American Idol 4, March 7: One Last Shot

Travis Tucker, "Every Little Step"

Randy - "Performance, I give you an A... pitch, I gotta give you a D. It was pretty bad for me pitch-wise."

Paula - "I think you’re pretty special... you are unique to the competition and that’s important."

Simon - "I think that was appalling. It was the equivalent as good or as bad as you would get in a theme park. And you came over as a dancer first and vocalist second, and it’s not good enough."

Sting7 – Travis’ pitch was all over the place, but he definitely is a performer. This is a problem that dancer-singers have, all that choreography wreaks havoc on your breathing unless you are in dead-awesome physical shape. That’s why you will never hear me complain about lip-synching. I like Travis, but this is not the performance he would want to launch himself in to the Top 12. I’m worried for him.

Mario Vazquez, "How Do You Mend A Broken Heart?"

Randy - "Another ambitious choice... excellent man, I think it would be a bad Top 12 if you weren’t in it."

Paula - "I got goosebumps with how tender you sang it... gorgeous, just gorgeous."

Simon - "You have a charm about you. It’s like a girl who brings home the boyfriend. You’re going to sail into the Top 12, you’re not the best singer in the competition, there are better singers, but you have a charm."

Sting7 - Absolutely gorgeous. Smart of Mario to save a ballad he can nail for the clincher week. This guy is a contender. Tackling this Bee Gees classic with all the tenderness that they and Al Green did was not easy to do, but Mario is showing us he has layers of ability that are going to serve him well when he has to tackle themes. Top 3. Guaranteed.

Constantine Maroulis, "Everything Little Thing She Does (Is Magic)"

Randy - "I liked you tonight, you sang it in tune. You got personality, you got star potential, that’s the kind of joint you should be doing."

Paula - "This is my favorite performance from you. You’ve got charisma, you’ve got this magical thing about you."

Simon - "A bad impersonation of Sting. You guys have lost the plot!"

Sting7 - I had a flashback to Tyler Foehr from American Juniors being victimized by this song. I gotta be honest. I don’t know how in fairness Constantine can avoid a similar fate. I didn’t hear much singing at all. I wasn’t nearly as enchanted as Randy and Paula, but not as dismissive as Simon. It just didn’t work for me. Sorry.

Anwar Robinson, "What A Wonderful World"

Randy - "I try to keep it real, but I gotta give it up dawg (standing ovation)."

Paula - "(Standing ovation) You take such risks on these songs we’ve heard a thousand times. You breathe new life into them and it’s beautiful!"

Simon - "You’re everything a music teacher should be. You’re so nice - we could have had puppies on the stage! What I like about you is I don’t think you would change one iota if you won this competition. You and Paula should marry and have children, you’re so nice."

Sting7 - Anwar has such a sweet demeanor, he can carry the emotion of this song like few can. I wasn’t really convinced about Anwar, but in these three weeks, he’s become like the Kimberley Locke of the season. Solid reliability time and time again. Is he in the Top 12? He’d better be.

So here’s how I think the voting should go:

1. Anwar
2. Mario
3. Bo
4. Anthony
5. Nikko
6. Scott
7. Travis
8. Constantine

Here’s how I think the voting will go:

1. Bo
2. Mario
3. Anwar
4. Anthony
5. Nikko
6. Constantine
7. Travis
8. Scott

Yep, I think Constantine is going to get through to the Top 12, to my chagrin, and I think Travis will be going home. He has a million dollar smile, but I think it has served him as much as it’s going to. Scott, and that chip on his shoulder, was going to catch up to him sooner or later. The last thing he needed to do was turn anyone off, but his comment to Simon, and his petulant post interview with Ryan will be his undoing.

Tomorrow night, the ladies. There are a few of them who have some work to do to stand out from the pack. Let’s see how they manage!

Sting7 has been a respected published writer for 16 years, as a music editor, entertainment critic, columnist, and interviewer. He also has a curious love for pro-wrestling! You can email Stinger at stingseven@yahoo.com.

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