After a dramatically uneven two-theme week in Top 7 Part Deux, I came into this week fully expecting another polarizing set of performances. This week's "Then" theme held far more promise than last week, however; how wrong could the Top 6 go with Queen on their side? If they could just pick a few decent songs themselves, Idol was set up for a very good show.
I wasn't disappointed.
The performances:
Jessica Sanchez (Bohemian Rhapsody): Despite being Queen's biggest hit, this song excerpts exceedingly poorly, and this performance smartly addressed that in the beginning by trimming a very small portion that included one common theme. Jessica predictably rocked it, although a couple pitch problems marred the pared-down, gentle arrangement. The rock interlude that followed made the performance completely polar and ruined its flow, however. We know she's a great vocalist; when is artist Jessica going to arrive and blow us all away? 60
Skylar Laine (The Show Must Go On): Skylar was treading on thin ice aping the best performance by one of my favorite Idols of all time - the criminally underrated Carly Smithson - but she pulled it off with enough strength to make me overlook it. It's a treat to see Skylar, who reads more and more like a young Reba McEntire, taking on non-country material, and if she continues to perform like this she might even knock Phillip-squared out of the Top 2 and give us not just our first female winner since Jordin Sparks but the first femme finale since the epic Fantasia Barrino-Diana DeGarmo duel that got me interested in Idol in the first place. 75
Joshua Ledet (Crazy Little Thing Called Love): A pleasant, fun, completely forgettable performance, which is the last thing I expected from the always-polarizing Joshua, especially this late in the competition. He's got the pipes to seize the title, but I'll need to see more adventure in his song choices than this. 50
Elise Testone (I Want It All): Only a bizarre tambourine marred a strong, strong bounceback from Elise after her "Then" choice last week was less "Get it On" than "Get it Out." (Yes, I know she was eliminated Thursday.) Seemed to excerpt poorly and lacked the kind of flow of an Idol Moment, but an interesting, well-delivered choice to put Elise back in my best graces. 65
Phillip Phillips (Fat-Bottomed Girls): As the intro built up, all kinds of crazy ideas danced in my head: can Phillip actually sing tunefully? Is gravel not a prerequisite for him? Might I actually like Phillip? Alas, no; as soon as that interlude ended, he degenerated back to his old habits, and as much as I enjoyed when it came back for the chorus, being inconsistent isn't much better than consistently bad for a Top 5 finalist. One of Phillip's best efforts, but P2 really needs to get gone. 55
Hollie Cavanagh (Save Me): Halfway through typing in the WhatNotToSing address to compare its ratings to mine for the previous five performances, I realized I was completely ignoring a perfectly decent performance from Hollie, which says all you need to know about this. Move along; no top 4 finalist to see here. 40
Jessica Sanchez (Dance With My Father): Jessica's finest performance since her Top 13 "I Will Always Love You," this ballad hit every note, literally and metaphorically: a pitch-perfect, subdued, heartfelt vocal; interesting, appropriate, vulnerable staging, complete with beuatiful dress and blowing wind; and a logical, coherent excerpt to boot. Every now and then I think Grantland's Jay Caspian Kang is spitting on Idol's history by saying Jessica's the best contestant ever - she's far too inconsistent to top Adam Lambert, Pia Toscano, Crystal Bowersox, David Cook or Melinda Doolittle, to name just a few - but performances like this make me think she's just as talented, and she picked a perfect time to turn it on and build a few weeks' momentum before taking the crown. 80
Skylar Laine (Tattoos on This Town): Skylar did her best to save one of the worst, blandest, most inexplicable country hits of the last five years, but the material dragged her down too far to make this anything but vaguely unpleasant. Then again, vaguely unpleasant country performances with a guitar won it all last year, so maybe she's smarter than all of us. 30
Joshua Ledet (Ready for Love): Joshua's all about love this week, and I felt the stirrings of it in this performance. I was pushed back into the "really good" zone by classic Ledet/Lusk overvocalizing, but nonetheless, this was just the kind of tender, evocative performance Joshua needs alongside "Runaway Baby" to compete. If only he could be as good at both in the same week... 70
Elise Testone (Bold as Love): In her bid to be the new Haley Reinhart, Elise uncorked a Hall of Fame performance on her way out the door. From the sparse arrangment to the bursts of power vocals to the syncopated rhythms, this pushed all my buttons and added another to my playlist of Elise performances that could dominate the Season 11 mix CD when it's all said and done. So long, lover; until we meet again. 85
Phillip Phillips (The Stone): The lyric, "find some way to show them I'm not what they see" rang in my head through this entire performance. I was on the verge of loving Phillip in the intro of Fat-Bottomed Girls, and this is exactly the vocal I wanted that to be. A unique, well-arranged, vocally proficient performance that fell well short of the Hall, but that's more than enough for Phillip to please me. 70
Hollie Cavanagh (The Climb): Hollie repeated the classic young person's mistake that accompanies choice themes: she chose a song she loves rather than one that's actually well-written. Hollie's more talented than Miley Cyrus, and it showed in her delivery, but choosing this sort of treacle is exactly what got her to the bottom three consistently, and decent is not cutting it in the Top 5, especially this season. 50
Overall, an extremely strong week that showed us how great this season has become, and it's a treat every time I actually find an hour or so to recap it. I'm sad to see Elise go, and like a fresh widow I don't expect to ever love again, but I said the same after Casey Abrams bit the dust in Top 6 last year. Here's hoping another underdog can capture my heart and carry me even into the finale. (I'm looking at you, Skylar.)
The Top 5 power poll:
5. Phillip Phillips
4. Joshua Ledet
P2 fought hard to not go back to the cellar this week, and he and his four fellows are too closely bunched to say with any kind of authority who will do best, but my lingering bitterness over his inconsistency, dislike of melodies and legions of tween voters put him there again after Joshua submitted one very good and one okay performance this week. Joshua, on the other hand, clearly has the talent to win but can't find the control to harness it 100 percent of the time. Each of the final five is insanely talented; it's their ability to harness it week to week that will win the day, and Joshua and Phillip have verged into ear-bleeding territory too often to move up.
3. Hollie Cavanagh
Hollie dodged death even more frequently than Elise this season, and she's used the time just as well in a spectacular bounceback from mediocrity. (Elise was better, but she would be #2 if she were still on this list, so there it is.) Hollie's clearly taken a level in ballad; if she can up her game on up-tempo material as well, a spot next to our #1 favorite at the not-Kodak in late May could be hers.
2. Skylar Laine
Unlike certain people (*cough*MichaelSlezak), I don't buy Skylar as a legitimate threat to win, but she's improved enough and started good enough to unexpectedly rise above her inconsistency-plagued but more spectacular comrades. Skylar, like Scotty, seems likely to advance far but not produce any Hall of Fame performances. Whether that's faint praise is up to you.
1. Jessica Sanchez
Was there any doubt? She stepped boldly into the national consciousness with "I Will Always Love You," spent the intervening weeks testing her limits and honing her up-tempo credentials and stepped back into the spotlight with a stunning "Dance With My Father." Her connection to material is still suspect, and her up-tempo game isn't perfect, but her growth and considerable natural talent are more than enough to earn her the 2012 title.
Back later in the week as the Top 5 perform the music of Britain, a theme Simon Cowell would have loved had he not orchestrated his own irrelevance after Season 9.
Until Thursday.
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