American Idol 2012: What to Expect This Top 10 Week

This week the American Idol 2012 Top 10 take the stage and perform songs by Billy Joel.

That goes down on Wednesday night, of course, so on Thursday night one more American Idol finalist might be headed home. Last week we learned that the judges’ save is in play again this season. And for some reason Ryan acted like we had known about that all along even though we didn’t.

So the person with the least amount of votes could fetch the judges’ save and stay at least another week.

Also Thursday night, Lana Del Ray will perform her new single “Video Games” while Season 10 alum Haley Reinhart will perform her single “Free.”

Be sure to check American Idol Net tomorrow for my Top 10 song suggestions! And as always, be sure to join us on Facebook & Twitter and we’ll keep you updated all season!

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64 Comments

  1. I would like them to be what they are on the stage. Make the music their own and have fun with it. Billy Joel is a great musician and I say they should sing his songs like they’re theirs.

    No biases as of the moment. It’s too early to place my fave on this post. 

    • I would love to hear jessica do something of billy joel’s. it may be of a strugge as i couldn’t think of a song of billy that would really fit her voice. Hmmmmm…… She only has to choose among river of dreams, lullabye, vienna (honesty, ive heard beyonce do it, but id rather that jessica spare this one). I couldn’t imagine anyone singing i love you just the way you are except for deandre! Its gonna be a chance for elise and erica to shine!

      • Yeah, I want to see her do very well this week. I don’t know as of the moment. Maybe she’ll be rearranging everything so it will fit her without disrespecting the song. I know she will do fine. 

      • Did you watch the show tonight ? So, are you convinced now that Jessica is hard to beat? Name a few if you will…..

  2. Billy Joel week, Phillip Phillips will shine, actually I expect all the guys to shine, the girls will be interesting, go Hollie!

  3. Try as I might I can’t think of a single Billy Joel song that Heejun won’t ruin.  I’m also fearful that Elise will try to re-gender Piano man.  I hope not.  I’m crossing my fingers that P2 does You May Be Right as it’s tailor made for him.

    • he sang new york state of mind during an audition round and it was amazing. I don’t want to hear your sass. 

      • You can hear me?  What does it sound like, little taps?  I suggest you just skip over any post that has my name.

      • Sorry, but Heejun sucked then too. He should never have made it this far. His voice is ok but he can’t sing in english. I’ve yet to understand more than a third of the words he’s sung. Call it sass if you will but it’s still the truth.

      • Heejun has a voice that’s very nice to listen to, but the problem is, he has been singing the same type of songs since the live competition began, and people are getting bored with this.  Maybe he does not have the confidence to sing up-tempo songs, but he won’t win, against the competition that he faces, if he keeps sticking to ballads.

    • In response to your latest comment, if we (you) are going to take everything I say literally, we (I) can play that game. Yes I can hear you. In fact I have super powers. That, and I have been tracking you for years. I said hi to you on the streets last week, but you were too busy yapping about how much you hate Heejun. O well. My super power? The super ability to combat sarcastic posts demoting Heejun everywhere! I suggest you stop dissing on Heejun. Then, and only then, will we not have a problem. HEEJUN HAN FTW…or at least top 5…

      • Seriously or is this a joke…….or is it ethnic?  HeeJun is a wonderful comedian, should get his own sitcom or be part of one but Top 5 of AI is just wrong on so many levels……He is not a great singer, he is OK…thats it…….This is not sass, this is telling it like it is…..NY state of mind was OK, not great!!!!

      • I like Heejun Han myself but there are some really talented artists this year I don’t think he will make it to the top 5 now it is a little early to tell and he could improve alot but we just have to wait and see 

      • To Shadrac and Phyllis, I really don’t care if it’s sass or not. That wasn’t my point. My point is that he’s a talented guy. His tone is great so I really don’t care if he sings in an accent. He also livens up a show. I mean lets face it, someone who has a great voice but a terrible personality is not a great contestant for this show. Obviously the show isn’t just about the voice. To Phyllis especially, it might not be sass, but it is definitely not telling it like it is. If anything that is your opinion. I’m not going to sit here and say that your opinion is wrong because it’s your opinion. It’s a stupid opinion, but it’s not wrong. To Christina, yea I definitely agree, there are a lot of very talented artists this year. That is a fact. Yea I couldn’t accurately predict the top 5 as of now. I’m just playing it week by week to be honest. Hopefully he surprises us this week!

      • Well, unless he cracks a joke in his performances… 🙂 He seriously needs to go out of his comfort zone and try another style that will be comfortable to him (just a suggestion, though). He sort of sings the same style every time and it’s beginning to shipwreck already with him in it.

  4. Horse #1 Jessica Sanchez
                #2 Joshua Ledet
                #3 ?? I’m telling you this..This is your time to shine!

    •  Your number 3 choice should be Phillip Phillips and/or the young man that sang last . Your 1 and 2 should be 1A and 1B.  They are both fantastic
      Also Deandre did a fine job last nite.  I love Heejun’s sense of humor but this show is not about humor, it’s about singing, and he has an ok voice but can’t compete with this group.

  5. Ugh. Good thing I’m not able to watch this week. Haley’s rotten attitude would put me in a bad mood.

  6. Well this will be a lengthy post so please bear with it. I don’t know if I will be watching this week or the rest of the season(chances are I’m likely to tune in this week at least). I only watched the final 15 minutes of the results show last Thursday. I admit that I only started watching American Idol in season 10. Yes I knew what the show was. I had a clear idea of who Simon was by hearing people talk about him, and seeing interviews of him on the news. I knew who Paula Abdul was as I remembered her from when she had a successful music career in the early 90’s.

    I started watching the show about a year ago after having lost my job and had to give up my apartment and move back in with my mother. My mother started watching it after hearing that Steven Tyler was replacing Simon as a judge as she is a huge Aerosmith fan. I was drawn in by some of the contestants and had to keep watching to see how far someone of the contestants that I liked go. There were however some thing that did get on my nerves that now seem intensified this season.

    I could care less what other things the judges have going on. It’s supposed to be about the contestants right? No it’s about how Steven Tyler has a book out, or about how JLo has a new video to premier. Oh yes JLo is going to perform live(well it wasn’t live but I’ll get to that in a bit). I don’t care about what the judges are doing outside the show. It’s one thing to have a simple little two second plug, but when were are wasting minutes on it that could have been devoted to the contestants it gets under my skin.

    I don’t like the results shows. The results shows are just painful to sit through. The big group performances that are either a bad train wreck or a train wreck of epic proportions. Dull segments of the contestants going to movie primers, getting cooking lessons from Gordon Ramsey, or meeting some big shot celebrity. Sure it should be about the contestants, but really that stuff to me is useless and doesn’t show them on their journey, or really get inside to how the choose their songs or how they are developing their craft. I don’t mind the guest performances or the Ford Music videos so much. Really though the results shows should only be a half hour. Just do the Ford Music videos(which are only like a minute), the guest performances, finding the bottom three and who is eliminated. The dull segments of the contestants doing something that has nothing to do with their music, and the big group performance can be cut out.

    The voting system is all wrong and the show shows no indication of wanting to fix it. Letting people vote as many times as they want does not show a true indication of what the majority of the viewers want. The person who got eliminated last week I agree with but the other two in the bottom 3 I don’t. This voting system just plays into the hands of the young teen girls who will vote over and over for the guys that they are crushing on and not who did better. Sorry but I’m an adult who has a job and goes to school(yes I’m working again), I don’t have time to spend two hours a night just voting for an American Idol contestant that I support because I want them to move forward. At least when I vote in an election I know that I only have to vote once, and everybody else who votes only gets one vote as well.  They just like saying that they got “70 million votes” thus making people think that 70 million people watched the show.

    Lastly I feel like the producers think that the American public is stupid. Last season I remember after the wild card round and the judges were asked if they decided upon their wildcard picks and they said no and they were like well let’s show JLo’s new video. Like the premier of the video wasn’t already advertised on the show. And JLo’s “live” performance the one that was shot in 30 takes a week before it aired. The one that before it was show they showed Ryan, Steven, and Randy sitting in the audience eating popcorn like they were at the movies. And of course the whole Jermaine thing the way they were acting like they were the first to tell the news when anyone who watches the news or reads news articles online already knew what happened. And did they have to air the segment of Jermaine getting kicked off the show? Couldn’t have just said. “We had to let Jermaine go due to problems he has with law enforcement. We wish Jermaine well and hope that he gets those issues cleared up.” Instead they had to turn it into a huge thing. Perhaps Jermaine didn’t want all that information aired on national television as it was bad enough that reporters were all over it.

    I’m nearly done with this show. It’s been getting under my skin this season. Last season there were plenty of contestants that I was quite impressed with but this season there are only a few that I can honestly say I would be willing to vote for. On the other hand I’ve been quite impressed with the talent on the Voice, and the Voice isn’t painful for me to watch sometimes, and I get the feeling that I’m not the only person who feels that way.

    • the show has been pretty much of a stinker since season 8 when we saw the best idol contestant and best idol judge.  the talent this season is definitely not as good as the talent on the voice, maybe because the singers on the voice are more seasoned.  idol voting is ludicrous and the judges are boring and predictable.  i think the show at this point is tired.   and long and drawn out.  almost time to move on

      • As long suffering Idol fans I know what you are saying!!!!!!  I’m in total agreement.  I do keep wishing its going to get better.

      • I completely disagree…I believe the talent is far greater on Idol than on The Voice. 

        If all of the haters of American Idol do not like Idol so much, then why do you even waste your time reading these blogs?  I’m not just referring to you Pr63, so I don’t want you to think I am attacking you.

        People talk about how they don’t have time to vote so many times (yes it is a flawed system), but then why do you have the time to read all these blogs and write lengthy responses. 

        Just don’t watch the show…it is just that simple.

      • to kris-i don’t hate the show.  in fact, there are three, maybe four contestants who are very talented.  but, as we’ve seen in the past, the most talented singer usually DOES NOT WIN.  i’ll continue to watch idol because i’d love to see hollie or jessica get a contract (they’ll probably get signed regardless) and to also see how long it takes heejun to get the ol’ heaveho

    • This is not the best season of late.  The judges (except for Steven) have been more critical this season.  Steven is someway out there and seems useless to me.  Since you have never seen Season 8 you won’t understand fully what I’m saying but that was The Best Season ever.  Most of us couldn’t wait for the show each week to see what the contestants were going to sing (especially Adam Lambert).  The last few seasons I find myself zooming thru some of the performance for lack of any excitement.   So I do understand where you are coming from.  I like your comments and who you stick it out for awhile.  It just might get better!!!!!!!!!

    •  Kris, I’m not saying that Idol doesn’t have talented contestants this year, I would say the level of talent on Idol and the Voice is about equal. The thing is there is little about the talent on Idol that gets me excited to see them. The vast majority of the Idol contestants have done nothing but sing slow boring ballads that do little to get me excited. I can count the number of contestants on Idol that have done something uptempo last week on one hand.

      The only reason why I’m on this blog today is: 1. It’s my day off work.

      2. I’m on spring break from my classes so I’ve got no school this week.

      When I say I’ve got no time to spend voting I am serious about that. When I’ve got a job plus school I need to focus on those things. I normally work Thursday mornings so I should be heading to bed after I get off to bed shortly after the show ends on Wenesday nights so I can’t be up all night voting.

      And as I said in my above post I stated what drew me in was the contestants. I don’t like how the show thinks the American public is stupid, goes on about the judges “other” projects, ect. It should be about the contestants pure and simple. And I wouldn’t call myself a “hater” of this show, just a disappointed fan.

      •  Hi Shawn,

        You are not alone.  The difference is an easy one to explain.  On the Voice , the main focus is still on the music and how well it is performed.
        so even the best singer can be eliminated on the battle round if he or she did not do the best that night, no second chance , no save by the bell, and you can cry a river if you want, if you are not chosen you go home.  The only way to move on to the next round is to “sing” the best you can.

        No politics , no attitude check , race and religous background is not important.  Yes I agree with Kris that talent on both show are equal and at times can also be better on Idol (for now) but at least The Voice is entertaining since the main focus is “MUSIC”…………………. 😀

      •  Hi Shawn,

        I forgot to mention another difference is at this point in the competition, it is the singer’s own Coach that sends them home or keeps them, no teens and grandmas with hi-tech cell phones that can
        influence the results, not yet!! LOL

        This is why you probably noticed that each and every blog posted by Matt and Branden on Fandom is a trickle in reponses as compared to this blog, and the reason is the fans know that it doesn’t matter what they say or do they cannot change the Coache’s decision on who to send home and this point of competition.

      •  Ed as far as the voting for when the live shows starts for the Voice goes there is a limit to how many times someone can vote per device on that show(so the teeeny boppers can be overruled), and also the Voice has a longer voting window than just two hours, I remember you had up until like 10 am the following Monday to vote, thus giving working adults plenty of time to vote. Plus the coaches also have a little bit of a say in the elimination process too, at least that’s how it went last season.

      • Until The voice produces someone that can sell an album this argument is completely irrelevant. Idol is better that’s just the matter of fact.

      •  John you do have a point and I haven’t watched any other season of Idol besides season 10 and so far Scotty is doing quite well in his career, and I agree that the Voice hasn’t really done much to help promoted Javier Colon. I’m only pointing out that this SEASON the Voice has talent that I can get excited over where on Idol there’s just a bunch of balladeers. And also so far this season the Voice has been beating Idol in the ratings so I’m not the only person who has been feeling that way.

      •  Also John I’d like to point out that the Voice has only been on for one season so maybe this season’s winner might have a good career in record sales.

      •  Hi John,
        One season so far, what do you expect!  And who is arguing ??
        We are talking about the entertainment portion of both talent shows.
        Album sales has nothing to do with what I like and what I don’t.
        I have not bought any album from anyone on Idol yet.

        I like both shows, but they are two different shows. I  watched Idol since season 1 and still do today.

    • You know I can agree with the talent not being as good as it was last year. There are only a couple of contestants that are really good and the rest are just okay. There were other contestants I would of rather seen in the top 10 then who did make it

    • Oh and I forgot to add I am loving the talent more on the voice then on AI and I actually believe what the coaches have to say when they give out there advise to the artist then when the judges  give there opinion on Idol

    • Aside from alot of negativity this post had…Amen about the voting system!

      It makes so much more sense to have one vote per device.  It can be done, and the winner would be a star, everytime.  That is…unless EVERYBODY sucked that year…(ahem two years ago).

       

  7. I also just want to say that I love Haley Reinhart, and I cannot wait for her CD to come out and for her to sing her new single this Thursday!!

  8. Branden, I have a question for you, so I hope you get this.  It’s regarding something from last week’s results show blog.  You mentioned something about Randy contradicting himself and Jimmy Iovine calling him out on it.  I must not be paying enough attention because I don’t recall Jimmy doing that, and I have not consciously noticed any contradictions by Randy.  I guess I tune out what they say half the time.

    • I think it was because Randy told Colton that song choice does not matter (at least in Colton’s case) but he told other contestants (including Jessica) that song choice is important. Jimmy called him out on that.

    • That’s the reason I don’t like listening to the three judges. They really annoy me with those inconsistent comments. 

      It’s really kinda boring without Simon around AI….

    • why? cos she’s hotter than you? being the only contestant last year that had multiple Youtube videos with millions of views (Rolling in The Deep, Blue, I Who Have Nothing, etc) I think it’s suffice to say there are plenty of Haley fans who would be glad to see Haley this Thursday.

    • Just because you didnt like her dosn’t mean others didnt she was obviously loved by her fans because she made it to the top 3 

  9. Can’t imagine how the girls can pull this one out…Guys will shine on this one…

    • True, the theme favors the guys, but you never know- some of the girls may pull a surprise on all of us.

  10. this is the time jessica shine again!!!!jessica can sing the song of belly joel very well because she is very talented singer!!!!go jessica!!!!

  11. I would like to here Philip do a rendition of Sting’s “Fortress around your heart.”

  12. I would also like to here Colton do his version of Billy Idol’s “White Wedding” and Deandre I would like to here sing Prince’s “The Beautiful One.”  These songs sing to fit their styles if not their voices. Deandre should also listen to Aaron Nevill. The girls are knocking it out the park right now.

  13. I grew to like Haley Reinhart last year, her style, her punch and her gutsiness in standing up to the judges’ bias week after to week.  I’ve watched her recent videos, “Baby, It’s Cold Out There” with Casey Abrams” and “Free”.  She’s quite the performer, with a lot of charm and stage presence.  I look forward to hearing her.  And wouldn’t it be interesting if current AI contestants could pick previous AI contestants as mentors on one show?

  14. It was great seeing Haley Reinhart on AI, but I was rather disappointed with her performance.  While she has a beautiful, unique voice, I barely understood what she was saying. I love her style, but that was one of the main issues I had with her as a contestant. I had hoped it would be different since she was on AI, but it was actually worse. I could at least understand the majority of what she was singing back then. She needs to take Steven Tyler’s advice that he gives so many….”pronunciate your words!”

  15. I wish the people backing Heejun would listen to Heejun himself.  He doesn’t want to be a star, so why are voting for him when he has almost, it seems deliberately, given his worst performances the last two weeks.  What happened to that powerful voice he had originally?  Now you have voted off one of the best contestants for him.  I don’t know if Ericka would have lasted another week; the competition is so good.  I really feel that the judges can’t use their SAVE until Heejun is gone.  They can’t risk him taking his cultural vote and actually knocking out one of the really top performers.  When I originally heard Heejun, I thought he might win the whole thing.  I was rooting for him.  But something has happened to him.  He doesn’t seem to care or want it.

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