The Top Eleven competed last night using hits from Motown. I’m not a fan of the “weekly themes” approach, but at least this is a theme with a wide range of songs. The ones I really hate are the single artist themes.
In any case, on to the recaps…
Casey Abrams
I Heard It Through the Grapevine by Marvin Gaye
It was ok, but I didn’t love it. It never felt like it was going anywhere.
The Wife: Solid performance, but he can do better.
Thia Megia
Heatwave by Martha & the Vandellas
Decent, and better than I thought it would be. I really didn’t think she could pull it off.
The Wife: But she just sang the song. There’s no emotion. It’s just the words and notes.
Unfortunately, it fell apart when she got to the “ooh” part at the end.
Jacob Lusk
You’re All I Need to Get By by Marvin Gaye
Jacob really has a nice voice. It was great to hear him holding it back a bit. He needs to give us more of this.
The Wife: He built it nicely.
Lauren Alaina
You Keep Me Hanging On by The Supremes
The Wife (Two Seconds In): I can tell you now I’m gonna like this.
I thought it was good, and started really well, but not her best. It didn’t really progress enough.
Stefano Langone
Hello by Lionel Ritchie
Weak vocal and it sounds like he’s singing with an accent for some reason.
The Wife: He changed it too much.
Horrible song choice. You either do it straight, and lose in comparison to Ritchie, or change it up, and lose in comparison to David Cook.
Either way, you lose.
Haley Reinhart
You Really Got a Hold on Me by Smokey Robinson
I didn’t love it. Just not a good vocal.
The Wife: The whole thing just seemed weird. She’s trying too hard.
Scotty McCreedy
For Once in My Life by Stevie Wonder
The Wife has a theory that if they start off sitting on the steps, it’s going to be a train wreck. Scotty started off sitting on the steps, and did not disprove the theory.
I thought the country arrangement of the Stevie Wonder song was ok, but the performance was horrible.
Pia Toscano
All in Love is Fair by Stevie Wonder
The start was a bit rough. Sounds like she’s nervous.
Once she got going, however, it was really good. Loved the build.
Paul McDonald
Tracks of my Tears by Smokey Robinson
Great song, and I love the Paul take on it.
The Wife: I like the fact that he has a guitar, so he can’t move around as much.
Naimi Adedapo
Dancing in the Street by Martha & the Vandellas
It’s a solid vocal, but sound just like the original. I’m not sure what she brought to it musically.
The dancing was, well, interesting.
James Durbin
Living for the City by Stevie Wonder
Damn, he’s good. He may well win this thing.
The Wife: It may come down to him and Pia.
He turned the Stevie Wonder song into a very entertaining rock song.
The top three performances of the week were (1st) James Durbin, (2nd) Pia Toscano, and (3rd) Jacob Lusk.
Then you had a middle group of Casey, Lauren, Naima, Paul, and Thia.
The bottom three were Stefano, Scotty and Haley. Stefano was the worst of the night, but far, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he were sent home. Weak performance plus boring is a death sentence.