NEWS'American Idol' Recap: The Top 12 Girls Perform!
March 3 2011, Published 2:45 p.m. ET
After the boys gave all that they had last night on American Idol, it was finally time for the top 12 girls to take the stage and show everyone what they had to offer!
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First three up were Tatynisa Wilson with Rihanna's "Only Girl (In the World)," Naima Adedapo with "Summertime" and Kendra Chantelle doing Christina Aguilera's "Impossible." Tatynisa didn't come off very good and being that she was hardly seen, this isn't really a good thing. Some notes were pretty off and she was trying too hard with the dance moves. Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez did like it, but Randy Jackson was keeping it real once again and didn't care for it. Has he truly become the new Simon Cowell? However, J. Lo said "being a performer is about moving the crowd and she moved the crowd." Randy claimed that he wasn't moved.
Naima was up next with "Summertime." This was a risky move as that is a famous song that Fantasia Barrino just killed in Season 3. The risk did pay off for Naima. She did her jazzy spin on the song and it worked. She even designed her own outfit! While Randy, of course, compared it to Fantasia, he thought the end was great. And Steven? He "liked it a lot!" As for Kendra, it was just alright. Nothing special but nothing horrible. Definitely didn't feel like she blew the audience away. I will give it to her in the end though, she showed off some great skills. Randy even thought it reminded him of Lauryn Hill. And J. Lo said, "You fought your way in and belong here."
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Next up was Rachel Zevita with Fiona Apple's "Criminal" Karen Rodriguez's version of Maria Carey's "Hero" and Lauren Turner with Etta James' "Seven Day Fool." The very unique and quirky Rachel of course started things off in a dramatic way by throwing off her cape. Her version of the song had an interesting 1920s vibe to it. But she really did nothing for the song, and had a very karaoke feel to it. Randy put it simply: "It wasn't great, but it wasn't good." Karen, who got her audition on Idol by posting a video on MySpace, whowed that she was meant to be on that stage. She showed off her pipes with the Mariah classic, but it did come across a little too pageanty. She will definitely make the cut so she needs to tone that a bit down next time. The best part though about Karen's performance was incorporating Spanish into her rendition. She will surely get "the latin music" vote. Randy "liked the Spanish more than the English!" And Jennifer said, "Singing in Spanish makes it sound beautiful." Steven called her a "one-of-a-kind singer." Then came dark-haired Lauren, who hasn't seen too much screen time, but I wonder why? She is great! She has a powerful voice with a cold old-school vibe. Randy said, "I love the power! Could be Amy Winehouse meets Florence and the Machine!"
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Then came Ashton Jones with Monica's "Love All Over Me," Julie Zorrilla with Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway" and Haley Reinhart's rendition of Alicia Keys' "Fallin." Ashton has a great look and really knows how to work the stage. However, she was barely seen in the early episodes. She hit some good notes, but will viewers feel the need to vote for her? Steven said, "You go places with your voice that few have gone." Julie. Oh, Julie. She did so good last week in Hollywood. But choosing a Kelly Clarkson song was not a good move. She just couldn't hit notes. Jennifer says "she needs a little bit more from her." Steven thought it was "the wrong song for you." Haylay again, not such a good song choice. Not many can measure up to the vocal stylings of Alicia Keys and Hayley has some weird movements and hit some strange notes. It came across as though Hayley was just trying way too hard. The judges were not fans of this one even though Steven thought "it had the right amount of sexy!" But Randy said it plainly: "It was like karaoke."
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Thia Megia sang Irene Cara's "Out Here On My Own," Lauren Alaina did Reba McEntire's "Turn on the Radio" and Pia Toscano sang The Pretenders' "I'll Stand By You." Thia started off doing it a capella and she sounded fantastic. It was the perfect song choice for her and she will for sure be sailing through. Jennifer thought it "was really, really special!" Then Lauren was up. We have seen so much of Lauren in the early episodes. Would she measure up? She did, she has a great voice for sure. But just a bit of it was trying too hard to sound like Carrie Underwood. Randy even compared her to Carrie and Kelly, but she has a ways to go before she is at their level. Steven said: "I love you, you're the best!" Miss Pia closd out the show with a breathtaking performance. It was just incredibly awesome. Hit amazing notes and she just blew it away. Jennifer said, "It was out of this world!" Pia even got a standing ovation! She is sailing right to the top of this competition.
My top 5 picks to make it into the finals: Pia, Lauren Alaina, Lauren Turner, Thia and Karen. As for the wildcard: It could be Julie, Hayley or Ashton. We've got a lot of good girls in the running.
Tune in tonight at 8 p.m. to see which guys and which girls got the top 5 votes. And who will the judges pick for the wildcard slots? Can't wait to find out!
Written by Rana Meyer
