American Idol 3, March 16: Soulful: Version 12

The first week of competition, the Top 12 is on deck! It is now in America’s hands. Two hours of show to get through, let’s stop talking about it! On we go!

Ryan welcomes us to the “mother ship.” Showing off the huge new studio. Intro the finalists. They all look just a little overwhelmed.

Ryan announces this is soul week. Soul music makes him feel like running around the house in a rhinestoned cape and tight pants. Like he doesn’t anyway.

LaToya London is up first, we learn that LaToya’s first performance was at her mother’s wedding, she is a married lady with two (very old looking) step-children. What, does her husband have ten years on her?

LaToya London, “Ain’t Nobody”

Randy - “That was hot!… I love that, I love that you showed your personality… we knew it was in there somewhere… this is gonna be a hot show tonight!”

Paula - “I have a feeling you’re gonna be in this competition for a while.”

Simon - “Such an amazing first performance… what else can she do?… it was awesome.”

Sting7 - Awesome, it was awesome! LaToya will have to be reckoned with. She worked her way through Chaka Khan like a champion, and that is not easy. I liked everything about it. She looked like a star already. Completely at home on a stage, this lady just flat-out knows what she’s doing. What else can be said?

Amy Adams comes to us from Atlanta, GA. Her mother says she is strong-willed. Amy says she wants to focus on her career, while her sisters are busy raising families. Mom says we are seeing the real Amy. She likes to scat in the beauty salon. There you have it.

Amy Adams, “You Make Me Feel Brand New”

Randy - “It was good, not like unbelievable… a little pitchy, you were probably nervous… it was alright.”

Paula - “You’re a goofball with a pretty voice… nice, safe performance.”

Simon - “I thought it was boring… we watched the clip, and we see you doing a safe song with flowers behind you!”

Sting7 - It was a nice performance. Best I can do. She got swallowed by the production occasionally, she took no risks, stayed right on key. I think she knows this is not her strongest genre, and her mission was not to screw up. Success in that regard. I wonder how she’ll hold up as the night continues, though.

Matt was on Family Feud with his brothers and sisters, he’s the baby. He played offensive line at Washington State, and they won the Rose Bowl. Plays flag football, team is Team Hurt, but goes home, lights candles and has a good bubble bath. Oh my goodness.

Matt Rogers, “Hard To Handle”

Randy - “The best performance I’ve seen you give… you can never miss with Otis Redding… a couple of flubs, but it’s the best I’ve seen you perform.”

Paula - “I liked that you worked the stage… we are always saying that song choice is so important, and you picked the right song!”

Simon - “Besides Ryan Seacrest, I’ve never seen anyone so happy to be on TV in my life!… That package was like a ghastly presidential thing, you were kissing babies!… It was a second rate Tom Jones performance… I didn’t look at you and say, “wow, that’s a fantastic new star.”

Sting7 - This is the thing with Matt. He is on a whole different register. He’s cute enough to draw women. He’s macho enough to draw men. He’s cuddly and humble enough to draw older voters. This wasn’t a great vocal performance, but he worked the stage, and he looked like he had a ball. It was kind of infectious. He won’t finish top three, but he won’t be bottom three either.

Camile Velasco is a champion snorer and loves working at a restaurant. She was overwhelmed by the attention she got from Hawaii. She wants a jumping castle, and Mom is trying to grasp that med school may not happen. She dreads leaving home.

Camile Velasco, “Son of a Preacher Man”

Randy - “Kind of a safe performance for me… nothing ‘wow’ in it tonight, and we’ve seen ‘wow’ in you before.”

Paula - “We have compared you to Lauryn Hill and that is not coming out in your performance… it’s about having fun, America already loves you.”

Simon - “The difference between you and LaToya is self-belief – she has it, you don’t… if you don’t believe you belong here, you’ll fail in this competition. Sorry.”

Sting7 - Horrific song choice. It was not soul, and it was not right for Camile. This is the girl who auditioned singing a Fugees song and she gave us “Son of a Preacher Man”? Who’s advising her? Fire them. It wasn’t bad, it was just ill-fitting. She looked uncomfortable, she sounded uncomfortable, she made me uncomfortable. Camile, find yourself. Now. You may have a hard time digging out from this first impression. Just ask Kimberley Locke.

Military brat Jon was extremely talkative as a child. Dad says his groove came from him. Student at BYU Idaho, wants to be a pediatrician. Likes drawing portraits, works for a nursery. Wants to make good music.

Jon Peter Lewis, “Drift Away”

Randy - “Happy you survived that Elvis-dancing-thing… I liked you better this time… cut down on the dancing… I’m feeling you.”

Paula - “Hold back on the dancing, you’re spoiling us!… you have great presence on camera… be careful with the dancing that you don’t lose your breath.”

Simon - “Yes, you dance like your father, that is not a compliment… you are the dark horse to win this competition, if you cut out this crazy dancing, you potentially have a very, very good voice.”

Sting7 - Okay, let’s make it a quorum. Cut out the dancing. “Drift Away” is one of my favorite songs of all time, and that dancing took away from it. Again though, there is that voice in there that the dancing was stifling horribly. There is something there. My gut says Jon is just one knock-out performance away from coasting into the Top Five. He’s had three judges say, “we like you, but stop dancing.” If Jon is smart, he’ll listen. He’ll listen.