Idol Chat with Adam & Beth – Top 5

Adam: We’re down to the final 5 contestants, but lest we think we could kick our feet up and lounge through a nice and easy night, Beth, Idol is doubling up the performances for another 90 minutes of Seacrest-led fun. Jennifer seems to think it will be a Alabama wedding from 1988, by the way, but the look works for her. One quick note: these people better bring it. I’m not happy about Casey leaving, but all in all, I don’t think anyone has distinguished themselves as deserving of the title. So tell me, Beth, do you think as I do that if Casey James was in this year’s competition that he would win the whole thing?

I am pretty annoyed that Casey was voted off, I think he should have won, but now my biggest goal is making sure Jacob and Haley DO NOT WIN. But mostly Jacob. Can he be voted off every week? That would be awesome.

Adam: James Durbin starts off with a 30 Seconds to Mars song, his current selection (a ’60s song will follow). I thought it was pretty shaky, just not the powerhouse vocal I’m used to hearing from James. I don’t get it. I think he could do better, but you know what? He should have. This isn’t a performance I will remember. Unless I’m trying really hard to remember what it’s like to be disappointed.

I like James pretty okay, although, I’m getting pretty tired of his metal pushing and also, his voice got lost with the background singing a few times. It was a safe song. I’m not totally impressed.

Jacob is up next. Sometimes I picture the rare person who doesn’t watch Idol turning to the show, accidentally. I did for this performance and I envisioned this poor person seeing Jacob on stage and cringing and yelling at the TV, “who the hell is that? and why is there so much smoke?” And then finding out that this was American Idol and never watching Idol again. I am sorry but that was the pitchiest song I have EVER heard on Idol. Wow. And he is not a very good dancer.

Adam: It’s always weird to me when someone sings a duet all alone. This performance? So not the exception. Jacob sounded awful. Though, to be fair, I don’t know how we can expect Jacob to sing with no air. (Also, Jacob, please don’t . . . touch yourself anymore on stage, k? Gracias.)

Lauren right now is the contestant I’m expecting the most from. I want tonight to be her Jordin Sparks Broken Wing moment. Hopefully her second song gives her that chance, because this one? Total ugh-a-thon. Apparently there’s still no air up on the stage, because Lauren seemed like she was gasping through that Carrie Underwood number. The judges heard a different song than I did. I like her, and I liked her voice, but the song, fast-paced as it was, just bored me rapidly.

Wow, Adam. I actually disagree with you on this one. I felt Lauren’s performance was nice and lively. I definitely saw some Carrie Underwood in her – which is a very good thing. I liked this performance and she looked beautiful.

Scotty McCreery is taking the stage. I have to tell you that when he was in the final two last week, I thought, “no, he needs to keep going.” I’m a fan of his. It’s official. And when he puts on a cowboy hat? FORGET ABOUT IT. I loved this performance. It was fun, not a safe choice, at all. I could totally see him in concert. But he must, must, must stop with the crazy-eyed faces. LOVED THIS PERFORMANCE.

Adam: I loved Scotty running off the stage and into the judges circle. That was cool. His stage presence has made a quantum leap from where he was at the beginning of this season. But that song kinda bored the crap out of me. I didn’t hate it. I just felt like, eh, that was kind of fun, for a high school talent show. But I don’t even know if it deserved to win a high school talent show. Make it memorable, people! Sorry.

Haley singing new Lady Gaga? That’s a bold move by the spider woman. From the opening note, this performance was ten times better than the outfit (and I’m not vehemently opposed to the outfit). I wasn’t wild about the way the song ended with a bunch of yeah-yeah’s and repetition, but for the most part, I think Haley showed off her maturity and massive pipes. The judges are sharing Steven Tyler’s $23 million worth of blow. Haley rocked. She’s this year’s Alison Iraheta.

Adam, have you and I ever disagreed so much? Jimmy offered Haley some pretty bad advice to Haley. Which is okay with me because I want her to disappear. The good news is that while she sang, I ate a bowl of triple chocolate peanut butter ice cream that was so good it almost killed me.

So, James Durbin is up for round two, he patted down his hair, took off his motorcycle jacket and is now Josh Grobin on stage. Weird. The beginning of this song started rough, very flat. And then he missed a few notes and then his voice cracked and well, I basically wanted to stab this performance. There’s a lot of crying going on this year. And not just by me sitting on my couch wishing these people would hurry up. But by the performers. I’m not sure how I feel about that.

Adam: Ha, I loved this performance like crazy. I liked it even more than the version Moroccan and Monroe’s mom did. I don’t like the melodramatic posturing in the production and even James’ comments afterward, but I loved the emotion during the song. I even thought his power note was one of the most controlled he’s delivered all season. Amazing. Now I’m taking him seriously as a contender.

So James sent the sappy, tear-filled ballad and Jacob breaks out the Nazareth power ballad? Okay. Let’s see what happens.Oh, look! It’s Jacob making a caricature of himself! I think it’s about time someone lets Jacob in on the joke that is his American Idol career. It’s not the amazing thrill ride he thinks it is.

Oh, Adam. I’m so happy to be in agreement with you, once again. Yes. Jacob has a good voice. Yes. He sings with emotion. But it’s the tone of his voice that I can’t stand. I do not think he’s one of the best singers to step foot on the Idol stage and whoever is voting for him, please stop.

Lauren is singing Unchained Melody, I like this song but it’s so overdone. I’m interested to hear how/if she can change it up. Vocally, she sounded good. But she played it so safe in the end. She definitely could have hit some power notes in the end but she chose not to, which disappoints me.

Adam: Beth, I totally and completely agree. I felt like Lauren took us all out to dinner, laughed at our jokes, batted her eyelashes, told us her dreams, looked deeply into our eyes, took us right to her door, and then . . . gave us a peck on our collective cheek and closed the door in our faces. Uh, good night, Lauren. I had a swell time.

Elvis Presley? Willie Nelson? Scotty McCreery. You Were Always on My Mind was the perfect song choice, if for no other reason than that he wasn’t tempted to make crazy eyes at us. I’m tempted to say it wasn’t as powerful as I wanted it to be, but I think that’s just because I turned the volume down to keep from waking up my 7 year old again.

I very much enjoyed Scotty’s performance. I didn’t realize how much until about half way through I realized that I was listening, intently, watching, completely. That’s a pretty good sign. Usually, within the first 20 seconds, I’m dreaming of sitting in a bucket of nachos. But not this time.

Haley sang The House of the Rising Sun. I had a feeling, during the a cappella moments, that she would get a standing O from the judges tonight. She did a really nice job, which is hard for me to admit because well, it’s Haley. But I can’t deny it. But here’s the thing, she needed this performance after that first one. So basically she’s back at zero.

Adam: If you’d like to download any of tonight’s performances from iTunes, all royalties will go to Haley. BECAUSE SHE OWNS. I’m gonna go vote now.

Because I want to be voted off, I’m going to say Haley will be going home this week.

Adam says: Jacob. And if it’s not Jacob, it had better be Jacob..