I had two personal favorite performances last night, and Scotty McCreery’s take on Elvis’ “That’s All Right Mama” was definitely one of them. I thought he had an
outstanding vocal performance, and I loved that he worked the stage and the audience the entire time. Scotty really showed off his personality; he has more charisma than I thought. This was an overall great performance from him. That bit at the end with the girls rushing up was so staged, it was ridiculous. As far as the judges are concerned, I agree with Randy Jackson; Scotty is in it to win it.
Pia Toscano finally sang a legitimate upbeat number with Ike and Tina Turner’s “River Deep, Mountain High.” Pia sounded pretty phenomenal. She was leaps and bounds better than Haley and Lauren. However, she needs to work on her stage presence, because she still managed to come across a little boring. Just standing in the middle of the stage for the majority of the performance and singing doesn’t work at all for this song. If she would have shown a lot more personality during her performance, she would have easily won the night. But you know, if I had been wearing the weird jumper/one piece, I wouldn’t have been exactly glowing. I hope Idol doesn’t let Gwen Stefani dress the contestants ever again.
Up next was Stefano Langone performing Percy Sledge’s “When a Man Loves a Woman.” I totally cringed when I heard his song choice. However, this is the best Stefano has sounded in weeks. He’s really put the work in to improve his overall sound. That said, I wasn’t blown away by his performance, but it was good. I do think that he could still possibly land in the bottom three. My thinking is that there will be probably more guys than girls in the bottom, and someone has to round out the group. Though, I don’t see him being eliminated this week.
Ladies and gentlemen, say what you will, but Paul McDonald is back! His 
performance of Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues” was great. His performance was also my other favorite of the night. Paul brought a great energy to the stage, and last night was hands down the best he’s sounded in quite some time. His interaction with the band members on stage was fun to watch. Paul seemed to be really in his element, and he didn't need any hijinks to make him standout. Paul’s performance was a great note to end the night on. Hopefully his great vocal performance will keep him out of the bottom three this week.
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Article comments
1 - Sherry
The Rock n Roll Hall of Fame includes all kinds of music, it just had to have an impact on "The Rock Era," so I wasn't expecting exclusively rock songs. I'm not sure what you mean about the songs not being in the Hall of Fame? There are no songs in the Hall of Fame. All of the artists that the contestants covered are in the Hall of Fame, so I thought it worked.
I don't think Rock n Roll means hard rock or fast music, so CCR, Beatles, and Elvis all fit the term.
I agree completely on James Durbin. I thought the final note actually ruined the intensity of the song. I also agree that Casey needs to work on developing his own sound and personality to work together.
I did not like Jacob Lusk's pre-song comments at all, I also didn't think his performance was all that great. I won't be surprised if he ends up in the bottom three.
I really don't know who will be in the bottom or going home this week. It should make for an interesting results show.
2 - handyguy
Some individual performances have been disappointing, but overall the high vocal quality has been remarkably consistent week to week. Not too many moments when you think, what is that person doing on this show.
Someone like Stefano would have seemed way above average in past seasons, a sort of muscled-up version of David Archuleta; this year he's barely good enough to hang on, because the others are so good.
Good but too rarely exciting. I certainly enjoyed Scotty, Paul and James last night, but there's no since of discovery and surprise, as there was with say, David Cook or Adam Lambert or even Kris Allen.
3 - Butch
I think Stefano is, hands down, THE best singer out of this year's finalists. His voice is the most technically impressive. I think he has also improved by leaps and bounds with his performing abilities.
The shame is that the show's PR campaign has tricked so many people into thinking that the whole group is extremely talented. Some of it boils down to a matter of opinion, of course, but I really think AI has done a great of selling a bunch of mediocre show-boaters this year.
Jacob Lusk is truly terrible. I used to feel that way about Paul McDonald - but he has grown on me over the weeks, with last night being great. But Lusk is just God awful. And his sanctimonious CRAP before his performance last night might just get him booted from the show tonight. If not, it certainly hurt.
4 - docdave
Scotty and James are the two best overall. I thought Pia would be in the top three. Jacob has become annoying and is clearly a self centered racist diva who is not that good a singer. Paul has improved the last two weeks, but is frequently off-pitch. Casey has clearly peaked and has not impressed me. Stefano is okay buy nothing special. Lauren and Haley pale in comparison to Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. I expect a Scotty versus James finale.