So I missed last week and Stefano left us before Jacob Lusk. I got the bottom three but not much of a challenge there. I'd love to know how the voting went to allow Jacob to pull it out.
The good news is that the top six show will be songs by Carole King. Finally. This week will get the kids out of their comfort zones and force them to take a creative approach. I think Haley Reinhart will be the only idol in her comfort zone for this one and she has an excellent chance to change her fortunes.
Carole King is an amazing story. First writing songs for some of the biggest acts of the '60s and even performing on some of the recordings, notably singing back up vocals on the song "Locomotion". She was a huge factor in the national music scene before she ever put out any solo work and then she really blew up.
I'll start with Casey this week. It's so interesting digging in to a songwriter like Carole King because I always find out little nuggets I never knew. To whit, the song "Don't Bring Me Down" which was a big hit for The Animals, with its huge vocal range is perfect for Casey. Bring out the upright, growl away, I'd love to see it. I had no idea Carole King wrote this one.
For Lauren I'd like to hear "You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman". I know it's been done to death on Idol and there's plenty of room for comparisons but Lauren would nail this one. We haven't had a chance to hear her range in a while since she's been playing it safe and this is a great opportunity for her to blow us away.
Like it was written for Jacob Lusk's voice, Freddie Scott's "Hey Girl", this one gives me chills. Maybe with a bit of an updated arrangement but it gives Jacob a real chance to shine when he's really going to need it this week. It would be tough to be convincing with the "girl" theme but vocally this one could be a scorcher.
What the hell is James Durbin going to do this week? Could be a train wreck, could be amazing. It's all going to depend on what the song choice is. I loved James doing "Still My Guitar Gently Weeps" so I know he can do it intimately. After his take on Muse last week he can't go bigger so he'll need to bring it back. I'd love to hear him do something like "So Far Away" and maybe turn it into a big power ballad with an intimate beginning. Could be a true show stopper in the Adam Lambert mode but Durbin could go so many directions with this one. I just want him to dial it back a touch and show off his voice this week.
Haley has the opportunity to really dig in to the Duffy/Adele mode this time. I have a sneaky feeling that she's going to do "I Feel the Earth Move" and that would be an excellent showcase for where Haley's headed long-term. Also would be cool to hear Haley take something like "It's Too Late" and give it a contemporary feel but "I Feel the Earth Move" seems like a really obvious choice here.
Finally, Scotty, at last, will have to go outside the box. Well, maybe. If I was Scotty I'd take something like "Go Away Little Girl" and sing it like the song was written for every little girl out there voting for me. It will be tricky to find Scotty's range on any of King's songs but "Go Away Little Girl" is the smart choice. What I'd like to hear Scotty do is take The Monkees' "Pleasant Valley Sunday" and turn it into a honky tonk song. Take it down some steps and make the guitar intro into a baritone guitar riff and give it the Dwight Yoakam treatment. It's going to be very refreshing to see Scotty having to take a risk.
So your bottom three this week is going to be a hard one. It'll start getting more and more shocking each week from here on out. Jacob and Haley are probably locks but who's the third? Probably either Lauren or Casey. Has Casey's sympathy vote started to cool off? I think it's going to be him. Lauren's got to be pulling in the girl power vote at this point so let's make the bottom three Jacob, Haley, and Casey with Jacob finally going home.
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