A MULATTO, AN ALBINO, A MOSQUITO, MY LIBIDO: Two years ago when Allison Iraheta scaled Mt. Wilson, we discussed whether singing "Alone" was a fair metric for a singer or whether, as I think Alan put it, it was like hitting home runs with a corked bat.
Well, damn: Jacob Lusk done hit himself a home run tonight in the first truly memorable performance of the season. Yes, he's affected. No, he's not going to win the whole damn thing. But those are pipes he's got, and he was only one of two contestants to impress me tonight.
The second was Lauren Alaina. Not that her "I'm The Only One" was particularly great, but it was a wise choice done with spunk. (Scotty may well have been a third, but his genre is so Not My Thing that I skipped past after the first few bars.)
I'm glad Casey introduced Nirvana to the show, but this was the wrong song, performed oddly. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is not a fundamentally angry song meant to be sung with a demonic glare; it's about alienation and rebellion and release and, performance-wise, it's about losing control and throwing yourself into the song heedlessly. None of this can fit into an Idol performance, between the context and the stage and the annoying and distracting Horns of Idol. (Maybe "In Bloom" works better? I still prefer my choices. And P.S. to J-Lo: I guess you didn't get the memo, but one does not evaluate grunge based on whether it sounds "pleasant.")
Everyone else was either mediocre or worse, with the women in particular choosing snooze-worthy songs which do not belong in a competition to locate the next contemporary music star. And then there's Paul: that shambolic stuff needs to be tethered to slightly better performing.
Bottom 3: Haley, Karen, and the gonna-be-going-home jasminetriastic Thia Megia. And it doesn't matter what order they go home; they're all going home. (I know Dan thinks it's Naima, but I think she's got enough goodwill from last week still.)
