Kids, where was the fire tonight? Latin night seemed more painful than inspiring for anyone. It was definitely a let down after standards week. Anyone unfamilar with Latin music would walk away from the night thinking that it consisted of little more than Gloria Estefan and people who have joined up to sing with Santana. A sad array of songs overall with no standout performances.
Here are my thoughts:
Singer: Melinda Doolittle
Song: Sway
Rants & raves: Great song choice for someone who is probably never going to tackle Shakira. She was trying to be sexy but with the red lipstick, the hair and the little black dress, it was more 50s housewife mom sexy than new millenium sexy. The vocal was there, if not a bit mellow, but Mindy Doo didn't have her usual showcase of personality tonight.
Lakisha Jones
Conga
Finally, an uptempo song from Lakisha. Going back to back with Melinda tonight was good for her because she finally got the opportunity to best her with a song that had more personality and gave her a chance to shake her maracas. It was a good vocal and she held the beat of the song well.
Chris Richardson
Smooth
Rough beginning but Chris seemed to find more of his groove by the chorus. It was certainly an 'Nsync-does-Santana version of the song which probably wouldn't please ol' Carlos very much. Not bad, though. It will do.
Haley Scarnato
Turn the Beat Around
Short shorts. Short shorts. Shaking the booty in short shorts. Haley did one thing for tonight's competition - boosted Lakisha's Gloria Estefan vocal with her lesser vocal.
Phil Stacey
Maria, Maria
Another Santana number. I guess the guys didn't dare delve into the Ricky Martin catalog or heaven forbid, kiss up to Jenny from the Block with a Marc Anthony tune. So Phil can't really pull off a Latin vibe but it's a good vocal for him and the hat is a much better choice than in weeks past.
Jordin Sparks
Rhythm is Gonna Get You
Third Gloria Estefan song of the night but thank goodness Jordin didn't borrow that whorish red lipstick that everyone else seemed to be passing around. The best performance so far with more personality and comfort with the music than the others had. It was a bit of an R&B treatment of the song but it worked.
Blake Lewis
I Need to Know
Bingo. Show you've got cojones by covering the mentor's husband. There were certainly flashes of Marc Anthony on the verses but Blake's discomfort with the genre was obvious. He looked pained and as if he was just waiting for the song to be over. A better showing than the other guys for sure, but even his dance moves felt stifled.
Sanjaya Malakar
Besame Mucho
Not my favorite performance of the night but the best song choice. It was a good song choice for Sanjaya's powerless voice because it never gets to much of a cresendo. Do I want to hear an entire album of Sanjaya singing like this? No. But do I want to hear an entire album of Sanjaya singing anything? No.
Top performance: Jordin Sparks
Most likely to go home: Phil Stacey or maybe! finally! Haley Scarnato
TELL US: Do you have a favorite performance from last night? Who's going home?
JOIN UP: Chat about American Idol in our Idol Watch [1] group.