American Idol 2014

[john]

Jessica was strong tonight and I really liked her performance of Jolene. Glad to see more support from Harry, although Keith seems intent on getting his sometimes gratuitous digs in.

I loved Alex's rendition of AOMM, although Keith was right about he absence of pain.

Jena - strong voice, great stage presence but I find her voice irritating.

CJ - once again his performances beg the question, why is he still here?

Caleb's killed that first song, but he missed the chance to do something different on the country side.

[Outcast]

Caleb is talented..but has become one note. He did well tonight, but it's more of the same, from him.

This is my issue with Caleb, he lacks both vocal dynamics (he does the same runs all the time) and performance versatility (always the same arrangement). He also lacks soul, I don't get the impression he really feels what he sings.

It's not surprising he didn't make the cut for S10 and S11 which both had much stronger casts.

[john]

Haley covers Somebody to Love (back in the day) and White Rabbit.

[mercfan3]

Honestly, I think Jessica's voice fits Jefferson Airplane more than Haley's did. Although maybe now that she's older, her voice might be a little lower.

[john]

Reality Check: Are Idol's Judges Anti-Jessica? And Who Stumbled Harder — Alex or Jena? Plus: Josh Rocks While Judges Go Mad on The Voice!

[Miguel]

It's request week and there was apparently a request for "Undone" by Haley Reinhart that aired right at the top of the show.

Spoilers indicate it won't be performed by anyone tonight.

[My Alter Ego]

Found this over in comments on Slezak's latest post today (Spoiler song titles for AI tonight):

I’m disappointed, but only because I was stupid enough to believe a Haley fan account on twitter that was spreading the false rumour that Jena was going to sing “Undone”. I should have known better than to think anyone would pick an unknown/unreleased song at this point in the competition. However I’ve never heard of either of the songs that she ended up picking, so…

Sooner or later, someone is bound to tackle it on one of these live reality TV shows, but I'd just as soon not have it be any of this group of contestants (shudders... ).

[mercfan3]

If anyone can sing a Haley song though, it would be Jena.

Despite judges comments, I thought Jessica dominated again. Seems like the "bus Jessica" week did wonders for her performance.

Keep an eye out for Christina Grimmie on The Voice. She seemed to be a fan of Haley's..and she likes covering current songs..so there's a possibility.

[Miguel]

PJ ‏@PJHaleyR 1h

@haleyfansdotcom http://instagram.com/p/ncAp4ESywG/

[john]

Some uneven performances tonight with most contestants having a good one and a not so good one. I thought Jessica did really well tonight and Summertime Sadness really did fit her voice. She has gotten better in adding some emotion to her performances. I thought JLo gave Jessica some of her classic reserved for the girls digs. "It left me cold." I agree that Jessica could usually put a little more umph into her performances, but I noticed tonight that she brought up the volume at one point and it was almost too effortless.