patiently for the dessert, and when it was served, I smiled and said, “Yeap! That’s my boy; that’s my Joshua”. Good job Joshua.
3. Colton Dixon. I expected the Jared Leto (30 Seconds to Mars) but he didn’t pick that. There was nothing wrong with what he did. It was fun; a pleasant and interesting performance, but lacking in both musical substance and artistry (I prefer Colton the artist). For the first time this season, he overplayed the part. Dude is handsome as is; he doesn’t need any help. What was up with all that face paint? That frilly, girly stuff dragging about the stage from his arms and legs? I don’t get it! Colton, dude, just….say…..no! Unlike the judges, I liked his interpretation of EWF’s September. It is not very dynamic and likely to be panned by the Idol judges, but this was a legitimate alternative rock creation; a classic mix of emo and post grunge, in the tradition of Goo Goo Dolls and Death Cab for Cutie. Like Rise Against, I am an audience of one, but I loved his version of this old school soul classic. I usually don't, but his was such a departure from the original, I never had to compare the two. Good job Colton.
4. Holly Cavanaugh. This was not the best vocal performance by a female, but was certainly the only two that were not muscled to death and over-cooked. Yes, we can argue technique, pipes, power, and pitch, but, what I find enjoyable and most watchable on prime time is a combination of pretty girls and pretty lyrics. Rolling in the Deep was pitch perfect, if not completely convincing. The only classic soul versions of Son of a Preacher Man belong to Aretha Franklin and Joss Stone, but this was neither. If present, I missed it; because I heard not a single element of classic soul anywhere in it. And I didn’t even care. This season brought us a bevy of power singers, belting balladeers, and booming pipes. All of them adept at musical adaptation, re-creation, and artistic liberty. These are good things for a prime time television screen, no doubt about it; but I don’t want a steady diet of just that; it gets boring. So I appreciate the musicality of a Holly Cavanaugh or a Colton Dixon (the artist, I mean). Their contributions are just as valuable and just as important as the power singers; for variety; for balance; for a welcome respite from melisma and vocal calisthenics; so I look forward to their performances as well, and I respect what they do just as much. I like her. She is one of my favorite singers, and I enjoy what she does. Good job Holly.
5. Skylar Laine. I didn’t like either one of these performances. Born This Way was a good pick for her; it fit. And this was good television; Skylar is always fun to watch; so endearing; so effervescent; so worthy of love; but this was not particularly well sung. The second performance was simply not a very good copy at all. So, I don’t know. But the judges loved both, so maybe die hard R&B purists like me hold her to a higher standard than warranted. She is a die hard country singer. I hope America disagrees with me. Skylar is definitely another of my favorite singers; one I look forward to seeing each week and the weeks after that.
6. Jessica Sanchez. Both of these performances were very well done; she out-sang the other girls but I don't think she understands yet how this game is played. In my mind, both these performances were muscled and over-cooked; way too many growls and death screams. And you can do that, so long as it’s a naturally occurring part of the song. Joshua does it too but within the flow of the music, but Elyse’s and Jessica’s are almost always forced. Some times it works; sometimes it doesn’t. Melisma, growling, and screaming without tone or melody simply does not work. It is the music that matters; everything else flows from that. Jessica is the best singer here but is not really a competition singer; hers is not a winning strategy. She’s been here for months, and while I appreciate her enormous talent and love listening to her; while I recognize her commercial potential; I still need to feel her heart beat. And I haven't. And I've not been able to bond with her either. So, I don't know. This is a tough one.
7. Elyse Testone. I know she looked good but don’t really remember the first song. It was what she did to Marvin Gay’s Lets Get It On that left me in shock. Randy’s right. This is a perfect composition; one of the very few in existence, it doesn’t need mending and it doesn’t need any help. There's simply no reason to rearrange and meddle with this melody. I don’t get it. It is impossible to better this composition. Oh, Elyse, why did you do that? It's simply not done. This performance will rattle and aggravate the hearts and souls of every Marvin Gaye fan, R&B purist, and R&B fan within earshot. Jeez, this did not look good on her, at all.

[Shoepie]

Jennifers critique to Holly on her first song was odd. She praised and scolded her in the same breath.

[yourefired]

Interesting, they are finally praising Hollie this week.

They know the trend. Praise them and they go home. He Jun got it. John Stevens got it. Jasmine Trias got it. Praise creates complacency and complacency creates lack of voting. Hollie was great. I'm sick of Adele being sung on shows like this but she sang it well. I'm on the Elise performance right now and nobody has done bad. Side note: <3 Colton!