The Top 11 of “American Idol,” Season 13, went to the movies, as they performed Songs from the Cinema. Host Ryan Seacrest explained they had to be songs either written for or heavily featured in films. Throughout the night, they also did “screen tests” for their fellow idols.
- For Sam Woolf, his fellow contestants wore his hat and teased him for calling his dad his homie and having girls falling all over him. Pretty gentle teasing. He performed the Beatles song “Come Together,” featured in the movie “Across the Universe” and springboarded off the version sung by Joe Cocker for the movie. He ditched the hat and guitar for this performance and wore a shiny olive satin blazer with white T-shirt and dark brown jeans. He bounced around a lot, seemingly uncomfortable when not chained to his guitar. His vocal performance was looser and more relaxed than ever before. Keith Urban liked the way he’s loosening up and told him to continue to “loosen it up.” Jennifer Lopez told him he needs to own the fact that the girls like him. She felt he should have put more personality into the song, pointing to other who have covered it, like former “Idol” judge Steven Tyler. Harry Connick Jr. advised him that when you have nonsensical lyric you need to make up for it with “vibe,” and called it a “pretty good job.” In other words, average.
- Jessica Meuse got the screen test treatment, with the rest of the Top 11 wearing a hunk of bright pink hair and poking fun at her accent and the fact that she’s always talking about how many times she’s performed in bars. the Simon and Garfunkel tune “Sound of Silence” from “The Graduate.” She does it every set list, she said. For her clothes, she went with a softer look this week, a blousy white shirt and dark jeans with dark black square-toed boots, her hair curly and loose. She played guitar to accompany herself and injected a lot of syncopation into the well-known melody. Jennifer thought that she’d never gotten her groove on and wondered whether it had anything to do with the band being off. Harry agreed that the band was off but said that she sounded like the Jessica they’d heard on the first day. “Nice job,” he said. Keith praised her look. He advised her to explore her use of dynamics.
- C.J. Harris was carrying a new guitar. His fellow contestants wore a baseball hat and held or strummed a guitar. They repeated his assertion that he hopes to be part of change. He did “Can’t You See” by the Marshall Tucker Band from the movie “Blow.” He wore a brown brimmed hat, black wool shirt over a light T-shirt and olive pants, singing in front of a big, aqua drive-in sign. This was one of his better performances, confident and soulful (though the guitar seemed a little out of tune). In the audience, his girlfriend teared up. Harry said, “I think you just picked and sang your way back to the forefront of this competition.” Keith thought he’d nailed it: “I know exactly who you are.” Jennifer was proud of him and called him a frontrunner.
- Randy came onstage to help introduce Dexter Roberts, singing “Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynyrd Skynyrd from “Forrest Gump.” In his “screen test,” the rest of the Top 11 wore a backwards baseball cap and talked a lot about dogs and growing their own vegetables. Performing without his baseball hat, but still wearing a checked shirt and jeans and strumming his guitar, he took a very expected approach to the song and was somewhat drowned out by the band and background singers. Keith praised him for loosening up and told him he needs to find a way to make a song his own. Jennifer said it’s about personality but that he’s starting to believe he can win. Harry called him smart for picking a song everyone knows and doing a solid performance, but he felt he had to bring something different to the song.
- Imitating Ben Briley, the Top 11 went through all his hats and remarked on his face while he’s singing and talked about how much he loves his wife and Tennessee. He sang Elton John’s “Bennie and the Jets” from “27 Dresses.” Ditching the hats, he wore a suit jacket and performed at the piano, showing off a surprising amount of comfort at the keys, despite a couple wrong notes, and then got up and worked the stage, a real showman. Jennifer didn’t know if it was a good song for him. Harry critiqued the finer points, remarking that he didn’t hammer the keys like Elton John and that his singing was forced. Keith also thought if he was changing who he was as an artist, as if that’s a bad thing.
- Ryan revealed the real-time votes, broken down by gender. Male voters chose: 1. C.J.; 2. Jess; 3. Dexter; 4. Sam; 5. Ben. Female votes selected: 1. C.J.; 2. Dexter; 3. Jess; 4. Sam; 5. Ben.
- In the “screen test” for Majesty Rose, the others kept talking about she loves flowers and children. She sang “Let It Go” by Idina Menzel from “Frozen,” wearing a silk white dress with large pink flowers and a Peter Pan collar, white flowers in her hair, along with bobby socks and saddle shoes. This song was too big for her, swallowing up her delicate vocals, though she did try to go big (and went flat). Harry called it a strong performance and told her that, if she’s going to try out different styles, she needs to be good in all of them. Keith said his daughters love that song and observed it’s a big song and that she needs to ease into it, not attack it. Jennifer thought that she can be anything and do a lot of different styles. She didn’t critique the vocals.
- To imitate Caleb Johnson, naturally, the fellow contestants wore a long brown wig and rocked out at a microphone. Jessica called him what would happen if Jack Black and Meatloaf had a baby. Caleb sang the title song from “Skyfall,” originally performed by Adele. Dressed in a black suit with red piping on the lapels, he channeled his inner crooner, blending it with a rock attitude for a captivating performance. Keith said that was not predictable “at all” and thought it was a great restrained performance. Jennifer said she’s been waiting to see this and liked that it was a step away from “the rock thing” but was still him. Harry has said this is his favorite group of contestants, and “the competition started tonight.”
- M.K. Nobilette had chosen her song, “To Make You Feel My Love” by Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood from “Hope Floats” because she once performed it at high school. (It just so happens that Harry also acted in it, prompting teasing of Harry by Ryan.) In the casting for her, they wore a knit hat and slouched in the chair, chilling out, calling everything “hella cool.” On the night of the performance, I was so impressed with her makeover — bleached blonde, sculpted hair, red shirt and pants paired with a sequined black blazer — and with her newfound confidence that I gave the vocals higher marks than they deserved, upon listening to it again. Still, it’s layers above last week, especially when she sang directly to the judges for a few lines. Jennifer loved it and said that M.K. reminds her of K.D. Lange (except K.D. is more consistent in her tone, I’d note). Harry said he thinks she has star quality but she ought to be careful to nail her runs. Keith thought she looked like a star and liked that she’d growing as an artist.
- Next up was Alex Preston, who’d selected “Falling Slowly” by the Swell from “Once.” To tweak him, his fellow contestants poked fun at his adeptness from musical instruments and his music geekiness. Considering this song was originally a duet, he delivered tender, emotional vocals. Harry said it’s nice to see something simply stated and elegantly done, and he was proud of him. Keith praised his authenticity and artistry. Jennifer called it the perfect song choice and said it was beautiful.
- Jena Irene chose “Decode” by Paramore from “Twilight.” Her fellow competitors poked fun at her habit of wearing a choker and her accent in her “screen test,” as well as the pronunciation of her name (like “Gina”). Wearing a black and white shimmery sleeveless shirt, she performed at the piano, which brought out her sensitivity and passion. Stunning. Keith called her performance “exhilarating,” like being on the edge of a cliff and not knowing that happened. Jennifer liked her dynamics and begged America to “get on board” with her, calling it the best performance of the night. Harry is a fan of the singer from Paramore and liked that it was different but “just as good.” He liked that she did her own thing.
- The fellow contestants teased Malaya Watson for her glasses, her crazy energy, and her love for playing the tuba. Wearing a black-and-white top with black pants, she powered out a song from “Dreamgirls,” Jennifer Hudson’s “I Am Changing.” It’s risky to take on a song from one of “Idol’s” most successful alumni, and Malaya’s version suffered in the comparision. Jennifer, however, called it “killer.” Harry said she’d proved there is a “big belter” this season. Keith commented there are places she could reign it in but liked that she has so much potential that will blossom.
- Real-time votes were again broken down by gender. Male voters: 1. Caleb; 2. Jena; 3. Alex; 4. Majesty; 5. M.K.; 6. Malaya. Female voters: 1. Caleb; 2. M.K.; 3. Jena; 4. Alex; 5. Majesty; 6. Malaya.
- Kudos to Jena, Caleb and Alex with a nod to Jessica, all of whom should be safe. The bottom three is most likely to consist of Malaya, Majesty and possibly Ben or even Sam. Given her rocky performance history on the show, though, it is most likely Malaya leaving, producing a very male-heavy Top 10 to go on the summer tour.
- Since personal responsibilities prevented me from posting a recap of last week’s results show, here on my thoughts on why Emily Piriz was cut. She had some things going for her, including raw talent and a fresh-faced, girl-next-door look. However, she undercut that perception by trying too hard to appear adult and mature onstage. This meant turning in a sexy performance on the first week of voting and then doing a dull, serious ballad the next. Voters — many of whom skew younger — respond better to young performers when they act their age. She also lacked consistency, with her performances varying wildly. Considering that everyone has room to grow at this point, it probably didn’t help her that viewers didn’t have a clear perception of who she was as a performer.
