American Idol 3/28-3/29: Top Nine Perform

[Cyn]

Is anyone watching this tonight?

My TV is in the other room, so I can't do PBP, but I've seen all perform except Heejun and Hollie.

Thoughts on tonight's performances?

[kylet3]

Judges have been standing all night that being said they've all been pretty good but they had another two hours so they're doing these retarded group medleys! Jessica wasnt her best, Hollie was alright, Heejun was much better but I think theres wayyy too much love.

[my little pony]

so far i like stevie nicks best

[rfisher]

My first time to watch and I'd only buy Phil Phillips songs. And he did Jonny Lang He'll probably lose.

The guy with curly hair was awful

[Cyn]

Sheer, absolute, adoring FLOVE for Elise Testone tonight .

Girlfriend sounded awesome at the rehearsal, and how cool was it that Stevie Nicks had her sing harmony with her on "Dreams" (which sounded awesome), and then commenting that she would hire Elise in a second if she needed a backup singer?

On top of that, she freaking slayed Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love, and was by far the best of the women tonight, both with the vocals and with the overall performance/stage presence. The only other contestants that came close were Phil Phillips and Skylar.

Weakest for me were DeAndre, Heejun (if the recap was any indication of how he sang), and Colton (with than damned whiny Lifehouse song).

The Trios? Worst. Filler. Ever.

My rankings:

Elise
Phil-Phil
Skylar
Jessica
Hollie
Joshua
Colton
DeAndre
Heejun

[shuilee]

There'll be a shock boot tomorrow.

This is eerily identical to the week when Pia Toscano was eliminated last year. Judges overpraised everyone and then a front-runner girl was eliminated.

[Cyn]

For anyone who missed the show, someone is in the process of uploading tonight's performances on this playlist.

[PrincessLeppard]

I missed Elise but I think I caught everyone else. I was underwhelmed by Colton, though it was sung well. I actually liked Jessica's slowed down Beyonce song, but if she survives, she has got to get out of the ballad rut.

Heejun I didn't care for at all. I also didn't care for Joshua's overwrought Mariah (Celine?) ballad.

Oh, and I loved Phillip Phillips.
But I'd kick Heejun off.

[Cyn]

I missed Elise

Her performance is linked in the post above yours .

ETA: The password is "softdrink" - but now I'm getting a message saying that the playlist is blocked in the US due to copyright issues .

[Jenna]

Elise TESTONE was absolutely incredible. She gave me chills. She is an absolute rock star. I would by her CD or tickets to her concert any day of the week. She is brilliant.

[Cyn]

It's not the video, but you can listen to Elise's WLL at rickey.org (the audio is located right underneath the video linked there, which is the same one that's blocked in the US).

[taf2002]

Most were really good tonight. Once Deandre, Joshua, & Hee-Jun are gone, each week should be a real treat. I can't decide if Phillip or Elise was the best tonight. They were both fabulous. I would rank them:

Phillip/Elise
Hollie (not crazy about the song but she sounded so much more relaxed, I thought it was beautiful)
Skylar (too much jumping around...I think it caused her to flat out some, her delivery is so good it masks that her voice isn't as good as the other girls)
Jessica (she sang well but the song bored me)
Hee-Jun (I loved the arrangement of the song & he sounded pretty good but he still can't enunciate some words)
Colton (the beginning of the song was too long & too slow & he also hit some sour notes)
Joshua/Deandre (both are more concerned with the vocal gymnastics than conveying the meaning of a song & way too much falsetto)

[berrybarn]

Elise gave one of my favorite performances ever on this show. I actually thought the judges were a little too guarded in their praise.

[Cyn]

One of the things about tonight that pissed me off was that JLo was wayyy out of line when she started screeching "Vote! Vote! Vote! for DeAndre!" at the end of her critique. Yeah, the judges are for the most part useless, but actual pandering and badgering the audience and viewers to vote for one contestant out of all of them is just frong.

[birdgal]

I love, love Phillip Phillips!!!!

Dang, Elise was just amazing. She was really in her element.

[Allskate]

I really liked the Idol's Idol theme. It's broad enough so that everyone can find a song that suits them.

so far i like stevie nicks best

She cracked me up when she was trying to make Jimmy feel better and telling him that he was gorgeous. It was great to see Elise and Phillip have such wonderful moments with Stevie. And they both gave awesome performances. Those two had my favorite performances of the night, followed by Hollie and Jessica.

I didn't think Colton's singing was anything special and the judges reactions were ridiculous. (He does seem to have the most talent when it comes to pandering though.) I cracked up when they tried to pretend that he was a dark horse. They've been promoting him from the beginning and I think they already know he's probably going to win, which may be why the judges gave him such a tongue bath tonight and why he's been gifted with the song assignments and arrangements in the group numbers the last couple of weeks. I will be so sad for all the current and future female contestants on this show if Colton wins this season.

OTOH, I think they've decided they don't want Hollie to do well. They've been really hard on her lately. Definitely too hard on her compared to the tongue-baths and SOs so many others got tonight, not to mention JLo pleading for people to vote for DeAndre. I don't get why the loved Joshua's screaming so much.

I thought Jessica did really well tonight. She didn't get a standing ovation, but Heejun got one, apparently because he didn't make a joke of the competition this week. (His singing was much better this week, but not worthy of a standing ovation.)

Skylar's performance did nothing for me tonight. It was just all out twangy/nasally shouting to me. If there has to be a girl in the bottom three, she would be my choice. I'd put Heejun, Joshua, and Deandre in the bottom three if I could, but I'd be surprised if none of the girls end up there.

[skateboy]

I haven't been a fan, but I am now: Elise was AMAZING.

Hollie was my favorite, but I'm slowly losing interest. I think the audience might be doing the same. Jessica was good. Heejun was sooooo much better tonight, sang very well and with some real emotion.

Skylar is cute but forgettable, IMO. Colton is okay, I imagine the tween vote will get him far. Phillip seems like a nice enough guy and he's cute, but the love seems OTT to me.

I hated Joshua's screaming, off-pitch performance. But I think DeAndre may be going home.

If Hollie, Jessica, Joshua, Phil or Colton end up as the lowest vote-getter tomorrow night, I think the judges will use the save.

[flyingsit]

To me Skylar has suddenly become really boring. She gives the exact same performance every week.

[skatemommy]

Why oh why did Joshua sing the Mariah version of that song? The original is so much better. His screaming really turned me off. My bottom 3 - Joshua, Skylar, HeeJun. Don't get the love for the Beyonce song...I didn't think Jessica slowed it down that much to change it into something diffferent. Loved Elise - just wow! Who knew? (my tweener voted for Deandre from every available device in our house with both hands, if she could have got the cat to vote she would have given it a cell phone!)

[Fridge_Break]

Holy shit, Elise!! I just watched on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Usn3o3kle44) after hearing she was great