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Learn more- "American Idol" - Top Three Performance - May 18, 2011
Theme: Three songs: contestants' choice, Jimmy's choice, judges choice
In the audience: Elijah Wood and his "Wilfred" co-star; Priscilla Presley; Neil Sedaka
Mentor: Beyonce on whom we get a video package on her super-mega-international awesomeness.
Contestant: Scotty McCreery
Song: "Amazed," Lonestar. Beyonce loves Scotty and thinks he can show off his range.
Performance: Leaning on a piano Scotty delivers the ballad simply and cleanly. And he holds the microphone straight.
Steven: Thinks he just keeps getting better and better and likes that he saw that he get a little angry. He also thought it was beautiful.
JLo: Thinks he's grown a lot as a performer and thought it was a great way to start the show.
Randy: Thinks it was a great song choice but thought there were a couple of pitchy moments but the ending was money.
Contestant: Lauren Alaina
Song:"Wild One," Faith Hill. Beyonce tries to give her confidence to be a fearless diva and leave her nerves behind.
Performance: It seems a little speedy for her breathing but she's holding on. It's a little jerky, there's a couple of pitch problems but it's mostly okay. It's no home run but she seems happy.
JLo: Says she has to attack it like that every time and it was good.
Randy: He agrees with Beyonce's advice about fearlessness and liked that she showed she was having fun.
Steven: He also likes that she was having fun and thinks she's ready for America to be all over her.
Contestant: Haley Reinhart
Song:"What Is and What Should Never Be," Led Zeppelin. Beyonce thinks it's a fearless choice. Haley hopes her dad can play guitar with her.
Performance: She starts off at the top of the stairs singing sultry and slow in a higher part of her register and then kicks into the rock part of the song. And, yup, her dad is there onstage playing with her. It's really sweet and he can play. It may be a risky choice but she's doing a great job with each part of the song. Until she trips on the stairs on the way back up the stairs to the stage. She recovers instantly and kills the end of the song with some dancing and scatting. She's going for broke. She gets a big ovation.
Randy: Says this is what it's all about. He calls her fearless and calls her choice that's not for faint of heart. Calls it one of her best performances ever.
Steven: He says it's not about how many times you fall, it's about how many times you get back up. He calls it superb. Randy jokes he thought the fall was planned.
JLo: Says everyone has fallen onstage and you keep going and that's a sign of a professional. Says it was a good, good round for her.
The judges say that Haley won round one.
Contestant: Scotty. During stool chat with Ryan, we see his audition again. "Baby, lock them doors..." Scotty says it seems like it was ten years ago. Scotty likes Jimmy song choice.
Song: "Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not," Thompson Square
Performance: Scotty plays guitar. He plays a very playful song kind of serious at first. It seems a little slow and a tiny bit generic but it's good enough and he seems like he's having fun.
Steven: Says he was living that one and sang it really good.
JLo: Liked several moments where he was in the zone and says to capture those moments. She asked him to shave his head for the finale, or as short it was in the final.
Randy: Randy liked the short hair. Says Jimmy picked a good song for him and compares him to Garth Brooks on a performance level. He felt like he was at Scotty's concert again.
Ryan says they have trimmers backstage and they can cut Scotty's hair right now. He says he's game.
Contestant: Lauren Alaina. She's getting some make-up put on her legs because her pantyhose ripped. We get a look back at her audition, which was pretty great. Out on the stools, Lauren can't believe she's here. Jimmy picks "If I Die Young," The Band Perry. Lauren knows and likes it.
Song: "If I Die Young," The Band Perry
Performance: Lauren definitely seems more confident tonight and it's translating to this performance. It's a slow-to-midtemp one but she's holding on to it and keeping it spirited and crisp. She seems to goof near the end but she recovers quickly and finishes with passion. Nice job.
JLo: Says she has the most beautiful tone of the finalists and says she had a moment in the song where she got caught up and it was beautiful.
Randy: Says she realized that she goofed on the modulation but she also recovered instantly and thinks it was a good choice.
Steven: Says he also saw the goof up but thought she recovered great as well.
Lauren admits she goofed the key change. Ryan asks Lauren's mom what it's like watching her daughter sing, she says it's crazy and it's aged her 20 years.
Contestant: Haley. We see Haley's audition. Jimmy picks "Rhiannon" by Fleetwood Mac. Haley likes it.
Song: "Rhiannon," Fleetwood Mac
Performance:She starts off slowly in a stage full of mist, the tempo picks and she gets a Stevie-esque wind machine.This is a very odd performance. It was a weird edit of the song, it didn't hit the best parts of her register, she didn't seem that enthusiastic about it. Randy: Thinks she's having fun up there and did a good job but it was kind of somber.
Steven: Thought it was so beautiful and reminded him why he fell in love with Stevie Nicks.
JLo: Thought it was beautifully shot and thought it was a nice contrast to her last song and thought she was going to go a little further.
Steven gives round two to Lauren, Jennifer and Randy gives it to Scotty. Jimmy , who is in the audience, thinks they were great and feels Scotty is the offspring of Bruce Springsteen and Garth Brooks, Lauren was amazingly poised and that Haley did a dark, difficult moment really well.
The contestants get their song selection at their hometown visits. Scotty gets his and it's pretty obvious he doesn't recognize the title.
Contestant: Scotty
Song: "She Believes in Me," Kenny Rogers
Performance: He sings it well, it sounds a little dissonant in parts but when he ramps up the end he nails it and ends on a sweet, high, tender note. (JLo sings along).
Steven: Says he hasn't sung a chorus like that yet and he put it over the top.
JLo: She says they all wanted to see if he could hit that big chorus and he showed them.
Randy: Seeing him believe in himself in hitting the notes was great and he thought it was nicely done.
His dad is really proud of him and humbled by the support he's getting. Ryan makes him sing "baby lock them doors." It's pretty cute.
Laurent gets her song choice at her AT&T store appearance at her home visit.
Contestant: Lauren
Song: "I Hope You Dance," Leann Womack
Performance: This time she gets the mist treatment and is wearing a Disney princess dress. Her confidence remains intact and she sounds good but it's kind of a yawn. She tries to jazz it up at the end a bit and it's fine.
JLo: Got "goosie's" from head to toe and calls it beautiful and dares to say she won the round already.
Randy: Thinks Leann, his close personal friend, probably thinks Lauren slayed it. He thinks she's in it to win it.
Steven: Says she walked out like she owned the Grand Ole Opry and he's also friends with Leann and thinks she'd like it too.
Haley gets her news in the car ride home.
Contestant: Haley
Song: "You Oughta Know," Alanis Morissette
Performance: go out with you to the theatre? The opening is snoozeville, she's not putting much energy into it. But when she gets to the chorus she gets a little more ferocious. She directs the "scratch my nails down someone else's back' line right at Randy.
Randy: Thought they were amazing choruses and that Haley is in it to win it even though she had some problems with the fast rhythms.
Steven: Thinks it was perfect.
JLo: Says no one can match her in terms of range and power and noticed the rhythmic bobbling but that it was strong in the choruses.
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