On Wednesday’s episode of American Idol the Final Four remain and things got Gagalicious as Lady Gaga descended upon the competition from her home planet Gagalore, sans pants, to mentor the remaining contestants on glitz, glam, and all things related to being a truly fantastic performer. The show’s theme which seemed to be inspirations or legends, was about as hard to figure out as Lady Gaga herself, and had the Idol finalists choosing any song that inspires them and another from legendary songwriting duo Leiber & Stoller.
For the most part the judges felt each artist made his or her mark on the songs they chose. James Durbin nailed both his performances – especially Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin” and Randy Jackson felt he was “having a moment” each time he sang. Haley Reinhardt covered Michael Jackson’s “Earth Song,” in round one, but had some difficulties since the song just wasn’t really compatible with her vocal range – Randy said it sounded like “screaming.” In the second round Haley majorly redeemed herself with a performance of Ben E. King‘s “I Who Have Nothing”, which got a standing ovation from the judges – another one! Haley’s big rock n roll voice is certainly perfect for the classics.
Country cutie Scotty McCreery – who seemingly can do no wrong on Idol – had two high notes with his performances: an emotionally charged rendition Alan Jackson’s of “Where Were You” that included him playing guitar and a hilarious Gaga-ized version of The Coasters’ “Young Blood.” Of course, the saucy humor he brought performing to his girlfriend, “the microphone” excited judge Steven Tyler who exclaimed: “You made Gaga’s yaya go lala.” Um… I’m not sure what a yaya is but something tells me it might not be family friendly! Keep it in check, Steven. Also, going Gaga was blue-plate special Lauren Alaina, whose performance featured a sparkle-encrusted ensemble that matched her spunky personality, and an amazing rendition of Elvis Presley’s “Trouble” which Jennifer Lopez dubbed “really, really good!”
Thursday night’s results show started with Jlo experiencing her weekly fashion fiasco with some scary drop-crotch MC Hammer looking pants as she walked out on stage and I think Steven was wearing a jacket with J.Lo’s face on it. Not sure – but something crazy was happening there!
With a whopping 72 million plus votes cast to determine who would be getting the deluxe trips home, Ryan Seacrest announced Lauren was the first person to make it into the Top Three. And then Idol teased us with not one but two celebrity performances and a sneak peak of Steven’s new very un-Aerosmith video. Seriously – I couldn’t stand the suspense! Ryan, finally, got around to announcing the rest of the results and Haley moved into the second safe spot. The final spot went to none other than Scotty, meaning the teenage girl army was out in full-force voting furiously by any means necessary.
Sweet, sensitive James was sent home leaving Jennifer in tears. James departed by serenading us with an emotional version of Paul McCartney’s “Maybe I’m Amazed” and reminding us to “give metal a chance!” James – America will totally give metal a chance and I agree with J.Lo, you are “magical!”
Next week the final three get to arrive via private jet for first-class hometown heroes visits. Do you think James should have been sent home? Who do you think will make the final two?
