Idol Chat with Adam and Beth | Final Four

So, I want to take quick moment to apologize for no Idol Chat last week. I promise we had good excuses. Brian and I were on a much needed vacation AWAY FROM ALL CHILDREN, we had 28 hours of peace. We were desperate, the only day we could get it to work fell on a Wednesday.

Now, Adam, he had an even better excuse, he was off getting ready for his baby girl to be born! She was born last Thursday. Meet Maya!

And speaking of birthdays – today is Adam’s birthday. He’s such a great co-host, don’t you guys think? We’re like Regis and Kelly but without the money and the, well, money. And we’re not a TV show, either. (oh and Adam’s not 75 and I’m not a size zero) BUT WHATEVER.

On with the Final Four! Adam … did you hear the news? Reba McIntyre was booted from the show last week. Wait. No. Not Reba. Skylar. I’m not going to lie to you, I’m surprised but I’m certain had we watched the show last week, I totally would have predicted it. *cough*

Adam: I heard, and I wasn’t entirely shocked. Mostly because I’m much, much too tired to be shocked. Are we really down to four finalists? I feel like that should shock me too. But, you know. Baby coma.

Philip Phillips is starting us off with Have You Ever Seen the Rain? And wow, I was totally and completely bored throughout the performance. At one point, I found myself just staring at my boring beige wall and when I realized Philip was still on stage I was annoyed that he interrupted me from staring at the boring wall. But shockingly enough, Steven the Bride, J-Lo the 13-year-old skater and Randy the Easter Egg liked it!

Adam: I think Randy’s lapel pin said it best: Yo. I mean, Phil? Yo, Phil. Yo. I just have to thank you for that performance. Because I’m looking to put Maya to sleep using any means possible. Thank God for you and my DVR.

Adam: Hollie stayed with the Help Maya Sleep Through the Night theme. This is my favorite show ever! In all seriousness, last week was great for Hollie. But that was boring and bad and awful and not good. Old Lady Hollie just made me age three years. I totally did not expect to turn 40 today.

Hollie was pitchy in so much of the song that it nearly distracted me from the windstorm and the cloud cover. Wait. Is she really still in the show or is this like an April Fool’s Joke?

Joshua is singing Josh Groban’s You Raise Me Up. This is an interesting test for me because well, I despise Josh Groban but I like Josh Ledet, so we’ll see how this works out. Okay, so I didn’t hate it but I certainly did not love it. It fell short for me. A bit flat. Tonight is boring so far which is bad for me and my eyelids but good for Maya, so that’s good.

Adam: Joshua should probably not sing Josh Groban songs. It just didn’t work. It was like gravy on cantaloupe. The song was just not written to be that saucy. I’m sorry that I witnessed that. 

Adam: Jessica sang Etta James, and while I assumed the same tragedy would befall her performance that plagued Joshua’s (pure, simple melody slogged up by overdone runs and needless embellishments) I liked the growl. Jessica had the growl going. The growl worked. For me. I don’t know that the song was all that great to listen to, but Jessica had a few moments in that song. Growly wow moments. We could all benefit from a few growly wow moments in our lives.

I actually enjoyed Jessica’s performance tonight. She had a ton of soul and the fact that she’s 16, Adam? holy. crap. I finally enjoyed a song tonight.

Okay, whoa, whoa, whoa. whoa, Philip is singing Volcano by Damien Rice, THIS is amazing. I love this song. And Philip did NOT disappoint. By far my favorite performance this season. So calm and sexy. Goodness. I FREAKING LOVED IT. Yo! Philip is IN IT TO WIN IT. (I said that while pointing with a Yo! pin on my lapel, by the way.)

Adam: Yeah, that was good. There’s still a tone (or a monotone) to Phil that bores me, but that was much better than any of his performances I can remember. His style was much more suited to that song because it already had the dark beautiful quality Phillip seems to be searching for in all his performances. I dug it.

Adam: Before I get to Hollie’s performance, I just want to complain that my thumb is sore from pressing the “skip” button so many times on this show. Why isn’t this a half-hour episode? Holy fluff! Okay. On to Hollie. Um . . . that was very . . . dentist officey. Also, J-Lo’s earrings are too small tonight. Okay, so . . . Hollie’s in the final four. Someone needs to explain that to me.

Oh, Hollie. So. Boring. Like Broomstick in the eye boring. Please go home. (also boring: 3 non-essential Idol performances)

Joshua is singing James Brown. Loved it. Now, I’m not sure where he or this performance would fit into music today but that performance was AWESOME. I enjoyed every second of it.

Adam: Joshua’s voice has this rich, textured, aged quality to it. Man sounds like he’s gotta be at least 50. But when he smiles, he looks like a 16-year-old kid. I think that’s what makes it difficult to place him into music today, but I think, I think, that’s the type of performance that could create its own niche. That could set a trend. That could spawn disciples. Joshua let his soul out in that song, and that wins. Soul wins.

Adam: Jessica sang “I’m telling you I’m not going, etc., etc.” Beth, did you ever watch Star Search? You know how they’d have cute little dimpled first graders stand up and sing big people songs, and it was so precious and cute and adorable? Well, Jessica’s too old for Star Search, but too young to pull that song off. I mean, she sang it great. Great. But I didn’t believe it for a second. And it wasn’t cute, either. Meh.

Jessica, wow. I’m a bit speechless right now. I totally enjoyed it. Now, I did think “how in the world could this little 16 year old sing this song with such power and emotion and seriously ONLY BE 16?” I don’t know. But she did it.

Who is going home?

Beth: FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, HOLLIE.

Adam: Hollie

What do you guys think?