Last night's show's theme was Then and Now. The kids were to sing one more recent song and one from back in the day. Just for ease of writing, I'm just going to lump each contestant's performances into section instead of breaking it down into each performance.
I'm also adding another chart to review. Debating on whether or not the RIGHT person goes home (and we all know who HE is), will determine whether or not I do a follow-up entry dissecting these figures.
James (Closer to the Edge by 30 Seconds to Mars and Without You by Harry Nilsson): Of the two performances, I have to say I liked the second better than the first. He was alot more restrained than the usual rocker wail and we got to see a song really effect him. Many people may not like the fact he cried on stage, but I thought that it just added to it. It's not as though he broke completely down and blubbered (like SOME people did earlier in the season... I so wish I could find that video...), but just a few tears. Money says that he totally lost it back stage afterwards and maybe it's a good thing it was the second performance of the night. His odds are still creeping up and he was at a +150 this week. With a 9 state win and only 1 state loss, he's in fairly good standing on the Maps. Even his rating of 2-5/2nd looks good, with the exception of the fact that he's listed as a B3. Then again, all of them (except Scotty, as usual) are listed with a B3 in yellow. The RAW scores place him roughly in 2nd as well.
Jacob (No Air by Jordan Sparks & Chris Brown and Love Hurts by Nazareth): *pleads a 5th* I don't much like the first song, in fact it's more annoying than Hey Jude, The Long and Winding Road, Unchained Melody and Mr Roboto combined. Ok, maybe not quite THAT bad as I really loathe the latter 2 of that grouping. At least he wasn't dumb enough to attempt This Is My Now. They were harping on him not knowing who he is, but dude seriously knows who he is. The problem is that they keep doing what they said they wouldn't be doing this year and that is roping the kids into themes. Jacob need to be allowed to do the sappy, drippy, power ballads and gospel in order to fare well in this competition. On his part, he needs to learn to dial back a bit on the over-acting and histronics. The first song, the judges basically poo-pooed on him by the second one, they nucleared our collective sphincters. His odds have dropped to a +2000 and he's rated a 2-5/4th on the Chart. He's the only one who didn't win any states so there's no off-set to the 10 state loss in the Maps. The second spot singing position will not being doing him any favors because a good many times the 2nd singer in the Top 5 ends up going home. RAW scores list both his numbers at the bottom. This doesn't really mean anything because he's been on the bottom of that chart for a great deal of the season.
Lauren (Flat on the Floor by Carrie Underwood and Unchained Melody by The Righteous Brothers): Of the 2 performances, I really liked the first one. The second one, not so much (refer to the comment in Jacob's). She sang it well, but really kind of lacked the background/maturity/seasoning... well something for the subject to be able to pull it off really well. Yes, Chicagolady, take a shot because I did say, in a way, that she was too young for it. Haley may have been able to do a better job with it, even with all that snarling and growling she does. She can really do well on the ballads, but she's absolutely wonderful in the faster paced songs with sass. Having to do the slower ballad, although well known, second really didn't do her many favors at all. Her odds have remained at +300 for another week in a row and she Charted as a 2-5/3rd. She had an 8 state win but lost 2 for a total of 6 on the Maps. RAW chart has her tied in 3rd with Scotty.
Scotty (Gone by Montgomery Gentry and Always on My Mind by Elvis): Although the first song was really fun to watch (Chicagolady didn't like it), his second performance was actually my favorite of his (minor, non-panty involved squwee). The problem with Scotty is that, for the most part, he turns in a solidly consistent performance from week to week. The fans of this show want to see growth, and unfortunately Scotty doesn't deliver this because he's just really that good already. No growth means the fans start getting bored, though. His odds have him still creeping up, even after the trip to the "B3" last week (no I don't believe he truly belonged there at all), and he's at a +100 now. He is the only one, again, that is in the GREEN with a solid 1st place showing. This week's Maps give him a 14 state win. However, the RAW scores tell another story entirely. On that chart, he's tied with Lauren for 3rd. This needs to be taken into consideration while trying to make our picks.
Haley (You and I, an unreleased song, by Lady Gaga and House of the Rising Sun by The Animals): Well, at least the growling will be appropriate with those artist choices. Not so certain I liked the first song, although I'll admit that I liked it better than most of the Weirdo Queen's stuff. It was really chancy to take on a new song that only the Little Monsters will know and if you don't slay it, they won't vote for you. Of the two songs presented, I much preferred the former over the latter. Is it me, or did she look stoned while performing? Unless she was trying to look sexy... the operative word being trying. Her odds had a huge increase this week from a +2500 to a +1400 and she hit the Chart at a 2-5/DEAD LAST. As we know, the Chart has been a bit less than forthcoming with an accurate read thanks to the new online voting. She had a 7 win, 2 loss on the Maps for a total of 5 states. The pimp spot may still help her yet. The RAW chart places her in a solid 1st.
So who should go home?
Jacob: By all rights, he should be going home tonight. The Maps say it, the RAW scores say it, Vegas is saying it. A second position singing placing and those horrid, ear bleeding, nails on chalk board performances didn't help him any. I doubt VFTW could even save him at this point. However, if you dig back into the RAW charts, you'll see he's been in the bottom for weeks while others went home in his place. I have to question that if he's really all that bad, why do they keep him around? I mean other than driving the fans insane. Conspiracy theories say that the Black Diva Never Dies (as coined by Rickey from Rickey.org) and they stay well beyond their welcome. To be honest, if they can't keep up, get rid of them. I don't care who they are.
Who will be in the B2?
No, that wasn't a typo. We're getting late enough in the game to know that they usually only call two in the bottom.
Haley: States say she'll be there while the RAW score says she won't. Her odd are rising but she charted dead last. Granted, she had the pimp spot BUT she sang a song that is relatively unknown to a great many of us and then couldn't even pull off a decent classic, looking much like an animal that's over-indulged in rotten fruits.
James: A first place singing spot won't help. The tears on the second song may or may not be a factor. RAW scores have him solid second so I don't think he'll go, but anything is possible at this stage.
Scotty: Always solid, nothing much new. States keep him, Chart keeps him, Vegas keeps him, but the RAW scores tell another story.
Lauren: In the rush to save Haley because her first song got trashed, Lauren may get forgotten and fall through the cracks. That second song choice won't help her at all. The Maps have her in the middle, the Chart has her in the middle, the RAW score has her in the middle and Vegas has her stagnating. A shame because she was a front runner when she started. This isn't American Mediocrity, ya know.
Shocker will put either Lauren or Scotty in the B2 with Jacob. Bigger Shocker will put Haley down there with one of them and biggest shock will be if one of those 3 go home instead of Jacob. If that happens, I recommend everyone scream shenanigans.
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