American Idol Top 4

I am going to mix in watching a DVR recording of the show and live blogging it as well as trying to catch the end of these March Madness games. It is hard to believe that American Idol will be a thing of the past in a couple of weeks. A lot of things are hard to believe these days though.

Tonight, the contestants will be singing rock songs, having been mentored Steven Van Zandt, aka Silvio Dante, and then they will be performing from the songbook of Sia. I could not name a second Sia song after "Chandelier" if my life depended on it.

Based on last week:

Who should be eliminated: Dalton Rapattoni
Who I am predicting will be eliminated: Sonika Vaid

1. La'Porsha Renae- "Wanted Dead or Alive"

 Scott Borchetta advised her not to sing this song, but she was determined to go through with it. She definitely has a powerful voice, but I think this was not one of her stronger performances. There was a bit of a lyric flub and she seemed to sort of just be going through the motions. Maybe she can afford to do to that, but her second performance tonight better be a lot better. I would say that LaKisha Jones had a far more memorable performance back in the Idol past with a Bon Jovi song when she did "This Ain't a Love Song."

2. MacKenzie Bourg- "I Want You to Want Me"

This turned out better than I expected it would be. The arrangement started off kind of odd and did not go in the direction that the audience seemed to be expecting as they clapped along but as MacKenzie got into this Cheap Trick song, he sounded pretty decent.

3. Trent Harmon- "Sharp Dressed Man"

Out of all the "classic rock" songs he could have done, I think his talents might have been a bit wasted on this. I think back to what he did with the Skynyrd song last week, but this was still an impressive vocal and performance. He seems to be very confident on stage and probably recognizes that he is a favorite to become the winner very soon.

Dalton and Sonika are the Bottom Two and as I predicted, Sonika has been eliminated. That's really too bad. She was a very strong contestant and I would much rather see her continue than some of the others at this point. When it comes to Idol voting habits though this past decade, males just have a huge advantage. La'Porsha, the last remaining female, really cannot take anything for granted.

4. Dalton Rapattoni- "God Only Knows"

The Beach Boys are "classic rock?" This song choice was quite a stylistic change from his original plan to go with "Seven Nation Army." He is a very decent singer but this performance did not really feel American Idol worthy. It had a tinge of depression to it. Dalton has looked unhappy lately. Maybe he was upset to have to change his song or is feeling upset about the being in the Bottom Two or guilty about outlasting Sonika. Maybe he is mourning the pending disaster of the Republican Party? Who knows? I hope he goes on to be ok after the Idol cameras stop rolling.

Rankings- only four now, since Sonika did not even get to sing. This is a round where I think everyone did well, but was capable of better. I had a lot of disagreements with the judges.

4. Dalton Rapattoni
3. La'Porsha Renae
2. MacKenzie Bourg
1. Trent Harmon

Katharine McPhee has sure sung "Over the Rainbow" a lot of times on American Idol. I think I even saw her do this song live in 2006 at the Idol tour. She is looking more and more like her mother every year.

We are now ready for Round 2. The Final Four will be going to hometown visits. They just happen to coincide with finding out who will be in the NCAA Final Four this year. Idol has a Texas, a Louisiana, and two Mississippis. Hillary Clinton will be hoping for a broader map to be sure.

Does Sia have it in her contract that her face cannot be shown? That would be the Reverse JLo Clause.

1. La'Porsha Renae- "Elastic Heart"

As the old Idol cliche goes, she can sing anything, including the phone book.  La'Porsha sounded just fine, but something seemed to be lacking. Maybe it is because I am not going to know or like any of these songs.

2. MacKenzie Bourg- "Titanium"

I did not know Sia wrote this song. I swear, every MacKenzie performance is presented as him being out of his "comfort zone" or "wheelhouse." For the second time tonight though, I thought this was better than I expected. He knows his vocal style and is executing effectively. He only went for the falsetto note on "Titanium" twice, despite singing the lyric about eight times, but from what I was able to hear, seems to have pulled out what was hoped for.

3. Trent Harmon- "Chandalier"

I am struggling to stay awake. I will have to watch all this again over the weekend. This episode has been somewhat boring for me, but Trent did what he wanted to do with this ballad. He showed of his range and I am sure he will get many plaudits for it.

4. Dalton Rapattoni- "Bird Set Free"

If I were more fully awake, I could probably realize that I learned a lot more about Sia than I expected. She seemed like a great mentor and these songs, seem interesting after all. This was quite a dramatic performance by Dalton. It was a very strong vocal for him, although he does not have the natural technical strengths of his competitors. He broke down at the end of the performance, either naturally or as part of his stagecraft. This is a really, really hard round and a hard night to judge.

Very close call, but ultimately, I think I had to go once again with the same rankings as Round 1, and thus the same for the overall night with the two rounds.

4. Dalton Rapattoni
3. La'Porsha Renae
2. MacKenzie Bourg
1. Trent Harmon

Deep down, I may be just trying to justify my own biases. There is no way that I want to believe that La'Porsha was the weakest one tonight or that Dalton outdid her. It's very close though. I did not expect to think that MacKenzie would have as strong of a night as I think he did.

As for next week's elimination, it's just very interesting that La'Porsha was given the leadoff spot and Dalton the pimp slot. His whole emo vibe may be very powerful with young girls. By process of elimination, they have to be the Bottom Two I think though. The other two dudes just have too big of a fanbase I imagine.

I knew that La'Porsha might be a candidate for a "shock elimination" and I think that is more of a possibility than before. I will not be remotely surprised if she is voted off, but if I absolutely had to bet, I would be on Dalton leaving, and after that last performance, leaving on a strong note.