‘American Idol’ top 5 performance recap: who stepped up, who tanked?
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Hollie Cavanagh lifted her game during the top 5 performance show. CREDIT: Michael Becker/ FOX
Before tonight, I thought Phillip Phillips had a practical lock on the finals.
But after tonight, I’m not so sure. His vocal limitations, which he had hidden so well to date with growls, came through big time during “Time of the Season.”
Good news for Hollie Cavanagh fans. She is lifting her game just as the competition gets truly heated and should survive. And while Joshua Ledet was solid, Jennifer Lopez took hyperbole to great heights by saying he was the best singer of the past half century.
Who may go home? Despite Phillip’s way off night, he may not have fallen far enough to get eliminated. I think he did so poorly, his fan base will vote extra to save him. Hollie hit a home run so her fans will load up on votes. I think Joshua pleased his fans, too, and should live on to the top four.
So that leaves the Skylar Laine and Jessica Sanchez. Skylar had a good night, not great. So that could keep her fans from voting with enough fervor. Jessica is in a similar boat. Her second song was so sleepy, it might lull her followers to sleep. I predict Skylar goes home by a hair over Jessica. It’s going to be close.
Stevie Van Zandt was a fun guest mentor, joshing a lot with his buddy Jimmy Iovine.
Loading ...First up: the 1960s theme
Hollie (”River Deep, Mountain High” Ike & Tina Turner) – As Van Zandt noted, she opted for a song with an extremely high degree of difficulty. While this wasn’t close to Tina Turner quality (and she missed a few notes here and there), it was a confident show of her vocals and steadily improving stage presence. She hits her big final note, too. Grade: A-minus
Phillip (”The Letter” The Box Tops) – He virtually obliterated the melody and turned it into a bluesy Phil Phillipsy feel. While I absolutely adore the original, he changed this one so much, I kept comparing them. But once I let that go, I realized this was vintage Phil and enjoyed it, especially on a second listen. Grade: B-plus
Skylar (”Fortunate Son” CCR) – I remember this being an angry song and her take felt too upbeat for the lyrics. Her stage presence is without peer among the remaining five. He is just having fun as she turns this into rabble rouser. I liked it but didn’t love it. Grade: B-plus
Phillip and Joshua (”You’ve Lost Your Lovin’ Feelin’ – Righteous Brothers) – Phillip was out of his element so he took it as a goof. They both smiled through what is theoretically a sad song. The harmonies were better than you’d expect given how different the two vocal styles are. Joshua really dialed it back to adjust to Phillip. Grade: B-minus
Jessica (”Proud Mary” CCR) – I love that Steven Van Zandt tried to talk her out of this song because he has heard it so much in bars and is kind of sick of it. He even had the opening changed up for her. Her way-too-tight outfit distracted me but I give her points (like Hollie) for picking an insanely difficult song. And she admitted she’s not great moving around on stage but tried it anyway in high heels. Again, props to that. I actually liked it more than many of the live bloggers. Grade: A-minus
Joshua (”Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” Temptations) – Steven Van Zandt loves him to pieces. He dominates this “Big Chill” classic in his vintage gospelized style, which means dialing it up a bit more than the original. Sometimes, he grates that way but this version worked fine. Grade: A-minus
Second thematics: songs by Brits
Hollie (”Bleeding Love” Leona Lewis) – This ubiquitous radio hit from 2007-08 worried me because I wondered if an 18 year old like her could tap into the pain in this song. But lo and behold, she does. She never over-emotes, dialing it back but carrying just enough of the weight to make it work and work well. This is my favorite performance of the night. Grade: A
Phillip (”Time of the Season” The Zombies) – It opened okay. He handled the verses fine. But when he hit the chorus and chose to actually just sing the melodies and not growl the higher notes, and I felt pain – his pain. He struggled to give that upper register any power. It just came off as anemic. This was his weakest performance of the season and he can’t afford for that to happen again if he wants to make the finals. Grade: C
Jessica, Skylar, Hollie (”Higher” Jackie Wilson) – This gave us a chance to contrast the three female vocalists and the teens all have strong voices, just very different styles. Jessica has the huskiest voice. Hollie had the most angelic voice. Skylar brought the most grit. The judges deemed the arrangement strange but I don’t know what was so strange about it. Grade: A-minus
Skylar (”You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me” Dusty Springfield) – A perfectly viable version of this classic. She didn’t do anything. I merely liked it okay, though. Maybe the textures in her voice for this type of song didn’t quite touch me the way the original did. Grade: B-plus
Jessica (”You are So Beautiful” Joe Cocker) – Now why didn’t Phil sing this? He would have killed! But he would have been criticized as he was last year for aping someone so similar to him. So Jessica went against type. Technically, she hit this one perfectly. The problem: the arrangement was elevator-music worthy and she never really connected with the song. I felt like she wasn’t singing this to anyone in particular. It was pretty but pretty empty. Grade: B
Joshua (”To Love Somebody” Bee Gees) – I tend to prefer him when he isn’t caterwauling. So the first half of this is spot on. Once he goes into high octane mode, it becomes a matter of taste. You either buy into it or don’t. I sometimes do. I sometimes don’t. This was just okay for me this time to go full Joshua. The haters will hate him even more, though, because the judges were way over the top in their praise. Grade: B-plus/A-minus
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By Rodney Ho, Radio & TV Talk
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236 comments Add your comment
blkshepherd
May 3rd, 2012
10:19 am
BILL
YOU Tell that to ADRIAN..since they started the Venom. Normally I will not attack any post but when you include an entire race you include me and thats when I remove the Muzzle and will ATTACK. Keep Race off the blog..and I will keep my Muzzle on. Thanks Sam-A..Goes to show what happens when you DONT READ.
Had Bill READ my post he would have seen where I wrote this is about Singing not who is in the white house.
Dick Lark
May 3rd, 2012
10:20 am
Deirdre: “Hollie was very good on both her songs… I thought every note was pitch perfect.” I never thought I’d hear you say that! ;=P
I’m a Phil fan but he has been trying less and less hard lately, and last night he totally mailed it in; so I’m a little disappointed, I must admit. I don’t think he’ll go home because his fan base is solid. But it does look almost as if he wants to be eliminated. Maybe he’s simply bored with the whole circus, and he knows he’s gonna have a major league career anyway, and he knows that “winning” doesn’t really matter to record sales.
Joshua over-sang both his songs as usual. The judges are like cats; just as cats easily captivated by shiny things that suddenly move, Randy and J-Lo are easily captivated by vocal theatrics (gospel runs); and Steven just goes along because he’s deaf and over-medicated. Beautiful.
JTesla
May 3rd, 2012
10:22 am
Both Jennifer and Steven were making outlandish statements last night. Regardless of who wins they will be able to find a quote where those two “called it”. I think between the two of them they crowned everyone but Phil as the winner last night and Randy did everything he could to heap praise to cover PP.
Rickster
May 3rd, 2012
10:24 am
Too bad they had the 60’s rather than the 70’s. Phillip could have absolutely rolled with “Dancing In The Moonlight” by King Harvest (1973)
Pitchy
May 3rd, 2012
10:25 am
@Alex – I started to elaborate on how she insulted so many singers and started to name a few, so THANK YOU. That was a backhand slap to the face, a pluck to one’s forehead and a slap on the back of the head all at the same time. JLo is crazy.
JTesla
May 3rd, 2012
10:27 am
Dick Lark, one thing about Deirdre is that she does have an open mind about the contestants. She’ll go back and re-listen when there is doubt, and she has praised Hollie to some extent in the past. It is just hard to see when that runs opposite to some here who already made their minds up about each contestant.
g.robinson
May 3rd, 2012
10:30 am
josh stays and phillip SEE YA!!!
Rickster
May 3rd, 2012
10:31 am
Jessica prancing around the stage on her mini stilts reminded me of that old Monty Python skit called “The Ministry of Silly Walks.”
That – or tip-toeing through a minefield.
mom3
May 3rd, 2012
10:31 am
Joshua looks uncomforatable in his own skin when they interview him. He looked completely mortified when Phillip put his arm around him after the duet. He is just waaayyy too awkward to be a star. No charisma whatsoever.
Sam-A
May 3rd, 2012
10:32 am
Alex: Add Chuck Jackson (I Don’t Want To Cry”, et al) and Arthur Alexander (”Anna”) to the “greats” list. Oh and Tyrone Davis (Baby Can I Change My Mind, et al) and the fabulous Ben E King and the totally incomparable Jerry Butler – both with way too many songs to list.
Harriett
May 3rd, 2012
10:35 am
You know, I am probably having a lot more fun than I have in the past seasons because I do not have a favorite and can view each pcontestant based on the merits of their performance and not from personal preference.
I did take a listen, as one poster offered, to the studio version of Joshua’s “To Love Somebody” and it is very good–much better than the live performance (as is usually the case, since mistakes can be corrected and over-signing reined in).
Alex
May 3rd, 2012
10:35 am
Rickster
May 3rd, 2012
10:24 am
“Dancing in the Moonlight”. Wow, that took me back to high school and put a smile on my face.
Sam-A
May 3rd, 2012
10:37 am
Rickster: he could have done it, King Harvest is British (just “old” Brit).
Alex
May 3rd, 2012
10:38 am
BAM!!!
Great singers all. Tyrone Davis (”Turn Back the Hands of Time”) puts me back in Jr. High School. What a great song.
Alex
May 3rd, 2012
10:44 am
Rickster
May 3rd, 2012
10:24 am
Your song suggestion put me in a mindset to think of other songs that would essentially be considered “one hit wonders”.
You think Phil could have put a twist on “I Can Help” by Billy Swan?
Or “Get it On” by T Rex?
Rickster
May 3rd, 2012
10:45 am
From USA Today:
But after last night, Phillip is looking as vulnerable as he ever has. First off, he’s at the bottom of this week’s Idol Meter, with his first single-digit score of the season. “It was gratifying that Phillip didn’t do the tiresome Joe Cocker version of The Letter,” Ken Barnes writes, “but his tuneless R&B thrash was little better. Nice faithful Zombies rendition (of Time of the Season), but his straining to reach the high notes was painful to hear and to watch.”
That’s not the only ominous sign for Phillip. Idol Chatter readers overwhelmingly named him the singer in the most trouble after last night’s performances (his positive scores were among the lowest, too). The only song last night that got a worse What Not to Sing score than Phillips’ solo performances was his duet with Joshua Ledet. Plus, Dial Idol has Phillip at the very bottom of its rankings from last night. Granted, three other singers also are listed as “in danger of being voted off” (Skylar Laine’s the only one predicted to be safe), but the combination of indicators could spell trouble for him, especially in a season where apparent favorites have twice before suddenly fallen to the bottom of the pack.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/idolchatter/post/2012/05/is-phillip-phillips-in-trouble/1#.T6KZkcXxGZc
Rickster
May 3rd, 2012
10:46 am
Okay… why did PacMan allow me to copy & paste a certain singer’s name… but won’t let us type it in?
Alex
May 3rd, 2012
10:47 am
Rickster
May 3rd, 2012
10:45 am
Well, if Phil goes home that would essentially shoot holes all through the “WGWG” conspiracy.
Alex
May 3rd, 2012
10:49 am
Rickster
May 3rd, 2012
10:31 am
“..tip-toeing through a minefield.”
That’s a good visual. When I saw her awkward steps last night the thing that popped into my mind was “sneaking in after curfew”.
Rickster
May 3rd, 2012
10:50 am
I’ll let the title of the article speak for it’s self.
Why the ‘American Idol’ Judges Should Be Chinese
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/05/study-of-the-day-why-the-american-idol-judges-should-be-chinese/256498/
Woodpappy
May 3rd, 2012
10:54 am
Alex, thanks for the list also…I think that the judges say things to get us bloggers riled up and interested.
Idull Watcher
May 3rd, 2012
10:55 am
Have only watched a few weeks of this season. Saw part of last night (last 20 minutes). All the singers are pretty good. But the “judges” are so over the top it turned me off. They are so self-absorbed and full of themselves that they can’t for the life of them actually offer balanced and true feedback.
Rickster
May 3rd, 2012
10:56 am
Alex. if she was sneaking in after curfew… she’d have been carrying her shoes to avoid making noise!
JTesla
May 3rd, 2012
10:56 am
Alex, sorry but it actually conforms with the concepts “whatnottosing.com” has shown, and really a key point of the WGWG conspiracy: the competition has to perform well above the WGWG in order to stay. The WGWG can drift by with mediocre performances, it is only when there is a huge gap between the WGWG and others that you can hope to get rid of the offender.
Alex
May 3rd, 2012
11:00 am
JTesla
May 3rd, 2012
10:56 am
I wasn’t denying the WGWG plays a roll in the competition. All I was saying is that if Phil goes home tonight then the top 4 will be without a WGWG. Many think that’s the only reason Phil is still in the competition. I happen to disagree. Love him or hate him, he’s the most unique contestant.
Pitchy
May 3rd, 2012
11:01 am
Not sure if any of you listen to The Bert Show, but his song has been accurately naming the person to be voted off (I think his son is 4). He says PP is done! (lol)
Alex
May 3rd, 2012
11:01 am
OT here, but I believe the 3 remaining girls in the competition make much better use of their voices than the remaining guys.
Alex
May 3rd, 2012
11:03 am
Pitchy
May 3rd, 2012
11:01 am
Maybe Bert is interpreting his son incorrectly. His little 4 year old may be going around talking about having to peepee and Bert thinks he’s talking about Phil.
Flav
May 3rd, 2012
11:06 am
Joshua, Joshua, Joshua!!! Great performance. He took a mellow BeeGee’s song and put a soul spin on it. Just like Al Green made “Mend a Broken Heart’ a soul classic. Just like Whitney redid Dolly’s ‘I Will Always Love You’. I prefer the soulful versions of all of those songs, but apparently some people on this blog don’t like their classics changed. I personally enjoy seeing artist change original songs with a different spin. I guess that’s why i enjoyed Adam Lambert on Idol.
Joshua gets a lot of ’screaming’ comments on this blog. I think it’s soulful emotion. James Brown, Fantasia, Patti Labelle, Aretha, and many other huge R&B singers ’scream’ on their records. It’s just a matter of personal music taste. I personally enjoy Joshua and those R&B legends. I can’t wait for this kid to make some real music that I can buy. I guess screaming is to soul and gospel like twang is to country.
Alex
May 3rd, 2012
11:09 am
Wow, just wow. The Fword being mentioned in the same sentence as James Brown, Patti Labelle and Aretha Franklin. I guess the Mayans were right, the world will end later this year.
Rodney Ho
May 3rd, 2012
11:09 am
It’s fair to say that maybe Phillip wants to get his kidney stone condition fixed before the tour and is virtually sabotaging himself to do it. Let me NOT growl and show people I can’t really sing well in the high register. That might do it. Or maybe have Ryan point out my girlfriend. That might help, too!
Flav
May 3rd, 2012
11:10 am
Alex,
Unique does not equate to talent.
JTesla
May 3rd, 2012
11:17 am
Rodney, a few weeks back I thought Phillip was phoning in his performances for just that reason. Then he turned it up a notch, now he is back to this. It is a possibility, and maybe he doesn’t want to win. He’s a jokester and could have the same mentality as Chris Sligh had.
Alex
May 3rd, 2012
11:17 am
Flav
May 3rd, 2012
11:10 am
fantasia doesn’t equate to talent either.
Flav
May 3rd, 2012
11:19 am
Alex,
I’m not saying Joshua is in the same league with these singers, I’m merely pointing out that what you bloggers call screaming is a part of soul and gospel music, like it or not. Some people enjoy it, others not so much.
One more point. I know the judges get a lot of heat for over-hyping Josh and Jessica, and i agree that they do. However, when i watch the guest coaches on this show every week, they all are overly impressed with Josh and Jessica. The people in the industry who knows more about music than 99.9% of the bloggers are taken back by the talent of these two contestants every week. So, regardless of what we think and regardless of what happens on the result show, both Josh and Jessica have the talent to be huge stars.
Alex
May 3rd, 2012
11:19 am
JTesla
May 3rd, 2012
11:17 am
I don’t think Phil wants to win nor do I think the producers want him to win either. He will not be molded into an image of what AI thinks would sell. It would be one hell of a fight and Phil would win, guaranteed.
Alex
May 3rd, 2012
11:22 am
Flav
May 3rd, 2012
11:19 am
I listened to Soul music a lot in the 60s and 70s and I don’t recall any artist screaming throughout each and every song. An occasional belt? sure. Occasional runs? sure. But not through the entire song. Joshua has a good voice but how he delivers it makes me cringe.
Eddie Merckx
May 3rd, 2012
11:23 am
Winning is a curse. You are tied to A.I. for a long time (10yrs?), they own you and screw you over. I think Phillip knows this and wants to lose. The only reason I’m watching is to support the hometown kid (and my wife won’t miss it). shows like this suck and I would never support an artist from it, except Phillip. He should use his health problems to quit. He has gotten all he needs from this god awful show.
Alex
May 3rd, 2012
11:24 am
Eddie Merckx
May 3rd, 2012
11:23 am
Don’t hold back! Tell us how you REALLY feel about American Idol.
Bill
May 3rd, 2012
11:25 am
When is everyone going to see this has become a black on white competition. Joshua is good. NOT GREAT. When one of the others do exceptional they get a “good job, however”, when Joshua screeches his way through a song he is given a standing O. This I can expect from Randy, but from the other two judges? Phillip should go tonite followed by Joshua next week. Holly, Jessica and Skylar are the class of this competition. Wake up America. If you are going to be a judge, be a fair one.
Flav
May 3rd, 2012
11:26 am
Alex,
I think we will agree to disagree. You’re obviously not a fan of Joshua and apparently Fantasia. But i wouldn’t say they aren’t talented. I think all the remaining Idols are talented. However, instead of trashing these kids, i would rather say I’m not a fan of some of their talents. I think PP has talent, but I’m not a fan of his talent and doubt that I would spend money on any of his projects.
Bob
May 3rd, 2012
11:26 am
Many of the people with whom I have sung in church choirs have technically better voices than most good rock n’ roll or pop singers or blues or r&b, etc etc. But they are singing in the church choir (which, incidentally, is far more important, glorious and fulfilling than using God-given talent for empty self-promotion). But, I digress. Technical voice quality is not the measure of success in popular music.
Therefore, whether he wins AI or not, Phillip goes the distance as an artist in his field. The others probably do not, although Hollie and Skylar might.
JTesla
May 3rd, 2012
11:33 am
Alex: “nor do I think the producers want him to win either. He will not be molded into an image of what AI thinks would sell”
The producers of AI do not care about how he would sell after AI, they are running a television show, they let the music people worry about selling the music post Idol.
Eddie Merckx: “Winning is a curse. You are tied to A.I. for a long time”
YEARS ago a change was made where the top 10 or 12, they are all in the same boat as the winner. Being in the top 10 is as much a “curse” as winning. The only difference is that the winner is ‘guaranteed’ to be controlled by Jimmy, the others will be controlled at HIS discretion. The person in second or eighth has as little control as the person in first.
Rickster
May 3rd, 2012
11:35 am
Flav,
I like James Brown and Aretha. But do not care at all for Fantasia, Patti Labelle or Joshua.
For Fantasia, it’s the sound of her voice. For Patti & Joshua, it’s more what they do with it.
Sam-A
May 3rd, 2012
11:37 am
flav: I would definitely say these 2 are NOT talented, at least for a good number of Idol fans. And Aretha et al hit some really high notes, but they’re not screaming/screeching like J & Fword do. BIG difference.
Pitchy
May 3rd, 2012
11:41 am
Alex – you are straight crazy.
Alex
May 3rd, 2012
11:42 am
JTesla
May 3rd, 2012
11:33 am
“The producers of AI do not care about how he would sell after AI,”
You and I will have to respectfully disagree. If AI contestants were to consistently bomb in their careers then where’s the appeal? How would AI be relevant if none of the winners were successful? Who would the producers of the show point to and ask “do you want to be successful like them”?
My thoughts anyway.
JTesla
May 3rd, 2012
11:44 am
Fantasia won, Joshua is in the top 5, by that virtue it is safe to say that to a good number of Idol fans they are talented.
Alex
May 3rd, 2012
11:44 am
Pitchy
May 3rd, 2012
11:41 am
I am “straight” and I’ve been called “crazy”, but you’re the first to ever call me straight crazy.
By the way, why is the 4th face a frown?
Alex
May 3rd, 2012
11:47 am
The producers of AI have to be concerned/interesed in the commercial success of their winners. Many years ago an AI clone show called “Nashville Star” was formed. Many winners failed to connect and Blake Shelton, who at that time was a judge, said the show needed a “Carrie Underwood” to remain relevant. They couldn’t get it done.
On a side not, I find it interesting that Blake Shelton married Miranda Lambert, a huge Country music success, who finished in 3rd place in their initial season.