photo: fox
Top 7 Results
Original Air Date: Apr 21, 2011
Patricia Morris Buckley – Sr. Staff Writer
pmb@thetwocentscorp.com
We got two good performances tonight, one from David Cook and another from the eliminated contestant. That’s two out of five — not a great average.
In fact, this results show had a tinge of battle fatigue to it. As in “Here we go again… another show… got to wow the audience (yawn).”
We started off with one of the weakest group numbers ever, with Lauren, Haley, Jacob and Stefano singing “Hey, Soul Sister.” It was a train wreck. Terrible blending and even worse attempts at harmonizing. Everyone kept acting as if they were a solo act.
The Ford music video set to “World” had a bit of playfulness as the contestants drove out to a desert and created a wildlife haven as if they were rolling out a rug. Later we saw the contestants having fun by going bowling, going to a baseball game (Scotty obviously was in heaven) and hitting a spa.
Then we got James, Casey and Scotty singing Coldplay’s “Viva la Vita” and they did a little better than the quartet, but it still felt rough. I’d like to hear these voices do a song like this again because individually, they sounded pretty good.
David Cook premiered the first single off his second album, “The Last Goodbye.” It’s a pleasant song that should do well for him, but I wasn’t doing any cartwheels (which could be fatal in my small family room!). Best part had to be him introducing his mother, who just came to the show so she could hug Steven. Ahhh…
We got our Bottom 3: Haley, Stefano and Jacob. Ryan quickly sent Haley back to the safety couch and I had to wonder if she had gotten the lowest number of votes, would the result have been the same? Maybe the producers are feeling the whole “girls get cut most” backlash, so they smudged the results? On the other hand, she did a fairly good job this week and seems to really be growing as an artist.
Katy Perry and Kanye West performed “ET” and I was more impressed by the light show than their singing. Seriously, I would listen to “Hey, Soul Sister” again if it meant I didn’t have to sit through that excuse for a performance.
In the end, Stefano had to say goodbye even though he’s really been improving every week. Yet, with the number of times he’s been in the Bottom 3, the news didn’t seem to shock him. He took it well, giving a rousing performance of “Lately” with more looseness than he’s ever shown before. It looked good on him.
James, who’s been Stefano roomie since the beginning, was crying the whole time. And he grabbed Stefano in a bear hug that almost bowled them both over before Stefano’s last note finished! (Watching wrestling has paid off for him!)
Next week the theme is the songs of Carole King. How will Scotty get a country song out of that? Did Jacob squeak by by playing the dead daddy card? Who will go next? Give us your TwoCents…
TheTwoCents 
I thought “Viva la Vida” was HORRIBLE.
Katy Perry was not singing and that’s a shame. I’ve never seen her lip-sync. Guess she was taking the AI example since there is no way those groups were singing live at the beginning.
Stefano overstayed his welcome by like, the whole show. He should have never made it. Didn’t surprise me he finally went. I didn’t see the James thing, darn!
Actually, I think James will have the hardest time with Carole King week. Many of her folkier songs easily translate to country (“You’ve Got A Friend” will be Scotty or Lauren’s pick, mark my words, lol).
The bear hug was adorable and I have to say that Stefano’s pleasant nature about his departure actually made me like him, as opposed to Jacob’s band/earpiece/everyone else’s fault attitude.
Were we watching the same show? Pleasant nature? He’s the cockiest guy to be on the AI stage since .. well Seacrest. LOL. He barely would watch his video because he just wanted to sing. “This is the best thing to happen to my career.” WHAT CAREER??? He needs to be checked before someone wrecks him. LOL
I think Stefano improved every week. Was he in the same league as the other remaining singers? No. But I could say the same thing about Jacob! I think with Stafano’s family’s music connections, he could have a music career, just not a huge one. I think Scotty will be HUGE in country music. If he can sing like that at 17, what will be he like at 27 with lots of training and experience? If they were selling stock in his career, I’d buy it. And I am, by no means, a country fan. (Still would like to see him mix it up more on the show, though.)