Glee - Great Performances

Turning Tables



Gwyneth Paltrow is an amazing talent, and though she's not quite Adele, you can't deny she has a wonderful voice.

Glee _ Great Performances

Ain't No Way



Mercedes (Amber Riley) killed it!

Glee - Great Performances

I Feel Pretty/Unpretty

Glee - Great Performances

Get It Right



Lea Michele is wonderful.

Glee - Great performances

Somewhere Only We Know



The Blaine/Kurt story has been done so very well.

American Idol - Top 6 Songs of Carole King

The idols lost Stefano last week, but now they are focusing their talents on the music of living legend Carole King. Mentored by Babyface this week, so they have major assistance this week.
Here we go.

Jacob Lusk - "Oh No Not My Baby"
One of his better performances. Not mushmouthy, not overblown, but controlled chaos.
The only issue, her catalog is deep with familiar songs, and this wasn't it. What was up with the Boyz II Men attire this week?

Lauren Alaina - "Where You Lead"
She took the notes, she trusted her voice, and she did it!
Really good job.

Haley and Casey - "I Feel The Earth Move"
Good, but forgettable.

*Scotty McCreery - "You Got a Friend"
Best performance yet. No mic affectations, wonderful voice quality, and still in his wheelhouse.

*James Durbin - "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow"
What?!?
WHAT?!? James just rocked out to Carole King. The intro was amazing.

Lauren and Scotty - "Up on the Roof"
They sounded amazing, but they needed to connect more.

Haley Reinhart - "Beautiful"
Not a fan of the choices, but


Casey Abrams - "Hey Joe"
Not my favorite Casey performance. The growl was fine, the vocal was impeccable, but it wasn't the most memorable.

Jacob and James - "I'm Into Something Good"
Kinda fun, despite the near flashing of J. Lo's girly bits.

Safe
James, Scotty, and Lauren

In Jeopardy
Not so much: Haley
Kinda: Jacob and Casey

Casey may just have growled himself out of the competition. Ouch.

American Idol Top 7 - 21st Century Music

We kick the show off with Pink's "So What" (and the awkward singing of Paul). Mark Ballas in the audience showing support for his girlfriend Pia.





Scotty McCreery - Swingin'


Okay...I'm SOOOO glad the group called him out on his mic handling. Good singing, but Jimmy Iovine called it...the audience can get tired of the same ole Scotty. Not a breakout performance.





*James Durbin - "Uprising"


Great theater! Great entrance! Great song choice! Great performance! It was a perfect choice for him and it made him a standout.





*Haley Reinhart - "Rolling In The Deep"


Treacherous waters!!!! Adele is becoming one of the Untouchables (Whitney, Mariah, Celine).


Haley just validated why she's still around. She just sang the eff out of that song!


Little bouncy still, but she managed to rein it in.





Jacob Lusk - "Dance With My Father"


Something was off. He was great, as usual, but it wasn't the Moment. The earpiece issue seemed to throw him, but beyond that it wasn't as broad as it shoulda been.





*Casey Abrams - "Harder to Breathe"


Casey is a MONSTER! He looks like a Hobbit. But he just gave a kick-ass rock performance! He breathed such life into a fun rock-pop song. Wow! He made the 7 second delay guy work!





Stefano Langone - "Closer"


So disappointed. That was not a singer's song. It is more a performance song, but it just didn't go where it needed to go. He's a vocal powerhouse, but that was not the best performance.





Lauren Alaina - "Born to Fly"


She sounded pretty good, but it was a throwaway song. Not really a challenge. She made it so effortless that it seemed understated.





Top 2


James and Haley (Casey, as well)





Bottom 2


Stefano and Scotty (although Jacob is on notice)





I don't think Stefano saved himself this week

American Idol - Music from the Movies

Jennifer is the Most Beautiful Woman in America, Pia was robbed, Paul McDonald - "Old Time Rock and Roll" He doesn't need to dance. Ever. Ever...Ever. Vocally okay, but not necessarily blowing away. Lauren Alaina - "The Climb" (and I love Will.I.Am. ) Beautiful job and I loved the colors in her voice, but I don't think she murdered this song as much as we wanted her to. It opened well and the promise was there, but she didn't have her moment with it. **Stefano Langone - "End of the Road" WHAT?!? You just stood up on that stage and went toe to toe with Boyz II Men and held your own!!! You go, boy!!!!!! Scotty McCreery - "I Crossed My Heart" Jack "Why doesn't someone take him aside and talk to him about the way he holds his mic?" He gave a really good performance and it was so totally in his wheelhouse, country radio should pick him up. **Casey Abrams - "Nature Boy" Wow! What a wonderful JAZZ performance! Natural! Smooth! Swagger! Amazing! Haley Reinhart - "Call Me" Here is where her youth gets in the way. Vocally, she has the chops, but the performance quality was awkward. She didn't connect to the lyric. She's a teen singing about being a slut and performing with her hair. **Jacob Lusk - "Bridge Over Troubled Water" He's got an amazing instrument. No doubt. I have the utmost respect for him. Some of the visual tics were subdued. Now, I pray he takes next week to surprise me. James Durbin - "Heavy Metal" w/Zac Wylde Stuck to his guns and woke the audience up! Not exactly a singer's song (there was a 20 second song break), but he did bring it. Top 2 Casey, Stefano, and Jacob Bottom 2 Haley and Paul America will probably vote Stefano out, but Paul needs to go.

American Idol - Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Week

Steven Tyler kicked off the show with a history of one of the most important musical institutions in popular American music, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Gwen Stefani and Will.I.Am provided assistance to the singers, so let's see what all that help did for the Idols. Jacob Lusk - "Man in the Mirror" Oddly, the song wasn't very interesting. No matter if he was singing with Siedah Garrett or Michael Jackson, it was just kind of a walk-through. Not horrible vocally or anything, but I tend to expect more from him now. Haley Reinhart - "Piece of My Heart" Too perky for the song, but vocally stunning! She can sing her butt off, but she needed to connect to the lyrics more. Casey Abrams "Have You Ever Seen The Rain" Really in his element. Not a big challenge for him vocally, but he is an artist without any peer in the group, so he stands out. Lauren Alaina "Natural Woman" You go, girl. Very natural and she made some wonderful choices vocally. James Durbin "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" Jack "I thought it was really, really good." Me "Kinda sleepy." Took a chance on a ballad and it mostly paid off, but it could get lost in all the more powerful performances. Scotty McCreery "That's All Right Mama" Vocally it was on point, but I can't watch him holding the microphone like that. He had a little hip hop flavor in his performance, then he would grab the mic and start looking like a creeper. Pia Toscano "River Deep, Moutain High" Vocally it was pretty damn amazing. Performance quality still needs to perform it. She still has that "fashion model with the amazing voice" quality. Jennifer called it: she needs to she what the performers before her had and exuded and work that into her performances. Stefano Langone "When a Man Loves a Woman" I don't know why America is sleeping on him. He is as good as Jacob is, without all of the awkward facial tics. Paul McDonald "Folsom Prison Blues" Wow. This is actually the best I've seen him perform. Energetic, fun, and you could hear his voice. It worked! His quirkiness didn't kill the song. Top 2: Pia and Paul Bottom 2: Jacob (boring) and James (rock, but not formidable) It's a tough week and the performers were really very good. I may be wrong, but looks like James could go home.

Kirstie Alley & Maksim Chmerkovskiy - Cha-Cha-Cha

The woman no one expected to do well and the glorious middle finger she shot her haters. Proof positive that it's not the size of the woman, but the drive in the talent.

Wendy Williams & Tony Dovolani - Cha-Cha-Cha

I wanted (Oh how I wanted...) Wendy Williams to do well, but this is what we get.

Dancing with the Stars (Week 3)

Story Week This week, stars have to dance to a song and a story that has deep personal meaning to them. Here's how they did, minus the emotional backstory to cloud the issue. Wendy Williams - (Foxtrot "Last Night a DJ Saved My Life") Ugh...this was a mess.You could see her counting the steps and walking through the routine. Beautiful, as always, but about as comfortable on the floor as one Ms. Kardashian. Chelsea Kaine - (Cha Cha "Chelsea") She is one of my favorites this season. She's got musicality and she looks like a real dancer. Carrie Anne called it...she looks a little like Julianne, so good for her! Chris Jericho - (Rhumba "Let It Be") A lovely performance. His hips were a little wonky, but otherwise it was good performance. Kendra Wilkinson - (Rhumba "You and Me") Okay, what the hell happened in the smoke? Once she started dancing, it was actually very good. Sexy, hot, and controlled. Romeo - (Rhumba "I'll Be There") Very nice, but the emotional aspect felt very different from the one Chris did. He was more graceful than Chris, but it was just okay. Hines Ward - (Samba "Fantasy") Loved it, despite the couple of bobbles! Very natural, fun, and joyful. Petra Nemcova - (Waltz "You Raise Me Up") Very lovely dance. Dmitri did a great job with choreography and she looked very natural and graceful in the routine. Sugar Ray Leonard - (Paso Doble "My Prerogative") Ouch. What in the world did they see (the judges) that I didn't?!? He walked through it and looked awkward. (And producers, please stop making the dancers do cheesy Kirstie Alley - (Rhumba "Over the Rainbow") A performance worthy of 9s and let the jokes fly about Maks crumbling under the weight ... Ralph Macchio - (Rhumba "Stay Gold") There wasn't quite as much fluidity as one would expect from the dance, but it was a good effort. Top 2 Chris and Hines (Kirstie gets a special pass) Bottom 2 *sigh* Wendy and Sugar Ray Wendy needs to be the one to go.