BLASTS FROM THE PAST--AMERICAN IDOL REVIEW

BLASTS FROM THE PAST--American Idol Review
Elite Eight? All Contestants Shows Signs of Life On Strong Night.

A week after American Idol's first-ever 30-minute results show had some online pundits assuming the show's days were numbered, the remaining contestants of Season 13 gave their two cents on why this season--even if it happens to the former ratings' behemoth's final go-round--should be taken seriously. In fact, the eight remaining contestants were so good, overall, on this particular night that the contestant who's been more or less leading the field so far gave one of the night's worst and most forgettable performances.

Right from the get-go, host Ryan Seacrest was in a jolly mood, working with audience-friendly material as this week's theme--songs from the contestants' original auditions--enabled a deeper, blast-from-the-past theme, in which each contestant's performance was preceded by baby pictures of the singer, plus their parents waxing affectionate and poetic about them. All the contestants have improved measurably since their auditions, and judges Harry Connick Jr., Jennifer Lopez and Keith Urban were heaping praise on them all night, allowing the typically-energetic crowd to sound a loud chorus of boos only once. And the judges didn't even get to give feedback for four of the night's performance. In perhaps a nod to The Voice and it's addictive, exciting, ratings-devouring Battle Rounds, tonight's individual performances were supplemented by duets, with the eight singers being paired up for some entertaining in-betweens.

Basically, it was a good night.

-The night's first performer was Jessica Meuse, the pink-haired country/rock act. At her original audition, the 23-year-old Alabama native had sung an original song, called "Blue-Eyed Lie" and her rendition on this night became her immediate best performance of the season. Jessica was in powerhouse mode, singing with a vigor and energy I've been missing from this seasoned performer. Grade: B+
Fortune Forecast: Safe. Opening these long, loooong shows is never fun, but Jessica has been cruising so far and proved herself the real deal rocking the house with an original.

-CJ Harris, who was memorably in open tears after his well-received original audition, sang The Allman Brothers Band's "Soul Shine". I thought it was a solid performance, but I've seen CJ do better. The we-year-old clearly has a beating heart of passion, but he doesn't have a huge voice. The judges loved it, though. Grade: B
Fortune Forecast: I've never considered CJ in the upper echelon of this group, but he'll probably be safe after one of his better overall performances.

-The next performance was the night's first duet, with 17-year-old Jena Irene and 20-year-old Alex Preston pairing up, sitting on the edge of the stage, and crooning "Just Give Me A Reason". It actually worked better than I thought it would. Jena has a much more impressive voice, and she'd probably wipe the floor with Alex in a straight-up, Voice-style battle, but Alex didn't shy away from eye contact, and managed to bring some tenderness to his vocals. He later claimed--accurately--he thought their very different voices complemented each other.

-Sam Woolf, the chick magnet who needs to start doing shots of Red Bull--or something--before his performances to liven up, sang Ed Sheeran's "Lego House" (for reasons known only to the show's producers and crew, he did so while singing surrounded by lamps). It was typical Sam. He sings great--though a note or two sounded a little flat--and the straight-up sound of his performances is above reproach, he continues to lack a must-watch factor. Harry Connick Jr actually went so far as to tell him to stare at one girl (any girl) in the crowd to connect better, which, of course, got all the girls in the house squealing again. Grade: B- (Sam's usual)
Fortune Forecast: Like CJ, Sam is not one of this year's front-runners, so he'll perenially "be in danger" going forward unless he blows the doors off one week. But his squealing fan girls will probably keep him around in hopes of being the one he stares at.

-Rockers Caleb Johnson and Jessica Meuse made a great pairing, it turned out, singing Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty's "Stop Dragging My Heart Around". It sizzled. Bold, excitable Caleb didn't show away from a single chance to stare into Jessica's eyes or move in close to her, which seemed to part embarrass and part excite her. I can't lie: it was flat-out sexy, and a great performance.

-Malaya Watson was a bundle of energy at her first audition (surprise) but she considerably tempered those nerves for the umpteenth blessed week in a row, and hit another home run. Singing Aretha Franklin's "Ain't No Way", she dug into the lyrics, she stared passionately at the camera, and she drove for some high notes that had JLO and Keith ducking in their seats. JLO said she could run away with the competition, and, really, she could. Grade: A-
Fortune Forecast: Safe. One of the most vocally talented ones left, Malaya's on a big-time winning streak, and she'll be fine after crushing it again.

-By necessity, Dexter Roberts had to slow things down to sing Brent Eldredge's "One Mississippi", and it was easily his best performance yet on the show. Forced to slow down and just sing (Keith mused that he might be trying too hard to sing and make his voice perfect, rather than singing the lyrics), Dexter was superb. Grade: A
Fortune Forecast: Safe. While there's no indication Dexter can sing anything but country, that hasn't been a problem in his support, and it won't be a problem in his pro career. Ask Carrie Underwood.

-The Idol producers went for the Cute Factor by pairing teens Sam and Malaya and having them sing Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat's gentle, massaging reggae tune "Lucky". While that pairing is a mismatch vocally (Malaya can hit notes Sam can't dream of hitting) and stylistically (she bounces, enunciates and facially acts out every word, while he's stiff as a board), it wasn't terrible. They don't necessarily have more chemistry than the stars of Twilight, but you could see Sam trying to get more into it and lose himself, and that's a start. I guess it was....cute.

-One of the contestants to really watch out for, the other teen-Jena Irene-continued her winning streak and got a huge, A+ stamp of approval from JLO, who told her she can and should try to overpower the other contestants each week. Keith praised Jena for slowing down and changing up Adele's megahit "Rolling in the Deep", and for not giving in to the temptation to revert back to the original tune once it picked up. Jena's got a big voice, she's gaining lots of confidence, and, despite her peculiar voice, she's got one of the best overall ranges in the group. She's going far. Grade: A
Fortune Forecast: Safe. Like I (and JLO) said, she's going far.

-I can't stop singing Darius Rucker's "Alright" this evening, mainly because country boys CJ and Dexter teemed up and did one of modern music's finest major justice. Standing at mics set side by side, the roommates and obviously close buddies each strummed on their guitars and had a ball. This might've made a good battle on The Voice, as Dexter's voice is infinitely more resonating and recognizable while CJ corners the market on passion, but it was largely great.

-Caleb Johnson got nothing less than his usual raves from the judges this evening, as the "audition songs" theme forced him to go more soul than rock, singing Aretha Franklin's "Chain of Fools" like he did back in the fall. Like usual, he brought energy and gusto and cranked out some big notes, but soul clearly isn't quite his thing. This felt a little sluggish--a far cry from his explosive performances of the likes of "Stay With Me". Caleb's a great guy, though, a real talent who semi-chided the audience for booing Harry Connick Jr's assertion that he wants to see something slow and tender next time, just to change things up (Caleb even assured the camera he would do it). Grade: B
Fortune Forecast: For the first time, Caleb wasn't among the night's best, and his performance might slip through the cracks on this Great overall night. That said, the judges would save him in a heartbeat if he were "voted off" tomorrow night (in fact, once I realized what a solid night it was turning into, I declared confidently that the judges will use their save tomorrow night regardless of the lowest vote-getter; I think we'll see all eight singers again next week).

-Closing the show by singing an original, Alex Preston showed that, though he'll obviously never let go of his guitar and won't ever be mistaken for Caleb onstage, has has grown in leaps and bounds. He brought his usual quiet passion and clear knowledge of music to his original work "Fairytales". The judges loved it. Grade: B+
Fortune Forecast: Safe.

So, it was a great night. And I'm standing by what I said about the judges using their save tomorrow night, especially since some-time Sure Thing Caleb might be in danger based on tonight's overall quality. I guess we'll see.