American Idol Reaction: Top Twelve Results

The issue I’m having with American Idol this season is that the gap between the people that obviously deserve to be the top twelve and those who aren’t really there yet is just too wide. And while there are some strong front-runners, I’m not sure if the four contestants eliminated tonight are going to leave us with a solid top-12 to carry out the season. I’m finding myself wishing I could fast-forward through the season and skip ahead to the final five or four contestants. Then again, we’ve seen people show vast improvement as the weeks go on and there are definitely some people with the potential to invent themselves on the big stage. So perhaps I need to just take a breath here and have a little patience.

The first contestant to be eliminated was Katelyn Epperly and she’s a prime example of one of the “potential” people that I could’ve seen sneaking up on this competition. Unfortunately, I think it was a combination of picking a dated song (and not doing anything to spice it up) and not really finding her identity as a performer in time to give people a reason to vote for her.

Toddrick Hall, the second contestant eliminated tonight, brought a better game this week with his rendition of Queen’s “Somebody to Love.” Unfortunately, I think it was a too-little-too-late situation for him. A performance like that would’ve served him well earlier in the semi-finals.

The other guy to go was Alex Lambert. For me, all that kid needed was more confidence and a haircut. Seriously, I hate to be superficial but it was taking me some effort to look passed that mullet. Vocally, he proved he could sing and I think we might’ve seen some big improvements in his performances if he’d had more time in the competition but that wasn’t to be the case.

Finally, the fourth contestant to be cut loose was Lilly Scott. Given that it came down to her and Katie Stevens, I was really surprised to see that not only wasn’t Lilly staying but Katie wasn’t leaving. Katie’s “Breakaway” performance this week bordered on terrible for me, while Lilly’s “I Fall to Pieces” was at the very least, charming and sung in key.

Of the filler, I was pleasantly surprised by the group performance, which worked well as far as the arrangement goes. The contestants brought it together nicely with the harmony, making this week’s opening number entertaining as opposed to just endurable. Scott MacIntyre and Matt Giraud guest-appeared to duet to Billy Joel’s “Tell Her About It.” Scott’s voice has improved quite a bit since he was on the show and he and Matt did a great job with the song on the whole.

Given who’s left to head on to the finals, I don’t know if I can say that we’re looking at the strongest performers of this seasons batch of semi-finalists but America has voted and there’s no going back!

Next week, the top twelve perform! I’m doing my best to be enthusiastic about this season but looking at the top twelve as they are right now, if I had to pick my choices for final two, I’d give it to Crystal Bowersox and Mike Lynche. We’ll have to see if there are any other contestants who can step up their game and give those two a run for their money on stage.