Idol Final 13- Guys Sing Stevie Wonder, Girls Sing Whitney Houston

Joshua Ledet sings Stevie Wonder’s “I Wish” and comes out rockin’. Mary J Bige gave him some great advise which he followed about moving and rocking with the music, pushing the chorus, not to hold back. He does a great job. The judges loved him!

Elise Testone sings Whitney Houstons’s “I’m Your Baby Tonight” and it was only okay. They changed the song on Elise and she only had about 4 days to get comfortable with it which she did say was no excuse, but the judges say she seemed uncomfortable and did not sing up to her usual height, they know she can do better, that her voice is better than that. Very unfortunate. I think Jimmy & Mary J. Blige mislead her by changing the song….to bad.  She does have great potential, bad song choice for her. Shame on Jimmy and Mary J. Blige!

Jermaine Jones sings “Knocks Me Off My Feet” by Stevie which I didn’t love. He seems like a nice enough guy but he just doesn’t do it for me. Steven thinks he’s great. Jennifer tells him he needs to relax and try to connect with the audience more, even if it be her. Ha! Randy is the only honest one who tells him that he likes him but doesn’t like his singing of the chorus’. Tell him Randy! Then Ryan asks him how he thinks he was and he says he thinks he was good! Funny!

Erika Van Pelt sings “I Believe In You & Me” by Whitney Houston. Jimmy & Mary J. Blige say she needs to sing it Erica’s version and her version is great. She has a beautiful voice. She has lovely depth, timbre and soul to her voice. Jennifer thinks she is only showing the tip of the iceberg and if she will stop thinking we’ll see even more of her depth, I’d love to hear a whole song by her and yes,  I agree when she comes out of her head and just sings she’ll be even better, but hell, she’s involved in a singing competition where she’s being judged on everything she’s doing so who can blame her?

Next up is Colton Dixon doing “Lately” by Stevie Wonder. Jimmy and Mary J. Blige make him sing an original song to get a feel for him and his heart. After that he can sing the Stevie song with feeling and he does and comes out blazing. They love him and are proud of him.

Shannon Magrane sings “I Have Nothing” by Whitney in practice and Mary tells her she needs to stop trying so hard and thinking about going so hard for the big note…relax into it…and as she relaxes at the practice it ends up really coming out well. At the big show, not so much! Poor Shannon must have been so nervous she got back into thinking too much and she didn’t hit the big notes like she did at the practice….it was an unfortunate showing for her, not so good! Even Steven said she wasn’t too good!

Deandre Brackensick sings “Master Blaster” which is really interesting. It is so up tempo and Reggae-ish which is what what Deandre seems to be to me it is only fitting. Everyone loves him!

Skylar Laine sings “Where Do Broken Hearts Go”.  As she talks with Mary J. Blige and Jimmy, Mary suggests that she not sing the whole song with her usual vigor, and Skylar gets the message and tones it down a little. When she comes out on the show, she sings with softness and works her way up to her usual powerful finish. It was fantastic.

Heejun sings “All is Fair In Love” and gets advice to sing a little stronger. I still do not get the mad love for him. The judges loved him. I do not. Nuff’ said.

Hollie Cavanagh sings “All The Man That I Need” and it is fantastic! Mary and Jimmy say if she takes their advise and runs with it she’ll steal the show. And she did. She did a great job with this big song. All of the judges loved her and so did I. She’s a little girl with a big voice! Randy said she nailed it! Steven said she nailed it and has been every week. Jennifer said she may be one of the final girls in a sing off.

Jeremy Rosado sings “Ribbons In The Sky” but in practice is so busy thinking, he’s not singing well. He is so preoccupied with having been saved that he’s not workin’ it.  I think he’s in trouble. I do not think he’s one of the best in the competition, I think he will go home. The judges say they like him but do not say he sang well, and Randy is honest and says he didn’t sing that great.

Jessica Sanchez sings”I Will Always Love You” and knocks it out of the park! It was beautiful! The judges and the audience loved it. It was lovely. Nothing more to say…Steven said she may be the one…Randy said she may the best vocal talent in the competition, one of the best talents in the country. Wow!

Phil Phillips doing “Superstition” on guitar is interesting, but hard to follow Jessica.  He just is….he’s good but after the quality of Jessica, he paled in comparison. They liked him, but they didn’t rave about him.

So tomorrow night we’ll see how they fare.

What do you think?

(C) Written by Evelyn Garone 3/8/12