The stand-outs are James 'Adam Lambert' Durbin, country boy Scotty McCreery, bearded Paul McDonald, gospel-lover Jacob Lusk and music genius Casey Abrams.
- Mar 2, 2011
AceShowbiz - "American Idol" Top 12 men round was kicked off with the performance of Clint Jun Gamboa on Stevie Wonder's "Superstition". Jennifer Lopez praised him of not letting the jitters affect his performance while Steven Tyler said, "You just proved to me everything I've seen in the past couple months."
It was followed with a subtle performance from Jovany Barreto on Edwin McCain's "I'll Be". Randy Jackson complained it was like a karaoke which doesn't have much spark. From there, Jordan Dorsey amped up the beat by tackling Usher's "OMG". However, Randy was still not pleased, saying it didn't bring anything new, a bit pitchy and a bit off.
Tim Halperin sang Rob Thomas' "Streetcorner Serenade" and Steven commented, "I'm not sure if that song did you any justice. I've heard you sing so much better." Brett Loewenstern saved the day with The Doors' "Light My Fire". Lopez chose to talk about his act, saying "That was, like, more hair-tossing than me and Beyonce put together over the last 10 years."
James Durbin aka this season's Adam Lambert belted out rock tune "You've Got Another Thing Coming". Steven kept it short, "James, that was (bleep) crazy good!. I think all America agrees with the word I used." Robbie Rosen took the stage with a gender flip song, Sarah McLachlan's "Angel". While Jennifer loved his performance, Randy said it was not good "pitch-wise".
Deep-voiced Scotty McCreery did what he does best, country. His rendition of John Michael Montgomery's "Letters From Home" was a perfect choice for him according to Steven. "Love that you switched it up. You're like a throwback country guy," Randy added. Crash victim Stefano Langone crooned the tunes of Bruno Mars' "Just the Way You Are". Steven said, "I love the way your voice cuts through the air in this room. You are so good."
Paul McDonald picked Rod Stewart's "Maggie May". Jennifer loved how he put a smile on his face while singing. "You were just so unique and different -- different from anything we've ever had on the show," Randy said. Singing Luther Vandross' "A House Is Not a Home", Jacob Lusk also received praise from the judges. Randy thought Luthor would be proud of him and Jennifer said, "He's gone, but now we have you."
The last act of the day came from Casey Abrams who was released from hospital for stomach pains few hours before the taping. He screamed through Jay Hawkins' "I Put a Spell on You" but the judges loved it. "You are in-your-mind good and out-of-your-mind unreal," Steven said. "Good as it gets."
On Wednesday, March 2, the Top 12 women will take over the stage for some votes before they are wilted down straight to Top 13. Audience will pick 5 men and 5 women while the judges pick the rest through wild cards round.
