April 27

American Idol Top 6 Week

As we move closer and closer towards the homestretch of Season 11, let's take a brief look at what happened this week.

Starting off the performance show was something that had never done before; a group number. The Final Six took the stage to sing a Queen medley along with the two remaining orginal members of the legendary supergroup. I wish they would have saved this for Results Night, because based on the rules I have established going back several seasons, I had to “score” it.

Elise Testone, Skylar Laine, Joshua Ledet, Phillip Phillips, Jessica Sanchez, and Hollie Cavanagh- “Fat Bottomed Girls/Another One Bites the Dust/We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions”

Three great Queen songs and one I could do without hearing. Both in terms of solo parts and the harmonizing, some contestants probably got to sing more than others. Trying to keep track of six people was not easy, but I remember Elise sounding good leading off with her solo part, but sort off key when blending with others, Skylar was decent, Phillip sounded lousy singing a line or two of “Fat Bottomed Girls”, Joshua had a couple good moments but then seemed to be off base for trying to sing these songs, and Jessica and Hollie both put forth solid efforts in a “Glee” takes on Queen sort of way. Grades: Elise- B, Skylar- B, Joshua- B-,

Phillip- C, Jessica- B+, Hollie- B+

Unfortunately, I had to rank them:

6. Phillip Phillips-C
5. Joshua Ledet- B-
4. Elise Testone- B
3. Skylar Laine- B
2. Jessica Sanchez- B+
1. Hollie Cavanagh- B+

Next it was on to the individual Queen cover tunes:

1. Jessica Sanchez- “Bohemian Rhapsody”

This lengthy song is almost three in one, and it's a tough one to narrow down to the Idol performance slot time frame and not have it seem disjointed. In that regard, the arrangement seemed to be exactly what Kellie Pickler had done with it in Season 5. Jessica is certainly the better singer than Ms. Pickler, but might have suffered just a bit from heightened expectations. She sang it well, but it did feel sort of karaoke. Grade: B

2. Skylar Laine- “The Show Must Go On”

I thought she started off a bit underwhelming and I was already comparing it my head to Season Five's Queen Night, remembering that I thought Paris Bennett really killed on it. Towards the end though, Skylar really got into it and it was a powerful and effective conclusion to the performance. Grade: B+

3. Joshua Ledet- “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”

I believe this was also done on Season Five Queen night, but Joshua might have been more familiar with the fact that it is yet another song that had been done on the Idol stage by Fantasia. The judges gave him yet another standing ovation and really loved it, but while I thought it was good, I definitely did not think it was worthy of such effusive praise. To me, Joshua has sang better previously, but maybe after all these weeks, I am just used to his act and the capacity to surprise is not as big. Grade: B

4. Elise Testone- “I Want It All”

I thought this turned out to be a really good song choice for her. It suited her voice and vocal inflections quite well, and it was not a technically perfect performance, she made it original sounding and interesting. Anything resembling a rock style has seemed to work best for her this season. Grade: B+

5. Phillip Phillips- “Fat Bottomed Girls”

Wait a minute. Didn't they already do this song in the medley? Didn't P2 already sing a part of it and sound mediocre? Well, I guess it was time to do it again, and it was maybe only a little bit better. This may be one of the few Queen songs I do not enjoy. Phillip sang it without his guitar and vocally and performance wise seemed to be sort of just going through the motions. I have heard that his kidney has been giving him a lot of trouble lately and I sort of wondered if the current frontrunner is, like some other contestants before him in my view, perhaps trying to get eliminated. One may never really know but I get the sense that Phillip really is not too emotionally invested in a first place finish and if he does win (which I still think is most likely), he and the Powers That Be, might have a rocky road coming to terms with how to conduct his career moving forward. Grade: B-

6. Hollie Cavanagh- “Save Me”

This song I really did not know, but Hollie must have come across it somehow, and it was quite a shrewd manuever. On Results Night, Jimmy Iovine claimed it might have been a subconscious choice to sing a song called “Save Me.” No, it was nothing if not overt. While I have been among those thinking that Hollie has struggled to keep pace and live up to some early expectations for a few weeks, I think she has been at her best the last two, where her survival on the show has depended on it. I thought she gave a mostly solid, and emotionally connected take on this number, although the judges were still pretty critical. Grade: B+

Queen Songs:

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

In the next round, we were told the contestants could sing anything they wanted. (Incidentally, I was wondering throughout the show if something was up with Seacrest since he seemed to be seated more than usual and was not wearing a tie. I guess it was some sort of stomach bug, and he got through it just fine. For the past couple of seasons though, there is usually one night where he seems “off.”)

1. Jessica Sanchez- “Dance With My Father”

This emotional and sentimental song is quickly reaching the cliché stage on American Idol, and it was just done earlier this season by the disqualified and now forgotten Jermaine Jones.

Jessica, who received the lowest number of votes two weeks ago, seemed to pull it out for some electoral reasons. Her father, who is alive and well thankfully, we learned is a member of the Armed Forces who has deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, and is now soon to depart to Singapore. G-d bless everyone in our military, especially those away from their families, but is that really a dangerous assignment? As long as you don't spit gum out or do anything “flog worthy”, he should be fine. (Going way back for the early '90s Michael Fay reference. Whatever happened to his ass..I mean him?)

Anyways, Jessica delivered a lovely version of the song. I do not think this is the kind of music she will be recoding post-Idol though. Maybe I was just being a bit cynical with all that, but there is no denying that she can really sing and the judges praised her for this performance far more than they had in a while. Grade: B+

2. Skylar Laine- “Tattoos On This Town”

Needless to say, I did not know this song and it would not be something I would want to listen to, but Skylar did very well in coming across as authentically country (why do her parents look so suburban affluent though?). Once again playing the guitar and wearing cowboy boots, she gave a more than credible (though far more restrained from what she usually does) performance. I was a bit surprised that she hit the Bottom Three this year. Grade: B

3. Joshua Ledet- “Ready For Love”

I also find this song kind of boring, but I think Joshua delivered quite well on it and it was good to see him do something a bit different than what he has usually done on the Idol stage. We know that he can really sing gospel and uptempo soul music, so it will be interesting to see if he can have any sort of a career doing this kind of modern slow R&B. Grade: B+

4. Elise Testone- “Bold As Love”

After she sang, Elise remarked that she thought everybody knew this Jimi Hendrix song. Well, I had not even heard of it, and was pretty sure at that moment that Elise would be voted off this week. She did some cool things vocally with it, but it also seemed like she was yelling too much and I knew it would be far from a crowd pleaser with the general public. While I thought she was really good with her previous song, being as much in jeopardy as she, this was a really failed song choice. I am also not sure if having her hometown guitar player from her band on stage with her and the interaction after while the numbers were being given helped much either. How's her sick dog by the way? Grade: B-

5. Phillip Phillips- “The Stone”

Well, he basically borrowed a page right from Elise there, except he has more Idol political capital to mess around with. I did not know this song, I have never liked the Dave Matthews Band, and while I have mostly enjoyed P2 this season, I am not sure I would have advised him to sing a song from someone he is so often compared to in a bit of a derogatory way.

Once again, with a song that is a bit too “artsy” and that a lot of people do not enjoy or find unable to really get into at first listen, he probably was not going to win over a lot of fans with this. Going into the Results, I would not have been surprised if he hit the Bottom Three for the first time, though I was fairly certain he would not be eliminated, but he must really have a ton of voters out there. If he is going to stick around until the end, I hope he gives better performances than what I saw on Wednesday. Grade: B-

6. Hollie Cavanagh- “The Climb”

If Elise and Phillip were placed immediately before Hollie to play anti-textbook Idol game, Hollie used her pimp spot to do the exactly opposite, and for the second time on the evening, basically begged the audience to save her. This particular tune might have been a siren call for young girls to vote for her (or those who were younger when the song came out a few years back.)

First of all, just about anyone can sing this (infectiously guilty) song better than Miley Cyrus and Hollie delivered again, hitting the right notes and looking like he “had to have it.” The judges would give her a standing ovation for this performance of the same song she did back in the audition rounds. Thus, they were able to make into a bit of a “moment” for her, and I am sure my father, Hollie's biggest fan this season, might have shed some tears in the process. Of course, I was both impressed and cynical about it all. Grade: B+

Contestant's Choice Songs:

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

Overall after everyone sang three times:

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

Who should have been eliminated: Phillip Phillips

Who I predicted would be eliminated: Elise Testone

Who was eliminated: Elise Testone

Well, Wednesday night was predictable enough with those results, but what was up with all the Casey Abrams camera time? Also, since they dragged out the now one-named Stefano for a goofy performance, when is Pia Toscano going to get a turn. They have had just about every one else from last season.

Anyways, this remains a talented group of kids, and Elise, who is easily the oldest among them, is also of course one of the most experienced in singing, and has loads of talent. There was just something about her personality that America never really got on board with.

Some bad song choices throughout the season aside she (much like Erika Van Pelt) deserved to go further than she did, but in a way should feel gratified that for this opportunity and exposure in her late twenties.

She is one of those contestants that I am doubtful will become a superstar , but after the summer tour, Elise will have lots of opportunities to do music and will get bigger paychecks than she would have otherwise gotten if not for American Idol.

Elise's Led Zeppelin sing off was far better to me that whatever Katy Perry was singing on the same program.