While last week's '80s night was difficult to handicap thanks to the broad range of songs available, last night's "Current Decade" theme was so constricting I struggled to come up with five songs I love and hoped to hear that aren't Adele, country or from The Book of Mormon.
The shallow pool of selections was a slightly less powerful warning sign than What Not to Sing's study on song age, which said categorically that older songs get higher approval ratings. Great music endures, while drek falls away, and this theme had the potential to churn out a lot of drek.
How sweet it is to be proven wrong again.
My reviews of the final seven:
Skylar Laine (Didn't You Know How Much I Loved You): Skylar scored instant points by choosing one of the few 2010's songs I adore and rocking it out with guitar in hand. It didn't excerpt very well, but Skylar delivered the kind of power necessary to make me believe it nonetheless. Only the occasional pitch problem marred an otherwise excellent performance. 70
Colton Dixon (Love the Way You Lie): From the stripped down arrangement with orchestral accompaniment to the dramatic presentation, I loved everything about the way this performance was staged. It's clear, though, that Colton was aping Adam Lambert's "Mad World," and the vocal, while powerful and clear, just can't match up to that standard. I fear this is Colton's ceiling: a delicate, beautiful performance that nonetheless held some distracting, wavering falsetto and bizarre diction. Definitely his best yet, but one step short of an Idol Moment. 75
Elise Testone and Phillip Phillips (Somebody That I Used to Know): I continue to adore Elise, and this week I wasn't nearly so pissed to see her paired with Phillip as Michael Johns 2.0 brought his (still far inferior) A game. Nonetheless, this song is clearly one that won't pass the test of time, and Phillip and Elise both lacked the kind of "screw you I'm happy without you" energy it seemed to demand. Tepid. 50
Jessica Sanchez (Stuttering): The rare case when a stripped-down arrangement and the song don't seem to match at all. Jessica's partially at fault as her vocal completely overpowered the piano from moment one. Really, the power she brought overwhelmed the song's message as well, and I couldn't stop feeling that Jessica doesn't understand this performance any more than I do. 55
Joshua Ledet (Runaway Baby): If Joshua does the impossible and grabs the first Idol crown for a black male since Ruben Studdard, this will be the performance I look back to as the moment everything clicked. Joshua's performances until now have followed a specific pattern: strut and belt notes, win me over, go extremely over the top and prevent me from taking him seriously. The first part was very much still in place this week as Joshua grabbed a fantastic arrangement and better staging (dancing girls! funky colors! Bond silhouettes!) and kept the enunciation to make the excitement understandable. To my immense surprise and pleasure, however, he skipped the just-too-muchery and instead used a perfect growl to put a bow on easily my favorite male performance of the season by far. 90
Skylar Laine and Colton Dixon (Don't You Wanna Stay): Skylar yet again gets credit for choosing a recent tune I fell in love with, and props for switching the pop/country dynamic to male/female versus the female/male on the original. That was basically the end of the positives, though; Colton brought his worst alt-rocker voice, and Skylar tried too hard through the entirety of a song that demands delicacy. Color me disappointed. 40
Hollie Cavanagh (Perfect): Last night was apparently "send the band home" time on Idol, and Hollie harnessed it beautifully. She took a pop song even I know and made it feel new and original. After the intro it felt more like a bland cover, but Hollie still had the power and command to do it well. Potentially a strong bounce back out of the Idol doghouse for Hollie. 65
Phillip Phillips (Give a Little More): Phillip gets a strategy bonus for pulling out a saxophone and his best bedroom eyes with his schtick running thin, but it didn't change that he's clearly a one-trick pony who's worn out his welcome. He kept it much more under control this week, but this still felt like taking a melody and putting it through a food processor as opposed to singing. GO HOME, PHILLIP. 30
Jessica Sanchez, Joshua Ledet and Hollie Cavanagh (Stronger): Joshua continued to shine like a star; Jessica continued to fail to turn the 'diva' switch to 'off'; and Hollie continued to sound pleasant but somewhat out of her depth. Put together, it's a not-unpleasant but also not very memorable cover of another Idol alum. 50
Elise Testone (You and I): Elise's tone. growl and rapid runs coalesced on another beautiful, stripped-down performance in a week full of them. Like Haley's version, I became far less interested in this performance after it degenerated to screaming "You and I!" ad nauseum, but still an entertaining vocal to add to Elise's expanding catalog. Not her best, but a fine way to close a fine show. 70
Now, the updated power poll:
7. Phillip Phillips: I was never enamored with his style, and it's been incredibly static while every other contestant has improved. The testosterone in his veins probably means we're looking at two more weeks of Phillip-squared at minimum, and I'm gritting my teeth already.
6. Hollie Cavanagh: Hollie's second-to-last rank is more a symptom of how rock-solid this top 5 is than her own fault after a strong recovery this week. I'm praying Idol voters do the right thing and keep the worst girl over the worst guy, but time and time again we've seen they won't. Hollie goes home tonight.
5. Colton Dixon: I'm torn on Colton more than any other contestant this season; his delivery and presentation can leave a lot to be desired, but in terms of vocal firepower he clearly belongs in the top 4. Leaving his alt-rocker roots could help, but ultimately what will make or break Colton is simply pulling it all together and delivering a couple rock-solid performances to accompany his entertaining but not earth-shattering ones so far.
4. Skylar Laine: I'm still not 100 percent sold on the country diva as a contender for the title, but she's done nothing to hurt her cause the last two weeks. She may need to show more range to win simply because she lacks the right reproductive equipment, but Skylar's emerging as a tempting dark horse to keep the Idol crown country another year.
3. Jessica Sanchez: Jessica has the power and control that would have made a surefire winner a few years ago, but her artistic choices continue to be dodgy, and she's starting to feel one-note the way Phillip does. I've hesitated to knock Jessica simply because she's consistently good, and I still feel she has the best voice in the competition, but she needs to harness it better to regain her early status as the favorite.
2. Joshua Ledet: After a few almost-but-not-quite weeks, Joshua put the pieces together and delivered the single most game-changing performance of the season. My lukewarm feeling for Joshua has transformed into intense curiosity; if he can continue to keep his gospel urges in check, Joshua seems poised to bring some color back to the winners circle, and he's currently my pick to do just that.
1. Elise Testone: Elise came back strong after last week's missteps and saw Jessica's lukewarm performances clear the way to the top of my chart. The more I watch Elise, the more I think she's destined to be a jazz/R&B star, and at this point I'm bracing for her too-early ouster and reminding myself to enjoy every minute. I hope Hope HOPE Elise or Joshua can break through and overpower the cute boys and Jessica to win it all, but I can't in good conscience predict a well-deserved win for her. Will a spot in my Idol Hall of Fame do?
UPDATE: As Michael Slezak predicted, the judges used their save tonight. (The Idol Guy had a great take on this as well.) More surprising - and jarring - is that Jessica Sanchez, the best pure vocalist in the competition, was on the chopping block, and the top three in my power poll were the bottom three in this week's voting. Damn it, America.
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