American Idol "Top 5" Review: Talent Deep, Songbook Shallow

(The introduction to this piece was written last week while I was still waiting for American Idol's YouTube page to post performances, which it finally did Tuesday. What the hell, Fox.)

After last week's depressing but utterly predictable elimination, it's time to move out of the midcard and get down to the business of choosing the next American Idol. Each contestant remaining has a legitimate shot, so it's up to the next five weeks of performances to determine which will inherit Scotty McCreery's throne. (As is de rigeur for these recaps, yes, I'm aware it won't be our favorite AI11 Country diva.)

The final five tackled that challenge with another dual theme: British music and hits of the 1960's. While neither especially lights my fire, I'm excited to see which finalists will distinguish themselves from the pack and gain favorite status in the home stretch.

(It doesn't fit into the recap, but allow me to rage against Idol stopping its full-season precedent of uploading performances to YouTube the next day and instead putting them only on americanidol.com, where they're accompanied by intrusive advertising and a stripped-down, featureless player. What's more, they've stopped showing any lenience to YouTube uploaders as they did in seasons past. EXPLETIVES DELETED) 

The performances:

Hollie Cavanagh (River Deep Mountain High): The swaying, crowd-leading open to this performance was dangerously cheesy, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't dig the hell out of it. I had difficulty getting Pia Toscano out of my head during this performance, but Hollie knocked it out of the park and rearranged it enough to feel distinct. I still don't love the song, but this is a star-making version. 80

Phillip Phillips (The Letter): Forget Skylar: here's Scotty McCreery 2.0. Maybe it's not fair to blame Phillip for the hackneyed letter-writing background, but it perfectly reflected his performance: baffling, irritating and just too much. Not the worst performance ever - probably not of the season, and possibly not even Phillip's worst of the season - but another strike against my most-hated finalist. 20

Skylar Laine (Fortunate Son): I felt a familiar wave of county-affirmation disgust at this performance, but Skylar rocked it nonetheless. It's southern rock, but it's still a pleasure to see her tackle material that's not strictly country. Sad to see her go, but contributes to a developing trend: delivering an amazing performance on the way out, and on a song I love no less. This is destined for the season-end mix. 75

Joshua and Phillip (You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling): Every now and then Phillip shows potential like this that just irritates the living hell out of me. He's got a wonderful instrument and absolutely no idea how to use it. Speaking of which, Joshua verged yet again into just-too-muchery here, but overall I dug it. Note to the producers: please stop making people duet with Phillip. No one likes to work with the slow kid, and he's not getting any faster. I'm a sucker for this kind of cheese - hello, Top Gun - but enough already. We're in the finals. 40

Jessica Sanchez (Proud Mary): Jessica trotted out her best Tina impersonation, but as with most Tina covers it simply made me miss the original. It even made me miss Syesha Mercado's version; she clearly understood the song, which Jessica, despite her wailing, never quite convinced me of. Plus 10 for the dress and the shimmy, another few points for a proficient vocal. but can't be a Hall of Famer without more resonance. 65

Joshua Ledet (Ain't Too Proud to Beg): Another song I'm not wild about from Joshua, and with his typical overselling that's a recipe for a low rating. Never connected with the song, never tried anything unusual, never mind. 40

Hollie Cavanagh (Bleeding Love): The producers did their best to sabotage Hollie's beautifully understated performance with an over-the-top heart graphic at the top, but every succulency-pared note afterward was perfection. Lacked a defining instant to make it an Idol Moment, but an outstanding performance that continues Hollie's unlikely resurgence in style. 75

Phillip Phillips (Time of the Season): While "The Letter" was unpleasant, this was a certified trainwreck. Between the bland, almost apologetic vocal and lethargic pace, this performance seemed to last forever. Or is that me projecting how I feel about P-squared's Idol run? 5

Hollie, Jessica and Skylar (Higher and Higher): Just when I started thinking Hollie could threaten Jessica, this performance proved it. Skylar retreated to her usual schtick while the two heavyweights duked it out for the top of the power poll. Oh, the performance? Blah. Whatever. Can we stop with the group B.S. now? 30

Skylar Laine (You Don't Have to Say You Love Me): Skylar borrowed two unfortunate tactics from the Lauren Alaina playbook here: the dreadfully boring classic ballad and the billowy prom dress that flares out over the legs for no discernable reason. She deviated by completely overpowering the song and making me wish it would end. Okay. maybe that elimination makes a little more sense now. 40

Jessica Sanchez (You Are So Beautiful): Jessica brought all her vulnerability for this song, which gave what's generally a staid, bland choice an intriguing edge. She predictably sang the daylights out of it, and the recast - which she actually seemed to understand - made it an entirely new song, which she of course now owns. 80

Joshua Ledet (To Love Somebody): I applaud Joshua for personally connecting to every song, but it leads him more often into the heart of Shreakville with no way out. As soon as I saw the tears well up I knew Joshua was in trouble, and this was if anything more outrageous than his previous ventures into overexertion. Sigh. 30

The new power poll:

4. Phillip Phillips

I'm out of things to say. You wished this on yourselves, teenyboppers. For the rest of us, you've Danny Gokey-ed the season - like S8, any discussion of S11's crazy talented finalists will begin with a gigantic asterisk. I've said it before, but if this hack wins I'm probably done with the show.

3. Joshua Ledet

Joshua's obscene talent is harnessed more frequently than Phillip's, but he's still too unpredictable to forecast for the finals. Does nobody coach these kids? I'm going to blame the judges. Okay, I feel better now.

2. Jessica Sanchez

1. Hollie Cavanagh

After several weeks hanging on to frontrunner status despite a couple glaring flaws, Jessica finally gave it up to an increasingly complete performer who's putting on an unbelievable charge to the finish that could make her Idol's most unlikely feel-good winner since Kris Allen. Rock on, Hollie. You're probably going to end up more Haley than Kris, but I'll be damned if I don't root for you until the moment it's over.

Overall a decent week that handicapped a very talented group of performers with truly terrible songs. Hopefully next week (this week) is better with California songs and tunes they wish they wrote. Given the dubious artistic choices these finalists make week to week, I'm afraid already.