The Singers, the songs:
Tatynisa Wilson- “Only Girl (In the world)”, Rihanna
She was out of tune pretty much the entire performance. Can she hear herself? I didn’t love her tone, and again I don’t know what the judges see in her. She doesn’t stink or anything, she’s just ok. Decent. She was obviously nervous as hell.
Naima Adedapo- “Summertime”, Gershwin
She made good use of the blue notes, and she hit a couple of good high notes. I was left feeling just a bit empty, like the song didn’t really take off, but it was a nice performance. She moves like a trained dancer, and she seems pretty fearless on the stage.
Kendra Chantelle- “Impossible”, Christina Aguilera
She was starting to lose her intonation and command late in the song, but I didn’t get the sense that she was worn out so much as she took on a couple of riffs that were above her abilities. Her voice sounded vastly better than it did in the earlier rounds.
Rachel Zevita- “Criminal”, Fiona Apple
She sounded cool when she moved up and hits the scratchy parts, but her lower range was just awful. She was even more out of tune than Tatynisha was. She looked the part, and she moved very well out there, but the voice just wasn’t there. She is toast, but she made a nice run to get on the live shows. Hang your head high, kid, and get back in the ‘shed.
Karen Rodriguez- “Hero”, Mariah Carey
She hit the notes and she has a very sweet tone, but the song never took off. There wasn’t a crescendo, and the entire performance lacked pizzazz. It was a good performance, but forgettable.
Lauren Turner- “Seven Day Fool”, Etta James
I love her voice, and I love her style. She wasn’t blow you away strong like I expected; like she was inHollywood. She might be nursing a cold or something. I still thought her performance was cool and interesting; one of the best of the night. I was entertained. She’s going to have to fight the fact that she’s so laid back, and throw herself a bit more into the songs, but I’ll listen to this one over and over.
Ashthon Jones- “Love All Over Me”, Monica
Lots of attitude, and overall I liked it but she hit some really wonky notes here and there. I got the feeling at times that she was off the rhythm as well. Very sloppy performance, but like Brett she overcame that and was entertaining. She could be Syesha’s sister, couldn’t she? She doesn’t have huge pipes, but she has huge style.
Julie Zorrilla- “Breakaway”, Kelly Clarkson
Man, that was painful. She doesn’t have a tenth of the vocal power that this song needs, and she drowned in the arrangement. I started feeling sorry for her about halfway through the song. The pained expression on her face leads me to believe that she knew she was dying up there. This was one of the worst performances I’ve ever seen on the big stage. I feel for her. She’s better than this.
Haley Reinhart- “Fallin”, Alicia Keys
Yaknow, that tiny little bit of sloppyness came out again, but Haley just buried it under an avalanche of coolness. We still have a couple to go, but I think this was the best performance of the night. She overdid it a bit at the end, but that’s ok. She blew the doors off the song. Very nice. She looked stunning, too.
Thia Megia- “Out Here on My Own”, Irene Cara
This is what Thia does so well, nailing every note of a sweet, tear jerking ballad. While she wasn’t amazing, she was pitch perfect and she sang the song with some emotion. She is eventually going to have to do more. I thought that look she shot at Ryan when he talked about her being 15 was funny. She’s 16 now, and you know how kids are about their age. I’m SIXTEEN, dammit!!!!!
Lauren Alaina- “Turn on the Radio”, Reba McEntire
She reminds me of someone; I can’t put my finger on who. It’s that 3-2 dip that she does, and the tiny growl. I’ll figure it out. Anyway, she was mostly spot on and dynamic. Her lower register got buried under the arrangement at times, and she didn’t pull off anything amazing really, but it was a solid performance.
Barbara Mandrell!!! She does that same 3-2 bend and growl thing Lauren does.
Pia Toscano- “I’ll Stand By You”, The Pretenders
Wow. I had no idea that she could hit those notes at all, let alone hit them so well. Pia was, what, fifth in my power rankings? She will shoot up this weekend, assuming she doesn’t get dumped. I seriously doubt she will, but you never know what the voters are thinking. She was impressive as hell tonight. As much as I love Lauren Turner’s voice, Pia has the best pipes on the female side hands down.
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Safe to in danger:
Locks-
Pia Toscano
Lauren Alaina
Who the hell knows?
Ashthon Jones
Karen Rodriguez
Thia Megia
Haley Reinhart
Lauren Turner
Kendra Chantelle
Naima Adedapo
Julie Zorrilla
Rachel Zevita
Tatynisa Wilson
Honestly it’s anybody’s guess. Julie, Tatynisa and Rachel were terrible, but that just makes it 5 out of 9. I’ll be crossing my fingers for “other” Lauren.
Bob Gregory's Gallery of Renown 