AI 10 3-2-11 The Top 12 Ladies

Last night the top 12 guys took this stage and proved they were a force to be reckoned with but tonight the ladies answer back, 12 of them, to fight for your affection, and a place in the finals – but whom do you love – this is AMERICAN IDOL!

Ronald remains annoyed with the anonymous voice introducing the judges and our host. Give me a freaking break.

Let us get on with why we here, dishing the dirt!

Ta-Tynisa Wilson – “Only Girl (in the World)”

Now we are hyphenating our hard to spell and pronounce name, WTF. On top of it, you do not present yourself well. I thought the vocals sucked. She started sharp and the number simply went downhill from there. I thought she was off the beat throughout the song as well. The song choice was poor and if there is a good voice in there, we did not hear it. On the other hand, she did have lots of energy and bounced around the stage but if you do not have the strong vocal to back it up, this just fell flat for me.

Steven – “Beautiful way to open the show.” Really?
Jennifer – “You started off shaky but you ended well. You brought it home and moved the crowd.” What are the judges hearing that I am not?
Randy – “It was just okay for me. You paled in comparison and brought nothing special to the performance. The notes were sharp in the chorus (Ronald says they were sharp throughout) and I am part of the crowd that wasn’t moved.”

Naima Adedapo – “Summertime”

I loved Naima’s dress, she looked stunning and overall I enjoyed the performance. I thought the vocals were stellar and that last glory note perfection. She brought a little different flavor to the song. I enjoyed her choices. She was having fun on stage, which is important, and she was working it.

Jennifer – “You bring color; you are like an exotic flower in a rose garden.”
Randy – “I felt it was a little bit like a lounge singer.”
Steven – “You remind me of an early Ella Fitzgerald and it’s a new old-timey thing that we could use right now.”

Kendra Chantelle – “Impossible”

Wow, color me surprised. I had not been that impressed with her prior performances but this song proved me wrong. I liked the song choice. She really sounded great and showed off good vocal range. I liked the bluesy feel to it. I did not however enjoy her outfit. The tight pants made it look cheap and slutty.

Randy – “I love your vibrato it reminds me of Lauryn Hill. It makes me feel warm and connected to you.”
Steve – “Voice hot, clothes hot, style hot – the whole package.”
Jennifer – “I love that you have heart. You fought your way into the top 12 and you belong here.”

Rachel Zevita – “Criminal”

This performance was criminal in every way. The vocals were off pitch and I did not like the choices she made with the arrangement. Rachel took a song, which is so beautiful with incredible soul and replaced it with jazzy kitschy vocals. The runs did not work and the middle section was cringe worthy. I hated her outfit and just about everything, she was doing on the stage. The performance left me cold.

Steve – “I love your strut and your swagger but it was a little too Broadway to me.”
Jennifer – “Is this the artist you want to be? I am a fan. You belong on the stage, you have an amazing range.”
Randy – “It wasn’t great. It did not work for me. “

Karen Rodriquez – “Hero”
Karen can sing and I enjoyed her changing from English to Spanish. Karen was selling the emotion of the song but overall the performance was boring. The vocals were pitch perfect but as much as I enjoyed them, I was happy when it was over. I was bored. She looked great and it was a stunning dress.

Jennifer – “Wow, that shows it all as she points to the goose bumps on her arm. I love that you showed your true flavor.”
Randy – “You made it your own.”
Steven – “Fantastic. Definitely a one-of-a-kind singer. You should get together with Jacob Lusk for a duet on that one.”

Lauren Taylor – “Seven Day Fool”

I hate to say it but Lauren looked horrible with both her outfit and her make-up; however, on the other hand her vocals were superb. I love her rich, deep voice. There was a great bluesy presence to the tone. She has great stage presence. Lauren was having fun and the audience was with her on the ride.

Randy – “That is how you do it. You are like Amy Winehouse meets Florence + the Machine.”
Steven – “Lauren Turner meets Lauren Turner – spectacular! End of the song was upstairs.”
Jennifer – “Physically, you’re holding back – that would put you over the top. Give it to me.”

Ashthon Jones – “Love Over Me”

Ashthon came out to win. I love the way she commanded the stage, great presence. The song choice was perfect for her voice. She hit every note and thankfully did not overdo the vocal gymnastics. I also love her attitude.

Steve – “You’ve got the confidence of a queen. You go places with your voice few have gone. We found one.”
Jennifer – “You have all the makings of a diva – the big hair, the body, the moves and the composure.”
Randy – “I like your confidence and stage presence but I did not like the song. You are bigger than the song and can take on more challenges.”

Julie Zorrilla – “Breakaway”

Julie, Julie, Julie what is wrong with you – what in the world would make you choose a Kelly Clarkson song. Your voice sounded fine and you looked gorgeous but you did not bring any passion to the song. In fact, it was almost wooden like. You did not make me feel the emotion of the song. I did not like what she did with the arrangement. Julie did not have the breath support for the notes and they fell flat and sharp throughout. This was just plain horrible from start to finish.

Jennifer – “That was not the best thing we’ve ever seen from you. You seemed emotionally disconnected from the song.”
Randy – “This was not nearly as good as Kelly’s. You brought nothing new or different to it.”
Steve – “This was the wrong song and the wrong key for you.”

Haley Reinhart – “Fallin”

Why oh why can the contestants never learn about song choice? Haley you sang a snippet of this for your original audition and you should have left it there. This performance did nothing for you. I thought you were trying too hard to sell it and please never flirt with the camera again, it was making me sick. Your excessive growling was getting on my nerves. This was truly a vocal, which was rough, sharp and just plain bad. I will say I loved your outfit.

Randy – “I like the song but it did not do anything for you. I wanted to hear the husky tone we’ve heard from you in the past. It was kind of karaoke.”
Steven – I think you had the right amount of style and sexy. I like it.”
Jennifer – “I like seeing your different colors but you need to get out of your head. I could see your thought process while you were moving around the stage. You need to be the singer we saw in Hollywood.”

Thia Megia – “Out Here on my Own”

Thia was very brave too start out a cappella but it was not a good choice, I thought she was off key but once the piano started she sounded much better. Now the killer note at the end was perfection but that was the best part of the performance. I hate to sound like Randy Jackson but this version paled in comparison to Irene Cara’s from “Fame”.

Steven – “Sometimes a person’s pitch is so perfect that it doesn’t matter what they sing. That is Thia. This is a tough choice but you’re making it easy for me right now.”
Jennifer – “To come out here, stand still and just captivate every single person in the room, beautiful.”
Randy – “The quality of the tone of a person’s voice is really important and you remind me of a young Michael Jackson.”

Lauren Alaina – “Turn on the Radio”

I really enjoyed this performance. I love the huskiness of her voice and she demonstrated incredible range. She sounded wonderful and has great stage presence. This girl was working it and the audience was eating it up.

Jennifer – “You look beautiful. You do not even have to try! It is crazy to me. It is amazing how much of a natural you are.”
Randy – “Carrie meets Kelly, you have a natural gift, I am a fan.”
Steven – “You kill me, the best”

Pia Toscano – “I’ll Stand by You”

This was one amazing performance. The entire song was brilliant but that last note was sublime. I loved how she sang with such restraint as she built to the finish and then just let it all loose. This was a power ballad and Pia made it her own. Beautifully sang, and she has great stage presence. I will take back what I said last night. Instead of crowning Casey the next Idol, let us skip to the finale where Casey and Pia can fight to the end. It will be a fantastic finale!

Randy – “This is the first standing ovation of the season. I think you put yourself in the top 12. It was amazing. That is how you do it.”
Steven – “After Monday and Tuesday, even a week says WTF. That was gorgeous.”
Jennifer – “I knew you were a standout but you are sneaky saving that for when it counts. It was out of this world.”

Tonight like last night, there were some standouts and some pretty hard falls.

My predictions for those moving into the top 10 are:
1) Pia Toscano
2) Lauren Alaina
3) Thia Megia
4) Ashton Jones
5) Karen Rodriguez

Tonight will be the results and I am looking forward to seeing what America has put together along with the judge’s wild card picks.

Until tomorrow…