Last night on American Idol, Skylar Laine and our other remaining Idol hopefuls took on the songbook of famed rock group, Queen.  And there were stand-out performances all over the place.  At one point during the night, Jennifer Lopez asked, "How are we supposed to judge?  They are all so good."  Luckily, here at WBKR, we have our very own Idol expert.  Yes!  Steve Thompson was tuned in and, here at WBKR.com, gives us his picks of the night and ideas about who might be going home.

This morning on The WBKR Waking Crew, Steve and I chatted about las night's show and discussed the hits and misses!

From Steve Thompson:

  • This was interesting tonight.  The songs from Queen have always been fascinating to me because they had such an operatic musicality about them.  I was a bit distressed that some of my personal favorites weren't covered-- but this show doesn't care about what I want.  (I just want it now.  See what I did there?)  The second theme may have been more telling.  Left to their own devices, what would our contestants sing.  Nothing all that shocking-- I think our final six pretty much know what they need to sing.
  • First, we'll start with Queen.  Hard to believe Freddy Mercury has been gone this long but it's not hard to believe that they've never found a worthy successor to him. (I guess the most obvious comparison might be Journey continuing without Steve Perry-- except there's always the hope that Steve might return to performing.)  As always, I'll rank these from worst to best.
  • Songs of Queen

 

  • 06.  Phil Phillips sang Fat Bottomed Girls.  Perhaps my least favorite Queen song outside of the theme from Flash Gordon.  This was the B Side to Bicycle Race, which I still think is a pretty darn clever song.  I'm not sure if Phil was feeling his best during this performance.  Even though the contestants were ragging him about it, I have a feeling Phil truly is having some medical issues.
  • 05.  Joshua Ledet sang Crazy Little Thing Called Love.  The one song by Queen that called out for a country singer and our resident rhythm and blues guy takes a run at it.  It was neither great nor poor.  Dwight Yoakam can sleep peacefully because there was nothing exciting here.
  • 04.  Skylar Laine sang The Show Must Go On.  I never considered this as a country anthem until I heard Skylar wrap her voice around these lyrics.  While it was nowhere near the best of the evening, I felt she showed a great deal of merit in her attempt. 
  • 03.  Jessica Sanchez sang Bohemian Rhapsody.  This was actually a rather decent try at this classic.  It's always hard to try and sing a song under Idol's usual time constraints and this was no exception.  However, I was impressed at her willingness to try.
  • 02.  Hollie Cavanaugh sang Save Me.   You might wonder if Hollie might've waited too late to get back into the competition.  I say she still has the means and the opportunity to win the whole season based on last week and perhaps even this week's selections.  This was a very nice ballad that may not be as well known as other Queen songs, but it seemed to fit Hollie like the proverbial glove.
  • 01.  Elise Testone sang I Want It All.  Elise was back in her rock element with this song and as much as I hate to I might agree with Randy-- this may have been her best song of the season.  I was hoping for a harder edge to her Queen song (Tie Your Mother Down would've been genius) but this fit the bill nicely. 
  • Overall, with over 100 million in sales you just couldn't go wrong with Queen.  I missed hearing my personal favorite Queen song this time (Who Wants to Live Forever,) but with the exception of Phil Phillips most acquitted themselves nicely.
  • Sophie May Have Had Better Choices

 

  • 06.  Skylar Laine sang Tattoos On This Town.  What does it say when your designated country singer sounds better on her choice of Queen song than she does singing a song from her chosen genre?  This was way too nasally and sounded a bit like someone making fun of a country singer.  A first real misstep in my opinion.
  • 05.  Phil Phillips sang The Stone.  I guess it was chutzpah on Phil's part to sing a song from the man that everybody and their brother has compared to Dave Matthews, but I have a feeling Simon Cowell would've called that performance self-indulgent.  Once again, as I stated a few weeks ago, if you sing a song that's obscure to most of your audience you best bring it.  Not sure if Phil did.
  • 04.  Jessica Sanchez sang Dance with My Father.  This song has always seemed to be an exercise in futility.  You know comparisons will be made to Luther Vandross.  That's a given.  I rather liked her tone of the song but I couldn't really commit to the idea of Jessica singing it.  It was okay.  That's about it.

 

  • 03.  Joshua Ledet sang Ready for Love.  If Joshua is safe Thursday night, it may be more due to his performance of this song rather than his earlier choice.  I was impressed that he seemed to keep the song within reason without resorting to the inherent tricks of Gospel music.  (Whatever happened to India.Arie, anyway?)
  • 02.  Elise Testone sang Bold as Love.  Now this is how you sing a song that many of the voters may have never heard before.  Elise did her best channelling of Jimi Hendrix with this one and if she winds up leaving after tonight she can at least say she went out in a blaze of glory. 
  • 01.  Hollie Cavanaugh sang The Climb.  Yes, she sang this back when she first auditioned-- but she sang it so well.  I thought she did a superior job on this song and, taken with her Queen performance, might cause her stock to rise even further. 
  • These six are thisclose in my opinion.  On the basis of who had the worst night, I would say Phil Phillips might be leaving.  On the basis of who had the worst night for one song, Joshua Ledet could be leaving.  On the basis that only adults vote for adults, Elise may be leaving.  My best guess?  A third shock in a row.  Skylar Laine may be in trouble.
  • We'll see, won't we?

@April 25, 2012  Stephen W Thompson

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