Top 10

Selfies
Nothing wrong with that. :o)

Top of the Charts
...and songs no older than four years old. These shows tend to flop a bit. I thought 2013 had a lot of great tunes, though, so maybe some of those will get picked tonight.

JLo
Love the dress. Hate the walk. She looks like she's about to topple over.

Earthquake
Is it bad that I didn't know there was an earthquake? Hey, Cali: don't you have earthquakes, like, all the time? Chill. The other 49 states don't care, just like you don't care about our snowstorms and tornadoes... that happen within 24 hours of each other.

Idol Top 10... GO!

MK Nobilette – "Perfect" by Pink
I told Ed and Mom that MK is automatically out by virtue of being the first performer and the performer who has yet to show a personality. Then I heard the song selection, and I got excited. Ed and I performed Pink's "Perfect" last fall, and it's a song we enjoy and know well. Then I heard MK sing it, and I got bummed again. This performance is the worst I've seen this season. Nothing about it is confident. Even her Touching of the Audience Hands was contrived. Oy, she just jacked the lyrics... she's trying to work her way through it with some adlibs... it's just BAD. Now she's losing confidence, and the vocal is getting even shakier. Poor girl. Oh, kiss of death: Keith just said, "You look great." Followed by the "How do YOU think you did?" That statement is the KISS OF DEATH. I will predict MK's departure right now. Right now. Write it down.

Dexter Roberts – "Cruise" by Florida Georgia Line
Uh-oh. The graphics are making Mom car sick. I've said it before, I'll say it again: you may not like country, but county folk like Dexter, guaranteed. He has that sick slide and a flirty flip that will have folks voting with fervor. He's a natural country performer who makes the crowd feel like they are part of the performance. There were some sour notes at the end. However, everyone left to perform could be 1,000 times better, and he'd be safe. Thank MK, Dex.

Inside Joke
Mom tried to play a joke on Ed tonight by sticking a funny picture on our fridge.  She blew it by laughing uncontrollably at odd moments. :o)

Jena Irene – "Clarity" by Zedd
Jena looked fully uncomfortable in the first verse. Her voice, visage, and personality completely changed in the chorus. As she approached center stage, she really started to shine. However, it was short-lived. I thought everything went downhill from there. I get that it was electronica, but the voice she was using was weird. It was WEIRD. I didn't like it. I didn't like the accented "glow sticks" command or the over-pronounced words. She can do SOOOO much better. And dress so much better. However, again, safe. Thank MK, Jenna. Gina.

Ed Quote
"Three duds in a row."  Word to your mother.

Alex Preston – "The Story of My Life" by One Direction
I called his tune selection. I'm sure he'll do something cool with it. Oh, this performance is genius. The tempo, the groove, the tricky little vocal inflections. This guy is consistently cool. I'm moving him into my Finale Top 2 with Caleb. I liked this version better than One Direction's. I'm downloading it. Can we download Idol studio recordings on iTunes this year? I have a hard time watching Alex's face when he sings (and Mom has a hard time watching his "tiny, tiny ears," which she says in a very high-pitched voice), but I'll take a performer over a pleasant-faced poser.

Malaya Watson – "When I Was Your Man" by Bruno Mars
Strong opening. This performance is what I was expecting from her when I picked her in my Top 2 a month ago. Everything about it was perfect. Inflection, dynamics, vibrato, emotion, ALL PERFECT. It seemed less like her typical chesty stage performance, and more like a powerful poignancy. Malaya is approaching the greatness of Idol Watcher Amber Williams now. I knew she had it in her.

Caleb Johnson – "The Edge of Glory" by Lady Gaga
Ed thinks he'll choose "Born This Way," though I thought he might go with "Hair." He hoodwinked us both with "The Edge of Glory." I should've known. (Idol Watcher Wendy Miller: did you hear the joke about walnuts? HA!) This isn't my favorite Caleb performance, but it's darn good. Had I been unfamiliar with the song, I would've thought this was originally a rock tune. There was a seamless transformation from Gaga to Caleb Johnson. I prefer more upbeat stuff from Caleb, but this presentation was not at all slouchy.  Ooh, yucky last note.

Keith/HCJ Face/Off
That was some funny stuff. Keith had to have rehearsed that tumble of music vocab. Impressive.

C.J. Harris – "Invisible" by Hunter Hayes
I don't know this song at all, but he sounds WAY out of tune. Am I wrong? The sharpness. THE SHARPNESS. I mean, he may be beating out MK for a ticket home. He was passionate, but that was just all kinds of badness. Keith's advice was excellent. What a nice way not to say, "Dude, that blew." I wish we could've heard him in the nailed rehearsal Keith referenced. HCJ was a little demeaning. Pretty sure C.J. knows what it means to be sharp, dill weed.

Jessica Meuse – "Pumped Up Kicks" by Foster The People

She sounds like Stevie Nicks more than ever tonight. Her voice is almost like a caricture of Stevie's voice, with certain parts magnified. I thought this performance was Jessica's best so far. She sounded more in control, vocally and emotionally, than she has on any live show. She'll fall comfortably in the middle tonight.

Majesty Rose – "Wake Me Up" by Avicii
Any X Factor Watchers out there? Restless Road did something similar with this song last fall. I liked it then, and I like it now. Actually, I prefer Majesty's folk version to any other I've heard. She was tentative at the right times and powerful at the right times, and both managed to be potent. There were some flaws (she looked genuinely frightened a few times), but she left me with a very positive feeling. Mom and I liked her makeup, too. I called it "golden," and she called it "glowing." Keith is full of crap. Folk is where it's at.

Sam Woolf – "We Are Young" by fun.
I'll bet most of America heard the opening lyrics to this song for the first time ever tonight. Sam sang them very clearly. The overall vibe was very similar to that of fun., but I didn't care. I like fun.'s version, so I liked this, too. I wished Sam had been a little more forceful during the middle part of the song. He had a real opportunity to be a little crazy there. HCJ is saying the same thing.

Tonight's Show...
...was better than I thought a "recent hits" show would be, though there were some clunkers. Some folks really surprised me with great performances.

Jo's Ranking

1. Alex
2. Malaya
3. Caleb
4. Majesty
5. Sam
6. Jessica
7. Dexter
8. Jena
9. C.J.
10. MK

I don't know if me putting Malaya above Caleb is a result of her actual performance, or a result of her performance being a lot better than I thought it would be.

Jo's Prediction of America's Ranking

1. Alex
2. Caleb
3. Malaya
4. Sam
5. Majesty
6. Dexter
7. Jessica
8. Jena
9. C.J.
10. MK

Bye-bye, MK, mmkay?

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