Here are my thoughts on each performer this week, brought to you, as always, prior to hearing any of the judges’ feedback.
MK: “Perfect” - this is actually a great pick for her. Hold on people she’s looking in a mirror. Okay, so either she’s going to get kudos for getting through that part where she came in at the wrong time or she won’t - but in the end what made her mess up was that she actually connected with the audience members, held hands with some of them, and it threw her off - it’s totally connected to her lack of ability to connect. She has way too many walls up, and needs to get vulnerable to go further.
Dexter: “Cruise” - Who told Dexter that he should dress like Adam Lambert? I don’t think he feels comfortable in what he’s wearing - and he definitely doesn’t know what to do without his guitar. But he sounds good. Doesn’t this song have a rap in it?
Jena: “Clarity” - Okay, first of all, this is not “electronic” music. This is a pop song that is “sponsored” by an electronic DJ. Okay, now back to her. What in the heck is she wearing? Cleopatra meets Madonna. Glowsticks? What is she American Idol’s Prop Comic? Now I will say this, she did a great job making this song her own, but it is nearly impossible to sustain the energy of that chorus over and over again.
Okay, seriously. Is electronic a genre? Isn’t all music at this point electronic? For pete’s sake, all of it depends on electricity.
Alex: “Story of My Life” - What can we do to keep this moronic crowd to stop clapping on the 1 and 3? His choices when he deviates from the melody are exquisite. This was already a great song, and he made it totally awesome. This arrangement is nothing short of brilliant. My favorite moment was seeing JLo sway with reckless abandon to it. It’s like Beauty and the Geek. Genius.
Malaya: “When I Was Your Man” - She has such a pure voice. She looks like Prince as Wendy or Lisa. Her performance shows that interpretation skills are not dependent on age or experience. I loved the pulse of the aggressive part of the song coming back down to the intimacy of just her and the piano. She’s getting better and better each week.
Caleb: “The Edge of Glory” - again, he’s picking all the songs that I would love for Meatloaf to cover. But what need have I of Meatloaf when I have Caleb? I’m pretty sure I am best friends with him right now. Especially when he jumped up to the third of that melody on the second line. There was not a moment of this that I did not love.
CJ: “Invisible” - He’s the first person tonight who is still struggling with pitch. How do you get this table set for you so beautifully with the string section and everything and then grunt out notes that are so off? It’s not even emotionally acceptable to be this off. It was just off. I can’t imagine that this will get good reviews from the judges.
Jessica: “Pumped Up Kicks” - I think she did a great job with this song - this is a girl who needs to unleash her crazy eyes. I know she’s got em in there somewhere - And this is the perfect song to unleash them on. I liked this a lot for her. I’m not sure that she fully embodied the lyrics, but I’m not sure that Foster the People have ever done that either.
Majesty: “Wake Me Up” - This was a great pick for her, and a wonderful arrangement. I really liked it as it began, though not unlike a lot of the other super-pop song picks tonight, it’s very difficult to sustain the repetitiveness of the song itself. But she got close with some of those high notes on top of the melody.
Sam: “We are Young” - Once I heard that fun. was the artist, I predicted the song itself. I was wrong - I thought he would pick Carry On. With that hat, there’s no way he’s in the bottom three again. I liked this just fine, but I’m kind of over all of this at this point. Sorry Sam, but I am tired.
So I’m saying that the bottom three are MK, CJ, and Dexter. Or Jessica. But definitely MK and CJ, or anyone else with initials. What say you?