JoeUser was down last night. Here's what I wrote, but was unable to post:
(Cut and paste from Word seems a bit awkward. I doubt that enough people will read this to justify a major edit. I will leave it as-is.)
There it was, the last performance show before the final twelve are announced. Once again we saw that the best talent in the competition is on the women’s side of the coin.
So with Ryan Seacrest leading us wearing a “Tribute to Carl Sagan” outfit, let’s see how our eight female finalists fared!
The Performances:
- Jordin Sparks sang Pat Benetar’s “Heartbreaker”. I thought that it was alright, but not fantastic. Each year it seems that someone trips up on a Pat Benetar song before the final twelve is established. Although not as bad as most, Jordin’s performance wasn’t perfect. It seemed to me that Jordin would have better off going at this song with a stronger voice. It sounded like a slightly weak copy of the original. GRADE: B-
- Sabrina Sloan sang “Don’t Let Go.” Wow is Sabrina pretty! Nice hair, dress, and make-up. Sabrina did a nice job singing live with a song designed for three people. GRADE: B
The judges didn’t give Sabrina much praise after the performance, but I feel that they had a bit of a purpose in doing so. Some times the right sort of criticism can help a contestant bring his or her game up a level. Let’s hope that that’ll be the case with Sabrina.
- Antonella Barba looked nice as usual. I am a big fan of her hair, outfit, and boots. After singing, Simon gave her a nice compliment about her grace in putting up with the recent (unnecessary) media onslaught.
Once again Antonella’s song fell flat. Even though tonight’s was better than previous performances, she pales in comparison to her competition. From now until her elimination, this will all be good “face time” for Antonella en route to her eventual successful career as a model. GRADE: C
- Haley Scarnato sang “If My Heart Had Wings.” Haley had good facial expressions, and sang the song well and with feeling. I wonder whether she’ll end up being memorable enough to remain in voters’ minds by the time voting starts. I think Simon was right about her lack of memorability. (My word, not his.) GRADE: B-
- Stephanie Edwards. I have been wondering why Jordin is hailed as being a “young 17 year-old”, yet little is mentioned of Stephanie’s young age. I guess it is because Stephanie just seems older than her 19 years on TV.
Stephanie sang her song well tonight. It seems like one can always expect quality out of her. GRADE: B
- LaKisha Jones sang a Whitney song. LaKisha picked a really tough song, sang it live, and was comparable to Whitney Houston. Way to go. GRADE: B+
- Gina Glockson sang what was apparently a song by Evanescence. I like Gina’s personality when she talks during her vignettes. She seems like someone who I’d spend time with.
Gina sang kind of a heavier, rock-type song. She did reasonably well with it. Performances like that definitely stand out among a bunch of R&B (or country) songs that we’re always subjected to when the women sing. (With the women-in-rock genre, I’d bet that Gina would kill in a “Central or Eastern European Idol” competition.) I liked Gina tonight. GRADE: B
- Eventual winner Melinda Doolittle sang “Because I’m a Woman.” (I think that’s
the title. . . I haven’t heard this song since Miss Piggy sang it on the Muppet Show.)
Melinda is awesome. How can she lose? GRADE: A
Final Analysis:
Top three: 1) Melinda 2) LaKisha 3) Gina
Bottom three: 1) Antonella 2) Jordin 3) Haley (Neither Jordin nor Haley were bad)
Likely to be sent away: Haley and Jordin