The Top 3 Perform

The Top 3 finalists will each perform three times tonight: 1. Their own personal song choice 2. a song selected by music producer Jimmy Iovine 3. a song selected by the judges. Pop music superstar Beyonce helped them work on their own personal choices:

Lonestar spent two weeks at #1 on the Billboard HOT 100 in 2000 with Amazed. Beyonce thought this song would allow Scotty McCreery to show more of his vocal range so he went for it full force. But even with throwing in some higher notes this song didn't feel like a natural fit for his style and personality.

Faith Hill had a hit in 1993 with Wild One and Lauren Alaina did her best to get over her nervous nature and sing her little heart out. Even Beyonce could notice that she is surrounded by uncertainty every time she tries to sing. She was doing her best to let go, but it came off as strained and screaming in a few places.

Led Zeppelin included What Is and What Should Never Be on their 1969 epic album Led Zeppelin II. Beyonce was very generous in praising the courage of Haley Reinhart for making this selection. Haley has many of the qualities necessary to be a star, including courage, but the fact remains that all the guts in the world isn't going to make up for the lack of talent. She is just a kid getting up there on stage and play acting.

Jimmy selected Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not by Thompson Square for Scotty. One of the best things to be said about an Idol finalist is that he sang the song better than the original and once again, that can not be said about Scotty's rendition. It was good, but it didn't come close to the fun and frolic to be found in the one we can see on CMT any time we want.

Jimmy selected If I Die Young by The Band Perry for Lauren. This one got close to being better than the original from the vocal range stand point, but it fell short in the area of emotional connection. In addition, her performances are always marred by her lack of confidence.

Jimmy selected Rhiannon by Fleetwood Mac for Haley. Along with her lack of talent this performance showcased her complete lack of an interesting personality. Stevie Nicks is an iconic persona where Haley is just a mess.

The judges selected the Kenny Rogers #5 hit from 1979, She Believes In Me, for Scotty. He's such a good kid with a full deep bass that sounds pure and clean. It would be nice if he had some personality traits with some energy or a performance style that was interesting, but he's so bland. He did a very good job with the song, but he has no texture to his voice to really make it special.

The judges selected the 2000 Grammy winner for Best Country Song, I Hope You Dance, for Lauren. She's a really sweet girl that would be lots of fun to go shopping at the mall with, but she has zero stage presence. Even when she hits a few nice notes she still appears scared and unsure of herself. This truly is one of the best songs ever and Lauren was just going through the motions.

The judges selected Alanis Morissette's You Oughta Know for Haley. This song let her scream her heart out and it didn't matter that she has no talent. I didn't think it was possible, but Haley's version was even more dreadful than the awful original.

Now more than ever I am convinced that Haley is only on the show this season because of some high powered connection that bought her this opportunity. I can't even begin to be able to predict which two will make it to the finals as none of these three have completely won me over. So I'm just going go with the boy and girl next door team of Scotty and Lauren making it through and predicting that Haley will finally be taken out of the running. But what do I know??????