Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012, Fox, 8 pm (ET) The twelve female contestants on “American Idol” sang tonight. Smart money will be on these six to make it through as Finalists:
Jessica Sanchez
From the first time she sang, it was apparent that this 16-year-old from San Diego was something special. Even with swollen vocal cords, she delivered a wonderful performance of “Love You, I Do” that caused Randy Jackson to say, “Crazy! Oh, my God! That girl can really sing. One of the best of the last two nights. Unbelievably talented.” Jennifer Lopez praised her saying, “So beyond your years, it’s crazy” and Steven Tyler mentioned her exceptional timing and pitch-perfect voice.
Elise Testone
Elise is 28 years old and from Charleston, North Carolina. She began at the piano and then sang Adele’s “One and Only,” while attired in a black dress with an irregular hemline. Steven Tyler said, “You blew it out of the water. Nice goin’.” Jennifer declared her to be “One so special and different. Maybe the best singer here. You are one to watch.” Randy Jackson agreed that Elise was, “Definitely a force to be reckoned with” and called her, “One of the best voices.”
Hollie Cavanagh
Hollie is a little slip of a blonde girl from McKinney, Texas. She sang “Reflection.” (“When will my reflection show who I am inside.”) Attired in a short, glittery dress, she really delivered. The only criticism, from Steven Tyler, with which I agree, was that she should have worn her hair down. He called her, “One of my favorites from the start. Just beautiful.” Jennifer said, “If you came back, I thought you could win it.” Randy said, “You’re one of our favorites. I love your vocals. You tried to slay one of the biggest dragons tonight (referencing Christina Aguilera’s version). The parts that worked were genius.”
Skylar Laine, 18, from Brandon, Mississippi; Shannon McGrane, 16, from Tampa, Florida; Jen Hirsh.
These three are less “sure things.” Skylar gave a spirited C&W rendition of “Stay with Me” by Faces and received good feedback as Randy called her a “rockin’ country girl” with comparisons to Reba McIntyre, Kelly Clarkson and Tina Turner. Steven Tyler said, “Keep that up, girl.” With the popularity of country music, Skylar has a good chance.
Shannon McGrane sang “I Left Your World” and looked lovely in a white dress with a sparkly belt and sparkles on the left shoulder of the Grecian-style dress. Jennifer praised her “passion,” Randy said, “Way to bring it.” Steven said, “You started Gospel-ly and then took it upstairs and it went beautiful.”
Jen Hirsh, who sang Adele’s “One and Only,” was praised by Jennifer Lopez as having done “a really good job” and Randy pronounced her, “One of the greatest singers in the competition this year,” but Steven Tyler noticed “a little trouble with the last little thing.”
I thought that Erika Van Pelt, who sang “What About Love?” and Brielle VonHugel (“Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay”), the contestant with the overbearing stage mother, did as well as Jen Hirsh. The two who should be going home are Baylie Brown, who sang Lone Star’s “Amaze” and Haley Johnsen. Baylie is a beautiful blonde and was wearing a coral dress. She seemed to be trying to get by on her considerable good looks. That did not work. The other contestant who massacred a song was Haley Johnsen, 23, of Beaverton, Oregon, who took on Annie Lenox’s “Sweet Dreams Are Made of This,” eliciting the accurate assessment from Randy Jackson, “It was a bit of a nightmare, instead of a dream. A little train-wrecky for me today.”