The Top 4 sing California

The Top 4 finalists are singing songs in the theme California Dreamin along with a second song that they wish they had written themselves.

Phillip Phillips got the show off to a less than dreamy start with his dreary rendition of Have You Ever Seen The Rain that Credence Clearwater Revival took to #8 in 1971. John Fogerty has a strong and distinctive voice, but Phillip's vocals were completely weak and forgettable.

Journey climbed all the way up to #11 with Faithfully in 1983. Hollie Cavanagh performed this romantic power ballad with grace and confidence. Her vocals were just as outstanding as always belting out the big notes with complete purity.

You Raise Me Up delivers a climatic punch when originally performed in 2004 by Josh Groban. Even with a gospel choir backing him up, though, Joshua Ledet wasn't really able to get the song off the ground. His lead vocals were simply lacking the power and range that is necessary to really sock it to us.

The legendary blues/jazz/R&B singer Etta James was known for her honest and true interpretations of heartfelt lyrics on songs like Steal Away. Jessica Sanchez has the mature vocal range to effortless do justice to an Etta James classic.

Maroon 5 went to #5 in 2004 with This Love, but as a duet with Joshua and Phillip it felt forced and out of whack. Neither of them has the personality or vocal range to get close to the character found in the original. Then compare it to the artful vocal blending and harmonizing found when Jessica and Hollie take on the 1989 #1 smash Eternal Flame by the Bangles. They are both so talented and this song really highlighted their strengths and skills. It was beautiful. All four of the remaining finalists ended up sounding pretty good on the huge mega hit Waiting For A Girl Like You that spent 10 weeks at #2 in 1981. In a nut shell, the strength of the girls voices helped to cover up and compensate for the vocal shortcomings of the boys.

Volcano by Damien Rice is the kind of song and the kind of music that Phillip Phillips likes best. This explains a lot. It was boring and vocally flat. The musicians on stage with him and the girl singing background vocals with him were more interesting and entertaining than he was by leaps and bounds. 

I Can't Make You Love Me is a #18 hit for Bonnie Raitt in 1992. Hollie Cavanagh shared a more vulnerable side of herself with this tender and expressive performance of the song. Her voice is so crystal clear and she wears her emotions all over her face for everyone to see.

It's a Man's Man's Man's World hit #8 in 1966 for the Godfather of Soul, James Brown. Joshua Ledet provided a very straightforward and predictable version of the song. It was very true to what James Brown is famous for, but there was nothing exceptional added to it.

The Season 3 Miss American Idol finalist, Jennifer Hudson, went on to win an Oscar for her earth shattering performance of And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going from the film DreamGirls. Jessica Sanchez simply has the vocal gift necessary to do this song justice. She stood still center stage and yet was able to blow the roof off the place with her voice alone.

The duet tonight between Hollie and Jessica was a sample of how exciting and entertaining the finals of Season 11 could be. They are both very talented and likeable young women and hopefully will have impressive careers ahead of them. I am very hopeful that this final face off could become a reality, so the prediction this week for the bottom two has to be Phillip and Joshua. After weeks of lackluster performances, it's finally time for Phillip to leave the competition.

The Top 8 - Sing the 80's

Tonight the top 8 finalists are singing songs from the totally awesome 80's!

Debarge took I Like It to #31 in 1983 and Deandre Brackensick brought it right into the present. Once again he chose a song that allowed him to show off his extremely impressive vocal range while highlighting his smooth and wonderful falsetto. Deandre is totally ready for his videos to get millions of views on YouTube.

Foreigner hit #1 in 1984 with I Want To Know What Love is. Elise Testone hoped this power ballad would sustain the energy from her rocking performance last week, but unfortunately it just exposed her vocal and performance limitations.

Colton and Skylar got together to perform Islands In The Stream that Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton took to #1 in 1983. For the most part they just appeared to be going through the motions, but their voices are good enough that it wasn't all bad.

Genesis took That's All! to #6 in 1982. Phillip Phillips was out there showing off a combination of awkwardness mixed with anger. He couldn't seem to connect with the song at all and he made it very obvious that he didn't like it.

Hollie and Deandre served up some pure entertainment with their very fun rendition of The Pointer Sisters #9 hit song I'm So Excited from 1984. It was bouncy, energetic and showed off the lightness in their youthful personalities while also highlighting amazing vocals.

Simply Red had a #1 hit in 1989 with If You Don't Know Me By Now. Joshua Ledet once again took the song to his gospel comfort zone and performed with passion. One thing that he hasn't shown off yet is if he can actually sustain a single note for an extended period of time. There's lots of gasping up and down but no controlled blowing us away.

Whitney Houston took How Will I Know to #1 in 1985. Jessica Sanchez really makes it all look so easy. She can perform outstanding vocals live so incredibly well that it's going to be wonderfully impressive to hear what she produces in the studio. She's wonderful.

Phillip and Elise got together to drag down the fantastic classic rock song from 1981 Stop Dragging My Heart Around. Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty took it to #3 on the Billboard HOT 100 and were a completely natural pairing, but these kids just painfully strained their voices trying to force it out.

Irene Cara had a #1 song for 6 weeks in 1983 with Flashdance, What A Feeling. Hollie Cavanagh looked spectacular in a very cute sparkly blue dress while she strutted and showed off her great legs in some very cute shoes. Along with her working the stage so well came more of her fantastic voice that belted out this great song to perfection.

Jessica and Joshua paired up on the 1987 #1 smash I Knew You Were Waiting from George Michael and Aretha Franklin. It's a good song, but it didn't provide Jessica with any great moments to shine and Joshua just over sang it.

Cyndi Lauper won the Grammy for Best New Artist after releasing great material like Time After Time that hit #1 in 1984. Colton Dixon has a unique ability to transform an amazing song into his very own showstopper. He tore the roof off the place while taking us all on the ride with him.

Bette Midler hit #1 in 1989 with Wind Beneath My Wings. Skylar Laine wanted the crowd to see that she can belt out the big notes and this song easily allowed her to do that. She also managed to interpret the song lyrics very well.

My prediction for the bottom three this week is Elise, Phillip and Joshua. They all have the same problem of lacking range and versatility. They serve up the exact same thing every week, but instead of getting better, it just ends up being more tired and boring. I think that Elise will be going home.