BWW Recaps: IDOL's Top-10 Full of Hits and Misses: FULL RECAP w/ pictures

Tonight's theme on AMERICAN IDOL was replete with symbolism reminding us that being in the Top-10 of something is a big deal, no matter what that something is! This week, the top 10 contestants sang Top-10 hits that have graced the charts since 20........11. Really? They couldn't go with 2010 to round out the theme?

Anyway, I realize that I am a 32-year-old theatre dork, and perhaps not the demographic for these things, but I don't understand the selfie obsession that opened the show, and I have even less of an understanding about what a "nae nae" is. Anyone able to help me out here?

Ok, my obliviousness aside, on to the business at hand:

MK Nobilette
"(F****n') Perfect" by Pink
Three-Word Review: Definitely Not Pink

The only thing "Pink" about this performance were the highlights in MK's hair. The artist Pink is an extremely passionate, powerful, and confident performer and none of those qualities came through in MK's performance. She had a major timing issue with the band, and rather than attacking it like Pink would, she seemingly just dropped out and, for a moment, quit; definitely not the message she was hoping to communicate with this empowering song. Also, it is never good when the vocal you give pales in comparison to that of your background singer, even if said background singer is the fantastic Allison Iraheta.

Dexter Roberts
"Cruise" by Florida Georgia Line
Three-Word Review: Not One Consonant

Heaven help me; I actually agreed with a critique Randy Jackson gave a contestant. Other than the extremely popular chorus, I couldn't understand a single word that came out of Dexter's mouth. He definitely has a good voice, but I often find his performances lazy, and this was no exception. Perhaps it is his laid back Southern sensibility, but he didn't show much energy, and that really impacted his pitch. He sounded flat at times and seemed to be phoning it in. These first two performances were not the follow-up I was hoping for after last week's enjoyable outing.

Jena Irene
"Clarity" by Zedd featuring Foxes
Three-Word Review: Let it Glow!

In her pre-performance package, Jena mentions that electronica hasn't really been done on IDOL before, and this song pretty much shows why. Despite what Harry and the other judges said I did not think that she sounded all that strong. The opening was too low for her, and her higher notes sounded shrieky at points. That being said, the performance aspect of the song was great. She had all of the confidence that MK lacked and the energy that Dexter desperately needed. An audience full of glow sticks probably didn't hurt either. She is one of my favorite contestants, but this wasn't one of my favorite performances.

Alex Preston
"Story of My Life" by One Direction
Three-Word Review: Hits the Target!

I loved his analogy that his season of performances are like a concert; he must vary his song choices so that the set-list as a whole doesn't become stale. Going from the mellow folkiness of "Falling Slowly" last week to an acoustic One Direction track this week proves that Alex is one of the most original artists in recent IDOL memory. Or to paraphrase Harry, he hit the bulls-eye on the thingy at the fair that you shoot with a water-gun to get the horsey to move in front of the other water-gun bulls-eye horsies.

Malaya Watson
"When I was Your Man" by Bruno Mars
Three-Word Review: Keeps Getting Better

Over the years on singing competition shows there has been a debate about whether female contestants should sing songs written specifically from a male's perspective, and vice versa. Well, as far as I'm concerned, if you sing it well, and commit to the character, I could give two flips what pronouns you use. Malaya has gone from that annoying girl during Hollywood Week (that I was hoping would get cut), to that annoying girl that I think has a shot to win this thing. As Keith alluded to in his critique, she has learned to control both her quirkiness and her insanely powerful voice. I genuinely look forward to her performances each week; who'da thunk it?

Caleb Johnson
"The Edge of Glory" by Lady Gaga
Three-Word Review: He's Singing Who?

Like Harry, I loved that Caleb again ventured off of the rock and roll track for a Lady Gaga song, but the performance just lacked the fireworks that his songs normally have. Vocally it was as strong as you would expect, but it didn't give us any of his signature high notes, and as Jennifer Lopez pointed out, he seemed a little distant in this one. All things considered though, he is still one of the best, and he will be around for weeks to come.

BROMANCE ALERT: Harry and Keith continued to give THE VOICE's Blake and Adam a run for their Bromance money as they rolled their chairs around JLO switching places and providing fairly accurate impressions of each other. Harry had Keith's Australian accent, and Keith had Harry's encyclopedic knowledge of polysyllabic musical terms.

CJ Harris
"Invisible" by Hunter Hayes
Three-Word Review: Oh Not Again

Well, unfortunately, this week CJ was back to being CJ. Last week he sang "Can't You See" and JLo declared him to be a frontrunner, despite weeks of pitch issues. Unfortunately those pitch issues reared their ugly head again and turned what could have been a powerful performance into just short of a disaster. I've been surprised that CJ has made it this far in the competition, and would not be shocked if this was his last week with the show.

Jessica Meuse
"Pumped Up Kicks" by Foster The People
Three-Word Review: Why Not Serious?

Having lived in states bordering Alabama for the last seven years, I am familiar with the phenomenon, but I don't understand why all three of the IDOL contestants from the state refuse to enunciate even the slightest bit. Perhaps it was a conscious choice by Jessica, because, after all, she was singing an up-beat song about shooting kids for their tennis shoes, right? And all throughout the song, she had a really creepy smirk on her face (see picture to right). I wasn't sure if she just didn't understand the lyrics, or if she was channeling Heath Ledger's Joker. Perhaps it is the theatre director in me, but I thought her delivery was wholly inappropriate for the song she chose.

Majesty Rose
"Wake Me Up" by Avicii featuring Aloe Blacc
Three-Word Review: There's Our Majesty

Now this is the type of song that Majesty needs to be singing. After she butchered "Let It Go" last week, she got back into her folk, acoustic wheelhouse. While I thought she was a bit timid and reserved compared to her earlier performances, this was a huge step to getting her back towards the upper echelon of this completion.

Sam Woolf
"We Are Young" by Fun featuring Janelle Monáe
Three-Word Review: Sorry, Dozed Off

After a certain amount of time, you are what you are. It has been a month of live shows now for Sam, and despite his legion of fangirls, he hasn't shown much in terms of improvement. He is still just a talented kid who, unfortunately, hits negative marks on the charisma charts. There is no doubt that he has one of the smoothest tones you are likely to hear, but there is zero charm, zero emotion, zero connection evident when he sings. It really is unfortunate, but unless he stumbles across a personality, and fast, he won't be around long. Also, singing about apologizing for getting drunk and hitting his girlfriend is probably not the best option for a 17-year-old. I wish Harry would have stayed consistant and had enough time to comment on these lyrics.

Should be in the Bottom Three
MK Nobilette
CJ Harris
Jessica Meuse

Should be Eliminated
CJ Harris

Check back with us tomorrow to see my recap of this week's elimination show. In the meantime, let me know what you thought of each performance in the comments below, or hit me up on Twitter @BWMatt.

Photo Credit: Michael Becker | FOX

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