American Idol – Piano man tunes

The Billy Joel songbook. Not a bad way to go on ‘ole American Idol as far as I’m concerned.

DeAndre Brackensick “Only The Good Die Young”
Honestly, I don’t know how DeAndre made it through to this level of the competition. I really believe he cannot sing. He stresses and strains and makes me uncomfortable when he’s on stage. Yes, there have been some songs sung that have played to his bent and been adequate for him but, for the life of me, I can’t remember what they were. That’s something that doesn’t bode well when I find myself evaluating someone.

Erika Van Pelt “New York State Of Mind”
Erika definitely did a better job than DeAndre. It was a sweet vocal, but it almost sounded too safe … didn’t it?

Joshua Ledet “She’s Got A Way”
Joshua was nowhere near as dynamic as he was last week on “When a Man Loves A Woman” but he put it out there well enough. Good, but not fantastic.

Skylar Laine “Shameless”
And here I thought I knew Billy Joel’s catalog … but I didn’t recognize this song at all. I found this a little disconcerting. Skylar’s performance of it? Meh. Pitchy and average. She’s not going anywhere, but she better pick up the pieces very, very soon if she wants to stay around.

Elise Testone “Vienna”
Vocally, Elise seemed to have stepped it up this evening and it showed. Did she really have that good a vocal run per Randy’s fire hose gushing? Because it sure didn’t call out to me. I must have been listening to something else.

Phillip Phillips “Movin’ Out”
Started out drab and boring, but Phillip picked it up. And I think Diddy was right during the rehearsal: Phillip shouldn’t have played the guitar on this tune. It should have been left behind so that more of his personality could shine through instead of him hiding behind his instrument.  Phil is sticking to his guns: “There is no image, there is only the music.” So long as he produces quality product, that’s okay. And I’m good with that. But at some point, I think he’s going to have to mix it up to show a little diversity.

Holly Cavanaugh “Honesty”
Wow. I really liked her take on this song. It sounded in parts as if she was going to lose it, but I thought she held on to its integrity. The judges thought otherwise. I could very well have been taken in by the fact she was doing her best to justify the tune. She did have some interesting stylistics going on with it but, overall, I think she did rather well. I look forward to seeing her become more and more polished as the weeks by.

Heejun Han “My Life”
There’s no doubt I love the cockiness of Heejun. But it’s a slippery slope when you exhibit such behavior, because it can work against you when you least expect it … like during this tune, for instance. Sure he had fun, but vocally it was substandard. I’m going to make a wild prediction he comes back next week, does a straight-forward performance and knocks it out of the park

Jessica Sanchez “Everybody Has A Dream”
She screamed the song in rehearsals and she did the same at the end of the performance. I’m having a tough time getting on board Jessica’s train. I just don’t like her. I can step back and look at her with a third party approach, appreciate the effort and the craft with which she works a song, but I just don’t like her at the end of the day.

Colton Dixon “Piano Man”
Yep. There isn’t a better song out there tailor-made for Colton. I thought I might have caught him flubbing a few lyrics, but it was just the way they were coming across in his singing. Regardless, best performance of the evening, far and away.

Bottom 3? Tough choice. I’m thrown for a loop on this one. Much as I like Heejun, he could wind up there based on his comical performance, but I’d much rather see the hapless DeAndre in the group … and moreso standing toe to toe with another person as Ryan calls out the ousted. I’m giving Elise a third invitation to the party as well … and I even think Sklar might wind up in the Bottom 3, too.

Notes:

• Interesting way to begin the show with lots of weeping faces over the fact Shannon Magrane got voted off the week prior.
• Anybody else have trouble keeping up with what Sean Combs is calling himself month to month? (*pssssssssssssssst* It’s currently “Diddy” … at least ’til next week …)
• Waitaminnit … Steven didn’t know Billy Joel’s “She’s Got A Way” … ?!? Didn’t he call out Joel as one of the iconic artists at the beginning of the show, yet he doesn’t know “She’s Got A Way” … ??!? Yes, I find that rather amusing …

Quotes:

“Not since the ‘Sanjaya ponyhawk’ have we seen such a change.” —  Ryan Seacrest to Erika about her new hairdo

“I think you need some help.” — Tommy Hilfiger on Phil Phillips’ style

“You took that song and ‘Phillip Phillip’d’ it.” — Steven praising Phillip Phillips

“Are you happy you took the piss out of that song?” — Steven to Heejun

Clacked by Michael Noble
on Mar 22, 2012 @ 01:13 EST5EDT