American Idol: Top 11 Week (#1)

After being told that the themes were going to be much more flexible in order to satisfy the singers strengths, we find out that the top eleven week is Motown. The Motown industry, which was started by Berry Gordy in Detroit, was one of the best musical industry in the field of music. However, switching your intentions is a bit aggravating. However, I was pleased with how the Idols delivered.

Scotty McCreery was the performer who seemed to stand out the most. It wasn't because he had the best vocal performance of the night, but because he was able to take a Stevie Wonder song ("For Once In My Life") I've heard so many times and turn it into something good. Scotty has a voice that could be heard on country radio at the moment we speak. James Durbin continues to prove why he's my favorite in the competition, giving a fantastic performance of Stevie Wonder's "Living For The City." Watching Durbin perform every week is always very pleasing, especially seeing him close it out this week. Paul McDonald also contended for being one of the best performances, with his take on Smokey Robinson and the Miracles' "Tracks Of My Tears." However, I could attest with how Adam Lambert performed that song brilliantly back in season eight.

Stefano Langone gave the weakest performance of the group, singing Lionel Richie's "Hello," which was nowhere near David Cook's take on this song that would put him into the top twelve back in season seven. The performance did not do him any justice. I wasn't too thrilled with Haley Reinhart, Naima Adedapo, and Thia Megia. I do, however, give Thia credit for finally choosing an upbeat song as opposed to a ballad. Pia Toscano, on the other hand, needs to move around and do something that will strengthen her stage presence.

Something told me that what happened last night was what was going to happen last night. Casey Abrams gave a mediocre performance to Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through The Grapevine," a song that's been WAY overdone on the show. His hair also didn't impress me, like it was soaked in too much gel. I do believe he should have made it onto tour, but I also believe that the save was going to be more useful in the later rounds in the competition. A lot of other possible upsets could very well happen into the competition. Casey did pick the right song to sing when giving the "performance of his life," as his audition was his best performance in the competition. However, the judges stopped him and immediately chose to save him. We'll have to see how many weeks he survives in the competition. Matt Girard was saved in the top seven two seasons back, and survived until the top five. Michael Lynche was saved in the top nine and made it in the top four. We'll have to wait and see how long Casey will be able to survive in the competition.

Next week's theme... the 1980's! Now we've got ourselves back on track with a flexible theme. The 80's gave us a ton of interesting music and featured a ton of new stars, as well as comebacks from older stars (Roy Orbison, who I feel should be featured as a theme night on the show, is a prime example). I was thinking they should back track, and do 70's, 60's, and 50's in the weeks to come. However, I'm hoping to hear some songs that are either new, have not been done often, or are songs that show we really belongs in the competition. We'll have to see how everything pans out on the top eleven... week two!