American Idol Recap: Is Skylar Laine In Trouble?

Who do you think will win ‘American Idol’ at this point?

The Top 5 took on the songs of the ’60s and Brit Pop, and for the most part delivered a fun show that could have been a train wreck. With the help of the best mentor to date, Steven Van Zandt, the Idol hopefuls really came out of their shell. But with the highs of Hollie and Joshua, are Phillip and Skylar in trouble of elimination?

Hollie Cavanagh: ‘River Deep, Mountain High’ by Ike & Tina Turner

The ever dreaded death spot was given to Hollie this week. I would have to say this is a bad song that was a pretty good performance. Hollie actually looked like a star on the stage tonight. With the amount of people on stage tonight, it actually made her look that much more important. And she led the background singers and band members into a rather surprisingly enjoyable first song of the night. Jennifer Lopez was spot on when she said, “It was nice to see that you could lead a big production. I felt the energy.” Hollie having a second round performance that meets or surpasses her first song could actually make her safe for one more week. She may be peaking at the right time.

Hollie Cavanagh: ‘Bleeding Love’ by Leona Lewis

This second performance was actually a great song to pick. It made Hollie work with a song that was a little younger and more in her wheelhouse. I liked Randy Jackson‘s critique as he mentioned, “This girl’s a fighter. That was unbelievable.” It wasn’t unbelievable, but I think she did enough tonight to warrant another week on the show. It bounced off her first performance that was stellar enough to make the underdog a possible diamond in the rough. She felt at home on stage this week. Now will America reward her for her good night?

Phillip Phillips: ‘The Letter’ by The Box Tops

Phillip is his own type of performer and really doesn’t change from week to week. Some call it consistent and others may say that its the same old song and dance. One thing is for sure, he is back from his rather crappy set of performances from last week. I would think he still might be in the bottom three but if he survived last week then he should be fine again and get the proper amount of votes to make him safe. But I would like him to start singing his song selections and lose the growling he often does to the selections he makes. Steven Tyler tried to put a dig on Phillip but in a nice way by saying, “You should be so proud that you get away with it, like the Stones got away with it.” I don’t think he will be able to get away with it much longer. The other Idol hopefuls may eclipse him as the remaining few weeks continue. His act may be wearing thin, we’ll see.

Phillip Phillips: ‘Time Of The Season’ by The Zombies

This is a classic song that he actually didn’t overdue it vocally. He actually is singing the song which is amazing to actually hear for the first time this season. It certainly is the time of the season for Phillip to mix it up and he may have just officially saved himself and got votes from people that don’t usually vote for him. Randy was pleasantly surprised as well when he added, “You can really sing the melody.” This could be the revelation that Phillip needs to make it to the finals and actually win it.

Skylar Laine: ‘Fortunate Son’ by Creedence Clearwater Revival

Skylar has been the Idol hopeful that has improved the most in her journey. But this week didn’t start very well. She chose an amazing song but didn’t perform it very well. It seemed like she was screaming her performance rather than singing her performance. The judges must be watching another show as they absolutely loved it. Steven Tyler mentioned that, “You love music and music loves you.” Well when it came to this song I would have to disagree, it just wasn’t her best nor was it to the caliber that she has shown as of late. She could actually be in trouble especially since Hollie actually delivered this week.

Skylar Laine: ‘You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me’ by Dusty Springfield

Jennifer Lopez gushed, “You wanna win don’t you? You just might.” It was better than her first song but it was just way too boring. After this performance she will not win the show. Plus when the focus is more on the random couple on the bench on stage then her performance that is actually trouble brewing. The judges loved it and she will get the country vote but I think her two performances actually hurt her more then it helped her. It’s too bad because Skylar has been fun, but I think this might be her time to go home. If anything she will be in the bottom three for sure.

Jessica Sanchez: ‘Proud Mary’ by Ike & Tina Turner

As much as Jessica is trying to be the next diva she is not the next diva. She is 16 years old and should do fun songs that are actually fun and appropriate for her age. This is a huge song that was a decent performance but as the song went faster it seemed as if she was screaming the lyrics. People next to me in the audience were saying, “Not a good sound choice,” and “This isn’t karaoke, this is American Idol.” I’m going to have to agree with those audience members and Randy who actually judged her saying, “This performance was barely OK.” She wasn’t the worst of the night but this didn’t do her any favors, she really needs a strong second song to be out of the bottom three. She won’t go home from this performance, but she needs to pick up the pace for sure.

Jessica Sanchez: ‘You Are So Beautiful’ by Joe Cocker

This is an incredible song that tells such a simple but emotional story. This was leaps and bounds better from her ‘Proud Mary’ performance but I don’t think that Jessica told the story of the song. She sounded great and moments of the song were very nice but this song deserves much better. Again, she’s 16 years old, I wish she started to act like it. The judges though, as they have all season loved every single minute of it. Randy Jackson wasn’t afraid to say, “This girl is on top of the leaderboard.” I actually think he should have said this about Hollie this week. But when do the judges actually judge?

Joshua Ledet: ‘Ain’t Too Proud To Beg’ by The Temptations

I really liked the song choice and the choreography here and lets not forget that he received the pimp spot. This should have been his moment but it didn’t reach that level. He may have still been in shell shock from his duet with Phillip. (See below) Steven Tyler was quick to mention that Joshua was, “One of the top 2 best Idols of all time.” I would like to introduce Steven Tyler to Chris Daughtry, Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and even Clay Aiken that are better than Joshua. Let the performances judge the votes, we don’t need the judges to force feed us anything. I mean Joshua had fun and this was a good performance but they are trying to make him the greatest singer ever. Its far from it. Saying that, he’ll be safe for another week.

Joshua Ledet: ‘To Love Somebody’ by The Bee Gees

The judges gave Joshua another standing ovation, which I believe is his 13th! Will that be unlucky? During the judging phase when he gets his praise he never really says, “Thank you”. I hope he isn’t building an ego. But when Jennifer Lopez throws out comments like, “There’s so few people who could perform that way. You are one of the best singers I’ve seen in 50 years, since James Brown.” How can you not have an ego? But really how outright ridiculous was that comment. He did the song good, he’ll be safe for another week, but the best singer in the last 50 years!!!! I mean that is a complete joke. His first song was better than this and I believe we all can list 100’s of singers better than Joshua Ledet. Talk about being overhyped.

The Duets:

The Idol hopefuls also paired off in duets, which they should be very happy they were not judged on because they were horrid. Especially the duet between Phillip Phillips and Joshua Ledet when they sang, ‘You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ by The Righteous Brothers. It just might be the worst American Idol performance of all time. Joshua was scared with how Phillip was playing with him on stage and Phillip tried to sing a song that is way out of his league. It was completely awful. Its worth watching just solely on seeing what a bad performance is all about. Talk about cringe worthy!

As for the girls, it was better but how could it not be from the guys duet? They chose to sing ‘Higher & Higher’ by Jackie Wilson and it seemed as if they were trying way to hard to hit there spots on the stage and not perform the song. Hollie was the best singer on stage out of the three and continued looking like a star for the first time all season. But the duets were really awful for the most part.

So HollywoodLifers, who do you think will be in the bottom three and who is in danger of going home? Will it be a surprise?