It was final three week, with songs chosen by the judges, the producers, and the singers. Overall it was an above-average week, with only a few mis-steps, as you might expect at this stage of the game.
I'll break down all nine performances, starting with Judge's Choice:
Jordin, "Wishing On A Star" (Simon) -- This was a decent peformance, but not one of her best. I'd put it in the middle of the pack for the night, while acknowledging that it would have been near the top in almost any other week.
Blake, "Roxanne" (Paula) -- Paula didn't do Blake any favors with this one; as I've said before, it's very difficult to do The Police well. She may have been thinking that the Police's reggae-inflected rhythms would fit Blake's style, and that may be true, but if that's what she was going for he should have sung "Shadows In The Rain" or "The Bed's Too Big Without You." Of course, neither of those were hits, which is why we got Blake singing "put on the red light" fifty times.
Melinda, "I Believe In You And Me" (Randy) -- After warning so many singers that they shouldn't try to sing Whitney, Randy throws one of Whitney's toughest songs at Melinda and she handles it well. I wasn't impressed with her low range, but overall she did a solid job, and the finale was tremendous.
Judge's round results: Melinda, Jordin, Blake
Now on to Producer's Choice:
Jordin, "She Works Hard For The Money" -- I figure Producer's Choice is the place where Nigel et al try to figure out what sort of songs these guys should record, which makes it seem strange that they picked a 24-year old post-disco track for Jordin. Much like what we saw last week, Jordin wasn't able to overcome what is, at heart, a really boring song. She also ran into a believability problem for me; just like I didn't believe she knew anything about Tommy the dockworker and Gina the waitress, I felt like Jordin had a hard time connecting with Onetta and whatever it is she does.
Blake, "This Love" -- I don't think the producers could have picked a more perfect song for Blake, and he responded by hitting it out of the park. Actually, let me modify my metaphor and say that he hit it a long way, but it just hit the top of the wall and he had to settle for a triple. Maybe it was the wind that kept the ball in the park, or maybe it was the fucking beatboxing. Look, it's cool that he can beatbox, and he does an excellent imitation of a turntablist working the crossfader. But seriously, dog, don't try to cram that into every song! His workout with Sir Mixx-A-Lot (and boy, was that surreal) showed that he has some other beatboxing skills; maybe American Idol audiences aren't ready for the full-on Darren Robinson treatment, but if that's the case don't keep dropping the same, tired crossfade bit into every song.
Now, that said, Blake sang this song really well, and I can totally see him having a huge hit in this style. Just leave the wick-wick-wack out of it.
Melinda, "Nutbush City Limits" -- I had hoped Randy would give Melinda a Tina Turner song, and was happy when the producers did exactly that. It's unfortunate that the one they chose required her to yell "NUTBUSH!" a dozen times, but what are you gonna do? She took on the challenge, though, and nailed the song, even throwing in some nice footwork as well. She's no Tina, but she's the closest thing Idol has to that sort of performer this season.
Producer's round results: Blake, Melinda, Jordin
And finally, the performers got to choose a number. Two of them went back to previous successes, while the resident risk-taker took a risk and went with a new song.
Jordin, "I Who Have Nothing" -- While this didn't reach the heights of her first performance, which served as Jordin's arrival into the endgame discussion all the way back in British Invasion Week, it was a fantastic performance that showed her biggest strength, which is her ability to telegraph vulnerability through her singing. That's one of the big reasons that this one worked and "She Works Hard For The Money" didn't -- Jordin isn't a tough chick, she's a softie, and the songs that let her get that across work the best for her.
Blake, "When I Get You Alone" -- Ugh. This is the Blake we see as often as not: singing mushily, aimlessly wandering around the stage showing us the lining of his jacket, and throwing it random beatbox breaks. More than either of the other remianing candidates, Blake is at the mercy of his song choices -- when he gets a song like "This Love" or "Time Of The Season," he rocks it, but faced with punching up uninteresting material like "Imagine" or "When The Stars Go Blue," he founders. I've now heard two Robin Thicke songs in my life, this one and the one that Thicke himself performed on the show a while back, and that's enough for me.
Melinda, "I'm A Woman" -- A nice performance and an excellent companion to "Nutbush." Melinda has a lot of fun here, getting all attitudinal and letting the backup singers have some, and it works. She is, as has been stated, the consummate pro, the most consistently good singer of the season, and ought to sail through to next week and the eventual big prize.
Performer's round results: Jordin, Melinda, Blake
For the night: Everyone took a round, but only Melinda avoided a last place finish, and Blake's lows were lower than Jordin's. Therefore, it goes Melinda, Jordin, Blake.
For the season: Melinda, Jordin, Blake
Who should go home: Blake, who has shown flashes of real talent, and who probably has a fine career ahead of him, but who is outclassed by both Melinda and Jordin.
Who will go home: Unfortuntaly, I think it's going to be Jordin. Blake has a strong hold on a very vocal, active portion of the coting public, and he has set himself up as different enough from Melinda and Jordin that he'll get through. Jordin has shown the most growth of anyone on the show, and she has a bright future ahead of her, but it won't be as an American Idol winner.
