April 23

American Idol Top 7 Part 2 Week

Let's see how much I can remember about all 14 songs from last week...

In the first round, the Final 7 were to sing “recent” songs.

1. Hollie Cavanagh- “Rolling In The Deep”

I first became familiar with this Adele hit about a year ago when Haley Reinhart sang it on Idol and since then I have really come to like the song and the original artist. The pressure was on though for Hollie to have a strong week, after what many considered to be a fluke survival the previous one, generated by pity votes. Adle and this song have been covered by so many different people, that a lot may have though this was a mistake for Hollie to attempt.

To me though, I thought Hollie basically nailed it and it was easily her best performance. Maybe I just like hearing “Rolling In The Deep”, but I would rated it favorably to just about every other cover version I have heard on television or online. Grade: A-

2. Colton Dixon- “Bad Romance”

Interesting choice for the future Christian Contemporary newcomer to take on a song by the extremely sinful Lady Gaga. While Colton sounded decent in parts, it just did not feel right and it was not his vibe, as it seemed like he was trying too hard to be a rocker, on what was not even a rock song. The first couple verses were ok, but I sort of did not like it when he attempted the whole “ba da da da....” portion at the end. Grade: B

3. Elise Testone- “No One”

In this round, Elise made a very smart choice to sing this particular Alica Keyes number, which suited her voice quite well. The phrasing along with the inflections and nuances that she put into her voice made it seem like more than just a karaoke attempt and Elise sounded as good as she had all season. The night was off to a very good start. Grade: A-

4. Phillip Phillips- “U Got It Bad”

It seems like every week, despite cruising on to the next round, people want to hear more progress from Phillip to prove that he might be a deserving contender for the title. While I like some of his performances better than others, I almost always find his solos interesting, at least in the moment, and this was not an exception.

It was perhaps overdue for Phillip to take an R&B song, in this case by Usher, and rearrange it to fit his typical acoustic guitar driven style. I thought he sounded pretty good doing so and have to give him the points for creativity. I also suspect that his legion of cougar fans loved it even more. Grade: B+

5. Jessica Sanchez- “Fallin'”

Does this still qualify as a modern song? It has to be about 10 years old by now. Anyway, Jessica was back after having been the “shocking elimination” last week, only to be saved by the judges/producers. I thought this was maybe the wrong song choice for her to do, and maybe she needed to be bold and do some up tempo Beyonce, but she still sounded great, as she always does on ballads. I suspected she would come out with something a bit different in the second round.Grade: B+

6. Skylar Laine- “Born This Way”

Every week, the Idol producers tweet a list of song spoilers without giving any indication usually as to who will be singing what and I am sure there were a lot of head scratchers last Wednesday afternoon as few would have expected a countryfied attempt at Lady Gaga by Skylar. (I think Gaga might have done her own country version though.)

As an idea, it was pretty good, and Skylar was more than passable vocally, but it felt a bit too contrived to me and I did not like it as much as some of her other performances. I also imagined there would be a big blogosphere controversy over the way the lyrics were changed, or even sanitized to make the song far different from what is a pretty political pro-gay anthem. Skylar's sang about being “born” country, as if that were a persecuted class of people (which is an argument for another day) and the song had nothing at all about “don't be a drag, just be a queen.” Safer for the family, perhaps, but I am sure a ton of people were outraged over the way the entire meaning of the song was altered. Grade: B

7. Joshua Ledet- “I Believe”

There was obviously going to be a choir taking part in this. Very interesting song choice for Joshua, as Fantasia's Season Three winner single has been attempted with limited success at least twice before in subsequent Idol seasons, but perhaps nobody was as true to the original (Diana DeGarmo also sang it of course) as “Mantasia.”

He sang it just like her and seemed to even have the exact same stage movements and facial expressions as was first seen on Idol back in 2004 by Fantasia. To me, Joshua is talented enough to pull just about anything off and have me give him credit for the vocals, but I wonder if his whole act is going to quickly become a bit too much for mainstream America. Either he had to know that a lot of people were going to roll their eyes at this song choice for him or he is certainly in the Idol bubble. Grade: B+

Round 1- "Now"

7. Colton Dixon
6. Skylar Laine
5. Phillip Phillips
4. Joshua Ledet
3. Jessica Sanchez
2. Hollie Cavanagh
1. Elise Testone

Next, it was time for oldies and a pre-arranged theme related to “Soul Train” and the recent passing of host Don Cornelius. Of course, nobody would know that on that very day, the host of another legendary music show, who also did so much more in the world of television, Dick Clark would pass away. Idol, and its host, Ryan Seacrest, who had worked with Clark and patterned his career after him to a large extent would briefly pay tribute to his memory. American Idol and music fans owe a debt of gratitude to both Don Cornelius and Dick Clark.

1. Hollie Cavanagh- “Son of a Preacher Man”

I really cannot picture this British pop song fitting in on Soul Train back in the day, but I do like the song and the young British-American singer who performed it last week did a pretty good job. Still though, I disagreed with the judges that it was as good as her first song of the evening. It felt like Hollie was maybe reverting back to being a bit lacking in emotion. At this point, I figured that despite a very good night, she was in trouble, because it would be down to her and Elise and in the previous round, Elise had almost cried about a dying dog, and surely that would win her votes. Grade: B+

2. Colton Dixon- “September”

I did think it was a very interesting idea to take a well-known fast tempo song from decades ago and make it into an emo piano ballad a la Colton. The scenery behind him looked more like October than September however.

While this should have worked, and while I think Colton did a bit better this round than he did doing Lady Gaga, the semi-unpleasant aspects to his voice came through again and I especially did not think he did great with the “yadi yadi...” portion at the end. That reminded me of the first round. Grade: B

3. Elise Testone- “Let's Get It On”

How risky. While I thought Elise was the best of the first round and picked a near perfect song and sang it near flawlessly, this was a bad song choice and while her voice is still good, it felt way too awkward and not at all reminiscent of what people had liked about her or what kind of singer she might be in the future. While a couple of males had sang this suggestive Marvin Gaye number on Idol in years past, Elise was the first female to try it and that might have been a step too far for some conservative viewers out there.

After it was over, the judges criticized Elise for quite a while and she got that stank look on her face and then could not avoid the temptation of starting to talk back in a defensive matter, such as saying it was easier to connect to a song while singing it in a bar. It is a bad move for the contestants and sick doggie or not (insert your own Obama joke here), I thought she might have talked and sulked her way out of the competition and eventually back to the bar scene.Grade: B

4. Phillip Phillips- “In the Midnight Hour”

Interesting that I seem to remember him doing this without his guitar. I thought the band was kind of loud and drowned him out a bit too much, but still, P2 did a decent job of enthusing it with his own version of soul. It just tends to always sound a bit similar for him though. Grade: B

5. Jessica Sanchez- “Try a Little Tenderness”

I remember when Taylor Hicks did a manic, but strong version of this back in Season Five, and I really give props to Jessica for pulling this off. It certainly was a lot different than the ballads she often does and I think proved that she has the talent and the drive to sing almost everything. I thought she did a great job and was surprised when the three judges did not give her a standing ovation (if only just to pat themselves on the back for having saved her the week before.) One of them said that Jessica needed to “push it more”, but after this attempt, I am at a loss to think at just how much more she could have pushed it. I thought she did a great job of mixing vocals with performance. Grade: A-

6. Skylar Laine- “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”

I really wish I could remember more about this from the one time I saw it, but I just recall it also being done country style and Skylar sounding very good on it. This was better for me than her first round song and regardless of when her Idol journey eventually ends, I would not at all be surprised for Skylar to become a star in the country music world. Grade: B+

7. Joshua Ledet- “A Change Is Going to Come”

Was there a choir for this one too? I forgot. Look, Joshua has the vocal chops to pull this off without a doubt and I think he basically did, but this song has been done to death on Idol and I guess I just would have rather have seen something else or someone else in this version of the pimp slot.

He hit all the notes to be sure, but there was a portion where I think he sang a couple bars in some kind of tongue resembling nothing like the English language. I think a lot of people probably soured even more on him after this (Adam Lambert fans likely among them) and thought it was just all a bit too overwrought. I was a bit surprised (though not displeased) that he avoided the Bottom Three. Grade: B+

Round 2- "Then"

7. Elise Testone
6. Colton Dixon
5. Phillip Phillips
4. Hollie Cavanagh
3. Joshua Ledet
2. Skylar Laine
1. Jessica Sanchez

Then and Now:

7. Colton Dixon
6. Phillip Phillips
5. Elise Testone
4. Skylar Laine
3. Joshua Ledet
2. Hollie Cavanagh
1. Jessica Sanchez

Who should have been eliminated: Colton Dixon

Who I predicted would be eliminated: Elise Testone

Who was eliminated: Colton Dixon

I was definitely surprised to see Colton go, who I thought was Top 4 for sure, and likely in the Final 2. However, I have absolutely no complaints as America got it right. He is talented and I think will make a nice living for himself in the CCM world, perhaps winning Dove Awards, etc, but in this very deep and talented cast, I thought he had the most vocal imperfections. Trying to do a rock version of Lady Gaga with a red streak in his hair might have cost him some of the religious votes he had been getting to that point and could have spelled his demise on the show. He said on Thursday night, amid the shock of his elimination, that he was just not himself and he apologized for it. Just moments earlier, Idol had set him up with a bad edit, as he was shown backstage saying he “didn't care” about the criticism the judges had for him on his second song.

After having been eliminated in the final audition stage last year, we are to believe Colton did not even intend to try out this season, but was somehow talked into at the audition scene by the judges and thus stole the spotlight from his little sister Schyler. All things considered, it was probably worth it for Colton to have taken the opportunity, though I sense he may deep down be surprised he was voted off. I bet his sister makes Top 24 next year just so the storyline can unfold some more.

Of course with the save off the table, Colton had no avenue to avoid elimination at this point and reprised a contemporary Christian song as his sing-off, but this time did it in complete worship mode, on his knees for a good portion of it. This was one polarizing contestant to the end, and if he had stayed longer, it would have only gotten worse.

Phillip Phillips seemed to be taking Colton's surprise elimination harder than anyone, perhaps because he might realize that as the last white guy standing, he is even more of a heavy favorite to win it all, and maybe that is not what P2 even is desiring.

Besides Phillip, there are four girls left, and Joshua probably in his own diva category. I think it will be a great story if a girl wins this year, but P2, who I have read is continuing to battle some health issues during the season, looks like that is going to advance until the end, as long as he is able to keep performing.

In conclusion, I have to talk about the “Red State” factor. In years past, I have talked about how the winner of Idol was always someone from a state, usually southern, that tended to vote Republican at the Presidential election. While the widely panned Season 10 saw a winner (who was practically my neighbor) from blue state Illinois, the trend was back on last year, and perhaps more so than ever for the current season.

If I do have a contestant I am rooting for this year, it may be Jessica, which is ironic, because the San Diegan was the only person in the Top 7 who does not come from or currently live in the South. If not for the save, the Final Six would have been folks residing in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, and South Carolina.

Let's not make any snarky reference to “Confederate Idol” and instead say that either the eventual deserving winner of the season will be Jessica Sanchez (who is destined for a major label recording contact regardless) or someone who will make the folks proud in a state that will be easily won by Mitt Romney.