‘American Idol’ Recap: Is Phillip Phillips In Danger Of Elimination?
It was Queen night for the Top 6 and that part of the night really rocked the house! But when the ‘Idol’ hopefuls had to choose their own songs, they for the most part crashed and burned.
It must be music to the ears of producers of American Idol that most likely a girl will win this year’s show. Let’s be honest, now that Colton Dixon is gone and Phillip Phillips had a rough night, it should be a easy road for some of the remaining girls. Plus, it’s safe to say that female American Idol winners have had quite a lot of success! (Can anyone say Kelly Clarkson or Carrie Underwood?) Now, let’s get down to business: who shined the most in a night full of ups and downs?
‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ by Queen: The infamous death spot of singing first was given to Jessica, as she started the show with arguably Queen’s most popular song ever. At first I liked it and she really had me, but when the floating Jessica Sanchez heads appeared behind her, I started laughing in my chair. I was sitting immediately next to Brian May, legendary guitarist of Queen so I contained my laughter enough and tried to get back to her performance. I just couldn’t get back into it and was distracted by all the other stuff on the stage. I really have to agree with Steven Tyler when he said, “Rock isn’t your forte”. It wasn’t a bad performance, but was not the game changer it could of been and started out to be.
‘Dance With My Father’ by Luther Vandross: This song should be heart-wrenching, but I just didn’t feel it from Jessica, who sang it for her father who will be going overseas to serve in the military. This song is actually about a dead father and wanting to see him again. When the Idols get to pick their own songs, it really goes astray. Jessica needs to do a song that shows she is young. She needs to try singing Taylor Swift, Demi Lovato or Miley Cyrus. She’s 16, not 78 years old. Its time for her to grow as an artist, but she seems to be standing still — which will not get her in the finals. Jennifer Lopez said, “That may have been the best I’ve heard that song sang.” I couldn’t disagree more. Luther Vandross sang the song perfectly because he had legitimate emotion behind it. Regardless, she is safe for another week.
“Show Must Go On” by Queen: This was simply the best performance that Skylar has done all season. She should almost sometimes separate herself from country and attempt songs like this because it was a complete home run. The performance, the song and the whole package was perfect. This gave her the chance to falter in the following round because this was so good. For anyone else, this song would have been a risk but she did it so effortlessly. She made her performance very memorable. I have to agree with Randy Jackson when he said, “That was incredible”.
“Tattoos On This Town” by Jason Aldean: With being a country artist and coming off her greatest performance of the season, this song should have been a cake walk for Skylar. Well, let’s just say that it didn’t really go as well as it should have. J. Lo mentioned, “In the end you took us there again.” But the problem was everywhere else was a bit of a mess. This could have been Skylar’s breakout night, as her first song was spectacular. However, she brought us back to earth…but she should be safe for at least a few more weeks. If she can grab the lightning she had with the “Show Must Go On,” she will win American Idol. This second performance scared me a little bit. We shall all see what happens…but the potential is there.
“Crazy Little Thing Called Love” by Queen: Joshua is good, but there are other Queen songs that he could have had a lot of fun with. This seemed a little weird and when I was looking over to Brian May, he seemed to agree with me. If a member of Queen wasn’t signing off on it, I really will stick to my instincts. The judges with their endless standing ovations want him in the finals, as they loved it, but I don’t think he should have that opportunity to be in the finals. There are better contestants. It’s more than just a voice and he just doesn’t have the total package. I think he should have done “Somebody To Love” as that could have had a great mix of rock and choir. Not his worst, but not of his best.
“Ready For Love” by India.Arie: He is continuing the trend that this year’s Idols pick horrible songs. It was leaps and bounds better than his Queen performance, but I don’t agree with Randy Jackson who said, “I’m so speechless.” It was far from epic, but a good enough performance to keep him in the show for another week.
“I Want It All” by Queen: Elise really is a rock girl at heart and this song actually gave her the chance to throw some of that out to the world. This song was written by Brian May and he was really loving what he was seeing during the performance. You never know what Elise is going to bring from week to week but this was a solid performance. Jennifer Lopez chose her words wisely when she said, “It was natural, it was sexy.” This is the Elise that should continue and make records in the future. Good work on this song. She could be safe.
“Bold As Love” by Jimi Hendrix: This was a horrible performance. Elise really had momentum that completely took a nose dive with this performance. It was a complete mess. Jennifer Lopez liked the performance saying, “You slayed that song.” But she killed it in a bad way. This could really be the week that she finally goes home. It’s too bad but she has really overstayed her welcome and this Jimi Hendrix song may have done the trick.
“Fat Bottomed Girls” by Queen: Phillip has been able to do any wrong this season, but tonight was probably his worst set of performances to date. Even though the judges were fairly positive about his performance, it almost seemed pitchy to me. Plus, Stephen complimented him on the way he ran out of breath, but over all, I thought it was distracting. Phillip should steer clear of Queen in the future. Not a good fit for him.
“The Stone” by Dave Matthews Band: All season long, Phillip has been compared to Dave Matthews, so I expected him to slay this song (in a good way). While it wasn’t pitchy or anything, it just was too abstract for American Idol. I’ll be shocked if Phillip isn’t in the bottom three tomorrow. He had his worst night of the season.
“Save Me” by Queen: This was the equivalent of singing Michael Buble‘s “Home.” Simon Cowell would have had a field day with this one. He would have ripped into her pretty good, I think — but I have to agree with Randy who said, “It was a good performance.” I have to stress on the word good because it was far from great. However, she might be safe since Phillip wasn’t at his best tonight.
“The Climb” by Miley Cyrus: Great choice of song here, which shocked me as once again the Idol hopefuls don’t often pick good songs for themselves. This performance and being last of the night should save her for at least one more week. She did something young and fun and didn’t try to be the Diva. Lets say it all together with Randy, “Hollie is back!” Good way to end the show.
So HollywoodLifers, who will be in the bottom three and more importantly who will go home? Sound off below!
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Russ Weakland
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