Apparently no one showed Julie Zorrilla the American Idol rulebook, where rule number one is: Do not under any circumstances sing any Kelly Clarkson songs in the house that Clarkson built. I totally understand the sentiment of Zorrilla choosing to sing Clarkson’s huge hit, “Breakaway,” but that song did her voice absolutely no favors. That song was in no way, shape, or form in her “wheelhouse,” as Kurt Hummel would say. And on top of that, she botched the lyrics big time. At that point, not even her ballerina ensemble could save her.
I must say that I am slightly disappointed with Haley Reinhart’s performance of Alicia Keys’ “Fallin’.” Reinhart has tried out for Idol how many times now for Idol, yet chose to make her main stage debut with a predictable, boring song. The beginning of the song was nice and controlled, but she seemed almost desperate to show off that she could do vocal runs, when a nice controlled performance would have suited her better.
Up until this point, I have not understood the appeal of Thia Megia. In all her auditions, up until her performance of “Out Here On My Own” from Fame, the tone of her voice has been odd. If she had been singing like she did in the semifinals all along, I think I would be a little more in favor of her advancing to the finals. I did like how she started out the beginning of her performance acapella, however there’s something about her that I am just not sold on. I didn’t care for her song, or the fact that Randy Jackson said she reminded him of a young Michael Jackson. Puh-lease.
One of my surprise favorites of the night was Lauren Alaina. She’s still a little too precocious for my taste, but she’s super talented. I really enjoyed her rendition of Reba McEntire’s “On the Radio.” Some of her stage movements were a tad awkward, but she worked the stage the best she knew how. Her larger notes got a little pitchy, but overall she had a pretty fantastic performance. One aesthetic nitpick, the makeup team needs to tone down the eye makeup on Lauren. She is 16-years-old, she doesn’t need to be made up like she’s going to a club.
Article comments
1 - Rachael Pontillo
I actually thought Thia did very well. I was not a fan of hers until this song, because she seems very shy and not comfortable on stage, but vocally the performance was very clean and her tone is very well controlled and pure. I would rather hear a nice, in-tune tone sung cleanly than someone trying to be someone else by growling, screaming, and singing a million runs.
2 - handyguy
The most exciting contenders among the 13 finalists are mostly male.
Nearly everyone in the top 24 was plenty competent, but some were bland or merely flashy. Jacob, James, and Casey could potentially make this a very interesting season indeed.
The females who got the highest praise from the judges this week [Pia and Thia] are obviously good singers, but on the bland side. Naima and Lauren [and maybe Ashton] are less perfect singers, but with intense personalities that could make them worth watching.