Being a Bulls fan, I was pretty pissed to find out tonight’s episode would span two hours. I don’t know why I was surprised, to be honest. I keep wishing American Idol would conform to my active lifestyle, yet it refuses to comply. Tonight, the contestants each took on three songs: one chosen by them (advised by Beyonce, who always seems much nicer and more down-to-earth than her image), one chosen by Jimmy Iovine, and then one picked by the judges.
While I’m not actively rooting for Scotty, I don’t hate him, either. I am confident he will have a healthy career, regardless of whether or not he wins Idol, and every now and then, I find him semi-pleasant and charming. Beyonce, who was surprisingly into Scotty (“Scotty boy! That’s my boy!”), was optimistic about his performance of “Amazed” by Lone Star (whom she claims to love). I, however, was a little let down. Scotty sounded okay in his higher register at the end of the song, but I got a sense he was playing it safe throughout the performance—he even held his microphone normally, as if he had full use of all of his fingers. We’ve seen him push more and give more before; maybe he was saving his energy for the later songs. Randy came close to almost critiquing a few parts of the song but ultimately, like the other judges, praised him and also reminded us of the time he produced a song with Boyz II Men.
As an A.V. Club writer I feel like I’m not supposed to like Beyonce, but you guys, she just seems really nice and pretty, and I like her, and also I want to put her engagement ring in my mouth, just for a second. Bey advised Lauren on how to let go of your nerves before she took on “Wild One” by Faith Hill. As with Scotty, it wasn’t exactly a transcendent performance, but it was a good song for Lauren to show off what kind of professional performer she’d be: fun and young and spunky and just a teeny tiny bit of a mess. (If she weren’t, she would have nixed either the huge earrings or the white boots.)
Remember how I’ve been bitching the last few weeks about Haley not singing/acting her age on stage? Tonight she finally came back to where I like her: sexy and tough but still youthful. She took on Zeppelin’s “What Is And What Should Never Be.” (Beyonce didn’t have too much advice for her, but it was funny how, superficially, the two looked very similar.) There was a lot to enjoy in the performance, from her sultry intro to her dancing with her Dad onstage (he played guitar and it was very sweet) to her twirling in her fringe dress. She took her time and seemed completely confident. I even liked the part where she fell down (which I could totally see coming—way too much spinning and running around and stairs for such high heels). Haley picked herself back up and acted like she was having a great time onstage, which made her seem like a pro. And? I think she handled the song way better than either James or Casey would have. Haley handily won round one, and I didn’t need the judges to tell me that.
Despite Randy’s second consecutive use of the phrase “In it to win it,” I don’t think Scotty came close to beating Haley on his next song, the Jimmy-Iovine-chosen “Are You Going to Kiss Me Or Not,” although I liked this performance more than his first. Scotty seemed more contemporary, and his voice sounded better (maybe partially because he wasn’t drowned out in backup singers), and he felt comfortable enough to let the ol’ crazy eyes come out. I’m not sure exactly what Jimmy Iovine had in mind when he suggested Scotty channel a touch of Tom Petty in the performance, but those of us who love Tom were spared seeing Scotty try to impersonate him. I think if anybody was going to pull a Petty, it would have been the dearly-departed Paul (who, intriguingly, is apparently evil). Also, I strongly disagreed with Jennifer when she said she preferred Scotty with the super-short hair.
I was a little bummed by Lauren’s second song. Jimmy chose “If I Die Young” by The Band Perry for her, and I was getting ready for something great and slightly different from Lauren. The song’s country twang saved her from being a little boring, which she sometimes slips into with typical ballads, and there was something intriguing about her innocence mixed with the song’s dark content. But Lauren held back when the music swelled and missed the song’s big key change, hence her “moment,” which I think could have been really special, was nonexistent. Jennifer praised Lauren for getting “caught up in the honesty” of the song, but I think Lauren just lacked confidence. I think she knew she lost an opportunity.