American Idol: Season 11 Top "12" Perform

Hello Idol fans!   Another year, another weird controversy.  That's right folks, Jermaine Jones has left us as quickly as he returned to us.  He has some silly warrants out that pretty much made no sense and that disqualified him.  In all honesty, the spectacle they made of it with bringing out Nigel and Ken to fire him in front of the cameras made LESS sense.  But, whatever.  If you noticed, Ryan Seacrest chose his words carefully that everyone is in "danger" of elimination.  But he never once said that someone will be booted tonight.  At the end he said something about seeing who is going to make the tour.  My guess, before even getting into the recap is that no one will be eliminated tonight and EVERYONE left will make the tour.  I think they had a top 11 go on tour before.  But one thing they cannot do is mess with the Idol schedule.  If they eliminated someone tonight, then there would have to be a week at some point where no one goes home.  I haven't heard any mentions of the Judges' save this year either but maybe that's who they'll get around sending someone home.  I don't know.  But as far as the recap goes, I'll pick a bottom 3 and a "supposed" ousted contestant.  We'll see how things go!   This will be short again.

Songs from the Year They were Born

(anyone else depressed that some were born in 1995?)

Amazing

• Joshua Ledet (1992) "When a Man Loves a Woman" - They certainly saved a 1, 2, 3 punch for the end.  Before that, I was getting incredibly bored with the show forgetting that they kicked off with 2 decent performances too.  But, by far Joshua and his "When a Man Loves a Woman" rendition was ridiculously out of the park.  I was scared Randy was going to go and say the best performance ever on Idol.  Because he pretty much says that every week.  But, it definitely ranks up there.  I think anyone that knows me, knows I'm partial to our inagural winner's best performance for the best ever idol performance.   But, as my wife pointed out last night she doesn't remember ever being brought to tears by a performance, and Joshua succeeded with that last night.  His voice is ridiculous.  And it would be impossible to count him out as a potential and deserving winner of this competition.  In my opinion, there are 5 in the running this year and 3 of them are in this top category for me this week.  Definitely the best of the night.
• Hollie Cavanagh (1993) "The Power of Love" - I will never get used to that powerful voice coming out of her.  It's amazing. Sure, she was sharp in the beginning but she overcame it and sold that she could perform as well as Celine given the chance.  And she's what, 19?  That voice is only going to improve!  Outstanding.
• Skylar Laine (1994) "Love Sneakin' Up on You" - Way to go Skylar for sticking to your guns with the song choice.  Totally disagreed with Jimmy and Will I Am on trying to change the song.  This girl apparently knows what she's doing, so she shouldn't compromise.  We're way past her whole Miranda Lambert Clone phase.  I'm sure it's not over, given the opportunity she'll pick a Miranda tune!  But, she's really really good. 

Decent

• Phillip Phillips (1990) "Hard to Handle" - Okay, there was some confusion on the dates of when he actually had his surgery.  He mentioned Thursday which would have to have been last week, right?  Yet, they make it seem like he's meeting with Jimmy and Will the day of the competition.  So something didn't add up.  I wonder if they film those clips before a contestant is eliminated?  They probably do.  Because these contestants usually know what songs they're going to sing in the coming weeks.  Anyway, I think Phillip had plenty of time to recover from his surgery, but still impressive that he was there and performing.  And he did a really good job.  Not as great as the 3 above, but good enough to appease his massive fan base.  Plus, the song is a classic!
• Jessica Sanchez (1995) "Turn the Beat Around" - I don't know what the judges were smoking.  Jessica was awesome on this song.  Much better than Diana DeGarmo ever was.  Plus, even if the voters weren't thrilled with the song selection, they'll vote for those sparkly pants!  This is a 5-way race right now, and I don't think Jessica lost any ground. 
• Elise Testone (1983) "Let's Stay Together" - Much better than last week.  Good enough to win?  Probably not.  But, I can't help it.  I really like her vocal style.  So, I really enjoyed the performance.  I just don't think it will stand out enough in the end.
• Colton Dixon (1991) "Broken Heart" - The best thing Colton could have done last night was make fun of himself for picking weird songs and promise to change it next week.  It made us appreciate the performance he was about to give.  And the tune really wasn't that bad!  He has a really good voice, and I hope to see him put it to good use in the weeks ahead.  With all the publicity he has gotten, he'll be fine.

Eh

• DeAndre Brackensick (1994) "Endless Love" - A victim of a bad song selection made for him.  Don't get me wrong, I don't think "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" would have been better.  These guys depress me.  1991-1994 had some really ground breaking music coming out and they were too young to appreciate it!  Of course, I'm sure those artists haven't provided permission to use their music on Idol, but still!   I'm not a fan of DeAndre's anyway.  The hair, the falsetto (which was very forced into the tune this week), it's just too much for me.  But, I kinda felt bad for him when they picked that song for him.  Because he can do the low notes and high notes, I really thought he was going to sing both the male and female parts during the tune switching from low to high for each.  When cracking jokes like that, it's hard for me to take his performance seriously!  But, I'm sure many of his fans did.
• Erika Van Pelt (1985) "Heaven" - Poor Erika.  I really feel like she has some really good talent.  Truthfully, there aren't many rotten eggs in this bunch.  But, that arrangement of the Bryan Adams classic tune was just horrific.  And as a sidebar, is anyone else annoyed that these pre-performance clips are giving away the big moments of the performances and showing how they come together?   I think if the band cut out during Erika's performance or if Jessica turned around and said to everyone "Y'all ready for this" without us knowing they were coming, they would be a lot more effective.   Then again, Erikia's rhythm seemed all off when she returned from that band break and it didn't do her any justice.  She may just not be cut out for this game.  And that's a shame, because her voice is really good too.

Time to Go

• Heejun Han (1989) "Right Here Waiting" - Oh Heejun.  I don't think you have much time left.  The only thing I could hear during his performance was a lot of breathing and a lot of off-pitch notes.  And sure enough, that's what the judges, besides J Lo, heard too.   That's another thing.  The fact that the judges were being critical last night is another reason that I think no one is going home.  They figured it was a safe night to provide constructive criticism.   But, whatever!    So, yeah, Heejun was not good last night.  Comedy will only get him so far.
• Shannon Magrane (1995) "One Sweet Day" - Oh boy. Where to start?  Obviously, as the judges said, she couldn't have picked a more complicated song.  Mariah and Boys II Men?  Vocal powerhouses back in their day?  This song came out in their prime and it would be tough for her to come out and distance herself from that great recording.  And, well, she didn't.  It wasn't awful.  It was just kinda there.  And when she got to the big moment of the song and really tried to take her voice to another level, the voice didn't deliver.  She went sharp and it was a mess from there.  I'd say if someone was going to go home, she might be in the most trouble.

Elimination Picks

Bottom 3: Heejun, Erika, Shannon  Wildcard:  Elise

Elimination Pick: No one goes home!  Everyone makes the tour! 

But if I had to make a Pick: Shannon Magrane - She's been given too many opportunities to impress and hasn't taken advantage.  Sorry, Shannon!

So, we'll see if we're going to waste an hour of our lives tonight or not.  Of course, all won't be for nothing. Daughtry is performing y'all!   Oh who are we kidding?  Is there anyone that still watches this whole hour without fast-forwarding through stuff?  I've pretty much mastered my DVR skills to be able to watch other shows but still get through this whole elimination show and be caught up to LIVE TV for the actual elimination.   I know I know...you all want to be me.  I don't blame you!  (Kidding!!)   Anyway, that's all I have for today.  Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you next week!