The American Idol 2014 Top 10 took on Top 10 songs Wednesday night and there were some definite hits and misses.
As usual, I’ll be reviewing each performance and assigning the letter grade I think each one deserves.
MK Nobilette, “Perfect.” Well I was happy she took on Pink because it’s current and actually an artist and song I know, but the vocals were her worst ever. She wasn’t projecting and was even mumbling at times. Not good for MK. Not good at all. Performance Grade: D+
Dexter Roberts, “Cruise.” I guess that was a good song choice I didn’t know it, but I think the crowd seemed to like it. I thought it was actually kind of boring and just kind of OK. It didn’t’ really go anywhere, but I won’t call it a bad performance. Just OK. Performance Grade: B
Jena Irene, “Clarity.” I liked her song choice and her energy. I didn’t love the vocals, but for the most part it was a solid performance. This should be enough to keep her out of the bottom three once again this week. I think so, anyway. Performance Grade: A-
Alex Preston, “Story of My Life.” I never expected Alex to do One Direction, but I actually liked it. I think I liked it better than any way One Direction could perform it. It was definitely a smart song choice for Alex. He will probably pick up some fans and vote she normally wouldn’t have had. Performance Grade: A
Malaya Watson, “When I Was Your Man.” This was a weird song choice. I thought it was weird last season when Candice Glover sang it because Bruno won’ t let them change the lyrics. But whatever. It sounded great. It was smooth and the vocals were spot on and the song was smart for her. It was good. Performance Grade: A+
Caleb Johnson, “Edge of Glory.” Smart song choice, I’ll say. I didn’t love the tempo, though. I think it should’ve been a little more upbeat. But he still kept that powerful rock vibe to it and made it his own, so I give him complete credit for that. Performance Grade: A
C.J. Harris, “Invisible.” This performance was all over the place. It was tender, sure, but it wasn’t great in a technical manner. I don’t think he was ever in tune. I think it’s one of the worst performance of the night. Performance Grade: D+
Jessica Meuse, “Pumped Up Kicks.” I love this song, but I wasn’t sure it was a good song choice for her because it’s not much of a singer’s song. But she made it one. And she’s right about the lyrics. It’s not a song anyone can really relate to because, to be frank, it’s about shooting classmates and no one should be supporting that. But whatever, her vocals were great and I liked the overall performance. Performance Grade: A-
Majesty Rose, “Wake Me Up.” Eh. I think the song choice was good, but the vocals weren’t there. Her voice was a little weak throughout the song. And she seemed out of the loop. She didn’t feel confident after her bottom three trip last week and it appears she didn’t come back. Performance Grade: C+
Sam Woolf, “We Are Young.” Smart song choice. I didn’t like the start of the song, but he really made the chorus incredible. It was right where it needed to be. His vocals were spot on and he looked great in the hat and he was very comfortable. He should be able to avoid another trip to the bottom three this week. Performance Grade: A
Crossing my fingers that CJ goes home. i couldn’t understand him at all.
Last week was the starting gate and this week the competitors musical
personalities are off and running! It’s intriguing to watch and hear.
Jena’s become a ferocious front contender and giving her strongest
counterpart, Caleb, a real run for the finish is exhilarating! Her song
choices have been smart and spot on! Her command of the stage is so
polished and professional it makes her the one to watch. Harry was
right–again–when he first named Jena the ‘sleeper’. Who knew this
petite, exotic beauty was such a power-house singer, musician and
performer? Malaya’s coming up roses with each new performance. It’s a
joy to watch her grow and get stronger every week.This week’s song
choice was not only smart but smartly sung–her musical choices with the
lyric and melody were beyond her years. She’s blossoming into a
musician to be reckoned with. Other
notable performances of the night were Alex with a deft musical
precision in his interpretive skills; Jessica, although better tonight,
remains defiantly within the ‘comfort-zone’ and refuses to challenge
herself to stretch beyond her own limits. Again, Harry was right to
point out that she did nothing to bring out the lyric–which is the
whole point to the song she chose, “Pumped Up Kicks”. MK was sounding
more confident and Sam did an interesting arrangement of the song “We
Are Young”. Not surprisingly Harry was, once again, right in his
critique that Sam needs to break out if he’s to stay in the race–having
a ‘good voice’ at this point in the competition is just not enough to
remain a force to be feared.
On a
different ‘note’, J.Lo needs to chill-out with the hostility she’s
projecting toward Harry Connick Jr. She needs to respect his critique
and judgement–especially since he’s a consummate, highly respected
musician among musicians. Superimposing her opinion as the absolute
final word to disprove his critique then following her arguments by
making faces and sticking out her tongue is imbecilic, immature and has
nothing to do with the objective of a judge–which is to help the
performers improve their performances and competitive edge.
So I know that there was a lot of discussion about the lyrics of Pumped Up Kicks tonight, but how about We Are Young? His friends are in the bathroom getting high, his girlfriend who.he hit so hard she has a scar is being picked up on by some guy and his response is that he wants to get so drunk that she has to carry him home because he can’t stand on his own two feet and it’s all OK because after all we are young. Sam who is singing these lyrics is 17 years old. You sure you want to date him girls? Best of the night was Alex. Majesty was way better than.your C+! Bottom 3 should be MK, CJ and boring Dexter based on the performances.
I never liked the song Cruise until Dexter sang it. Why put him at the bottom, I hope he’s not, I would like to know why he can never sing last, he is always in the top four to sing, it’s not right.
Cj and MK need to go, double elimination anyone? tooo bad cause CJ killed it last week, I stood up and clapped when he was done…this week I was just embarrassed for him, and MK well I just dont get why she made it to top 50 let alone top 10 and I dont care about her love life, she is just terrible…come on judges, quit giving her false hope she has gotta go..my opinion only!!! Jena, Caleb and Alex are my favs with Jessica comin strong in 4th.. is it just me or does she not sound like a young Stevie Nicks?
Im trying to keep liking Dexter, but his rehash of “Cruise” was terrible. a note for note cover of a great tune, but he was so monotone and boring…come on Dex bring it next week!! Thankyou Thankyou…..
To me she sounds more like Bobbie Gentry. Stevie sings through her nose [not that I don’t love her.]. On the subject of Stevie, if they do a duets night [like Scotty and Lauren] I’d like Jessica and Caleb to do FM’s The Chain.
Not understanding why everyone is hating on MK. She has a fantastic voice! Her only flaw is not having good stage presents, lack of confidence. But her voice is amazing. Hope she stays, although not her best vocal performance last night, but going back to John legends “all of me” performance by her… How could anyone doubt her vocals!
I agree with Melissa. I love her original voice that is not squeaky and high pitched like other ladies. The ladies who hit those pitchy high notes just make me cringe. I would love MK to do an Adele or KD Lang tune… something deep and in her baritone.
sam and alex rule last night!
3 quick comments:
1) Caleb all the way, not even close.
2) Please, please, please, please end the BS and send MK home.
3) Jennifer was gorgeous as always.