American Idol 3, May 25: The Singer vs. The Entertainer

Ryan welcomes us to the show and to the Kodak Theatre!

Intro the judges! They are looking a bit stoic. Intro the contestants, Diana and Fantasia come out hand-in-hand. Both say they are nervous and excited.

Ryan reminds us that Fantasia won the coin flip last week, and opted to go last. She says Diana can “set it off!“ On with the singing!

First, we get a package of Diana’s journey.

Diana DeGarmo, “I Believe”

Randy - “I was saying to Simon that it’s hard to sing like Whitney, sing like Celine, sing like Mariah… but you know what? You worked it out tonight!”

Paula - “I feel like a proud parent… watching little Diana become adult Diana… you look beautiful… you gave a stunning performance, you lifted everyone’s spirit, and you made the song soar!”

Simon - “You sang it really well, but when you sing about 100,000 dreams, and you climbed mountains and you swam lakes – I look at you and you’re 16! (Diana insists that she has!) How many lakes have you swam?… I expect someone 50 to be singing that song!”

Hey! There’s Amy Adams! Her hair isn’t pink anymore! It’s black. Really black! Maybe they’ll catch that vampire that got her.

Sting7 - I guess I can’t turn the critical ear off and ignore that there were some ragged moments in that upper registry, but delivering a song isn’t really about singing every note perfectly. Diana definitely seemed to understand the emotion and she gave a strong, passionate, uplifting performance. Somehow, I wonder if I’ll even remember it when Fantasia gets through with this song.

Now, a package of Fantasia’s journey.

Fantasia Barrino, “All My Life”

Randy - “I didn’t like the arrangement, I thought it wack… you made something of it… you still retained your talent.”

Paula - “This is where you stand out as an exceptional artist, you took a mediocre arrangement, you took the audience in a chokehold and said listen up!”

Simon - “I think you’re lucky that you are singing more than once tonight because I think it would have gone whoosh (audience booing, Simon tells them to shut up) over the heads of America listening to it, I think it was an absolute mess!”

Sting7 - “All My Life” was a huge R&B hit for her cousins, K-Ci and JoJo, a few years back, and I’m sure this song was something of a nod to them. I agree on some level about the arrangement, in that the backing vocals did all the work, and Fantasia seemed to respond them with “yeah-yeah’s.” It’s not my favorite performance, but it was fiery, and it was impassioned, and she believed it, and it got to me, ultimately. I think more people know this song than the judges are assuming, and I think we got where she was going.

Diana DeGarmo, “No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)”

Randy - “You came to win tonight, huh?… you sang your face off… I’m very proud.”

Paula - “Ditto! Good job!”

Simon - “You sang it well, the dancing was hideous though, wasn’t it?… that whole pageant thing… I agree with Randy, you came to win tonight, good job.”

Sting7 - She came out guns blazing on this one, but somehow, it just didn’t quite match the first time she performed it on Disco Week. That held note at the tempo change she kinda ran from, and then tried to pull a power note out of a “can’t” which came off as just ill-advised. Throughout the rest, she had plenty of energy, but her voice is not quite where it should be. Strain? Is she tired? All would be understandable at this point. Good job, but not at her previous level.

Fantasia Barrino, “Summer Time”

Randy - “The competition just started, Fantasia’s back ! That was like a master class in singing!”

Paula - “You just showed another talent by reinventing yourself. You took command of the audience, they will never be bored.”

Simon - “Fantasia, I will take this opportunity to say something to you that I’ve been meaning to for a long time. This show is shown in 30 countries worldwide, maybe, with repeats, about 70 winners. You are the best contestant we have ever had in any competition.”

Sting7 - Wow! That is some serious praise! While Diana made some unfortunate changes to her Disco Week song, Fantasia was even more mesmerizing with this song than she was during Movie Music Week! Every note was delivered with emotion, she didn’t throw any away. Just amazing! When she got from the stage, her face was clearly saying, “yes, I nailed it!” and she did. Here we go!