American Idol Top 8 (Again) Performance Show

Once again, we get to see the Top 8 perform thanks to the judges using the save for Sam Woolf last week. This week the theme was Songs of the 80s and the idols were thrilled to have Season 7 winner David Cook as their mentor. We were thrilled to be able to use the same picture as last week.

Jena Irene – I Love Rock And Roll (Joan Jett)
We were sort of on the side of Jennifer Lopez (J-Lo) who thought the song languished a bit and also agreed with Keith Urban’s impression that it was a little low in parts. But both J-Lo and Keith loved it aside from that. Harry Connick, Jr. (HCJ) wasn’t a big fan of the arrangement and he found it too choreographed. He thought she should have just went with the audience vibe, despite the fact that the show producers do not want her or anyone else to do that. And he acknowledged that so we don’t know why he would even bring it up. Ultimately, Jena looked great and handled herself very well.

Dexter Roberts – Keep Your Hands To Yourself (Georgia Satellites)
All of the judges had good things to say about Dexter’s choice. J-Lo thought he owned it. HCJ said he can do no wrong in his eyes and Keith thought he loosened up, and that he ought to do something unexpected, too, like knock the mike over.

Malaya Watson – Through The Fire (Chaka Khan)
Keith echoed David Cook’s opinion that Malaya is a firecracker, but he thought she should chill out and coast some more. J-Lo told her that as long as she has the breath behind, she has nothing to worry about. HCJ was impressed because not many young’uns can even the Chaka notes, but he thought that she was gearing up the entire song for the moment — “like I gotta hit this note.”

Jessica Meuse – Call Me (Blondie)
Harry thought she sounded great but missed the “groove.” Keith said it was like she was close to the door and “ready to go into the party.” J-Lo thought she wasn’t channeling the sexiness of the song and if she couldn’t do it, it wasn’t a great song for her no matter how she sounded. We agree with J-Lo. Jessica was channeling a mannequin.

Sam Woolf – Time After Time (Cindi Lauper)
Keith and J-Lo gave up some positivity. Keith loved him doing it with his acoustic guitar. J-Lo noticed that he blushed and interpreted it as “oh, my goodness, I’m having feelings.” (The kid is shy and he blushes a lot.) HCJ felt the same way we did. Here he was in a position to do himself a world of good, surrounded by a group of adoring young girls, and didn’t pay them a single bit of attention! He looked right into the camera the entire time and when the song was over, he didn’t pay them a single bit of attention either! It was totes strange. HCJ told him to google Ricky Nelson and he might learn something from “people before you.” That part, we don’t think will be much of a help to Sam. We mentioned his Ricky Nelson vibe quite a while ago. It’s the hair and eyes – and we have no doubt he’s heard it before himself. Nelson was one of the best looking teen idols of the early 1960s, who was himself often compared to Elvis, ironically. On the one hand, Ricky Nelson’s style has got to strike this kid as horribly outdated. On the other, Nelson wasn’t the best singer to come down the proverbial pike, but he sold MILLIONS of records and is in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.

Alex Preston – Every Breath You Take (The Police)
Harry liked that he made it sound like a new tune, but he needs to work on his entertainment skills and didn’t seem to think Alex’ coffee house style will take him that far. The arrangement grabbed Keith’s attention but for J-Lo, he lost “the soul of the song.” We agree with J-Lo. And it was even more odd for us because we truly liked the sound of Alex’ voice in “The Girl is Mine” duet with Sam Woolf.

CJ Harris – Free Fallin (Tom Petty)
The judges were highly impressed with his ability to touch the audience and didn’t go too hard on him with his pitch issues this time. HCJ said he was much more in tune on the high notes, and the rest will come.

Caleb Johnson – Faithfully (Journey)
Before coming out on the stage, Caleb said he wanted to “make some old ladies cry.” We were just like “Wow, did he really say that?” Then amazingly, Jennifer Lopez looked like tears were welling up in her eyes while he was singing, so then we wondered if that was staged. No criticisms for Caleb tonight. Randy Jackson, who played with Journey in the 80s, applauded approvingly. Ryan asked Caleb who that tender look was for while he was singing. Caleb said he was “just giving the baby face.” Good to know.

The Duets
We get that the judges don’t have to rate the duets but still thought Harry Connick’s antics were ridiculous. The first duet with Sam and Alex – The Girl is Mine – sounded great and was the best. Caleb and Jena did “It’s Only Love.” It was okay though again, her voice was drowned out a bit. During this one, HCJ went to be part of the audience, came back and sat down at the judges’ table with a young girl named Nicole perched on his shoulders, usurping all the attention while poor Caleb and Jena had to stand there. Jessica and Dexter did “Islands in the Stream,” easiest to do and worst of the bunch. Both Keith and HCJ mingled with the balcony audience on different sides, leaving J-Lo all alone at the table. Disrespectful and childish, but at least Jessica and Dexter got to sit at the judges’ table. “I thought it was great,” Jessica cracked, judging her own performance.

Predictions, anyone?
We really don’t think that Cindi Lauper number is going to save Sam’s butt with the voters for long. We’re not even sure if two have to go home tomorrow night either. But, for what it’s worth, the performances we liked the least were by Dexter, Jessica and Alex.