The Top 13 Perform - American Idol 2012

Welcome back to another round of American Idol.  This week, the female contestants sang Whitney Houston songs and the males sang Stevie Wonder songs.  They were mentored by Jimmy Iovine and Mary J. Blige. 

The bottom male and the bottom female contestant, according to America's votes, were revealed, and then the judges made the final decision on who was to go home.  But we'll get to that in a few minutes.

First up was Joshua Ledet, who sang I Wish.  He dropped the gospel-ish tone for this song, which was refreshing.  He did a really great job and set the bar high for the other contestants.

Elise Testone was going to sing Greatest Love of All, but Mary J. and Jimmy nixed that and told her to sing I'm Your Baby Tonight, instead.  When she started out, she did NOT have her usual spunk and confidence. It was kind of like someone had made her eat raw liver right before she stepped onstage.  She really picked it up and started performing about halfway through the song, but the judges were not impressed.  I personally thought the judges were a little harsh; at least she stayed in tune.

Next was Knocks Me Off of My Feet, by 6'8" contestant Jermaine Jones.  He really loosened up this week and started performing like a pro.  He put a nice groove to the music, and really got his big sexy on with this song.  He totally made me smile!

Erika Van Pelt was worrying me a little, because Whitney songs do not really seem to suit her voice.  But I guess she proved me wrong, because she was actually superb singing I Believe in You and Me.  There was a great buildup to the chorus, and then she pulled it back at the end for a little touch of softness.  The ending was a nice changeup from her usual power vocals.

Next up was Colton Dixon, who the judges insist on calling "a rocker."  Seriously?  AC/DC is rock. This dude is way too soft to be a real rocker.  He sang Lately, and the last note was really beautiful.  Other than that, I was pretty bored with Colton.

My girl, Shannon Magrane, looked awesome in a short black jacket and sparkly black fitted pants while singing I Have Nothing.  However, she missed one of her biggest notes, which I haven't heard her do before.  I guess it's pretty intimidating to sing Whitney Houston, and her nerves got the better of her.  The rest of the song was okay, but she just never seemed to relax.

Deandre, on the other hand, still looked like one half of Milli Vanilli (go look it up, youngsters!).  He sang Master Blaster with a reggae beat, and showed great timing and rhythm.  He is great onstage for his young age, and this rendition really allowed him to show off his swag.  And his hair.  His gorgeous, gorgeous hair...not that I'm jealous or anything.

Skylar Lane was next, and I'm generally not a huge fan of hers, but this girl brought it with Where Do Broken Hearts Go.  She made a Whitney song country, and it actually sounded like the song was written like that.  I still think the stylists need to get ahold of that tacky ass Loretta Lynn hairdo of hers, though. 

Heejun Han, the funny man of the Top 13, sang All in Love is Fair.  He started out kinda soft and smokey, and honestly, it was a little slow to develop for me.  But by the middle and the end, Heejun was bringing it on home! 

Hollie was next with All the Man That I Need, one of WH's signature blow-your-eyeballs-out classics.  Could cute little Hollie measure up?  *Standing ovation*  Really.  I'm standing here clapping for this chica....which is making it really hard to type.  Needless to say, she was fab!

I'm not really sure why Jeremy Rosado was dressed like Mr. Rogers on his way to the bowling alley.  I was really a bit confused, and slightly disturbed, by his attire.  He sang Ribbon in the Sky, and while it made me want to skip through a grassy meadow, it was not very exciting.  He should join a boy band as the not-so-sexy-but-lovable one in the group.

Jessica Sanchez took the biggest risk of the night by singing I Will Always Love You.  Holy Hell, that takes some guts!  This girl is the real deal, though.  She had the audience (and me) totally mesmerized from the very first note.  She took that song and kicked it right in the ass.  Randy deemed her "one of the best talents in the country," and I must agree, Dawg!

Phillip Phillips rounded out the night with the classic Stevie Wonder tune, Superstitious.  He did a kind of amped up rock verson of the song that really showed a lot of intensity.  He was my favorite male performance of the night.








Ok, they named the bottom 3 guys:  Joshua, Jeremy, and Jermaine.  I guess people don't like contestants with names that start with J.  Of these three guys, Jeremy Rosado was the lowest vote-getter.

The bottom 3 girls were Erika, Elise (something against E's?), and Shannon.  Elise Testone was at the bottom of the pile for the ladies.

When it came down to Elise vs. Jeremy, the judges chose to keep Elise and send Jeremy home.  I think this probably pissed JLo off because she seemed to have some kind of weird crush on Jeremy.  Oh well, she'll get over it by the next episode.

I'll see you fine folks back here then!