JLo is wearing hot pink pedal pushers and a matching short sleeved top. She is also wearing diamonds the size of boulders in her ears, and her necklace appears to be also made of diamonds. Her hair is pulled up into a high pony tail and her makeup is nude-ish. The guys look like they always do.
Ryan explains that tonight's theme is Movie Music, or music that was featured heavily in any movie. In other words, any old song they want to sing.
#1. Sam is wearing a green silk blazer with black cuffs, and dark jeans tucked into work boots. He says he's singing Come Together because it's upbeat.
Tonight the kids will all imitate each other. The others seem to think that the girls all love Sam, and that Sam isn't quite sure what to do about that, but it makes him smile.
On stage, he sits on three artfully arranged wooden crates and sings. Oh dear, this is awful. It doesn't help when Sam points at his own head when he sings *hair down to his knees*.
Keith: Glad to hear that side of Sam's voice, and that Sam is looser on stage
JLo: Nice start
HCJ: Sam is on the way, but the performance was average
Also tonight, each kid will feature his or her permanent number with a small movie parody. Sam sits in a chair with his leg in a cast and he peers through binoculars for Rear Window.
#2. Jessica has far less visible pink in her hair tonight. Her front hair is pulled up, and she's in over all curls. It looks nice that way. Her makeup is really good tonight, too. Jessica is wearing a white shirt and black jeans. She's going to sing The Sound of Silence.
The Others all wear pink extensions and doubt the existence of Slapout, AL.
She starts out quiet, just herself and the guitar. Man, she's nasal with a side order of Stevie Nicks. The performance isn't bad, but it isn't good either.
JLo: Seems like that would have been the perfect song, but it never quite jelled
HCJ: The band was off but Jessica maintained focus
Keith: Jessica looks great, but needs to learn to work the big stage better
Movie: Lady and the Tramp, the eating spaghetti scene
#3. CJ is wearing a black jacket over a gray/cream tee with stars screen printed all over it. CJ is the only one wearing a hat tonight, but it's an okay hat. He's singing Can't You See by the Marshall Tucker Band. He has a new guitar.
The Others make fun of the faces CJ makes while singing, and how politely happy he is to be there.
This is the perfect song for CJ- it's raw and growly and I think he's doing very well with it. Very well.
Keith: Standing O
HCJ: CJ picked and sang himself right back into the game
JLo: Started showing himself as a front runner
Movie: Alien, with CJ's fist exploding from his chest underneath his shirt
#4. Dexter is wearing a plaid shirt. No surprise there. But he isn't wearing a hat, which is unusual. He's singing Sweet Home Alabama. Of course he is.
The Others know that Dexter loves his dogs and grows his own food.
On stage, Dexter is singing really really good karaoke. He's not bringing a single new thing to this song, but his cover version is certainly good enough.
Keith: Thinks Dexter needs to bring something individual to a well-covered cover
JLo: Dexter's personality is starting to show
HCJ: Good, if perhaps cynical, competition choice.
Movie: Dexter is feeding a baby bottle to the numbers strapped to his chest. I have no idea what movie this is supposed to be.
#5. Ben is wearing a green velvet jacket and a gray waistcoat. His hair is slicked back.
The Others laugh at Ben's hats, his funny faces, and his love of deviled eggs.
On stage, Ben sits at the piano and sings Benny and the Jets (from some movie, I'm sure). I am fairly certain that Ben made a major piano blunder in the first few bars, but really it doesn't matter because this whole performance is horrible and weird. Sanjaya Levels of weird.
JLo: Is confused by the song choice, which was not particularly suited to Ben's strengths
HCJ: Ben didn't put in enough effort, and the whole thing was odd
Keith: Thinks Ben should get back into his country box.
Movie: Psycho shower scene.
I refuse to report the in-show voting. Period.
#6. Majesty still has the Betty Grable hair foof, this time with flowers on the side. She's wearing a kind of retro styled dress with a loose dropped waist, a pleated skirt, and a Peter Pan collar. It's printed with huge red and gray roses. The dress fits terribly and is deeply unflattering, and it looks like she made it in Home-Ec. In 1956. Oh, and she's also wearing high top tennis shoes. She's going to be singing Adele Dazeem's Oscar winner.
The Others all wear flowers in their hair and speak in a squeaky voice.
Oh dear, Majesty is giving it a shot, but this song is way too big for her. She sounds shrill and shouty.
HCJ: Majesty is a mystery, but that was a strong performance
Keith: Huge song and Majesty almost got it
JLo: Goes on about Majesty being able to do anything, without actually mentioning the current performance
Movie: Indiana Jones
#7. Caleb is wearing a black jacket with red piping over a black shirt, and a red silk scarf. He's going to sing Skyfall. This oughta be interesting.
The Others all wear a wig, scream, and fall on the ground, when they're not swinging a mike stand around.
Caleb gets spotlights. He starts quietly and then builds, and he does this entire performance exactly right. Dare I say that this is even better than the original? (Adele has a tendency to get a bit shouty, and Caleb is just the right amount of restrained). This performance is the best of the night, so far.
Keith: Standing O
JLo: Has been waiting for this performance from Caleb.
HCJ: Fantastic
Movie: Titanic, the King of the World scene
#8. MK has blonde spiked hair tonight, with the sides cut very short. She's wearing a black glittery jacket, a red shirt and red pants. She has heavier eye shadow than I've seen on her to date. She's going to sing To Make You Feel My Love, from Hope Floats, starring one Harry Connick Jr.
The Others wear lots of hats perched very high on their heads (especially hilarious with Majesty) and they all mention that MK likes to chill. And slouch.
On stage, MK begins on a stool and starts to sing in that sweet voice that we know she has but we have not heard for several weeks. MK is not entirely in control of her instrument, but there are some truly lovely moments in this performance. It's her best yet.
JLo: That was so romantic, compares MK to KD Lang (an apt comparison, there is a similarity in their voices)
HCJ: MK needs to work on her runs, but otherwise it was a beautifully sung performance
Keith: MK looks like a star, and is getting more and more confident.
Movie: the potter's wheel scene in Ghost
#9. Alex is in a white jacket over a black shirt, with a black bow tie. He has the rolled up pants legs again, red shoes, and no socks. I have to say that Alex is looking more relaxed in front of the camera. He's able to banter with Ryan almost normally (a huge improvement over last week, when he looked like he was going to throw up). Alex is going to sing Falling Slowly.
The Others roll their pants (Ben, hilariously, above his knees), and they all imitate Alex's twitchy performance style and his many many instruments.
This is a very quiet song, and it's generally sung as a duet (Lee DeWyse and Crystal Bowersox killed it in their season), but Alex is doing well with it. He's connecting with the audience much more than usual too. This is really very pretty.
HCJ: Nice to see someone doing a simple and elegant performance
Keith: Raw and fragile artistry
JLo: That was perfectly sung
Movie: the boom box scene from Say Anything
#10: Jena is wearing a black sleeveless top adorned with long fringes and lots and lots of little metallic deelie bobbers. She is also wearing baggy black and white plaid pants. She's going to sing Parramore's Decode, from Twilight.
The Others make fun of the whole Not Jenna thing, and Jena's chokers. Also? Evidently, Jena burps loudly.
At the piano (with the fog machine going), Jena plays and sings well. I don't know this song, but Keith and JLo do, and they're rocking to it. They both give Jena a Standing O.
Keith: Loves the ferocity and piano playing
JLo: Jena does not deserve to be in the bottom 3 this week
HCJ: Compliments, lots and lots of compliments.
Movie: Jaws, in a swimming pool
#11. Malaya is in a black and white jump suit with scoop-shoulders. Her hair is slicked up and back, but not egregiously so. She says she's going to sing something from Dreamgirls, and the whole world knows only one song is ever performed from that movie.
The Others make fun of Malaya's hyperactivity. Of course.
Well, whattya know, she's not singing And I am Telling You. She's singing I am Changing. Here is what my notes say about this performance, verbatim: WOW WOW WOW WOW. Keith and JLo agree with me wholeheartedly with their Standing O's.
JLo: Overwhelmed and incoherent
HCJ: Much high praise
Keith: Plays very well to her strengths.
Movie: hallway slimer scene from Ghostbusters
Overall, tonight's performances were a huge improvement over last week's.
My Top 3:
Malaya
Caleb
CJ
With MK and Alex tied for 4th
My Bottom 3:
Ben
Sam
Majesty
With Jessica at 4th
1 comment:
". She's going to be singing Adele Dazeem's Oscar winner."
Brilliant.
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