Last night the Top 4 performed two songs to try and make it to the Top 3 finals. One song was whatever the contestant finds as inspirational and the other came from the writing duo of Stohler & Leiber - hit makers from the '50's to today. For the most part everyone did good enough, but I really wasn't blown away, like I should be at this point.


I'm going to begin by saying that I'm totally over HALEY REINHART'S attitude. I've eluded throughout the season that she gives off an aire as though she's better than this competition... well it came out in full force last night. Yes - she is gifted, possibly the best vocalist in the bunch, but that doesn't go far when you "know" it all and when you can't take constructive criticism from people in the business, then it may not be the business for you. Just because she has the ability to sing anything, doesn't mean she should. She's struggled throughout this season with song choice and she did it again last night with her inspirational choice: Michael Jackson's "Earth Song". What?
 
She felt some deep connection to it. When she sang, it wasn't near her best this season and it left me wanting something much more. Randy and J-Lo got on her about her song choice and even certain notes that seemed very strained. She shot daggers from her eyes and sassed them back. I don't like that. The judges really are there to help and if they seem hard on Haley it is because she's FAR better than most and should be getting better and better each week.
 

She came back for her second song "I Who Have Nothing", and laid it down! It was wonderful, like the Haley everyone knows she can be, but she still gave them attitude when they tried to compliment her. She thinks she's better than American Idol, so I'll give her that... see ya - you can go home now, go be an ungrateful diva somewhere else.





JAMES DURBIN nailed two songs last night; first Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" and second Elvis Presley's "Love Potion #9". I loved both versions of songs from him. James always performs at a peak, however, neither one blew me away. I think he'll be safe tonight, but I want that "moment" for him so badly and I want to feel like there's no one better.





SCOTT McCREERY picked a total winner for his inspirational song with Alan Jackson's "Where Were You". I mean with Bin Laden being killed last week, it really was a smart choice to keep in the top of people's mind about what an amazing victory that was. Scotty performed the song beautifully, too. I like him, but I don't love him. One thing about Scotty is that you ALWAYS know what you are going to get from him. He doesn't change anything up and he doesn't really improve, but I do think that's exactly what people like about him. He was the weakest one for me last night, but he has yet to be in the bottom three, so it would be a surprise if he ended up going home.
LAUREN ALAINA stepped it up last night with a beautiful Martina McBride ballad, "Anyway" and a shake-it up, in-your-face-hit, "Trouble". She nailed the Martina hit and made some pretty vocal choices, but the song was edited a bit strange. I LOVED "Trouble" from her. She showed her confidence. I'm a Lauren fan, so I really hope she snagged some great votes last night, because I can't wait to see her next week.
 

One more hopeful goes home tonight and we'll see Steven Tyler's new video for "It Feel's So Good", plus Lady GaGa performs... exciting!

Holly Hajdu
97.9 KISS FM & Magic 107.3
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Last night the Top 5 contestants took on two songs a piece "Then & Now"; one from the last decade and one from the 1960's or 1970's. Nearly everyone had at least one great performance, nearly...

JACOB LUSK has lost his luster over the past few weeks. I'm not certain what it is, if it's song choice or something that's broken in his spirit, but I am definitely worried about him tonight. Last night both of his performances were a bit sharp and un-polished and just not as great as the others.



JAMES DURBIN performed a Thirty Seconds To Mars hit "Closer To The Edge" and it was good for me, mainly because that is my absolute favorite band ;) Seriously, it was okay. Jared Leto has such a powerful voice, it is difficult to match. James' also performed "Without You" and it brought tears to his eyes and mine, as well; it was perfectly beautiful. James is unique in that while he can belt it out high and loud, like Adam Lambert, he can actually really control his lower tone, as well, and those moments are just beautiful.



LAUREN ALAINA first sang Carrie Underwood's "Flat on the Floor" and it was great to see her a bit more up-tempo and growlin'. She chose "Unchained Melody" for her second performance and I really liked it. If you close your eyes, when you listen, she really hits the notes in such a beautiful way. She didn't blow anyone away, though, so I really hope people voted to keep her safe.



SCOTTY McCREERY had the good and awful last night. First he sang Montgomery Gentry's "Gone" and I thought it was his worst of the season. The judges seemed to love it for some reason, perhaps because he used the whole stage to perform, but I hated every second of it. The second choice was FAR better for him and surprising; Willie Nelson's "Always On My Mind"... awesome. This song showed Scotty's real gift of smooth vocals and slow and steady tempo. He should be safe.



HALEY REINHART took a risk with an unreleased Lady GaGa song "You and I" as her first pick. It was okay for me, but nothing special for her. Haley is no-doubt gifted and possibly the best vocalist that's ever appeared on American Idol, however there is still something ungrateful in her personality that's hard for me to get past and for people to get over, it seems. I do know of a lot of people that ended up voting for her last night, based on her second choice of "House of the Rising Sun" which was spectacular.



Tonight, along with the results, Jennifer Lopez will perform her current hit, "On The Floor" - should be interesting to hear what she sounds like live... Also, Lady Antebellum takes the stage!

Holly Hajdu
97.9 KISS FM & Magic 107.3
Follow Me on Twitter: @hollyhajdu