American Idol: Top 7 Week

...and then there were seven, singing songs from the new millennium. This theme proved to be flexible, with time being the only limit. The performances could've been better, but none of them were "cringe and walk out of the room" bad. However, this week was extremely memorable for the good and the bizarre. Being memorable is truly what matters most when it comes to having a good show.

On the good end, James Durbin has once again topped the show on my charts. Performing "Uprising" by Muse, James had one of the best arrangements I have seen in the history of the show. He entered with a band of drummers, wearing black clothes covered by a black jacket, and giving a phenomenal performance. I can only imagine how James thought up of such a brilliant arrangement. It goes to show you that music is James' passion and that he can paint a picture of how he imagines a phenomenal performance such as this and then make it into a reality.

Casey Abrams gave us what could be some of the most memorable moments in a long time on Idol. He stormed around the stage with a guitar and then kissed Jennifer Lopez at the end of his performance. He left Steven Tyler swearing and then a riot broke out. It's great to see that Casey is back to being the comfortable and jazzy finalist who we've grown to enjoy in the beginning and started to fade a bit until being saved by the judges after being in jeopardy of an eleventh place finish. Casey is one of the contestants this season that has mixed reviews, but I feel that he's interesting to watch.

I can't say that anybody really did bad, but most of the performances just weren't up in the big leagues. However, I could say that the worst performance was... the eliminated contestants at the beginning of Wednesday's show. It was just a waste of time seeing contestants who are off the show because they failed to garner enough American votes. Those who are going to concert will be seeing four of the six who were performing Pink's "So What."

The results show featured a completely appropriate bottom three, Jacob Lusk, Stefano Langone, and Haley Reinhart. This week, it was Stefano that was eliminated from the competition. My take is that this was his time, and it could've been his time for awhile now. I did, however, believe that he did a decent job on his performance and it was nice to see him move around the stage like he was comfortable. Haley has found her jazzy niche, but I don't know how much more it should serve her.

Next week, the theme is the Carole King songbook. On her own, she sang "It's Too Late" and "I Feel The Earth Move," which sound like dull song choices. However, King has had a massive career in songwriting, with songs such as "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" and "Up On The Roof," which shows a variety for a songwriting career. We'll have to wait and see how the contestants do with picking and performing the right song for the upcoming show.