American Idol Top 12: Diana Ross

Last night on American Idol the top 12 finalists sang the music of Diana Ross, and overall it was a pretty disappointing night. Two of my biggest pet peeves, not using the stage and forgetting the lyrics, were quite common last night and most of the contestants fell a little short of expectations. Also this is the second time that Idol has said that Carrie won three Grammy awards, when she only won two and it is starting to get on my nerves a little bit & anyway, back to season 6: Brandon Rogers- You Can't Hurry Love Brandon's performance was not good enough, and there isn't much more to say. He didn't use the stage, he forgot the lyrics and it was very forgettable. He started off as a backup singer, similar to Melinda, but I don't think he is ready for the spotlight, and he is definitely in danger of going home tonight. Melinda Doolittle- Home Melind's performance started off a little boring for me, but it got a lot better from the middle of the song onward. It wasn't my favorite performance of hers, but she has an amazing voice and still did a great job. Chris Sligh- Endless Love This is the first time that I have been really disappointed by Chris. I appreciate that he tried to make the song his own, but it just didn't work for him. It was an okay performance vocally, but it was boring and the arrangement was really weird. I much prefer Chris with his glasses on! If Chris lands in the bottom three, I wouldn't be surprised, but I don't think he deserves to be there. Gina Glocksen- Love Child I very much appreciated that she actually performed and used the stage but vocally it wasn't very good. She shouted a little and it was pitchy in placed but overall it was acceptable. Like Simon said, there isn't much you can say about it because it wasn't great, but it wasn't really bad either. Sanjaya Malakar- Ain't No Mountain High Enough Now this was a bad performance. First off all, I don't get why he keeps trying to make himself look like a girl- these recent hairstyles are not flattering. At all. Besides the hair, he looks so awkward on stage and it sounded like really bad karaoke. I did like the way he ended the song, besides the glory note gone wrong at the very end, but Sanjaya is definitely the worst of these contestants and is way out of his league. I don't think he will go home tonight, but I hope he goes soon so he can stop embarrassing himself (and the show for that matter.) Haley Scarnato- Missing You So I really expected to hate this performance, and it wasn't all that good so I should have, but it ended up being one of the few that I still remember today maybe it was all of the crying and the drama or the fact that it was very similar to a trainwreck, who knows? But anyway, Haley has a good voice, she just doesn't know how to control it or show it off or something you can tell there is potential if she can get past the nerves and find a really good song. She forgot the words for the performance and her vocals were all over the place, so she should go home but I am thinking that she might get the pity vote and send someone else equally deserving, like Brandon or Phil, home. Phil Stacey- I'm Gonna Make You Love Me I was just so bored watching this performance & I didn't like the arrangement, it was too slow and the vocals weren't very good. I will give him props though, because it was a lot better than last week. I can see him going home this week, and won't miss him if he does. LaKisha Jones- God Bless the Child I don't really know what to say about this performance because I really like LaKisha and once again, it was vocally amazing and in a different league compared to the other contestants, but it kind of bored me. She performed the song well, in that she had great control and didn't over sing, but something was missing for me, I'm not sure what. I think I am just really bored of her singing practically the same song every week. She is becoming a non-conceited Chris Daughtry for me & one of my early favorites whose lack of versatility makes them incredibly boring. LaKisha will, of course, be fine tonight but she needs to mix it up a little or she will go home & you can't get through this competition on vocal ability alone. Blake Lewis- You Keep Me Hanging On Funny thing about this song every time it has been performed on Idol, the contestant has gone home the next day (Vanessa Olivarez from season 2 and Leah Labelle from season 3 if you remember them...they both left on top 12 night too, lol) Maybe the remixed version can break the curse though! So, I kind of liked Blake's rearrangement of the song, but it was a little bit too much for me. He is also becoming like Chris Daughtry in that he switches up the themes so much that he isn't even in that theme anymore but at least Blake makes his own arrangements and doesn't steal them from other bands but that is a whole different story. My main problem with Blake's performance was that it didn't show off his voice he really does have a great voice and needs to show that off more! The thing about Blake though, is that he always gives memorable performances, so you sometimes forget that it wasn't his greatest performance. Overall I liked it, but I wouldn't be terribly surprised if he landed in the bottom three if he went home though, I would probably be truly upset for the third time ever on this show. Stephanie Edwards- Love Hangover I thought this was a really good song choice for Stephanie, even though I have never heard it before. The vocals were okay, except for the end, which I really really liked. I don't really get the appeal of Stephanie, because for me she is just a watered down version of LaKisha or Melinda, but not as memorable. It was another boring and forgettable performance for me. I don't think she should, or will, go home tonight, but I wouldn't be surprised either. Chris Richardson- The Boss He used the stage, which really excited me! I also really enjoyed his arrangement of the song. I wasn't one of my favorite Chris performances, especially if you just look at vocals, but his performance and arrangement made up for the vocal shortcomings, at least in my opinion. Jordin Sparks- Jordin definitely wins the favorite performance of the night award for me! This was the first time that I couldn't tell that she was way younger than the other contestants. I really liked the way she set up the song and the vocals were amazing. The song itself wasn't the greatest, but she made it work! The type of song was a great contrast from last week I like that she switches it up a little bit and shows a little versatility each week. I was really surprised by Jordin this week, and although I won't go as far as Randy as say that she has put herself up there with Melinda and LaKisha, if she keeps performing this way, she will make it a lot farther than anybody originally predicted. Overall, it was a very disappointing night for me, with two exceptions. I can see the results going a couple of different ways, but in my ideal world Brandon (or Phil), Haley and Sanjaya would be the bottom three, with Sanjaya going home that isn't going to happen though. Watch American Idol tonight on Fox to see who does go home, and a performance by Diana Ross!