American Idol, Episode 24: "Top 7 Perform"
Oh Idol. You do one thing right and then you do everything else wrong. I'm all for a night with no ballads, but not when every song performed is one that has been heard a billion times on Idol before. Seriously. Rock and roll still exists. Why not sing a song that is current. Sorry, Angie, Evanescence doesn't count. Good try though. That being said, there were some great performances last night and only one trainwreck. Three guesses as to which that was, but you should only need one.
Burnell Taylor opened the show with Bon Jovi's "You Give Love a Bad Name." You could tell right away that Burnell is not a rock singer. The whole performance was super awkward. Burnell tried to dance, kind of, and it made me super uncomfortable. I, and others, have talked about Burnell's awesome tone, but it really didn't work with this song. I'm not sure what Nicki was smoking with all the gushing, but I was on team Keith. This was nnot a great performance, also, with Burnell being first, if the pity votes for Lazaro keep rolling in, Burnell may be in trouble.
More duets and trios this week, y'all. I mean, because they were all so good last week. Lazaro and Angie were up first. They did terrible things to "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" by Queen. Angie sounded OK, but Lazaro was just horrendous. He still didn't really know the words, the dancing was awful. Just like I am running out of good things to say about Candice, I'm running out of ways to disparage Lazaro.
Kree Harrison came to the stage next peforming Janis Joplin's "Piece of My Heart." Now, listen, y'all know I love Kree. She has a gorgeous voice and typically gives amazing performances. Tonight's vocal was on par with her previous efforts, but I was very disappointed in her song choice. Kree had the opportunity to really show a different side of herself, but instead she went with a tired choice that had been covered by Faith Hill. So, she basically did a country song on rock week. I'm not saying that Kree deserves to go home for this, or even be in the bottom two or three, but come on Kree! You're better than this song choice.
Burnell joined Candice for The Box Tops' "The Letter." Candice owned this performance. Seriously, poor Burnell didn't stand a chance. He held his own, but you can't beat Candice. She shines and she just demands the spotlight. She wasn't trying to outshine Burnell, it just happens.
Janelle Arthur tackled Billy Joel's "You May Be Right." Janell really had been doing good things the past couple of weeks. Unfortunately, the streak ended tonight. This reminded me her rendition of "Gone." Janelle has a problem with uptempo songs. They are always rough for her. It seems really manic and her vocals suffer. This was not great. It seemed like something I would see at the Iowa State Fair. Janelle may be in some trouble tonight.
Lazaro Arbos. Queen's "We Are the Champions." I'm just goingo to directly quote my notes here.
"Terrible. Freddie Mercury is rolling in his grave. So shiny and sweaty. Kind of warbles when he holds out a not. Super awkward." 'Nuff said.
Janelle, Amber, and Kree joined forces for "It's Still Rock and Roll To Me." I'm not sure what the judges were smoking, but this was only marginally better than the boys trio from last week. It was as tore up as Amber's jeans. Sorry, Dawg.
Candice Glover showed her rock grrrl side with The Rolling Stones' seminal classic (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction." This was not my favorite Candice performance, but it was still damn good. Candice was the only one of the Idols that showed any sort of rocker attitude. I loved the way she stomped the stage, well as much as she could with a hurt toe, and her growls. Candice needs a song with a little more melody to really do her stuff, but this was another top notch showing.
Amber Holcomb continues her role as this season's dark horse contestant. She destroyed her cover of Heart's "What About Love?" I mean, it is, technically, a ballad, but I'm willing to let that one go, especially since Amber sang the damn song!! The only thing that is stopping Amber from reaching Canidce levels of awesomeness is experience. Candice has more experience than Amber, so she is able to nuance a song and make it her own in a way that Amber can't quite yet. It was by far the best performance of the night. Hands. Down.
Oh Angie Miller. You started your performance of Evanescence's "Bring Me to Life" at the piano and I was excited. Finally, Angie is back where she belongs, behind the piano. There is nothing wrong with performing songs behind a piano. I mean, Elton John, Billy Joel, and Tori Amos, just to name a few, have made a fine living that way. Unfortunately, Angie only stayed at the piano for a few bars. Then she was up, hamming it up, while an over aggressive wind machine tried to blow her off stage. Was this a hint? I'm still an Angie fan, but if she keeps up these kinds of performances, I'm going to be less outraged if she ever gets the boot.
So, what did you guys think? Any Lazaro fans out there who want to take me to task? Can Amber claw her way up into the top 2? Let me know in the comments.
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