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Learn more- "American Idol" - Top Ten Performance Show - March 21, 2012
Theme: Billy Joel
Steven says Billy Joel is an American icon and if you can't sing Billy Joel you can't sing at all.
Mentors: Diddy and new style guru Tommy Hilfiger
Contestant: Deandre Brackensick Tommy gives him a style makeover meant to enhance the look he already has. Diddy and Jimmy want him to smile and to channel Billy Joel's life. They tell him to look at JLo because she's Catholic.
Song:"Only the Good Die Young"
Performance: He bounces his way through the beginning and smiles a lot. It's very fluffy. He does not seem to be channeling Billy Joel's life. He's just singing the song. He sounds fine. It's energetic but empty.
Steven: At first it was too happy for him but that's what the world needs now.
JLo: Liked that he had a laid back vibe and a good way to start the show.
Randy: He wasn't jumping up and down because it wasn't special but it was okay.
Contestant:Erika Van Pelt Diddy and Jimmy want her to hold back a little and not overperform. They tell her to take risks and show her guts. She tells Hilfiger that she loves Pink. He gets the idea to give her a punk haircut. So she does.
Song: "New York State of Mind"
Performance: Not only is it short it's also dyed black and pixie-ish. She stands by the piano and simply sings. She starts slow and tender and belts a bit more on the bridge. She sounds great and seems very assured. She ends on a beautiful, feathery high note. It's a terrific performance.
Randy: He loves the look and haircut and loved the vocals and tells her to take a few more liberties.
JLo: Also loved the vocal and thinks she can let loose more vocally and physically.
Steven: Echoes them and thinks she can put more character.
Contestant: Joshua Ledet Hilfiger wants him to wear a tuxedo. Jimmy and Diddy want him to dial back on the screamy part of his voice and to put his emotions to the side and focus on the song.
Song:"She's Got a Way" (Joshua has never heard this song.)
Performance: He starts seated and singing very tenderly and restrained. He starts adding the runs in on the second verse. For him it's very restrained-- until the final verse where he lets loose-- and shows off the lower part of his register. When a choir emerges he seems more comfortable. His suit looks fab.At the end he looks a bit nervous though.
JLo:Says Billy Joel's lyrics are very descriptive and although she thinks he sings wonderfully he wasn't connected more emotionally.
Steven: Unbelievably he doesn't know this song and he thinks Joshua sang his life into it and made it come alive.
Randy: Thinks they're both right and that it got good when the choir came out and Joshua should never feel defeated.
Contestant:Skylar Laine She is awestruck by Diddy. Diddy thinks it sounds forced and that the truth will set her free. She does it again and he thinks it's better. She asks for his autograph. Hilfiger checks out her cowboy boots, which she loves, and wants to evolve her look without abandoning the boots.
Song: "Shameless"
Performance: She obviously chose this song because Garth Brooks had a hit with it and does a country arrangement. She also starts seated and singing in a more restrained fashion. She hits a couple of bum notes. It gets stronger as it goes but she is pushing a little too much. She is not wearing cowboy boots. The end is a bit strident but she's feeling it.
Randy: He thinks the front was pitchy and it got better in the middle. He doesn't think it was her best but it was good.
JLo: Loves her attack and that she ate up the song by the end.
Steven: He thinks she sings with such conviction, he thought it was pitchy at first but she breathed life into and it was good.
Contestant: Elise Testone Jimmy is afraid that the song is too obscure. Diddy wants to step up to the challenge. Diddy gives her staging advice. Jimmy hopes she will repeat the magical moment from rehearsal. Hilfiger felt like Elise was hiding her body and want her in high-waisted bellbottoms and in a Janis Joplin-type style.
Song:"Vienna"
Performance: She starts off, as instructed, on the microphone. She sounds great, following the night's theme and going a bit restrained and even a little jazzy. She picks up the grit and power in the second verse. She looks lovely in a long, billowy, cleavage-enhancing dress. She ends on a nice little jazzy run and blue note. She gets a standing ovation from the judges and Randy bows before her.
Steven: Thought she was brilliant and beautiful.
JLo: Is very happy for her and just wants to shake her and is so glad to see her personality.
Randy: Loved that she made it her own and showed why she's in the competition. Randy thinks she had a moment, especially the run at the end.
Ryan has her bring up two students that Elise teaches at rock and roll camp.
Contestant: Phillip Phillips Hilfiger thinks Phillip needs help. He says he's just a simple guy who wants to put the music before image. Hilfiger doesn't want him to look drab. Diddy wants him to put the guitar (crutch) down. He wants him to take a risk. Diddy also wants him to groove. Girls in the studio liked it when he started dancing and then he lined up the girls for Phil to sing to.
Song:"Movin' Out"
Performance: He slows down the tempo, futzes with the melody and vocal rhythms a bit, and does just guitar and voice at the beginning. It's near unrecognizable until the band kicks and he gets into the chorus. He make it his own and it is annoying. (Yet he himself remains immensely likable.)
JLo: Felt like he was taking out some agression on his mentors at the end. She says he has to be who he is. She thought it was awesome. (He talks back and says the guitar is necessary for him.)
Steven: Says he Phillip Phillips-ed it and it was beautiful. He's glad he blew off the mentors but tosses him his sparkly scarf.
Randy: Enumerates how Phillip ignored all the advice and how well it worked for him. He says it's one of the best renditions of that song ever.
Contestant: Hollie Cavanagh Her brother gives her a good luck video message. Hilfiger wants Hollie to stop being dressed by an old lady. She wants something sparkly. They want to transform her into a real star. Jimmy and Diddy talk about the meaning of the depth of the song. Diddy tells her to be careful at the beginning of the song.
Song:"Honesty"
Performance: The beginning is indeed rough as it's pitched a bit too low at first. She tries to compensate by pushing a little too hard on the chorus. The bridge is much stronger but this is not her best performance. She's making the right, frowny faces but doesn't seem really connected to the song. Her outfit, a short fitted white jacket and sparkly bustier midriff baring top and white pants, is cute though.
Steven: Thinks it was a little pitchy and she overthought it but it was still good.
JLo: Says if you're going to do big songs you have to know every single note of the songs.
Randy: Echoes the "constructive criticisms" that she has to nail each of the notes, and says the choruses were great but the verses were rougher. He says you're better than that.
Hailey Reinhart from last season is in the audience.
Contestant:Heejun Han He asks Diddy and Jimmy advice for taking criticism. They say to use it as fuel and not take it personally. He thinks it's good advice but he's still freaked out. Diddy hugs him. We never see or hear him sing. Hilfiger asks who his fashion idol is, he says Madonna and Michael Bolton. Hilfiger think he's pulling his leg.
Song: "My Life"
Performance: As the song starts as a piano ballad but he feints that he messed up and then declares that the song is too slow and says he wants to dance! He puts on a little comedic show as he sings, running across the stage and making goofy faces. He goes and mugs with the judges on the chorus "I don't care what they say anymore!" The vocal is erratic and the lyrics are not perfect but he plays to the girls in the crowd. He seem to be having a lot of fun though.
JLo: Loved that he brought fun and it was a breath of fresh air. She thinks the vocal was imperfect because he was running around.
Steven: Flounders and asks if he was glad that he took the piss out of the song. Heejun is confused. Steven says it was probably good to get out his anger and that "he told them" meaning Jimmy and Diddy, but he says the music biz will kick your ass and he needs to take it more seriously.
Randy: Says it was entertaining and he was glad to see him have a good time even though it wasn't a great vocal.
Contestant: Jessica Sanchez She's freaked to meet Hilfiger. He tells her to shorten her dress choice but he likes the dress itself. Diddy tells her he has to be honest and that he didn't believe her singing and that she was oversinging. He tells her to pull back on the showing off and the tricks and that less is more. Jimmy tells her she's more believable when she's looking at someone and has her sing directly to Diddy. She does better the second time around.
Song: "Everybody Has a Dream"
Performance: Unsurprisingly she goes the big ballad route. (She shortened the dress and it looks great.) The first verse is a bit understated. She flirts with overdoing it on the first chorus but controls herself. She goes full bore on the choir-assisted chorus.She ends with a flashy high run and a big belt. She gets a standing O from the judges.
Steven: Says when God was giving out vocal cords she was so at the front of the line.
JLo: Says that the song was written for her and thinks it was a defining moment for her.
Randy: Says it takes consistency to win and says she has a moment every time she steps onstage. He also compliments the mentoring and styling.
Contestant:Colton Dixon He tells Hilfiger he wants to create his style, he wants it to be edgy, punk rock. Hilfiger doesn't like his hair. Jimmy thinks Colton has got an advantage as an actual piano man. Diddy wants to buy his record. Jimmy wants him to stick with the original note in the chorus on the word "Man" but Diddy likes that he changes it up a bit.
Song: "Piano Man"
Performance: He does a fairly simple and straightforward version adding in his emo squeaks and breaks at the ends of phrases. When the moment comes he sticks with the original note for "Man" but switches up a couple of other notes. The band swings in on the final chorus. He's clearly into it.
JLo: Got goosies from head to toe. She almost calls Diddy, Puffy. She agrees with him that he would buy his record.
Steven: Thinks his choice of chords when his voice resolved was amazing and calls him a great musician and singer.
Randy: Loves that he kept it simple and kept it "individual."
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