American Idol 10: Motown Philly Back again!

It’s Motown night, and all I can say is this could be very, very interesting. . .

But tonight does narrow the field down to the top 10 and that determines who goes on the American Idol tour. Which I’m guessing people still buy tickets to go see. I’d definitely go see some of this year’s contestants.

But first, let’s see how this season’s contestants take on the Motown sound!

Casey Abrams “Heard it through the Grapevine” by Marvin Gaye • What has Casey done to his hair? • I won’t lie, the beginning is a bit rough for me, but when he gets into the meat of the verse, he seems to be more in control and uses his singing voice and the growly nature of his voice. • Not an amazing performance, but there’s something about Casey that makes me smile. I enjoy his performances. And Mindy and I agreed that we love the organic, unpolished sound of his voice and his performances. (As an aside, how many cardigans does Randy own? Seriously?)

Thia Megia “Heatwave” by Martha and the Vandellas • Yay! Thia has personality! I thought it had gone dormant! • She looks like she’s having fun, is dressed like a 16-year-old rather than a 45-year-old-diva. • We thought she wasn’t quite on the right pitch every time she sang “heat” in “heatwave.”

Jacob Lusk “You’re All I Need” by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell • I think the advice Jimmy gave Jacob about restraining and using the licks and vocal gimmicks sparingly and only in the right moments is ABSOLUTELY the best advice ever. • Mindy’s comment: When he’s not belting it, he’s nasal. • For me, he’s got too much vibrato and quavery-ness in his voice. • It’s a good performance and Jacob definitely shouldn’t go home, but I always feel we’re just shy of a Vegas lounge show with Jacob. It was good, but it’s not the best performance I’ve ever seen. (BTW, the judges LOVED it!)

Lauren Alaina “You Keep Me Hangin On” by The Supremes • Beginning is nice and Lauren uses the break in her voice to its best advantage. • The verses and faster part sound great, but I feel like she checked out emotionally for a short period in the middle. • Good, fun performance that showed a bit of personality and spice. Good performance!

Stefano Langone “Hello” by Lionel Ritchie • OK, if he’s doing this song, he’s got to do it well. I mean, this is a song Lionel is really known for . . . this could be amazing or awful! David Cook rocked this song in an entirely different vibe from the original a few years ago, and I don’t know if Stefano can break out of the original enough to have that moment. • Vocally, Stefano is great. He rarely misses his pitch. He does have a few enunciation issues and breaks his phrases in weird places that don’t make sense. • Good performance, but not a show-stopper. At least for me. The judges discuss connecting emotionally ad nausem with Stefano and maybe that’s what this performance was missing. I don’t buy that he was really feeling the yearning and desire in this song.

Haley Reinhart “You’ve really Got a Hold on Me” by Smokey Robinson • Too much too soon. She uses too many vocal gimmicks in one phrase. I like that she can do a lot of things with her voice—runs, growls, high notes, rough screamy singing. I get it; I like it. I don’t want all of it in one phrase. • I felt like in certain sections of the song, she missed her opportunity to pull us in to the emotion (i.e. the first “hold me, hold me, hold me” section, which in my opinion should have begun very softly and grown in intensity and yearning as she sang each repeated lyric. She did them all exactly the same). Like Stefano, she does not connect to the song’s lyrics. AND when I watch her perform, I can see that she’s thinking through her performance and about what to do next. . . it lacks a natural feel. (The judges love it and I wonder if I’m just off base or something?)

Scotty McCreary “For Once in my Life” by Stevie Wonder • Oh boy! I am SCARED for Scotty. The cardinal rule of music: DON’T MESS WITH STEVIE. • How in the world did he make this song country? Yet, somehow he did it! • The beginning may be the best he’s ever been technically on this show. He’s on his notes and it’s smooth and he’s not doing crazy facial expressions. Of course, these show up later in the performance, and he has some moments that aren’t vocally/technically that great. But in the end, it’s a fine performance and he’s going to do fine because he’s got the vote of every teen girl in America.

Pia Toscano “All in Love is Fair” by Stevie Wonder • OK, I like Pia. I think she’s a beautiful girl with a beautiful voice and wonderful control. But is she going to sing ballads ALL the time? • Pia looks beautiful, but I’m not sure this was the best song choice for her. She seems a little off vocally in the beginning of the song. I can’t put my finger on it, but it just feels a bit off. Like she’s just under on a few of the notes, but she quickly takes care of that when she gets to the chorus where she can really sink into the notes and emotion. • Beautiful ending, beautiful control and the notes are just perfect. (J.Lo wants Pia to really PERFORM; Randy wants her to stop singing ballad after ballad—WORD!; Steven loves her as she is.)

Paul McDonald “Tracks of my Tears” by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles • A folk/rock version? Interesting! I like that he’s trying to do something different with this song since he can’t recreate Smokey’s performance and needs to showcase Paul! • Love, love, love that he’s playing his guitar! • I really like this performance and his version of this song. I love that he did he something different with a well-known song and really made it sound like a Paul McDonald song. . . but I wish he hadn’t smiled the whole time. Because the truth of this song is that it’s really kind of sad song. He got the tender sadness at the very end, but I could have used a little more. But seriously, one of the best of the night for me. Watch it below:

Naema Adedapo “Dancing in the Street” by Martha and the Vandellas • Naema starts off better than she has in the last few weeks. I still feel like she’s got issues staying on pitch all the way through a song and tends to sing all of her songs in the same very small vocal range that is a tiny bit screamy. • She adds in some dancing and it’s a way better performance than the last few weeks, but I still feel she’s missing something and she is not as good technically as many of the other contestants in the competition. But this is Naema’s best performance so far.

James Durbin “Living for the City” by Stevie Wonder • Like Paul, James knows how to work the crowd and give an whole performance. He’s not just singing; he’s performing. • Vocals are right on and he uses the scream in the right places. • One of James’ best performances so far and one of the best of the night. James is not my style of music or anything, but he did a wonderful job tonight! Watch it below:

Best of the night: James and Paul

Safe: Casey, Jacob, Lauren Alaina, Stefano, Scotty, Pia,

In trouble: Thia, Haley and while the judges loved her, I think Naema could be in the bottom

#AmericanIdol #music #TV