Thoughts on the night:
- Naima Adedapo (1984) sang "What's Love Got to Do With It" by Tina Turner. There were some moments throughout the song that weren't vocally ideal. However, I did enjoy the overall performance. She has such great spirit. (I was going to say that the song choice was dated, but realized that was obvious...)
- Paul McDonald (1984) selected Elton John's "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues." Was it just me or was the song always half a beat ahead of Paul? His voice was more hoarse than in past weeks. I'll attribute that to his sinus issues. The pitch problems were all on him though. As Randy Jackson said, he successfully made the song his own.
- Thia Megia was born in 1995 and chose one of the bigger Disney songs from my childhood -- "Colors of the Wind" by Vanessa Williams from "Pocahontas." Although I wouldn't have recommended that song choice, her vocal abilities secured her position. She has superb control of her voice. Great song, but worst song choice of the night. To be fair, there weren't a ton of great songs that year.
- James Durbin (1989) rocked out to Bon Jovi's "I'll Be There For You." Even though I still think of Adam Lambert, I must admit that James can work the stage and audience. This is one of my favorite Jon Bon Jovi songs and I enjoyed this performance a lot.
- Haley Reinhart's (1990) choice of Whitney Houston's "I'm Your Baby Tonight" was decent, but her performance was nowhere near decent. Her voice is highly irritating to me. I wasn't impressed. Enough said.
- Stefano Langone (1989) sang "If You Don't Know Me by Now" and... wow. You can feel his feelings when he sings. The quality and control of his voice also shine throughout his performance. Randy Jackson called it the best performance of the night.
- Pia Toscano was born the same year as me (1988). She sang Whitney Houston's "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" and highlighted her ability to continue improving. Well, can you really improve when you're already so talented? I did think it was a very dated version of the song. This was my favorite female vocal of the night.
- Scotty McCreery (1993), Idol's resident country crooner, sang Travis Tritt's "Can I Trust You With My Heart." He's a true country singer with the ability of some of the great legends of my birth city. My question: is it enough? I enjoyed his performance, but feel like I want something more. Like Randy said, I want him to take more risks. Throw in some Brad Paisley and even some Elvis Presley...
- Karen Rodriguez (1989) chose to sing Taylor Dayne's "Love Will Lead You Back." Sadly, my first question is.... What was she wearing? Aside from the outfit, the performance sucked. That's it. It didn't start off (or end) well and didn't improve until she started sing in Spanish.
- Casey Abrams' (1991) performance of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was risky. It wasn't the best, but it was still great. It is one of the only Nirvana songs I know the words to. Casey deserves major credit for doing his own thing and doing it well.
- Lauren Alaina sang 1994's "I'm the Only One" by Melissa Etheridge. I love this song and love what Lauren did with it. Even though she has the flu, Lauren did a fantastic job.
- Jacob Lusk is only a year older than me? For some reason, I assumed he was older. Interesting. He sang Heart's "Alone." I really like this song and appreciate that Jacob attempted to go places with it. However, there were some really shaky moments littered throughout the song.
Favorites of the night: Pia Toscano, Stefano Langone, and James Durbin
Worst of the night: Haley Reinhart. I wasn't that pleased with Karen either.
Worst of the night: Haley Reinhart. I wasn't that pleased with Karen either.
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