Tossing Salt Is American Idol - May 11, 2011

Tossing Salt Is American Idol
May 11, 2011

It's the Final Four on American Idol. It's a double dose one more time as each Idolette will perform two songs. The first will be one that "inspires" them and in the second half of the show, the fantastic foursome perform the songs from the music catalogue of Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller. Lady Gaga is in the house and doing the mentoring thing, along with Jimmy Iovine. The judges are Steven Tyler, Randy Jackson and Jennifer Lopez. And Ryan Seacrest as The Beaver. I'm Doug and I'm ready to get my Idol on. It's James, Lauren, Haley and Scottie. Let's do this...

James Durbin opens the show with a rocking rendition of "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey. I did not know that Randy was a part of that band until tonight and it was cool the way James called him out in the beginning of the song. Some tough notes in this song, but James was feeling it and looked really comfortable on that stage and he aced it. Steven called it an indication of what is yet to come with James. J-Lo thought it was amazing and Randy just loved the whole performance and how James paid homage to the band with the t-shirt, the coat-tails and the great performance. A great way to start the show.

Next up came Haley who sung Michael Jackson's "Earth Song". It was okay to me, but not especially memorable or exciting. She got better as the song went along and has a wonderful voice, but I'm not sure if this song was the right one to be singing. Randy and Jennifer make note of the song choice and are a bit on the critical side talking about her performance and the notes that she didn't go for. Steven said that both Jennifer and Randy were wrong and he loved her performance.

Here comes Scotty, who chose for his inspirational song, "Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning" by Alan Jackson. What can I say, but the dude aced it. It was a touching and well done version of a truly inspirational song, and seemed kind of appropiate given that it was less than two weeks ago that the Navy Seals finally got Bin Laden. J-Lo said that Scotty showed that he was someone who was meant to this. Randy said that Scotty is ready for super-stardom. And Steven just said it was beautiful.

Look! There's Paul and Casey. We miss you guys!!

And finally, we got Lauren doing her cover of Martina McBride's "Do It Anyway". It's a beautiful song with a great message and Lauren did a great job with it. It seemed to me that she was reaching for a few of the notes towards the middle, but she kept it together and did a great job. Jennifer said that Lauren did exactly what she needed to do and it was very good. Steven said that Lauren did it again and broke his heart. And Randy topped it off by saying that he had been worried about Lauren last week, but this week, she proved that she was in it to win it and there was absolutely nothing wrong with that song.

And now it's time for Round 2, with some mentoring by Lady Gaga as the Four Horsemen of the Idolocoplypse do songs from the music catalogues of Leiber and Stoller.

Haley opens this part of the show with a great version of "I (Who Have Nothing)". She really turns up the energy and puts out a great effort and puts that voice in the spotlight with a great performance. GaGa told her to put a little more emphasis on the drama in her performance and Haley listened as she really showed more life and energy up there on that stage. J-Lo called it the best performance of the year, while Randy calls it "Haley's Moment!". Steven calls it a classic moment with classic Haley and beautiful.

Scotty is out next to do the song "Youngblood", as made famous by the Coasters. GaGa made him a bit nervous, it seems when instructing him how to better hold his mic during a performance. But he listened and it really helped. Scotty sounded great. He had some amazing and hilarious facial expressions. He was just having a good time up there and did a great job. J-Lo said that Scotty was great and is really hitting his stride, but she wants to see another side of him next week. Randy talked about how we've seen both sides of a Scotty concert tonight and he's truly a seasoned performer. And Steven talked about how Scotty made GaGa go LaLa about his YaYa. Steven loved the humor.

Lauren comes out to do the song "Trouble", as made famous by Elvis Presely, among others. I seem to remember this song from a commerical on TV in the late 70's / early 80's. She's all dressed up and sings her heart out. It was okay, but not really great in my eyes. I had the feeling I was watching "High School Musical" when she was singing and that's probably not a good thing. J-LO said that she was showing maturity and it was really good. Randy said it was nice work and Steven said well done.

And to close the night out, we get James Durbin back once more to do "Love Potion Number 9". And what can I say? He rocked it and did an awesome job. GaGa talked about how James should move the hips and be sexy when performing and he learned his lessons well with a riveting performance. J-Lo said that this proved that James can do anything and is really great. Randy said that James has a moment every single week. And Steven closed by calling James' performance an "incredible, beautiful thing".

And that was the show. Some great performances by some very talented and amazing young people. So let's get to what everyone is wondering. Who will be the bottom three and who is going home?

The Bottom Three is easy, especially with only four people left. James is the front-runner in my eyes, so the others will round out the bottom. But as to who goes home, here is where it gets more complicated.

I think Scotty is safe. Both performances were solid and well done and he's got such a following, I can't picture him leaving yet. So it comes down to the two ladies, Haley and Lauren. Lauren did great with her first song and so-so with her second. Haley bombed on the first song, but tore the house down with her second performance. I personally feel that Haley was the better performer of the two tonight and has more range and dimensions to her than Lauren does. I might be wrong, but that's what my gut tells me. And I think that when push comes to shove, most of America will agree. Both are fantastic singers with amazing voices and tons of talent, but when the votes are counted, I think Lauren is going home.

So there you go. We'll find out tomorrow night as the Final Four gets narrowed down to the Final Three. My nerves are killing me in anticipation. I think Lauren is leaving. Am I right? Who knows? It's that close and these kids are that good.

I"m Doug and on that note, I'm out of here. See you tomorrow night. Thanks for reading.