Idol Chat with Adam & Beth – Top 7

Adam: Another week of Idol, another night of hoping that the singers make it difficult to say goodbye to them. After saying farewell to Paul (something that caused us all tremendous grief), the magnificent seven finalists treat us to songs of the 21st Century. Thank goodness. But before we get to them, Jennifer is showing off her new Mango shorts, and we get a performance from Paulie and the Pussycats (Ashthon, Karen, Naima, Thia, and Pia) of “So What?” My first thought: who are these people? What did you think of the opening number, Beth?

I thought “who is that?” and “oh, I’m glad she left, whatever her name was” and “Paul sounds like crap.” But you and your Mango shorts? Brilliant, Adam. Brilliant.

Adam: So, Scotty McCreery has his choice of any song from any genre since the year 2000. Do you think he’ll sing a country song? I’ll give him some credit, Scotty brought some funk to LeAnn Rimes’ Swingin’. And he actually went lower, which I didn’t think was possible. Maybe his voice changed this week? I’ve been a little hard on Scotty, but he’s a lot of fun. That song was fun. Not a showcase by any means, but I smiled.

Such a fun song, fun performance, his voice is really something special, I’d say. Still missing the hat but I enjoyed him tonight.

James Durbin is performing a song by Muse tonight. First, I like this song a lot. Second. I like drummers with feather hats. Third, I don’t like the lips on Steven’s face and Fourth, this feels like a Marilyn Manson concert and Fifth, I can’t decide if I loved or sort of liked it. I don’t think it was a great vocal performance but it was entertaining.

Adam: I’m really not a big Muse fan, but I felt like I should be appalled on behalf of Muse fans. But I don’t know. That’s the theme for this one. I just don’t know. I know I didn’t like the Rhythm Nation meets Thriller outfit. But I don’t know if I liked the performance at all. I don’t want to rewind it and watch it again, so I guess that says it all. I don’t want to be screeched at again. (But I do want to see Scotty’s James impression again. That made me snort.)

Haley Michelle Reinhart! She came out looking all Donna Reed gone clubbing, which I wasn’t wild about. But then she sang Adele’s Rolling in the Deep, and I loved it. I hate the lipstick on Steven more and more as the show goes on, by the way. But that song is seriously a heavyweight task, and I thought Haley kicked it. Hard. I felt like the judges were actually too harsh on her. Ten times better than James, in my opinion. I’d take that performance out to dinner.

You know, I didn’t want to stab her tonight (improvement!) but I definitely did not think that dress matched the song, which is really what Idol is all about.

So, Jacob Lusk is up. I’m very sad that his father died when he was twelve but listen, before I learned that, I was going to say “I hope he doesn’t sound like he’s crying during this song.” And now, I feel like a jerk. It’s just he has that tendency during songs to sound like he’s crying. There is just something, something about this voice that I don’t thing is good. When he hits the high notes? He sounds good. But the low? Kinda froggy. I don’t know.

Adam: Little story for you, Beth. The first time I heard this song was when former Idol star Tamyra Gray sang it on the show Boston Public. And I cried. The end. (I told you the story was little.) This time I was more teary-eyed before the song than during it. But still, I liked that he actually controlled his emotions through the song. I didn’t like how throaty it sounded. Jacob might be in trouble this week. Now I feel like a jerk.

Casey Abrams is singing Harder to Breathe by Maroon 5, which is kind of a scary song. I get scared when Casey sings scary songs. Remember Smells Like Teen Spirit? Vocally, it was great, especially when he wasn’t singing the notes he was playing on guitar. But visually I couldn’t shake the thought of how much he does not look like Adam Levine. He is the opposite of him. And in the OH MY CHEEZY PUFFS HE KISSED J-LO! Never mind. Casey wins. WINS.

Oh, I enjoyed Casey’s performance tonight. Such a fun stage presence, great arrangement. I LOVED what the other contestants said about him, made me laugh out loud. I had an interesting conversation with my endodontist today about Idol, it wasn’t so much interesting as it was a conversation, I just pretended to be interested because he was in charge of the VERY LONG NEEDLES  but basically, I learned, that his staff loves Casey. Also, I had to google Adam Levine. God, I’m lame.

Let me tell you that it doesn’t bode well for Stefano that I’m starting out his performance already hating him. I’m actually angry that he’s still on the show. Stefano is singing “Closer,” I have no idea who sings it, but who does, sings better than Stefano. So, vocally, this performance wasn’t as bad as it normally is but his facial expressions kill me and well, no. Just no.

Adam: My initial reaction: Stefano’s still on the show? I don’t think we’re going to have to worry about that next week. So I’m not going to say much about him other than his choppy vocals reminded me of one of those rapid-fire garden sprinklers. I will say that it’s going to be difficult to skip past the commercial breaks if Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz keep showing up. Because if they’re on my TV now and Stefano awaits, I’m in no hurry, you know what I’m sayin’?

Lauren Alaina  got really vulnerable in her interview, saying she holds back in her performances out of fear that she doesn’t compare with the other voices on the show. Let me tell you something, Lauren: you have got to believe in yourself from the first note, not just in the last 30 seconds of the song. Bring it, Lauren. Bring it. If you’re going to hold back on anything, make it the orange foundation, okay?

Gosh, this is hard for me. I was so distracted by her orange-y-ness and am pleased as punch that you brought it up. In the interview, she looked great. She came out on stage and I was all “asgjn$o#er@!goadfo;e  what the what happened to her skin?” And I got distracted. After a few lines, I was able to tune back in and heard her sounding really good. Lauren has a great voice. I’m surprised she doesn’t really believe it but, I get it.

So, who’s getting voted off?

Beth: Stefano, I hope. But I really want to say Jacob. So, I’m going to say Jacob because then maybe it will be Stefano.

Adam: Okay. I’ll say Stefano. Because I like being right.

Readers? What are your thoughts?

Oh and before I forget. Last week someone asked in the comment section if we actually voted for the contestants. I can’t speak for Adam but I can tell you that at THIS point in the game. Yes, I vote. Not obsessively. But I vote.

For Casey.