AIX Recap, Finalists x 6 (04/27/11)

Got it right again (Stefano going home). Missed the bottom 3, but unfortunately for Stefano, I was right on that account.

Carole King night tonight. Obviously Carole is a tremendous singer/songwriter, but what I know her most for is that she sang the theme song “Where You Lead (I Will Follow)” for “The Gilmore Girls” and she also sang “Chicken Soup and Rice” on the Maurice Sendak DVD.

Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds was the guest mentor with Jimmy this week. I had forgotten that Babyface was part of The Deele before he went solo and focused more on being a producer.

All the singers sing solos plus duets tonight. Ugh. Wish they’d limit it to an hour and only 6 songs…

01 – Jacob, Oh No Not My Baby (Maxine Brown)
My son Jared like this performance, but I liked his outfit more than his performance. He wore a yellow shirt, blue vest, plaid jacket and a purple hand-tied bowtie. I have a physician who wears bowties everyday, so I have a few on my tie rack now. He said I was the only rep to start wearing bowties because of him. Now only if he’d write more of my product… :P I think Jacob is in trouble tomorrow night. Not because he’s bad, but because the remaining contestants are so strong or have bigger followings.

02 – Lauren, Where You Lead (I Will Follow) (Carole King; Gilmore Girls theme song)
Jimmy’s been torturing Lauren with Miley Cyrus for weeks now (he had Lauren sing in front of Miley’s producers last week and said she had a stronger voice than Miley) and finally brings Miley out to see her. Lauren was good, but not great tonight. Her voice broke at one point, but the judges praised her for “going for it,” implying that she’s been playing it safe vocally. The weird part of the song for me was that she brought a boy up on stage to sing to. I thought it was a set up, but it didn’t look like she knew who he was. And is 19 (I think Lauren’s only 16). Scandalous! JLo was proud of her because she was pushing herself. Randy commented on her extra swagger. I think Lauren’s fine tomorrow.

Casey/Haley duet, I Feel The Earth Move
Didn’t dig this at all. They have a connection, but their harmonizing was horrible. Even to a tone deaf guy like me. Troy and Gabriella they are not. My wife Kristin commented on how Casey doesn’t high five the audience, he actually hits people’s hands. She also thought Haley was way off key in this song. I’m also beginning to think that Casey is getting overly confident again, like right before he was voted off. Not a good thing.

03 – Scotty, You’ve Got A Friend (James Taylor)
Scotty really slowed it down to show off more of his voice. My wife Kristin really liked it. I didn’t think it was horrible (which is a compliment from me when it comes to Scotty). Judges predictably loved it. Scotty’s safe tomorrow night. Guaranteed. At least he’s proving he belongs…

04 – James, Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow (The Shirelles)
James pulled a David Cook tonight. After strumming a chord on his guitar, he went on to sing the opening verse a cappella and it totally worked for me. Reminded me of a song from Grease. My son Jared mentioned that James looks a bit like the Bulls’ Kyle Korver. I’ve said before that Kyle Korver looked like he could be in the “Twilight” movies as a vampire. Or is it a werewolf? Is it Team Kyle? Or Team James? Regardless, I’m biased when it comes to James because he’s the local boy (Santa Cruz). It helps that he rocks though. Steven said he was sold from the beginning, although he did mention (oddly) that he didn’t like the beginning of the rock part. JLo called it magical. Randy said he showed he was a great singer tonight, not just a great rock singer. James should be safe tomorrow.

Lauren/Scotty duet, Up On The Roof
These two voices match better than the first duet. Ryan thought it would be funny (he’s such a card … not) to insinuate a romance between the two. Scotty was VERY quick to say they were like brother and sister. I think Lauren annoys the heck out of Scotty because she seems so immature and he seems overly mature (plus he’s got the baritone voice making him seem older too).

05 – Casey, Hi-De-Ho (That Old Sweet Roll) (Blood, Sweat & Tears)
I felt like Casey was on Sesame Street going down the road seeing each neighbor and playing with him or her. First the piano, then the harmonicas, then the sax girl, then the backup singers. I think they may have reached maximum occupancy on the stage. This is the Casey that I loathe. The cocky one that thinks I’m going to like his incessant grunting and scatting. I liked the Scared Because I Just Got Voted Off and The Judges Stupidly Used Their Save on Me When Pia Could Be Voted Off In a Few Weeks Casey better than this version. I realize some people think Casey is brilliant and that he’s a breath of fresh air, etc. I’m not one of them. I think he’s in the bottom 3 tomorrow again.

06 – Haley, Beautiful (Tapestry)
I haven’t been a fan of Haley’s but she’s shown improvement every week. She was decent on this song, but nothing earth shattering. They did show Kirstie Marshall in the audience before Haley started. I think Haley will be in the bottom 3 tomorrow, but it’s still not her time yet.

James/Jacob duet, I’m Into Something Good
Didn’t really watch this part, as it was getting late. I like James and it looked like they had fun with it.

Top 3 – James, Scotty, Haley/Lauren

Bottom 2 – Jacob, Casey

Off tomorrow - Jacob