The Hollywood Reporter confirms Idol appearance by Haley

[danzeb]

Someone on IF said they would trade all the staging for the extra minute. This may lie at the heart of the uneasiness many dedicated fans felt initially about the performance. The sense of the performance being compressed, or more hectic, was compounded by Haley breaking free and rushing to the far end of the stage. All in all, it wasn't a bad performance, it just had a different feel than we were accustomed to.

I found that rush down the stage a bit distracting and would have preferred she not be moving around so much. Several of her most powerful moments on AI last year occurred when she was sitting or standing in one spot. But Haley will continue to refine her staging. She should soon be getting the opportunity to go on various talk shows and sing without the big production. The music video needs to be put out there stat.

When the song ended, my wife, who had never heard the song, said "I have no idea what the song was about." The staging was so odd and distracting that it was hard to concentrate on the song. When a song and performer are mediocre an elaborate stage production is a useful distraction. That's not the case with Haley. It should be mostly about the song and not the visual effect with someone as good as Haley. It was probably exciting and fun for her to do such an elaborate performance and I can understand that but I think she received poor guidance and I hope she realizes it. Let's see what she does next time she's on a big stage. That said I'm sure many people loved the theatrics and maybe that's the direction Haley wants to go.