American Idol Top 3 or Country Week Redux? + Results

Currently Listening To: Didi Benami - Rhiannon

With the exception of Led Zeppelin, there seems to be a theme for the Top 3 night - Country. What on earth? I mean I'm expecting that from Scotty and Lauren's personal picks, and also the judges (plus Jimmy Iovine's) choices for them, but for Haley too? That's not fun man, no variety in the music genre. Thankfully all three contestants had their good and bad moments so I guess that evens it out a little.

I'm just gonna go with this chronologically.

Contestant's Choice

Scotty McCreery - Lonestar’s Amazed. I like the song and I thought Scotty did well with it. Then again it's not that difficult to sing. Still, it's a pretty boring song so I don't think it was suitable for a semi-finals performance. And it took Randy about like 10 weeks to finally give some sort of criticism to Scotty about his pitch. Whattup with that dawg? He had pitchier moments in the past and Randy did not have any comments about those moments.

Lauren Alaina - Faith Hill’s Wild One. Oh man that was a pretty bad one. There was just something off about her vocals. Now that I'm reading other reviews, I guess it was a problem with breath control. She just sounded tired and the performance was uninspiring. J.Lo gave a raving review as usual, but to me it seems like she didn't really believe in her own comment. Sad for you J.Lo. And I used to think she was a good. Sad really. -1 for Lauren.

Haley Reinhart - Led Zeppelin’s What Is and What Should Never Be. Now that was a perfect performance for a Top 3 night! Haley rocked the stage with her DAD. Oh yes, they allowed her dad to play the guitar for her. Vocally she nailed it, and she just seemed so happy to be there, on the stage with her dad. And I liked how she dealt with that trip, just continued on as if nothing happened. You go girl.

For once, the judges were actually quite fair with their comments. They should have commented on Lauren's breath problem though. The poor girl has not gotten any feedback about that, and it's gonna cost her something. I can tell Randy was aware of that, but he didn't say anything about it and commented about her having fun instead. Well Randy, it's a singing competition, fun or not she still has to sing well. Anyway. Round 1 goes to Haley for sure!

Jimmy Iovine's Choice

Scotty - Thompson Square’s Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not. Oh wow he nailed the vocals and it sounded beautiful. As you might have noticed, I'm not really a Scotty fan but that was an excellent performance by Mr. Baby-Lock-Them-Doors. Jimmy Iovine made a great choice with that song.

Lauren - The Band Perry’s If I Die Young. She kinda lost it half way through the song. The first half sounded great, but then I guess she got caught up with the depressing lyrics and just...drifted away until she forgot the lyrics or something. She stopped, there was a blank, and then only did she continue. AND the judges (especially J.Lo) skirted over the issue, and J.Lo went around praising her for forgetting herself. Seriously?? If Haley did that, she would have been torn to shreds.

Haley - Fleetwood Mac’s Rhiannon. I loved that wind thing. It made her look absolutely stunning. Loved what she was wearing, and her earrings! Beautiful. However, her performance wasn't that beautiful. Mostly because of the song choice. I love that song, Rhiannon and I love Haley, but she was just okay. Didi Benami sang it so much better last year. I still get chills thinking of HER performance. Too bad for Haley, that was a tough song to sing (darn you Iovine!). Randy seemed okay with it though, get this - he actually bantered with Haley without being mean! Incredible. And poor Haley just looked relieved that none of the judges were bussing her this time around.

I'll give credit when credit is due - Randy finally stopped picking on Haley. New note from the Mr. Nigel Lythgoe? Stop dissing her, it's backfiring! And now he seems genuinely okay with Haley while I get this weird sense of dislike from J.Lo, despite her friendly-cheery facade...with that, I'll have to say Round 2 goes to Scotty.

Up till now it's pretty fair huh? Haley won Round 1 (the judges agreed unanimously) and Scotty Round 2. Moving on to Round 3...

Judges' Choice

Scotty - Kenny Rogers’ She Believes in Me. Not a bad choice from the judges. Suited his voice. It was just okay though, nothing great. Again, not very encouraging for the semi-finals. Are they trying to bus Scotty now? Or so I've read from other review sites (we have some really paranoid fans this season). Honestly I doubt they're actually doing that, it just didn't work out that well for dear Scotty. LOL at Steven's deja vu comment though, really funny. I think he was just being Steven Tyler, the REAL Mr. Nice (not Miss Lopez. Or should that be Mrs Anthony?).

Lauren - Lee Ann Womack’s I Hope You Dance. NUTS OF WONDER OMG. Scotty should have sang this song instead LOL. So J.Lo declared her the winner of this round before Haley's performance. Whaaaaat. That wasn't very nice, coming from the supposed Miss Nice. Maybe it was because she knew that their song selection for Haley was meant to sink her? Rofl there goes the conspiracy theories again. I swear I did not come up with that, read it somewhere in Idolforums. Like I said, paranoid fans. Personally, I thought that was Lauren's best performance of the night. For once, she had some control of her voice and sang with real spirit. The prom dress she was wearing distracted me though...she looked like she just walked out of Glee's set for the Prom episode.

Haley - Alanis Morissette’s You Oughta Know. #$%@ that's a hard song to sing man. Haley totally lost the verses. All I heard was mumble mumble mumble, and it was NOT in tune. At least she nailed the chorus, it sounded great. But the song as a whole? One of her worse performances. Loved the way she delivered the chorus, hated the verses. Not her fault though, the judges picked a hard song for her to sing and she still made it through the song with high spirits and a big smile on her face. The good thing is, once again the judges were being quite fair. I guess they thought they could bust her with a hard song and watch her die, but she didn't quite...die. Conspiracy? I'm beginning to believe it.


I think Round 3 goes to Lauren. Scotty was boring, and Haley was...fighting demons. At least Lauren more or less nailed her song. J.Lo did not look happy when Randy was giving Haley a thumbs up for the choruses. Steven looked delighted, but J.Lo?? She had this 'DRAT she nailed it' look on her face. I'm telling you, watch this video and you'll see it. Of course she said something nice (she had to, Nigel pulled the brakes on the bus), but that look on her face? Not very...friendly. I'm starting to have second thoughts about Jennifer. Seriously.



Who's gonna win this damn thing? Honestly, I don't know. I don't really mind who wins, but Haley and Scotty deserves it more than Lauren, based on their performances all season long. Lauren will be fine even if she doesn't win. She'll get a recording contract with Nashville and they'll market her like there's no tomorrow. Scotty is a bit tricky, since he seems to sing only old school country. But hey, if Garth Brooks can do it then so can Scotty. Haley? I love the girl, and I want her to win. But will she? It depends on America I guess. Most reviewers think she's going home tomorrow. Sad but potentially true. Here's hoping for the odds. Fans of Haley, I hope you voted enough.

P.S: One thing bothers me - Scotty has yet to get the pimp spot. By pimp spot, I mean the last to perform. If he goes home, then he would have lost the chance to do so. I can't remember if Lauren closed the show before, but I think she did. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Edit: Results

Looks like we're getting a country finale after all. Haley's gone =(
It's sad but well, not unexpected. I say good luck to Scotty and Lauren. Not sure if I'll be watching the finale though. I don't like country music at all, and a third round of country night scares the shit outta me.

First time I don't have a favourite in the Final 2 since Season 6 (oh wow Haley was Melinda'd!) but errrr honestly Jordin and Blake were a lot better than Scotty and Lauren. Scotty will probably win, and he should over Lauren.