‘American Idol’ Top 4 Recap: Everyone’s Crazy About a Sharp-Dressed Man
Thursday’s American Idol top four show featured THE best performance of this entire season. Perhaps that’s not a surprise – with an incredibly strong final four, led by regal diva La’Porsha Renae, it would be assumed that we’d see some amazing performances at this stage of the game.
But here’s the surprise: The best performance of the season was not by La’Porsha Renae. It was by Trent Harmon. And it changed the game.
Seriously, in two weeks (TWO WEEKS???) on finale night, when Trent is in the winner’s circle wearing his dressiest scarf and belting his hopefully-not-terrible coronation single, we can all look back and pinpoint the exact moment when La’Porsha lost her frontrunner status. It was when Trent sang his second song in top four week.
OK, it’s not like Trent was ever an underdog to begin with. But I’d always figured he’d stall in third or fourth place. However, this was his script-flipping, Kris Allen-does-“Heartless” sort of moment. It was seismic.
And I think the other three must have known they were in danger after they saw Trent sing. Because this was the look on their faces as they golf-clapped for his performance:
So anyway, on Thursday the top four contestants were tasked with tackling the Sia songbook, a multi-octave challenge that could make Heart Night or Queen Night or even Whitney Houston Night seem easy. (Spoiler alert: Sonika Vaid was not one of those contestants. As widely predicted, she went home in a respectable fifth place, and did not get to sing. But her swan-song iTunes recording of Sia’s “Loved Me Back to Life” played over her goodbye package, and it sounded nice.) All four contestants did well – more on the others in a bit – but let’s just cut to the chase: Trent took on arguably the toughest Sia’s song, “Chandelier,” and he made it look effortless. Let’s all 1-2-3, 1-2-3 drink to him.
Trent – kind of a kooky free spirit himself, weird in the best possible way – instantly bonded with Hello Kitty-bow-bedecked mentor Sia in rehearsal, and he even looked pretty fabulous modeling one of her two-toned bobbed wings. He said meeting the quirky genius pop star was like encountering a “unicorn” – but it was Trent who brought the magic once he hit the stage.
Trent was serving Thom Yorke/Jeff Buckley/Adam Lambert realness with this haunting performance, the perfect mix of technical skill, theatricality, and vulnerability. Yes, his vocal acrobatics were incredible, as he reached for practically off-the-scale notes and succeeded every time. But he paced himself perfectly, building the goosies-inducing drama until the song exploded at the end. This was so fantastic, I replayed it on my DVR three more times before I finally bothered to listen to what the judges had to say. Once I did, they seemed as wowed as I had been.
“It was exquisite. I loved every minute of it,” raved Keith Urban. “You can sing anything,” declared Jennifer Lopez. “I thought that was phenomenal. That song tells such a vivid tale. I felt that you were completely in another world with that, not to mention how artfully you sang that just from a vocal technique point of view. That is very, very difficult to do. And I thought from the first note to the last note, I gave it 100 out of 100,” said Harry Connick Jr.
I personally don’t think 100 was a high enough score…
OK, enough fawning over Trent – at least until I write about his other Thursday performance, which was also a highlight. Suffice to say, Trent had a very, very good night. Also bringing their respective A-games: Season 7 winner David Cook, belting his Coldplay-esque power ballad “Heartbeat” against a backdrop of nostalgic Idol footage, and Season 5 runner-up Katharine McPhee, looking ageless but making me feel super-old by reminding me that her famous “Over the Rainbow” performance first aired TEN YEARS AGO. Oof.
Moving on. Along with Sia songs, in Thursday’s first hour the contestants did classic rock numbers, mentored by the legendary Steven Van Zandt, who did a bang-up job (even if J.Lo face-palmingly forgot his name on the air, which I assume prompted Steven’s wife Maureen to tweet a much-deserved F-bomb that she later deleted). It was an awesome show even aside from Trent’s awesomeness (Dalton deserves heaps of praise as well, and he too pay pose a real threat to La’Porsha), so let’s get to recapping the rest.
CLASSIC ROCK SONGS
La’Porsha Renae
Rocking an elaborate new braided hairdo that took 15 hours to create and was clearly worth every minute spent, and fabulously dressed like she hired last season’s Quentin Alexander to be her stylist, La’Porsha channeled her inner rock queen and proved that in-house advisor Scott Borchetta should not have doubted her decision to cover Bon Jovi. (Side note: The wise Mr. Van Zandt never doubted her.) I too wondered if “Wanted Dead or Alive” was the right choice – I recall a lot of contestants, even Jordin Sparks, really struggling with a Bon Jovi theme in Season 6 – but as Randy “The Dawg” Jackson used to say, La’Porsha worked it out. Remembering how she slayed “Come Together” a couple weeks ago, I should not have questioned her ability to sing hard rock. Borchetta shouldn’t have, either.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t a typically perfect La’Porsha performance. She lost some momentum when she messed up a lyric, moving the microphone from her mouth to cover up the flub. (Interestingly, none of the judges mentioned this, even though it happened when she was strutting right in front of them.) But she rebounded like the pro she is. Keith loved her “blues undertones” and “soul and swagger.” J.Lo trotted an old Idol cliché and told her, “You could sing the phone book and it wouldn’t matter.” Harry said, “Your ability as a singer transcends every genre. You’re like Tina Turner.”
MacKenzie Bourg
MacKenzie did “I Want You to Want Me,” by (coincidence? nah) Borchetta’s new Big Machine Records signing Cheap Trick. I wanted to like his “I Want You to Want Me” more than I did. (Cheap Trick is one of my favorite bands of all time, and I consider Robin Zander to be rock’s second-greatest vocalist, right after Freddie Mercury.) But MacKenzie, not exactly a Zander-esque singer, sucked the life out of this great stadium anthem, taking it from Budokan to the coffeehouse. I don’t fault MacKenzie for changing up the song – that’s what he does, and he usually does it well, and it’s what he was instructed to do – but if he was going to strip it back, then he needed to strip it back much more than this. Instead, he just did a shuffling, soft-rock shtick, and he got lost in Thursday’s shuffle.
J.Lo was also underwhelmed, saying, “For me, it wasn’t the best. It wasn’t as exciting as I wanted it to be.” Harry noted that this performance lacked the energy and “immediacy” of Cheap Trick’s original, and said, “It wasn’t my favorite performance.” Keith, usually the smiliest and easiest-to-please judge, was actually the harshest, saying, “I hated the arrangement. When you pick a song like that, you have to do it the way it’s written or strip it way down. For me, you ended up in the middle, which was a nowhere energy.”
Trent Harmon
Trent Harmon is indeed a snazzy dresser, whether he’s rocking one of his scarf/hat combos or a suit. So “Sharp-Dressed Man” was a fitting choice for him. However, I was concerned, because the ZZ Top hit seemed like a throwaway or a novelty. (Yes, David Cook did a fun version in Season 7 with the bearded wonders themselves, but that was on finale night, not for votes.) But once again, I should not have had doubts. Like La’Porsha, Trent knows what he’s doing.
Taking Van Zandt’s sage advice to make the song “swampy,” Trent exhibited a swagginess and sexiness I’d never seen from him before, starting off slow and bluesy before picking up the pace and getting into full-on Southern-rock jam mode. (All that was missing were a couple of furry, 360-degree-spining guitars and some ‘80s video babes tossing Trent the keys to the Eliminator.) Yes, this was a hoot, and yes, Trent looked like he was having a blast up there, but he never devolved into camp.
“Here’s why I thought that was brilliant. In concert, you could have stretched that out for 10 minutes… You could have sung the same song twice. That was so smart. You satisfied so many things with that performance,” said Harry. “I’ve been waiting for you to have this performance. I knew it was in you!” said Jennifer. “That was so freakin’ good. At this point in the competition, you need a performance that stands out and shows every part of your strongest attributes. That was 10 out of 10,” said Keith.
Again, I thought that score was too low…
Dalton Rapattoni
Dalton was dead-set on doing the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army.” (Once again, I was feeling ancient; is a song released in 2003 really considered “classic rock”?) But after some debate with Scott and Steven, he thankfully went with the Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows” instead. This was the right call. While Dalton certainly knows how to bring over-the-top showmanship to the Idol stage (his “Rebel Yell” performance comes to mind), he really excels when he allows his vulnerability to peek through his guylinered, peroxided facade.
Wandering through the crowd – seemingly unrehearsed, just wherever his Doc Martens-shod feet took him – before curling up on the edge of the stage, Dalton gave a very emo performance of the sweet Pet Sounds classic, clearly feeling every word. While Trent and La’Porsha bring the impeccable power vocals, Dalton’s biggest asset is his sincerity, the way he telegraphs emotion through his sad panda eyes and right into the nation’s living rooms/hearts. “I only get a minute and 30 seconds to talk to America; I want to make sure I have the right words,” he said earlier in rehearsal. Well, he said a lot tonight.
“Seeing you on the steps, watching the girls’ [read: voters’] reactions is as pure as it gets. That’s really good,” said Keith. “Just watching you walk around, I could see everybody just disappear and you look like a guy that was walking down the street thinking those thoughts. It wasn’t about a strong vocal, it was about you getting into the lyrics. I thought you did a good job with that,” said Harry. “Really beautiful… You won with that moment. Congratulations,” proclaimed J.Lo.
SIA SONGS
La’Porsha Renae
La’Porsha’s first real breakout moment of Season 15 was when she sang Rihanna’s “Diamonds,” a song co-written by Sia. So I expected greatness from this week’s performance of “Elastic Heart,” complete with dual tribal drummers. Instead, I just got good-ness. Don’t get me wrong. A La’Porsha performance is like pizza or sex: It’s going to be good no matter what. But this just wasn’t her best, especially since she’s set the bar so sky-high for herself. If only she’d let loose a little more, like she did during last week’s passionate, teary “No More Drama,” this could have been magnificent.
J.Lo praised La’Porsha’s artistic evolution, while Harry spent most of his critique discussing La’Porsha’s head voice, which I’m not sure was a compliment. Keith was most effusive, saying this felt like an “awards show” tour de force. Hopefully she’ll still be “winning” after this week.
MacKenzie Bourg
Perhaps more than anyone else in the top four, MacKenzie had his work cut out for him with a Sia theme, since he has neither the stratospheric vocals of Trent or La’Porsha, nor the theatricality of Dalton, that most Sia songs require. MacKenzie gave a pleasant performance of “Titanium” (which sort of reminded me of the lovely acoustic version Kris Allen did for Yahoo Music a couple years ago) and redeemed himself after the Cheap Trick misfire, and he for the most part hit all of the high notes that Sia had optimistically encouraged him to strive for in rehearsal. But he didn’t have the moment he needed on such an action-packed night.
Harry shruggingly called this performance “nice,” then grumbled that MacKenzie had focused too much on the “ice-skating competition” mentality of going for show-offy high notes. (Again, I must point out that MacKenzie had been instructed to do that. And what’s wrong with hitting high notes in a singing competition???) Keith liked the singer-songwriter vibe, and J.Lo commended MacKenzie for getting out of his comfort zone. She also told him, “At the end of the day, we’re rooting for you,” but I was unconvinced. I thought it was kind of obvious that the judges had been told to drive the Idol Bus right over this kid.
Dalton Rapattoni
Dalton sang after Trent’s “Chandelier,” so no matter what, his performance was going to be anti-climactic. But after connecting in rehearsal with Sia as they talked about living with bi-polar disorder, Dalton seemed energized and inspired, and he gave a wonderful performance of “Bird Set Free.” When he belted, “And I don’t care if I sing off-key/I find myself in my melodies/I sing for love, I sing for me,” he really meant it, man. He was totally connected, totally in the moment, giving it his all, and by the end, he was spent and sobbing, just like La’Porsha after “No More Drama” last week.
“You know what everybody is cheering for? They’re cheering for your bravery. That’s what everybody wants to do. We all want to let go, feel good in our own skin. We all want to have a moment where we just release and can be ourselves, find ourselves. Singing is obviously that for you. You’re such an artist. You touch our hearts every time you get up there,” said Jennifer. “It was the most powerful for me when you sang the line, ‘There’s a scream inside that we try to hide’… I think it was something that you needed to do,” said Harry. “You’re up against some insane singers, and you know that, but what’s great about you… is you’re always pushing through your limitations. It’s so inspiring. For me, I’d take an inspired attempt over perfection every week,” said Keith.
So now, it is prediction time. Who will go home in fourth place next week? I think it could be anyone but Trent. (Yes, I even think La’Porsha is at risk. Call me crazy.) Based on this week’s performances, and the judges’ critiques, it absolutely seems like it’s MacKenzie’s time to go. But he has a devoted fanbase dating back to his Voice days, and his worried fans may power-vote this week. Dalton was in the bottom two this week (with Sonika), but he also has a diehard following, and he got the pimp spot and gave two of his best performances yet. La’Porsha has been a frontrunner all season, but she went first, gave performances that weren’t her personal best, and drastically changed up her look (let’s not forget what happened to post-makeover Erika Van Pelt in Season 11!), so she may be in trouble.
If I’m forced to predict, I will still go with MacKenzie. But be prepared for an upset – or at least the shock of seeing La’Porsha in the bottom two next Thursday. Parker out.
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