Idol top 9- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame week

What the hell was with that entry segment? Tyler has more curves than J-Lo. That blinding light behind them was no fluke.

I'm sorry to keep harping on this. Well actually, no, I'm not. At this point it's the most interesting thing about the show, but are we really watching Steven Tyler's sexual re-assignment as an un-announced subplot of Idol season 10? It's just bizarre to me. And not that I'm against such things at all- I just really didn't expect it to be  part of the most popular television program in history during a season where it is rebranding itself. So on the other hand, hey America, give yourselves a round of applause because no one else seems to care about this at all! We have come so far!

Tyler's opening about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is weak, especially from someone who is actually in it. Ah, Steven, how quickly you've gone from savior to punch line, though you kissing your own bust was kind of fun.

So here we are with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame night sans my favorite Naima, so at this point I don't really care what happens except I really do think Jacob Lusk is incredibly talented. In the suicide slot at number one, he's mistaken when he proclaims "I am not a rock and roll guy." Has he never heard of Freddie Mercury or Frankie Vallie? Not sure Marvin was the best choice for him from the intro- why take the most flamboyantly non-straight guy on the show and have him sing material from a universally acknowledged hetero sex god- at least musically? I'm not saying Marvin's music can't cross orientations- that's ridiculous. But when you sing such a signature song, you better be prepared to own it, slay it, and kill it. Can Jacob do this? Iovinne thinks so- I don't.

Wait. WTF? Suddenly he changes it to MJ's "Man in the Mirror"? Oh dear Lord. Jacob, who is guiding you here???And then you front the whole audience off by saying it won't be your fault but ours if you end up in the Bottom Three? Dude, you have balls. Balls so big, you should have sang an AC/DC song. Are they in the Hall of Fame?

Okay, pause twenty seconds into this- a total failure. Not that it's bad, but he has totally blown the spirit of the night's theme and is doing what he would on any other night. Massive fail, regardless of the how well he sang the song. Which was just fair- and pitchy beyond belief. Not good at all. Sorry Jacob, and I was really rooting for you. You know, James Brown is in the Hall too. Why not "This is a Man's World"? The judges response? I have no idea what they were watching and listening to, but it wasn't what I saw.

Haley Reinhart- Janis Joplin's "Another Piece of My Heart"
Okay, a really good choice of songs for her, and Will.I.Am's advice was really spot on. She obviously doesn't have Joplin's life experience to really make it work, rendering the whole thing as ultimately a karaoke performance, but it wasn't a bad karaoke performance. It will get her through to next week, and at least it was rock and roll. And her shoes were killer. What the hell did J-Lo mean by saying she would be "around for a minute"? Was that a compliment? Didn't sound like one to me.

Casey Abrams- CCR's "Have You ver Seen the Rain?"
Out of all the remaining contestants, this should be his night. His choice- The Police? Are you fucking kidding me? Changing it to CCR was a good idea, though he could have chosen a better song- "Fortunate Son" or "Suzy Q" to name two of a half dozen better choices. Why didn't anyone tell him Van Morrison was a better choice? Schmaltzy- he looked and sounded completely uncomfortable with the song.  It sucked- he sounded like Levon Helm taking it in the ass at some points- and that's not good.

Lauren Alaina- Aretha's "You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman"
First of all, where the hell are the Fashion Police here? That get-up is a full-on disaster. I'm all for the full-figured, large-assed gal rocking what she has, but seriously- she looks like a cow dressed as chess game at a dairy farm's Halloween party in this outfit. And Aretha? This song? From a teenager? Doomed! Another performance which totally sucked. And the 1983 hair and accessories? Where does the travesty end? Why am I watching this?

James Durbin- The Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"
As the resident season rocker, he has a lot to choose from here, so I won't give him the credit I would have Casey had Casey done a good job. But since Casey pretty much sucked, let's see what the dude does. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" Unexpected? Hell Yes. Good choice? Hell no. Huge risk. Did it work?
No. Not at all. BORING. I'm not even going to listen to the judges prattle about this one.

Scotty McCreery- Elvis' "That's Alright Mama"
Just when I thought it really couldn't get any worse, I forgot that Scotty was still on the show. But at least he chose the right material- the best match so far of the night. Again, as always, choosing the safest material possible for his one-note voice, he ought to to be able to kill this.

And he did. Okay, I had to rewind this three times. The first time I was puzzled by how good it was. The second time I wanted to watch what he was doing, because of the whole Elvis as Eminem thing. The third time was just for the vocal. Vocally it was just okay, but the performance was hands down the best of the night so far. He truly captured what the night was supposed to be about. Don't get me wrong- I loathe Scotty, but he kicked ass on this one. I can't deny the kid his due on this one.

Pia Toscana- Ike and Tina Turner's  "River Deep, Mountain High"
The ballad queen does Tina Turner?
She has an advantage doing this in that a large part of her fan base will be unfamiliar with the source material. What a horrible outfit! As for the singing, if you've never heard Tina do it, it may have sounded great, but it totally lacked any soul at all, which is Pia's Achilles heel- a great voice with absolutely no heart nor soul in it. It wasn't great on any level, but on the other hand, she sang the hell out of it. Weird. A failure in most ways, but for this show, this season, also a total success. She's in it until the end. But really, about that outfit....  J-Lo's advice was spot on- she needs some knowledge to really expand that raw talent- which she definitely has. The question is, does Pia have the intellectual curiosity and soul to really be an artist? Or is she just the world's finest karaoke singer? The next few weeks will tell.

Okay, it is definitely weird to see Todd Rundgren in the audience. For those of you who thought this show was just a bunch of bullshit, despite who has participated in it in the past, his presence in the audience should forever remove your doubts that Idol has validity as a genuine musical endeavor. Enough said.

Stefano Legano- Percy Sledge's "When a Man Loves a Woman"
Not the best choice for Stefano- too close to his natural comfort zone and tough to pull off. I would say he didn't. In fact I would say it was embarrassingly cloying and saccharine. Again, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons are in the Hall of Fame- "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" would have been a much better choice, or something by Tom Jones- especially "She's a Lady," though I don't know if Jones is a member. He should be! Another better choice for him would have been Al Green's "Let's Stay Together." Green's in the Hall of Fame, right? He has to be.

Paul McDonald- Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues"
So the weakest performer out of the remaining nine gets the money slot. Hmm. I'll give him huge props for song selection. Totally out of his range and comfort zone. Half the lyrics were unintelligible, but it was far and away the best performance of the night. When he sang " I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die" I knew this was greatness. A fantastic ending. Awesome- and what Idol should really be about this season.

Who should be in the bottom three based on tonight's performance?
Stefano
Jacob
Casey

Who will be?
I have no idea.

Best of the night (in order):
Paul
Scotty
Pia

Damn, I wish this show was consistent, but it seems to change from week to week. Overall, though most of it sucked, I thought this was the best night in weeks.