Finally down to the final 4 on American Idol.
Since it's the Top 4, each contestant had to sing three songs with three different themes:
Breakups
Makeups
Dedications
...seriously? Who came up with those themes? How very vague and straightforward at the same time. Might as well just scratch the whole theme thing and ask contestants to sing whatever they feel like singing.
Frankly speaking, only one person failed to live up to the hype this week and that person is...
Alex with these songs:
First Song: "Alex Clare's Too Close"
You know, a few weeks ago I would have pegged Alex as a frontrunner. Right now though, I'm not so sure. There wasn't anything wrong with this song choice or his vocals, but nothing about it was fantastic either. I think the others stepped up their game, regardless of whether it was performed well or not while Alex just...rather faded away. I don't know, I can't feel his passion anymore and that's dangerous for him. 6/10
Second Song: "Jason Mraz's I'm Yours"
Well, that was underwhelming. And how predictable of him. Of course he'd sing I'm Yours, was just wondering if he'd be leaving that for the finale - if he makes it all the way through that is. Harry's comments were really harsh too. Talk about throwing him under the bus. Why didn't they say those things to him earlier? Then he would have tried to improve yes? But it's too late now. I think he's a contender for the bottom 2 this time around, if he wasn't already there last week. 4/10
Third Song: "Coldplay's Yellow"
Poor Alex. That makes 3 mediocre song choices in a row. First of all, that song needs an interesting arrangement in order to stand out in a singing competition. Secondly, the way he sang it was actually worse than the other songs. For the first time in ages, he sounded unsure of himself and it showed in his vocals. And what in the world, the judges were complimenting his performance. All of that combined together equals disaster. 5/10
Overall: 5/10
Next would be...
Jessica
First Song: "Kelly Clarkson's Since U Been Gone"
I really question Jessica's intentions to remain in the competition with this song choice. She does realize that Kelly Clarkson is the reason why she is even on this show in the first place right? What was she thinking?? It really doesn't help that her vocals were mild and shaky and pitchy at parts. And the judges were NOT being mean to her this time. Those were actually fair comments regarding the song choice. They didn't even complain about the less than stellar vocals. And that is coming from a bunch of people who apparently hates her guts! 6/10
Second Song: "Pink's So What"
What was up with that song choice?? Even though she sang it decently, that song was completely and absolutely unsuitable for a Top 4 performance. The judges were right - that song did nothing for her, and because of her song choices she'll most likely be the one going home this week. I'm giving her a generous rating due to the strong vocals only. 5/10
Third Song: "Lady Gaga's You and I"
Still not digging the song choice much but at least Jess performed the hell out of You and I. Her best performance since The Crow and the Butterfly from weeks ago. Still no stage presence whatsoever though, just a little bit more life in her eyes and a slight amount of swagger. No match for Haley Reinhart's version at all. 8/10
Overall: 6/10
Performing slightly better than Jessica was...
Caleb
First Song: "Bon Jovi's You Give Love a Bad Name"
I'm a huge fan of this song so I'm glad Caleb didn't ruin it since it's a pretty easy song to desecrate. The problem is with his delivery. When Blake did this song in Season 6, he owned it from start to finish. It made him stand out, and it made people pay attention to him. With Caleb however, it was just good singing and that was it. No originality whatsoever. I think these Idol hopefuls need to pay attention to their song selections, find out who sang it before and how well did they do before actually choosing the song and arrangement. A mere 6/10
Second Song: "Creedence Clearwater Revival's Travelin' Band'
Alright, it's getting harder for me to comment on Caleb. His vocals were strong and in tune as usual, and until now he is still the most consistent performer. Unfortunately I didn't feel at all interested in this CCR cover. Felt rather karaoke to me, albeit a very good karaoke. I guess I'm a little bored with his song choices. Whatever happened to that dude who gave us Edge of Glory and Skyfall? It's like he disappeared somewhere into old man's land. Time to shine dude, not the other way round. It's Top 4, wake up! 6/10
Third Song: "Paul McCartney's Maybe I'm Amazed"
Again there was nothing wrong with Caleb's performance, however I'm really wondering if he'll be able to pull through this week. No thanks to that scandalous interview from last week where he called his fans retarded. Like wtf was he thinking? His vocals were good as usual, but the song choice was straightforward and rather uninteresting. I disliked it as much as I disliked James Durbin's version from Season 10, which is kind of a compliment I guess. 7/10
Overall: 6/10
Which leaves us with...
Jena who stole the Top 4 crown tonight, singing:
First Song: "Pat Benatar's Heartbreaker"
Weird phrasing aside, I think Jena's taking up the rocker chick persona much better than Jessica or even Kat from The Voice. Heartbreaker, to me, was a really good performance that showed off Jena's lovely tone and her energy on stage. Out of all the other contestants, Jena has the best stage presence. Alex and Jessica's are non-existent (just like my excitement for this Top 4) while Caleb is kind of like a drama queen without the flair. So yeah, great song choice and good job on delivering it beyond expectations. 8/10
Second Song: "Lady Gaga's Bad Romance"
Very interesting arrangement but I wasn't feeling it. Despite the overwhelmingly positive responses from the judges, I couldn't sense actual excitement from them. Don't know if I'm the only who feels that way though, TPTB are supposedly pimping Jena. 6/10
Third Song: "Elvis Presley's Can't Help Falling In Love"
Vocally, Can't Help Falling In Love was really, really beautiful. It was leaps and bounds ahead of everything and everyone else tonight. I loved the way she navigated her way through the song, with the ups and downs, the loud and the soft moments - combined together it was just pure magic. The only technically amazing performance from this week. (Now what did I say about her dark horse status before? I'm right!) 9/10
Overall: 8/10
Who should be bottom 2: Alex and Jessica
Who should go home: Alex
Let's give the contestants a big round of applause for choosing more unusual songs than The Voice contestants this week. And the previous weeks.
Edit with Results:
And so the journey ends for Jessica Meuse. Not a surprising outcome, but she was better than Alex this week. I guess what killed her in the end was her aloofness and lack of connection with songs. It's too late for improvement, and frankly speaking she hasn't improved THAT much (contrary to what her erstwhile supporters would like us to believe). Her fanbase wasn't as big as Alex's either.
Despite all that negativity from the judges (especially Keith Urban), I think Jess handled the situation quite well. J.Lo might not be her biggest fan and Jess may be aware of that, but honestly Ms. Lopez wasn't THAT cruel to her. You can kind of tell that the general public isn't that big a fan of her, so...Jess fanatics are overreacting in my opinion.
At any rate, good luck to Alex, Jena and Caleb for the finale.
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