Can I Be Without You? Please?

Von Smith
"You're All I Need to Get By" - Marvin Gaye
Here's where I'm gonna catch flack. When Von was doing that whole white boy possessed by the spirit of Aretha Franklin's skinnier self, he had certain moments of brilliance amongst the over-the-top nature of everything he was doing. He's toned it down for his semi-final performance, but I think he made a mistake. Von just needs to find a way to mix and match these two aspects.

Grade: B

Taylor Vaifanua
"If Ain't I Got You" - Alicia Keys

Taylor struggles a bit with the beginning, but she hits the chorus very nicely. Actually, her voice is really clean and clear, but there a lack of passion and energy throughout the performance. Overall it's a bit disappointing because you can hear shades of excellence. Maybe her voice just doesn't work as a stand out pop voice, despite how good it is.

Grade: B-

Alex Wagner-Trugman
"I Guess That's Why They Call it the Blues" - Elton John

I'm glad Idol finally managed to find a personality type other than ditzy blonde country singer with jugs. And that's the only real explanation as to how Alex made the Top 36. He's got a voice, but if his performance choices tonight are any indication of what he did in Hollywood... shame of the judges. He growls at the beginning which is okay sparingly, but then over does it like he's Screaming Jay Hawkins. He does pull a Taylor Hicks when he accidently knocks over the microphone stand.

Grade: C-

Arianna Afsar
"The Winner Takes it All" - ABBA

Arianna is another one of the numerous 16 year old women that really shouldn't have been put through because they're not ready for the show. Arianna does a half and half performance for me. She's one of the few teens I've seen who kind of gets they need to have a really strong emotional connection to the song rather than just a big voice. Unfortunately, the song just gets away from her completely and she's off-key more than on. The judges crush her spirit (Simon especially) and I hate seeing them rip into these teen girls. But she did flounder quite a bit.

Grade: D

Ju'Not Joyner
"Hey There Delilah" - Plain White Tees

So Ju'Not is the first contestant to actually alter the original arrangement of a song. It's an interesting take on the song. Pop-punk turned into a soulful number. However, the energy and beat of the song gets lost in this translation. Ju'Not can sing really well, but I sincerely doubt that if he were to make T12 he'd last longer than maybe two weeks doing stuff like that. It's dull, but good. Like Taylor.

Grade: B-

Kristen McNamara
"Give Me One Reason" - Tracy Chapman

Ok, Kristen also does a different take on "Give Me One Reason," but the arrangement is terrible. it's so terrible that I can think of three ways she should've arranged it that would've sounded one hundred percent better and might've gotten her a spot in the T12. Listening to her voice (after raging about her butchering the arrangement) she's got a fantastic voice. It's kind of reminiscent of the big band era voices, fun, playful, and very strong and clear.

Grade: B-

Nathaniel Marshall
"I Would Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" - Meatloaf

I... really have no words. In a round where you can choose practically anything to really show yourself off as an artist, you choose this insipid, pointless arrangment of one of the most overwrought songs (that would get somebody through on idol with a capable vocal) on the planet? Get the fuck off the stage. Utterly useless.

Grade: F

Felicia Barton
"No One" - Alicia Keys

Felicia is the one contestant who missed out on a place in T36 originally, but got resurrected because of JoplantaGate. Felicia has this great husky element to her voice, but she's got a bit of range as well. She's got a lot of soul and funk too. She's easily one of the best female contestants not only tonight, but in the T36. I think she's pushing a bit more than she should at points, but there are points where she loosens up and is jsut outstanding. Great unique voice, strong performance. I'm really hoping she makes it to T12.

Grade: A

Scott MacIntyre
"Mandolin Rain" - Bruce Hornsby

I was ready to be annoyed by Scott only because I figured no matter how he did, he was going to get through because America is a giant crying sympathy vehicle. However, he actually proves he deserves the top male spot tonight. It's not completely in tune vocally, but there is a lot of emotion and joy in what he's doing, which I frankly haven't seen in any of the contestants outside of maybe Adam, Alexis's results night take on her song, and bits of Felicia's performance. If he continues down this path of left-field song choices, he can stay.

Grade: A-

Kendall Beard
"This One's For the Girls" - Kendall Beard

Kendall looks like a stand in for Kirsten Dunst in Legally Blonde 3: Dream Warriors. Also, she's terrible, reedy, and cannot hit a note to save her life. Nothing about the performance is smooth or good. It's awful and she looks like Paris Hilton, and judges don't even call her out on the terrible singing, ever, because she's kind of cute and a blonde ditz. I fucking hate this show.

Grade: F

Jorge Nunez
"Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" - Elton John

Jorge is a nice likeable guy, but from what he's doing tonight, he's just going to be Ricky Ricardo meets Clay Aiken in a gay moan's bath house behind Simon Cowell's mansion. The vocal is actually full of heart and technically completely solid but the song is so completely lost on me because it's been done to death on idol so many times. Eh. I don't really care for this type of stuff but idol viewers typically eat it up.

Grade: Objectively, it is an A. Subjectively, B.

Lil Rounds
"Be Without You" - Mary J. Blige

I'm surprised that Lil chose this song, only because it doesn't require a whole lot of straight singing. It's cool and makes for a great dance track, but it's definitely not the best vocal of the song. I actually think Felicia could've done this song way better. Liil doesn't the funk in voice I'd expect. Plus she name checks herself in the song and demands that we vote for her mid-performance. Shut up.

Grade: B.

Should Go Through:
Felicia, Scott, I guess Lil

Who's Through:
Lil, Scott, Jorge/Ju'Not/Felicia

Wildcards:
Felicia, Jorge, Von