American Idol - Top 5 (Now and Then Night)

Sheryl Crow is the mentor of the week for the Idols.They get to sing a song from the past and a song from the last 5 years. Here we go!

Contemporary
James Durbin - "Closer to the Edge"
I was hoping for a better performance. He sounded kinda strident. He loves working the crowd, but vocally it wasn't awesome.

Jacob Lusk - "No Air"
Jacob, you are an underdog not because you look AWKWARD when you perform. Strong vocally, but visually disturbing. Oooh Boo...don't dance. You need not shake the pear-shape badonkadonk like Jordin!

*Lauren Alaina - "Flat on the Floor"
Look at what happens when you believe in yourself! Effortless and controlled.
And she seeemed to believe she could rock it out. Great job!

Scotty McCreery - "Gone"
Scotty sounded great! Even the odd ghetto swagger was working for him. Youthful, yet still like he was in control. And THANK GOD the jokes about the mic control, took.

*Haley Reinhart - "You and I"
WHAT?!? Unreleased Lady Gaga?!?
I LOVED it!!! That was wonderful! Jennifer?!? Randy?!? WHAT? THE? FUCK?
It was a great performance! And you didn't have ANY issues with the 30 Seconds to Mars BULLSHIT that James sang that was so nichey.

Oldie
James Durbin - "Without You"
Depth. A really good performance. He was an emotional wreck and it was all over his face when he sang.

Jacob Lusk - "Love Hurts"
He had me for the first 2/3rds of the song. This was the only way to totally redeem himself from "No Air" He mostly did that. Some will beat him up for the "chu'chiness" of the end.

*Lauren Alaina - "Unchained Melody"
This just pissed me off! The first 90% of this song was FLAWLESS! It was so well done and she caressed every note and did it so well that when she punked out at the end and didn't hit "the note" it hurts.

Scotty McCreery - "You Were Always on My Mind"
Not bad, not explosive. Meh. Consistent, but not an Idol moment performance.

*Haley Reinhart - "THe House of the Rising Sun"
OMFG! Haley just murdered that song! Vocally, it was OUTSTANDING!

Top 2
Haley and Lauren

Bottom 2
Jacob and vaguely, James

Jacob will prolly go home tomorrow.