Idol Talk With Brian

Last night on American Idol it was “Songs of the 21st Century”. The contestants could choose any song from 2000 to now to sing and there were some odd choices. Scotty McCreery started things out with the odd choice of “Swingin” which was a bit hit for John Anderson in the 70’s and remade by Lee Ann Rimes this past year. Scotty was his usual self and sounded good but it was the most boring performance he has done yet. I am starting to get a little sick of the way the he hold the mic and those quirky little moves he does. He needs to stretch it out a bit and get to that next level. Not a great Scotty night but he was more than good enough to stick around.

James Durbin, the rocker, was next with his version of Muse’s “Uprising”. He was one of my favorites of the night. He brought out a drum corp and just knocked it out of the park. I would rather he held off on forcing at least one wounded cat scream in each song though. He proved he can just flat out sing.

Halley Reinhart took on Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep”. When Haley picks the right song, she is great, when she doesn’t , she is very forgettable. This one was kind of in between for me. it was just okay and at this point in the competition I don’t think she could afford to just be okay.

Jacob Lusk brought his diva like attitude and style to the Luther Vandross hit “Dance With My Father”. He had issues at the beginning of the song and had to yank his monitor out of his ear. When he is on he is an amazing singer but he seems to be overdramatic each week and I think the likability factor may haunt him. He just doesn’t seem very likable. It is a popularity contest as well and he isn’t doing a good job of being an positively engaging person.

Casey Abrams covered Maroon 5’s hit “Harder to Breathe”. I am a Casey fan. I think he is strange and unique and I like that in an artist. Is it just me or does Casey look like a young Yukon Cornelius from the Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer? I can see where Casey could be a bit polarizing. I can see where he could be annoying to some. When he sings it looks like he has some hot food in his mouth. Love him and hope he sticks around.

Stefano Lagone came out with a new attitude and sang Ne-Yo’s “Closer”. He seemed more confident than ever and was the best I have seen him stage presence-wise. He sang good but for the most part but the song sounded like a bunch of moaning and whining to me. I am not sure there were actual lyrics after the first minute or so.

Lauren Alaina closed the show. Lauren is potentially the best singer left but may be too young to find her real voice yet. I have a feeling if she had another year or so of vocal maturity and getting to know her voice, she could win this thing but I don’t think she is ready yet. She sang “Born to Fly” by Sara Evans. She sounded fine on it but “Born to Fly” is not a song that you can really open up and sing. Good song but a bad choice to show off what you can do. Country was good last night but not great. A very safe night for Scotty and Lauren. My prediction for bottom 3 tonight is Jacob, Stefano and Lauren with Jacob going home tonight