She's back with Otis Redding's "Try A Little Tenderness". More growl-singing. Her "tenderness" sounds very angry.
Steven: You've done it again. Love that you're stepping out. It's about winning these peoples' heart. Come on.
J-Lo: America has got to start connecting with you here. Just the voice ain't gonna do it, but because when it comes to voice, you it!
Randy: People respond to the emotion. You can sing like nobodies buisness.
My predictions:
Skylar is safe. Deservedly so.
Philip Phillips is safe. The worst singer of the bunch. It doesn't matter.
Hollie Cavanagh is probably safe. Based on last night's performance, she ought to be. She barely varied from the Adele version (which I've transcribed note-for-note for a top-flight dance band) and she didn't need to. It wasn't stylistically adventurous, but it was powerfully and beautifully performed.
Colton Dixon is probably safe. He's a very good singer but his song choice last night was pedestrian and his interpretation of "September" was sophomoric. It reeked of too-cool-for-schoolism. But he's a cute white boy, and cute white boys usually don't get voted off this early in the season.
Jessica Sanchez should be safe, and could well be based on her cover of the Alicia Keyes song, which blew Keyes' record out of the water. It was stunning, and should give anyone desiring to lump her into a Whitney/Mariah bag major pause. The girl can sing anything, and I feel every ounce of the emotion she pours into every song. If you don't, it's probably a cultural thing. That isn't meant to be disrespectful of any culture.
Joshua Ledet is a toss-up. I think he killed the Sam Cooke song, and he didn't have much time to develop it from its opening calmness to its powerhouse conclusion. That song really requires both verses before the bridge or the effect of the bridge is diminished. But he pulled it off and wound up with one of the great Idol performances of all time, once again. He may be sent packing, but fans of what he does know it can't be done better.
Elise Testone should not be sent home, but I think there's a huge chance she'll wind up in the bottom three again. She sings well but I'm not a fan of her singing. She does not soar. Even Phillips soars from time to time, in his quirky, I'm-not-a-real-singer kind of way. Elise attempts to wrench gravity out of vocal calisthenics. Very tough for an alto to pull off.
So: I think Jessica, Joshua, Elise and possibly Colton (as an outside shot) are in trouble tonight. It's a shame that any of them has to go. I hope Sanchez and Ledet can stick around a little longer because I think their performances are unique and individualistic and they show tremendous poise beyond their years. I like Skylar a lot too and think she has no chance of being voted off this week.