Candice’s cover of “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” rekindled the show after a night of average performances. (Photo by FOX’s Michael Becker)
Tonight, CBS Television City was rocking!
The Top Seven Idol contenders tackled some of rock music’s greatest anthems. To add to the pressure, guitar guru Orianthi backed the contestants.
Who brought the house down? Who is in danger of leaving tomorrow night? Read on to find out…
New Orleans’ native son Burnell Taylor kicked the show off with a safe rendition of Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love A Bad Name.” It was very straight-lined and it lacked excitement (Nigel: you could have had Ashleigh and Ryan Di Lello dance a Paso Doble routine while Burnell was performing, it would have made the performance…a lot more interesting!) Keith Urban even stated that Burnell looked uncomfortable on stage. Luckily, Burnell recovered later on during the evening D+
The first duet of the night belonged to the odd couple of Angie and Lazaro. Angie outshined Lazaro tremendously on vocal and stage presence. This was weak in general and Lazaro forgot the lyrics again! If you are going to be on Idol, you learn all of the songs that the producers give you! This version made the audience miss Fantasia’s outstanding cover from Season Three. (Angie: B+; Lazaro: F!!!!)
Kree tackled a “Piece of My Heart” for Rock Week. Did she match the performances of Haley Rinehart or Beverly McClellan? Honestly, it did not. This was a mixed performance because at the very beginning it was very warbly and she avoided the infamous scream. While the judges praised her effort and Nicki stated that Kree would receive all of her votes, it was not up to many fans’ expectations from her. C-
Candice and Burnell tackled one of the show’s stand-by Rock song: “The Letter.” Finally, a great performance! They had incredible vocal chemistry and each of them shined. This duet was one of the best performances of the season and earned a standing ovation from both Keith and Randy. Hopefully, they will re-record the song for their respective debut albums. A-
Janelle Arthur infused country rock to Billy Joel’s classic “You May Be Right.” Ms. Arthur may be the second coming of Kelly Clarkson because she this is her second superb performance in two weeks. She would have made the legendary Piano Man very proud. B+
Lazaro Arbos tackled a very big song tonight: “We Are The Champions.” Queen’s favorite sons (Tony Vincent and Adam Lambert) have performed this song and unfortunately, Lazaro could not touch their performances. While he remembered the words of the song, the performance was subpar! C-
For the first time this season, Janelle Arthur, Kree Harrison and Amber Holcomb performed as a trio. This trio tackled another one of Billy Joel’s classic songs: “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me.” Amber stole the show as she drowned both Janelle and Kree in the song. (Amber: A-; Janelle and Kree: B-)
Candice returned to the stage to tackle the Rolling Stones’ “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction.” This was one of her best performances on the show. It had strong vocals that breathed new energy into the night! All the performance needed was a Paso Doble by Mel B and Maks Chmerkovskiy to complete it. A
Amber Holcomb tackled Heart’s “What About Love” for Rock Week. This was an interesting selection for her because a lot of people would have never thought that she would be able to tackle this song, Amber proved them wrong. This was amazing vocal from start to finish that received a standing ovation from Keith, Nicki and Randy. She may challenge Candice for the crown next month. A+
Many fans would never picture Angie Miller performing an Evanescence song…until tonight. The perky contestant briefly returned to the piano to tackle the Daredevil track. While it did not have the same power of Lys Agnes’ cover, she delivered a solid vocal and redeemed herself from last week. B
Tomorrow night, Casey James and Carrie Underwood will provide the entertainment and a contestant may be sent home.
