American Idol Week 4

After the dramatic events of last weeks show, this week saw the remaining 11 contestants perform Elton John songs in a bid to keep them in the competition, with the prospect of a double elimination, after Casey’s save last week, lying heavy on everyone’s minds.

Scotty opened the show with a safe run through of Elton’s only country song, Country Comfort, once more putting that inimitable voice on the track, and wowing the crowd. When it comes to country music, this guy is simply in another league, and it definitely worked to his favour playing a country style song, rather than trying to branch out and do something different, which probably wouldn’t have gone down too well. Naima put her reggae swag on I’m Still Standing, to mixed results. In theory it was a great idea, and certainly original, but didn’t go down too well with the judges, and it didn’t sound too great. Messing with the arrangement to a classic can sometimes work against you, as it did here.

James did an energetic and powerful run through of Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting, and in terms of spectacle, was second to none this week. He arrived onto the stage through the crowd, working and goading them at every twist and turn, like a true rock star, and when the piano caught fire, there wasn’t anybody watching who couldn’t have been enthralled with the theatrics of it all. Haley stole the show at the end with her version of Benny and the Jets, with the judges calling it the best performance of the night. For me it was definitely up there, but there were some other great performances this week too which can’t be discredited either. However, it was nice to see it all fall into place for her, as she has been struggling to stand out over the last few weeks. Jacob has had no trouble in standing out as of late, but his take on Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word didn’t do much for me, although the last note he hit was breathtaking.

Lauren had another good week, doing a stirring rendition of Candle In The Wind, nearly stealing the plaudits of “best on the night” in the process, as did Pia, whose Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me was brilliant. Her voice is just so perfect, and she is a true force to be reckoned with in this competition. As good as she was though, it wasn’t her best performance, but that is to the credit of her showings in previous weeks.

Casey showcased his softer side on Your Song as he fought to stay in the competition after surviving by the skin of his teeth (or hair of his beard) last week, Stefano wowed the judges and the crowd with Tiny Dancer, and Thia did a brilliant and emotional take on Daniel. Paul didn’t do much for me this week with Rocket Man though, but he does still have a captivating vocal style.

Overall, there were some cracking performances on what could have been quite a difficult week. As I said last week though, I would love to see more generic themes, to enable contestants to choose a song that suits their style and can let them showcase their abilities to the best effect, something which an Elton John week doesn’t allow for. Idol should be focusing on developing artists across the board, and that is only going to happen if they let them be true to themselves as artists, and sing a song that fits their genre, and what they are striving to become.

The double elimination loomed heavily over the results show with Naima Adedapo and Thia Megia being knocked out of the competition. Naima did struggle with her reggae take on an Elton classic, but I thought that Thia did well this week with Daniel. However, what was becoming apparent to me was that some of the others are starting to work in a different league to these two, and they have been struggling to keep up the very high standards in the last few weeks. It is a shame to see both of them leave, as they are immensely talented, but they have been outshone on a number of occasions by the brilliant performances of others. It was probably a fair result in hindsight. Paul McDonald was in the bottom three also, and I think he was pretty lucky to stay in, and will need to up his game substantially next time around. Casey looked over the moon to stay in once again, Ryan Seacrest hinting that he received the lion's share of the votes this week, after the dramatics of last week.

There were also some forgettable guest spots on the results show with Jamie Foxx and Will.I.Am singing a song from a new movie, Rio, and Fantasia Barrino, an Idol alumni, sounding dreadful. The contestants also had to sing songs together in groups of 2, 3, and 4 and in all honesty they were not that great, other than the country song sung by Scotty and Lauren, which earnt a standing ovation from the panel.

We are down to the top 9 now, and its getting to the stage where everyone in their own right is looking a star, and could do well in their own genre.It will be interesting to see who goes next week.

Next week