The American Idol judges had to cut down the Top 15 girls to just ten contestants to sing for the voters on Tuesday night. After the performance by just turned 18-year-old Emily Piriz, we were left wondering if Harry Connick Jr. wished he could have gone back and chosen someone else for her spot.
American Idol 2014 contestant Emily Piriz chose a very racy song for her performance on Tuesday. She chose to sing “Paris (Ooh La La)” by Grace Potter, which includes some seriously adult-themed lyrics. In case you missed it, Harry Connick Jr. is was not fond of hearing this song out of the mouth of a teenage girl in the auditions round, and he wasn’t pleased with listening to it again from barely legal Emily either.
After her performance, Harry confronted Emily about what kind of an image she wanted to give her audience in singing this kind of song. He made her speak the first few lines of the song out loud and drilled her on whether this was really the type of thing she wanted to be singing.
Emily pretty much brushed it off like Harry was being a total prude and of course she wanted to have people think of her as some sexpot on stage. (Just check out the midriff bearing top and leather pants to back that up.) She said the song was all about “empowerment” and women getting what they want.
Apparently it’s empowering for a woman to want to “shave you smooth” and get “down on the floor” and get “up on your swing” so you can “shake that thing.” We’re not sure about that but… moving on.
Whether or not the song was maybe a bit too hot for someone Emily’s age to be shaking her thing to, we question why Harry Connick Jr. went after her so hard about it on live television. Obviously he’s not a fan of young girls singing about sex, and we can kind of understand his feelings. However, he basically shamed Emily Piriz in front of millions of viewers over her performance.
Do you think Harry went too far in calling Emily out on her song choice? Or do you feel he had every right to chastise her over her sexy song selection?