Last night we saw some of the best performances from American Idol 2012 yet and you can download them on iTunes right now.
The Top 9 finalists took on songs by their favorite idols and the end result was a good one. We had our favorites and you had yours. So let’s take another look at some of last night’s standout performances on American Idol.
Jessica Sanchez took on “Sweet Dreams” by her idol Beyonce and it paid off. The judges loved it as did her fans.
Phillip Phillips performed his version of his idol Jonny Lang’s “Still Rainin” and like previous weeks, he put his spin on it and delivered.
Elise Testone delivered a powerful version of Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love” and earned one of the many standing ovations of the night. Elise is an interesting case because she’s clawed her way out of the bottom and into a pretty sweet spot – at least for a couple more weeks.
Which performances were your favorites last night? Share your thoughts below and then be sure to vote in our Top 9 performance poll for who was the best.
Jessica is best and amazing
It is sweet ^^
Thanks for posting these three amazing performances! Thanks thanks! ^^
Jessica Sanchez did a good rendition of Sweet Dreams.
just captivating…and yet, make you smile at the end, when she walked back in. Beautifully sang by Jessica Sanchez…
I still want to see two girls in the finale. Especially Hollie and Jessica… (fingers crossed!)
Totally agree. We haven;t seen that since Season 3. Colton and Phillip are good, but come on, enough with the guys already! Jessica and Hollie both have incredible voices and are very commercial!
No Hollie! She is a wanna be! I guess? For me, no likability! But totally agree abt jessica
They bring nothing new, Phillip is the one who stands out I’ve never heard anyone like him.
Yeah Hollie is a good singer but not the best… I realized it when they sing (skylar Jessica Hollie) Jessica’s voice has x factor it’s like a pro, compared to Hollie’s voice it’s not likeable, at least yesterday when she sang less nasal voice
I love Jessica because of her determination to pursue her dreams no matter how hard it is…i also admire her style of singing,she’s talented…awesome…keep it up girl!love yOu!!!
1 – Elise
2- Philip
3 – Colton
4 – Jessica
5 – Heejun
6 – Hollie
7 – Skylar
8 – Joshua
9 – Deandre
WOW! Elise and Philip are in a league of their own,,,Amazing………Now that would be a great final 2….I can.t stop thinking about that last song…
see i’m not the only one who thought jessica was’t the best
Wow! Jessica… You nailed it….
i TOTALLY agree with all of you!!! Jessica should win and I hope she does. She is a clear favorite.
who’s with me with my final 2?!
JESSICA SANCHEZ vs. HOLLIE CAVANAGH
my top 3:
JESSICA SANCHEZ vs. HOLLIE CAVANAGH vs. SKYLAR LAINE
my top 4:
JESSICA vs. HOLLIE vs. SKYLAR vs. PHILLIP
my top 5:
JESSICA vs. HOLLIE vs. SKYLAR vs. PHILLIP vs. COLTON / ELISE
i really really hope and pray that the finale will consist of TWO GIRLS… jessica and hollie in particular.. i wanna see a vocal battle between these tiny little petite girls.. if hollie can pull up some upbeat performances i think she can go head to head against jessica.. jessica can definitely sing power ballads to rnb to contemporary to upbeat songs.. and hollie has a lot to fill in.. I REALLY REALLY HOPE FOR A VOCAL BATTLE AGAINST TWO GIRLS OR MAYBE THREE in the last two weeks of american idol.. i know many people love colton and phillip but lets face the fact… they’re both good but i think ai will waste another spot for winner.. look at the KRIS -TY – LEE – COOK winners.. where are they now?
PLEASE YOU US PEEPS VOTE FOR HOLLIE, SKYLAR and JESSICA for the final 3….
I’m sorry sweetie…but Hollie’s sliding down week after week. It feels like the competition’s taking a toll on her. Can’t you see how nervous she was last night? If you want an all-girl in the top 3…just devide your vote amongst the other female contestants.
yes but this is only one site take a look at the others
the worst choices you have+heejun ,and deandre the best are 1-ELISE,2JOSHUA ,PHILIPP AND COLTON THEN JESSICA,HOLLIE SKYLAR,DEANDRE AND HEEJUN
Thanks Branden for posting ….
Deandre sucks. He’s going home
I hope I gave him enough votes to stay in.
Elise was the best performance of the night, followed IMHO by Coltin.
Jessica was the best pure singer of the night.
Deandre, Heejun and Hollie go to the bottom three (standing ovations not withstanding)
Deandre will be gone
I really liked performances by Phillip and Joshua as well. Skylar was okay, but I think her country following keeps her in.
question?? whats so special about colton’s pereformance??? very ordinary, did he hit the high notes??? very simple and plain… its elise and jessica and johua, their performance were solid, beyond extraordinary
One does not have to hit high notes to sing good.
1 – 2 Hollie or jessica
3 – Colton
4 – philip
5 – Elise
6 – Joshua and skylar
7 –
Elise (I think can help)
8 – DeAndre
9 – Heejun
Hollie probably thought she will receive praises from the judges by singing a popular song by a very successful artist like Carrie, but failed miserably.. So desperate.. LOL
Elise FTW!! The most phenomenal performance of the night…
This post was intended for all JSan fans who felt violated by Branden’s recap. Hahahaha!
I thought Branden said it perfectly in his recap last night…let them sing what they want to sing and they will do a much better job. And while I don’t really like Elise, you have to give credit where credit is due. She was amazing last night. But I fear that only those of us who grew up loving Led Zeppelin will appreciate her performance. The voting majority for AI probably won’t get it (remember who’s casting the majority of the votes). I wouldn’t be surprised if she is in the bottom 3. She’s safe though because I think they are at a point where the judges will feel comfortable using their save, and they love Elise.
Elise just keeps growing on me! The only other contestant who could have come close to pulling that off would be Phillip. Jessica is great, technically, but for some reason I just seem a bit bored by it. Don’t get me wrong–she is really good but somehow forgettable after it’s all said and done and when you mix her in with all the other great divas in the market. I think she gets lost in that big mix…
Compared to last year’s talent, I don’t find myself getting too excited about this years contestants. Most are good but not great. In other words, my CD collection would survive without any of their CDs, sorry to say.
Elise was amazing!!! I remebered Hailey from last seasob wheb she covered zepplin and she rocked it! Elise on the other hand skyrocketed with the song!!! AMAZING! Jessicr was AWESOME! I had gooseys listening to her and I felt as if she was telling a story!
The night, to cut things short was filled with a lot of AWESOME performances!
Best of the night:
Phillip: He grows on me each week & soon will become his fan…but not yet!
Good:
Elsie ( But I still prefer Lambert’s rendition!)
Heejun: I like his Voice & has improve dramatically from last week!
Jeesica: Not as good as the 1st week!
Average:
Hollie: So So…nothing special! Another ballad may risk her chance to go further!
Joshua: don’t like his “throaty” voice & screech on the high notes!
Suck:
DeAndre: sounds like he got grabbed at where it hurts the most & my throat hurt after watching it.
Skylar: can’t stand her over the top movement
Colton: exactly waht Braden described on previous column…wrong song choice made him sounds so ordinary….terrible song!!
Bottom 3 most likely: DeAndre, Skylar & Hollie
Going home: either DeAndre or Skylar would be fine for me!!
ELISE, ELISE, ELISE, ELISE…..!!! But of course she won’t win, this year I’m sure it’s Colton even though by last night’s performance he deserves to be in the bottom 3. It’s the same case as last year, the most good looking contestant wins.
Jessica Sanchez showed how a singer should perform their songs when singing live to the audiences, PERFECT!!.
I agree with you, btw, have you voted Jessica through Facebook??
lols
hey your name is familiar..
I thought all 9 were great. I had thought this was a so/so season up til now. Yesterday was the best show AI has had in a long time. I had said “Best ever” but then remembered some other great nites for AI.
Btw/ that could maybe be a poll. What nite was best ever from top to bottom for you? I love this site, but wish more polls along those lines.
The seasons where I liked EVERY performance with at least 5 contestants. I’m not counting when ya get the final 2 or 3. They’re supposed to be good by that point.
Season 4- Disco Week.
Season 5- There wasn’t any
Season 6-British Invasion week- I LOVED Gina Glockson’s Paint it Black. I know a lot of people hated it.
Season 6- Idol Gives Back week
Season 6- Bon Jovi Week
Season 7- Beatles Week
Season 7- Andrew Lloyd Webber Week. I had thought I was going to HATE this week. This week was the biggest surprise for me. I thought Carly Smithson’s Jesus Christ, Superstar was one of the best performances ever on Idol.
Season 8- This year they had 3 sets of 12 (my favorite format) trying to qualify for the top 12. The third group of 12 I liked every performance.
Season 8- Michael Jackson week.
Season 8- Motown week. Motown weeks are usually pretty good. This was the only one where I enjoyed every performance though.
Season 9- Rolling Stones week. Yes, I even liked Tim Urban that week. If Crystal had sang his arraingement, those judges would have been on their knees blowing bubbles up her backside about how well she’d done.
Season 10- There weren’t any.
Season 11- The top 9 here.
There’s been a fair amount of weeks where I liked all but 1 or 2, but those are the weeks where I liked every song.
Yes, indeed, Jessica was the best and really is the best of the contestants of AI2012. Heejun is great as well though majority thinks that he doesn’t deserve the standing ovation, but hey, give him a break! At least he made it on the top 9! (:P). Hollie is always flat. They’re just building up that two ladies will be in the finals. FINALISTS for me? Definitely Jessica and Philipp
Jessica was NOT the best lastnight. Elise, Josh and Phillip was much better. Why can’t Jessica fans just admit for one week that she was not the Best of the night? Be a fan and vote, that’s fine, but the girl has not been the Best every single performance, she just hasn’t. Can one Jessica fanatic please admit that just once!! Geez.
Elise was the best( I prefer Adam ) , Jessica comes as a second .
Gheez, Jheng just said that Jessica is the best idol on AI2012—not AI2012 Top 9 performance night…. I thought Elise was the best on that night. Relax. You can’t really control everyone who they want to be the best.
I may see Elise as the best on that night but still, I’m a Jessie fan… 🙂
Heejun deserves to go home!!! BOOM! 😀
heejun definitely will not go home!!
Jane I agree with you, if not this week, next week for SURE! 😛
Jessica is consistent every week.. versatile..elise is also very good.. hollie is out of tune.. she will be in the bottom three this week!!
As others have said, Branden, thanks for posting the videos here. I listened to several of them again, and I still liked Philip, Elise and of all people, Heejun Han, best for the night. (Never thought I’d say that. He does need a voice coach to help with enunciation, and all those missing s’s.) The trio of Philip, Elise and Colton was my favorite music clip of all. They could be great together on tour.
Jessica is losing fans, losing ground, she is getting boring
I wish Hollie would pick it up some
love skyler
Yup, just like i thought….. Jessica is going down with boredom.
I respect ur comment . Probably , we could change ur mind !!
Olivia, you’re back with your weekly attack on Jessica. Do you never learn? Or are you just an attention whore?
well Jessica just knows how to reserve all her vocal and musical expertise for the final weeks… A good singer does not let it all out at once…
Jessica is really really amazing in that performance. Consistency [check[
Elise is electrifying than Philip! Improvement [check]
Philip is great in his blues performance. Consistency [check]
I just don’t like Jessica . She sings well and apparently others like her.
Elise was superb this week.
I love Hollies sound, but she sings boring songs. She should do something uptempo. Joshua was best among the boys for me, with P2 close second. Didn
t like Colton’s song choise this or last week.
I love Skylars energy, it’s catchy. Worst were for me Heejun and Deandre
I guess she doesn’t like you too…
I want JESSICA and ELISE for the finale! but i think elise has only a small number of followers so if she’ll be on top 5, its already a big achievement for her. so PHILLIP and JESSICA will likely be on the top 2.
IS THEIR A PROBLEM WITH HOLLIE’S DICTION SHE PRONOUNCE A LOT OF ESSSSES AND SHE”S ALWAYS OUT OF TUNE ELISE ROCK THE NIGHT FOLLOWED BY PHILIPS AND JESSICA
If you people really think that Hollie’s, Skylar’s or Heejun’s or Colton’s performances were better than DeAndre’s then you are seriously out of your mind
I am always with Phillip Phillips for 2012 – no matter what. I am not saying Jessica is not good, but plenty singer like her – Phillip is rare, but again beauty is in eyes of the beholder in Phillips’s case – melodies & songs is in my ears. Handsome, on this earth at the moment nobody can beat Scotty yet:)
really need to ask? Can we say anything against the AI judges? hahahaha
the fleetwood mac medley by elise colton and phillip is just hands down amazing… i think if they 3 will be this year’s top 3 it will be so much amazing!
That is simply great!!! So sweet of Beyonce. 🙂
jessica still no 1 for me.