That’s right, we are down to nine contestants! \u00a0Tonight the final nine performed songs by rock n’ roll hall of famers. \u00a0This is a new category for Idol, and one that I welcome with open arms! \u00a0So who cracked under the pressure, and who soared to new heights? \u00a0Let’s find out!<\/p>\n
Jacob Lusk<\/strong> – Jacob was originally going to sing “Let’s Get It On.” \u00a0It is probably a good thing that he didn’t, as women everywhere may have exploded. \u00a0Shoot, I might have exploded. \u00a0Instead, he went with the Michael Jackson classic “Man in the Mirror.” \u00a0Y’all know I dig Jacob, but this week it would have been really fun to see him do something a bit different. \u00a0He still killed the song though. \u00a0One of the instrumentalists for the performance was a co-writer of the song, and in a really nice touch Steven Tyler took the time to recognize her. \u00a0It was a great moment that really illustrated the different perspective that Steven brings to the show. \u00a0Props!<\/p>\n Haley Reinhardt<\/strong> – After weeks of comparisons from the judges, Haley finally took on a song popularized by Janice Joplin. \u00a0She sang “Piece of My Heart,” which was originally performed by Emma Franklin. \u00a0No, Emma is not in the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame. \u00a0One step forward, and two steps back Idol! \u00a0As far as the performance goes,\u00a0I’ve been wanting to hear her do a rocker, and this week I got my wish.This was by far my favorite performance from Haley. \u00a0It was fun, aggressive, and well sung. \u00a0You go girl. \u00a0She needs to take on rock every week.<\/p>\n Casey Abrams<\/strong> – Casey has already shown his Creedence Clearwater Revival streak, so “Who Will Stop the Rain” was a natural choice. \u00a0First of all, he played an upright bass for this performance. \u00a0I never thought I would see anyone on American Idol play an upright bass. \u00a0Second of all, he smiled, brought the gruff vocals, and gave a truly moving performance. \u00a0I don’t think he scared America<\/a> this week, not at all.<\/p>\n Lauren Alaina<\/strong> – Aretha Franklin has been given a couple of stirring tributes this year<\/a>, and Lauren’s stirring rendition of “A Natural Woman” unfortunately wasn’t one of them. \u00a0She sang a difficult song and did it well, but it wasn’t incredible by Idol standards. \u00a0For Lauren though, it was a solid moment and one that will easily carry her into next week.<\/p>\n James Durbin<\/strong> – While known for being a rocker, James instead chose “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” \u00a0I wish it had been better. \u00a0There were pitch problems throughout and it really plagued the performance. \u00a0I am glad he went for a softer performance, but I think the song choice was pretty poor.<\/p>\n Scotty Mcreery<\/strong> – Scotty took on his childhood idol Elvis. \u00a0While it was a fun show and he did a great job with the crowd, it wasn’t a great performance vocally. \u00a0I think the style could really work for him but he needs to iron out a little bit of the southern draw for rock n’ roll. \u00a0Par for the course tonight, the judges thought it was incredible. \u00a0They think everything is incredible though, so that isn’t surprising. \u00a0Simon Cowell, you are missed.<\/p>\n Pia Toscano<\/strong> – Pia brought out “River Deep, Mountain High” by Tina Turner for the promised upbeat performance. \u00a0While she was doing something out of her wheelhouse, Pia owned the song and showed why she is one of the best singers in this whole competition. \u00a0While the ballads are always impressive, this may have been one of the top performances she has dropped on America. \u00a0This performance illustrates why the judges need to actually be judges, because she deserved more praise than many of the other performers received. \u00a0Unfortunately, that praise had already been given out. \u00a0For shame!<\/p>\n Stefano Langone<\/strong> – “When a Man Loves a Woman” is an awesome song. \u00a0If Stefano wasn’t such a cheeseball he would be awesome. \u00a0That said, he sang the song really well and will probably be around next week. \u00a0I’m just not his audience, ladies, sorry! \u00a0He was the only performer to get actual criticism from any of the judges tonight, though. \u00a0Thank goodness that actually happened.<\/p>\n Paul McDonald<\/strong> – Johnny Cash American Idol time! \u00a0I wonder what Johnny Cash would have really thought about American Idol? \u00a0This was a bit of that real country that I’ve been touting this week on the blog<\/a>, and I was mighty surprised to find that Paul really excelled with this style. \u00a0This was the best (only?) dirty country performance in Idol history. \u00a0Paul needs to bring more of that each week!<\/p>\n Tonight Paul and Pia brought my favorite performances, while Casey gets extra points for playing an upright bass. \u00a0I think Lauren may be in trouble this go around, but we’ll see what happens tomorrow night!<\/p>\n What did you think America?<\/p>\n Related – American Idol Top 11 Redux<\/a><\/p>\n Follow the Prophet of Pop on\u00a0Twitter<\/strong><\/a> and\u00a0on\u00a0Facebook<\/strong>!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" That’s right, we are down to nine contestants! \u00a0Tonight the final nine performed songs by rock n’ roll hall of famers. \u00a0This is a new category for Idol, and one that I welcome with open arms! \u00a0So who cracked under the pressure, and who soared to new heights? \u00a0Let’s find out! Jacob Lusk – Jacob…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,116],"tags":[394,52,397,382,396,233,581,255,395,164,399,227,398,216,225,401,282,400,55,214,402,176],"class_list":["post-294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-american-idol-fever","category-music-on-tv","tag-american-idol-top-9","tag-casey-abrams","tag-casey-abrams-ccr","tag-casey-abrams-religion","tag-casey-abrams-upright-bass","tag-haley-reinhardt","tag-is-james-durbin-married","tag-jacob-lusk","tag-jacob-lusk-man-in-the-mirror","tag-james-durbin","tag-james-durbin-guitar","tag-lauren-alaina","tag-lauren-alaina-aretha","tag-paul-mcdonald","tag-pia-toscano","tag-pia-toscano-tina-turner","tag-scotty-mcreery","tag-scotty-mcreery-elvis","tag-simon-cowell","tag-stefano-langone","tag-stefano-when-a-man-loves-a-woman","tag-who-got-kicked-off-american-idol"],"yoast_head":"\n