The American Idol 11 Top 4 performed 3 songs last night – judges’ pick, personal pick and Jimmy’s pick. . Read my Recap. Now, read what the rest of the blogosphere had to say about the performances.
‘American Idol’ recap: Imagine All the People – Jessica Sanchez helicoptered in to Chula Vista from L.A., with a quick stop at San Diego’s Padres stadium to emotionally relive her audition experience. A tight closeup of Phillip Phillips’ private parts as he fastened his seat belt let us know he was on a private plane to Leesburg, Georgia. He would proceed to break down in tears while sandwiched by his adorable parents — who had both expressed interest, separately and lovingly, in squeezing the life out of their son now that he was home. Phillip’s parents are ridiculously cute. – Entertainment Weekly
Phillip and Joshua have the edge going into ‘American Idol’ finale – In most years, the penultimate week of “American Idol” serves to finally eliminate the interloper, the singer who’s clearly at a disadvantage compared to the top two. Last year it was Haley Reinhart, whose exit paved the way for the Scotty McCreery-Lauren Alaina finale that everyone expected, and Casey James ceded the floor to Lee DeWyze and Crystal Bowersox in season nine. (Hey, it made sense at the time.) In most other “Idol” seasons, by the time we got to the middle of May, everyone knew who the two favorites were. – Read more at MSNBC
‘American Idol’ Recap: Steven Tyler Crowns Jessica Sanchez the Winner – Steven Tyler has no concept of “too soon.” We’re a week away from the season-11 finale, but American Idol’s TMI-prone judge has already crowned the winner. “When you sing, you make people hang on your every note,” Tyler gushed following Jessica Sanchez’s subdued yet stunning rendition of Mariah Carey’s “My All,” adding: “I hope you get used to encores. And on another crazy note, I think you’ll be the last person standing there.” – Hollywood Reporter
‘Idol’ Top 3 Recap: Jessica Stumbles, Joshua Soars, Phillip Segers – While Joshua unsurprisingly delivered the standout vocal performance of Wednesday night with his fiery Mary J. Blige cover, the usually flawless Jessica rather surprisingly stumbled on all three of her songs, and she even received some tough criticism from her biggest fan on the judging panel, Randy Jackson. (He dismissed her final performance of the Jackson 5’s “I’ll Be There” with “I liked it, but I didn’t love it,” and griped that she really never had a “moment moment.”) It’s possible that this was because of her sore throat (which was–CONSPIRACY THEORY ALERT!–not mentioned on the air), or because of a couple song choices that were unfortunately out of her control. – Yahoo.com
‘American Idol’ Recap: The Final Three Perform – In a little over a week, “American Idol” will crown its latest champion, and any one of the three remaining contestants could feasibly be standing in the spotlight, being showered with confetti and force-fed a song they probably never would’ve chosen to sing under any other circumstances. Many (myself included) would say that Joshua Ledet, Jessica Sanchez and Phillip Phillips were the show’s frontrunners right from the start — perhaps along with Colton Dixon, if only because he’s attractive and reasonably talented as both a musician and vocalist — so the field is wide open as we reach the home stretch. – Huffington Post
Recap: ‘American Idol’ Top 3 Performances – Jessica, Joshua and Phillip sing – Last week, we dispatched Hollie Cavanagh, which was sad for Joshua Ledet, but pretty straight-forward for America. Leaving aside the only briefly relevant question of whether or not Colton Dixon would be able to ride in-song prayer to an “Idol” crown, we’ve worked our way down to what probably should have been the Top 3 from the very beginning of the season. Joshua, Jessica Sanchez and Phillip Phillips belong here. – HitFix
‘American Idol’ Recap: Don’t Want to Miss a Thing – Not only is tonight the semi-finals of the Best American Idol EverTM, but it is also our big chance to see how these lucky, talented performers live when they are at home and not kicking it in the former porn site that is the Idol mansion. Between all the home visits, we will see three performances by each singer – one they chose themselves, one the judges chose for them and one chosen by Jimmy Iovine. As much as I live to poke fun at the show, these contestants are all closely matched, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see any of them take the title. I wouldn’t even be surprised to see Randy Jackson storm the stage and take the crown and sash for himself. – Rolling Stone
‘American Idol,’ Season 11, Performance Show: TV Recap – There were three songs, and three finalists, but no obvious winner on “American Idol” tonight. Elimination tomorrow night could happen to anyone as all three sang for their spot in next week’s finale. In the audience cheering on the three: the rest of the final twelve. Round One: The first song for each contestant was a picked by the judges. – Wall Street Journal
‘American Idol’ 2012: The final three and the search for a ‘moment-moment-moment’ – America, we’re down to your final three! Is this the lineup you imagined? As knock-out talented as both Joshua and Jessica are, I assumed that voters wouldn’t get him and that they wouldn’t warm to her. Though of course we have Phillip here, as we always knew we would. And here you have me. My name is Amy, and I’ll be your recapper tonight. The attire tonight for judges is business-formal. Jennifer Lopez is in a blush-colored pantsuit poofed at the ankles. Randy is in a shiny orange blazer. Steven Tyler in simple dark lizard skin. – Washington Post
American Idol Top 3 – For tonight’s first round of singing, the judges pick songs for the contestants. Randy goes with “I’d Rather Go Blind” for Joshua, who is slowly ossifying into a gigantic novelty statue of a soul singer you’d see at a 1950’s restaurant. His red and black outfit is accentuated by a giant red rose and a red and black old-fashioned microphone. The song is refreshingly toned-down and sultry until, predictably, he once again slides into yelling and then speaking in tongues: “Ba ba ba baby! Ba ba baby! Buh buh buh buh buh buh asdlfasdlkjasdf from meeee.” The judges give him a standing ovation. I haven’t counted how many ovations Joshua has received this season but I’m thinking he probably received them for about half his performances, right? – AV Club
