American Idol "Top 5 performance show" 5/4/2011 *spoilers

Just for correctness, Love Hurts was written and originally performed by the Everly Brothers. It's been covered by everyone from Rod Stewart to Cher to Roy Orbison and, of course, was a big hit for Nazareth.

I wanted Haley gone early on but she has gotten stronger and her best performance by far was House of the Rising Sun.

Lauren was competent with both songs. I'm surprised there were no comments on her "prom dress" but I thought she looked hawt for the first song.

Scotty was Scotty. He's REALLY good at what he does and will be a big country star, win or lose on this show.

James just blew me away with Without You. As they said, not note-for-note perfect, but emotionally perfect.

Jacob...well, just go home...please!

I'll rank them for each half.

First Half - where I did not know any of the songs so Haley's choice was fine!
Lauren - A great performance!! Showing some confidence now!!
Hayley - I liked the song I liked her singing of the song. As I said I don't know any of these songs in round 1.
Scotty - I really think it was his best overall performance.
James - I can't believe I am ranking him this low. The song did nothing for me. I thought it was pedestrian.
Jacob - Ack!! That was bad

Second Half - where I knew all of the songs very well
Hayley - Damn! The judges were right. The performance of the night!
Lauren - Beautiful (I hate using Steven's most overused word) rendition of Unchained Melody. Another great performance
James - Definitely started out well and then I think the emotions got him and it got uneven.
Scotty - I can't believed they used the word pitchy for James and ignored Scotty's problem. I thought he consistently missed notes
Jacob - Butchered another one of my favorite songs. There was nothing about this I enjoyed. I wish I could have seen Sheryl sing it all the way through.

So ranking them overall

1. Hayley - Based on the second performance
2. Lauren - Solid on both songs
3. James - First week in a while where he has not been my favorite.
4. Scotty - I thought the second song was as bad as the first was good
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12. Jacob - He can leave now.

I loved Sheryl as a mentor!! Great input, especially suggesting Hayley start the song a cappella.

I lost track of the times Steven used the word "Beautiful"

I'm in danger of smeeking here because I didn't read the thread yet, but wanted to get this out first. Here goes nothing....

James #1 - In the past when he's been out there, doin' it strong and rockin' it, it always seemed like he was still an amazing singer. Tonight it just seemed a lot more like screaming & shrieking to me, and not so much the singer.

James #2 - I don't know if it was so much emotion or what, but he still sounded 'off' somehow to me. Am I a bad person because I didn't get all choked up? I totally think he's still safe, though.

Jacob #1 - I swear if it weren't for captioning I would have NO idea what he's singing - does he ever enunciate? Really didn't like it.

Jacob #2 - IT HURTS! IT HURTS! PLEASE MAKE IT STOP!!! Before Lauren sang I had to get out the cotton balls and swabs and clean the blood out of my ears! If this guy makes it through again..... Well, I was going to say there's no justice in this world, but BIN LADEN'S DEAD!!!, so I really can't say that now, can I?

Lauren #1 - Pretty good, very nice job.

Lauren #2 - Not flawless, but absolutely sweet. And I know she's only 16, but she looked STUNNING! I believe she's safe for a while.

Scotty #1 - Looked like he had fun, anyway. Not my favorite Scotty, but pretty good.

Scotty #2 - Couple clunkers, but really nice job. I liked this one a lot better than his first song.

Haley #1 - It struck me as I was listening to this that I kind of like the uniqueness of her voice - the edge, the huskiness, you know? But as she sang and I thought about it, I don't think I'd like it in larger doses than a few minutes a week. I can't see myself buying a Haley album.

Haley #2 - I wasn't as amazed by this performance as the judges were, but I certainly do hope this saved her for this week, at least.

Jacob - GO HOME! You've far outstayed your welcome, son.

If there is a bottom three, I'd have to guess that Haley and Scotty join Jacob on the stools, but not out the door.

Maui said:

I'll rank them for each half.

First Half - where I did not know any of the songs so Haley's choice was fine!
Lauren - A great performance!! Showing some confidence now!!
Hayley - I liked the song I liked her singing of the song. As I said I don't know any of these songs in round 1.
Scotty - I really think it was his best overall performance.
James - I can't believe I am ranking him this low. The song did nothing for me. I thought it was pedestrian.
Jacob - Ack!! That was bad

Second Half - where I knew all of the songs very well
Hayley - Damn! The judges were right. The performance of the night!
Lauren - Beautiful (I hate using Steven's most overused word) rendition of Unchained Melody. Another great performance
James - Definitely started out well and then I think the emotions got him and it got uneven.
Scotty - I can't believed they used the word pitchy for James and ignored Scotty's problem. I thought he consistently missed notes
Jacob - Butchered another one of my favorite songs. There was nothing about this I enjoyed. I wish I could have seen Sheryl sing it all the way through.

So ranking them overall

1. Hayley - Based on the second performance
2. Lauren - Solid on both songs
3. James - First week in a while where he has not been my favorite.
4. Scotty - I thought the second song was as bad as the first was good
.
.
.
.
.
.
12. Jacob - He can leave now.

I loved Sheryl as a mentor!! Great input, especially suggesting Hayley start the song a cappella.

I lost track of the times Steven used the word "Beautiful"

Click to expand...

I 100% agree with everything you wrote.

A few more comments


Jacob by far the worst
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Haley the best of the night. She gets criticized for doing a non-cover? Me thinks she is their biggest nightmare. A wild card. They know Jacob has no chance so they humor him.
James his worst day of the season by far. The emotion is fine, but he could not hit the notes. Girls gobble that stuff up so he will be the leading vote getter.
Lauren starting to kick it in for a big AI finish. I think she is playing this reality show game and all of a sudden will continue to have big performances. Very good today.
Scotty - His first song was the first from him I enjoyed, he showed a bit of range and personality. Second song, back to being the butcher.