Sabrina Sloan: Randy said that she was the one to beat. Although I disagree with him in light of performances after her, I do agree in that she put on a great show. Sabrina was energetic and did well on the song.
Stephanie Edwards: As the first to go on, Stephanie kicked off the show in a good way. Randy said that she was very good albeit a little pitchy- nevertheless, he thought that she was definitely better than the guys. Simon complimented Stephanie on picking the right song and added that it was the best performance he'd seen so far. Then again, he hadn't heard the rest of the girls yet at this point.
Best
Jordin Sparks: This 17-year-old pulled out all the stops by taking Tracy Chapman's "Give Me One Reason" and making it her own. She was alive, energetic, and was terrific. The judges encouraged Jordin to keep taking risks and pushing herself.
Melinda Doolittle: The former backup singer is coming out of her shell as she grows accustomed to the spotlight. Her body language still hinted at her insecurity (hunched shoulders), but her voice said otherwise. She was awesome. Now that Melinda's gotten a taste at being up front, I don't think she'll be going back.
Gina Glocksen: I've been a fan of Gina since I first saw her audition, so I'm a little biased towards her. Simon didn't think she nailed that high note during "All By Myself", but I beg to differ. She was great! She's totally Top 12 material.
Lakisha Jones: Wow, talk about ending the evening with a bang! Lakisha sang "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going," which Ryan needlessly reminds us was performed by Academy Award nominee and former Idol contestant Jennifer Hudson. Lakisha wasn't quite as good as Jennifer, but it was still clearly one of the two best performances of the competition thus far. Simon boldly commented, "I'm tempted to tell 23 people to book their plane tickets home." Wow, that's huge coming from Simon.
I think that the two ladies going home this week are Amy Krebs and Nicole Tranquillo. As I mentioned, their singing wasn't bad, but I don't think that many people remembered them when it came time to vote.
Thursday night is the Results episode, in which we'll see two girls and two guys go home. The show will also feature a performance by season three winner Fantasia.
Article comments
1 - Ty
"Lakisha Jones: Wow, talk about ending the evening with a bang!"
I thought she ended the night with a SCREAM, considering she just yells.
She only sings one type of songs. Hopefully they will have a country theme that will knock out this Frenchie/Mandisa clone.
I know that Fantasia solidified herself during country week by blackifying "Summertime" (which is not real country anyways), but hopefully LaKisha will try some mainstream country and fall flat on her face.
It's not that I hate her personally or racially, I just am tired of hearing fat black men and women sing. They are so overrated and I can't stand that type of music.
Remember last season during the auditions there was a black lady who sounded like the next coming of Shania Twain? We need her and more like her back, and I don't even like country music.
2 - Paul
I too want to see LaKisha sing out of her element. If see can pull off a rock song, she would definitely be the frontrunner.
But all we know now is that she can do Aretha and Whitney.
YAWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3 - Erm
you totally forgot about Stephanie Edwards (who deserves to be in the best category, btw).
4 - Thank God for the Idol Girls
You did forget Stephanie Edwards, but she WAS the first to perform, and that is never an advantage in American Idol, particularly if you give a suck-tastic performance. You are usually forgotten, unless you are a truly memorable contestant, but Stephanie hasn't had enough Idol footage to make her one....yet.
However, Stephanie at least deserves to be in the "Better" category. Sometimes she was a bit pitchy, yes, but she beats any of the dudes so far (except maybe Blake and Chris. S, who I believe may provide competiton to the girls next week in terms of singing).
P.S.: Sundance's chances of leaving this week due to V.F.T.W.: 0.00000001%. Thanks a lot, guys.
5 - Kaonashi
Erm and Thank God- Yes, you both are totally right. I forgot about Stephanie Edwards. Thank you very much for pointing it out. I even took notes about everyone as I was watching last night. Apologies to Stephanie. I'll include her in my review and ask the editors to apply the changes.