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...But all they got was 90 minutes.
This week's theme for the Top 9 was to sing a song recorded by someone inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This was going to make it harder on the women, given the relative dearth of women inductees vs. men, but they all soldiered on. I am more curious about why the producers seem determined to not let them be modern. You can have Gwen Stefani help dress them. (BTW: How random was that, and how little airtime did she get, am I right???) You can have will.i.am there to "coach" them, but most of them still sang songs that were 20, 30, 40 years old.
Note to producers and artists: It's actually really really hard to bring something new, fresh and mind-blowing to songs we all grew up with. And have heard covered on American Idol (and in bars) all our lives. Just sayin'
But they tried. So let's dig in, shall we?
1. Jacob sang Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror"
Jacob kicked off the night ... and some controversy. See, originally, he was going to sing Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On," but decided to change songs 'cause it was too sexy. And then he said something that basically wasn't really about standing by his own convictions or being true to himself as an artist -- no, he basically shared that he believed that if we don't like his performance, it will be because there's something wrong with us! Here's the quote:
"If I end up in the bottom three, it won’t be because I sang the song bad. It won’t be because I sang the song wrong. It’ll be because everybody in America wasn’t ready to look at themselves in the mirror."
And cue the angry reactions from people who say, "No, maybe it means I'm just not that into you, Jacob!"
Now, none of this is really about his performance. Which started out relatively strong, but, as usual with Jacob, veered off into off-key screaming and overly affected mannerisms. I also didn't get why he was singing in unison with the backup singer on the chorus, thus kind of obscuring his contribution through a big portion of the song. Of course, it turns out that back-up singer was Siedah Garrett, who co-wrote the song. So thank you STy for honoring the songwriter!
Bottom line: That was a stupid, stupid comment, Jacob. You might just pay for it tonight. We like our Idols charmingly humble. Not full of 'tude.
2. Haley sang Janis Joplin's "Piece of My Heart"
Image courtesy FOX
I have one question: Why is she SO happy about having her heart broken? Seriously, did she even watch one video of Janis's heartrending performance style? Good performing does not always require a winning smile. Vocally she indeed sounded pretty good, although I could've stood a little less gravel, a little more smooth. It was just a little too raspy too much of the time. The other thing Haley needs to work on is her arms. She flings them about and ends up making it look like she's kind of lackadaisical about the whole thing. That and the goofy smile while singing about heartbreak.
Bottom line: She seems to have recovered from her early trouble gaining fans. Tough to say, but I think she'll be OK.
3. Casey sang CCR's "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" (and played the bass)
I have one question: Why is he SO happy about the rain? More inappropriate smiling. but worse than that: This bored me. I'm not a huge CCR fan to begin with, I confess, and this was kind of a sleepy-jazz, Norah Jones take on it. It was all pretty "meh" for me. Although I do like it when he plays stand-up bass :)
Bottom line: I think he's at risk.
4. Lauren sang Aretha Franklin's "Natural Woman" (written by Carole King, BTW)
I don't think Gwen liked Lauren. That was not a good styling job, from the hair to the shorts that were riding up (and didn't have that far to go). She sounded only fine. It took until about 30 seconds from the end for her to even seem emotionally engaged at all. She had no internal story or soul at all. Again: Neither did Carrie Underwood, ever, during her entire run on the show. But they both have vocals of steel. And maybe that's enough.
Bottom line: But I don't think so: I think she
