American Idol Recap: Season 11, Episode 29 (2012)

With the news of Dick Clark passing just a few hours earlier, Ryan Seacrest opens the show acknowledging the passing of his idol and mentor.  It was sweet, and I’m sure he was sincere, but I would have liked to see just a wee bit more emotion from Ryan.  Maybe a tear.  Or maybe he really is just a robot.

This week contestants are singing songs from the 2000’s-today of their choice as well as a second song will be a soul song from “back in the day.”  Hollie Cavanagh is up first singing Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep”.  Now, we have all heard a million people sing this song as well as Adele herself over and over again, so Hollie really needs to go out there and kill it or I’m confident she will be the next to go since she’s been in the bottom three often.  And she does!!  Starts out at least as her best performance to date.  She has feeling, she has the lungs, and her pitch is pretty dead on.  She has such a powerful voice for such a tiny thing!  Amazing!!!  The judges love it as well!  I have to say though that Jennifer Lopez’s nude illusion dress is a little distracting for a family show.

Colton Dixon is singing “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga.  This will be interesting!  I love seeing what he’s going to do every week.  Not sure I love the arrangement, but I like that he does something different.  He slowed the song down quite a bit and made it more rock, and I want to like it, but I only kind of like it.  Not that he has anything to worry about because the ladies (er girls) love him and he’ll get votes just because he’s adorable.

Elise is up and her tape with Jimmy she just looks so defeated.   I think being in the bottom three repeatedly is taking a toll on her.  She is singing the song “No One” by Alicia Keys which I think is perfect for her voice and I love the song.   Okay, there’s a huge wind tunnel fan on her that makes me laugh.  She has a very flowy, orange dress on that’s flying backwards with the fan blowing.  Elise even seems to be smiling a little extra while she sings and I have to wonder if she’s laughing about the fan being on her too.  It seemed a little powerful.  All of that aside, she did great!  She stayed true to the song and I thought it was good.  I’m not sure it blew me away (pun intended) but it was still very good.

Phillip Phillips takes on Usher, “You Got it Bad.”  If his performance is anything like his rehearsal with Jimmy, this is going to be great!  Oh this is fantastic.  It’s a bit of a softer Phillip than we have seen in the past.  It’s such a sweet side of him.  Absolutely love it!  He kept the melody better than he has with his interpretations of other songs he has done.  J-Lo called him sexy… made him blush.

Jessica Sanchez… last week’s least voted for/judges save recipient… singing Alicia Keys “Fallin'”  I know she’s going to absolutely kill it, but I am tired of her doing these power ballads.  I find them a bit boring just because she is so perfect.  Nevermind… take back what I said about her being perfect.  This is probably her worst performance… not to say that it’s terrible, but for Jessica, it’s not wonderful.  I think last week has shaken her confidence.  The judges loved it though, so maybe I’m alone at this.  However, I’m still happy they used the save on her.

Skylar is singing the country version of Lady Gaga’s song “Born This Way.”  The violinist on stage looks like a guy from Sons of Sylvia (aka the Clark Brothers / The Clark Family Experience from the reality show The Next Great American Band), I think his name is Ashley Clark… anyone know if this is accurate?  I have never heard this version of the song before, but I like it okay.  It’s maybe a little too gritty for it being that slow.

Joshua Ledet is singing “I Believe” by Fantasia.  Joshua hasn’t been one of my favorites from the beginning.  Nothing really against him, I think I just don’t like the gospel music with his voice.  However, I’m a sucker for the gospel choir background singers.  How can you not be moved by that?  I just wish his voice had a little more body to it… a little deeper or something.  I know the judges absolutely love him, but I’m not convinced yet.

Going back in time… Round 2…

Please excuse my brevity… trying to keep this short so the blog doesn’t get too long.  🙂

Hollie:  Got a cute message from the Liverpool Football Club.  Singing “Son of a Preacher Man”.  I’ve always loved this song, and she’s doing a great job.  She sounds a bit out of breath, but otherwise it’s a fun song and her voice is fantastic as always.

Colton: “September” by Earth, Wind, and Fire. Wow, he really made this song sound current.  It could be released on the radio today and be a big hit.  Colton reminds me of a young Ryan Tedders (One Republic).  He just knows what works and how to arrange songs to make them awesome.  Completely doesn’t even sound like a cover – sounds like a Colton original.  Steven Tyler didn’t love it… and neither did J-Lo… and of course Randy didn’t either.  Oh well… I think it was great.

Elise: “Let’s Get It On” by Marvin Gaye.  I think this just doesn’t have the same groove coming from a woman’s voice.  She’s singing it well, but I’m just not connecting with it.  J-Lo agrees the connection’s not there.

Phillip: “In the Midnight Hour” He is having so much fun he can’t even control himself!  I’ve never seen him smile so big!  He’s doing great – I love this!!  He seriously looks like he just won the lottery.  He’s absolutely giddy.  Haha… can’t help but smile along with him!

Jessica: “Try A Little Tenderness” by Otis Redding.  Not loving it.  I think what Jessica needs to do in order to get more votes is she needs to act younger and pick younger songs.  She has an AMAZING voice, but there’s just something lacking that I can’t put my finger on it.  This song she almost seemed to be yelling through.   Judges loved it though.

Skylar: “Heard it Through the Grapevine”.  Ashley Carter’s back!  So awesome he’s on the show.  I love Skylar’s energy!  I really like this arrangement of this song and with Skylar’s energy, this is an unbelievable performance.  Killed it!

Joshua: “A Change Is Gonna Come” Sam Cooke.  He looks very comfortable on stage and I like this performance a lot better than his earlier one, but he’s also singing lower which I enjoy more too.   Joshua could do a Bill Cosby impression as he’s singing – it’s a bit goofy.  But I liked this performance a lot.  Great way to end the show!

So who was your favorite tonight?  Who will you be voting for?