海角大神

No disrespect to Stevie Wonder but American Idol needs to come to grips with the fact that it is 2012, not 1972. 聽

Stevie Wonder's last album was released almost seven years ago and the one before that 17 years ago. 聽While Mr. Wonder will no doubt be an inspiration to generations of artists to come, it should be the artists who are genuinely inspired by Stevie Wonder who choose to interpret his music. 聽Instead, American Idol forces its contestants to pay tribute to an artist who may or may not have had any relevance to who they are as artists today and in doing so, American Idol also forces its viewers to listen to music that was at its height over three decades ago.

While a tribute to the late Whitney Houston was timely, it was certainly odd that the boys were given Stevie Wonder songs while the girls got to perform music that is not only more current but has been rejuvenated by Houston's recent passing. 聽Perhaps that was the reasoning behind the decision to divide the contestants by gender Wednesday night; something that is usually abandoned after the semi-finals. 聽If American Idol knew that the guys would be at a deficit with Stevie Wonder's songbook, why subject them (or the viewers) to that? 聽Would it not have been significantly more interesting to hear male聽interpretations聽of Houston's music?聽

I'm just keeping it real, as Randy Jackson says.

With that being said, it is hard to pretend that there wasn't already a significant bias towards the girls going into Wednesday night's show since there was little interest in hearing the male performances . . . yes, even Phil Phillips's (a noted favorite of mine). 聽Surprisingly, some of the boys "worked it out" and didn't make viewers feel like they should be donning polyester leisure suits. 聽

The Boys

Joshua Ledet: 聽Joshua sang, "I Wish," and admitted early on that he was completely out of his comfort zone. 聽Jimmy Iovine and Mary J. Blige felt that if Joshua could let go he could do well. 聽The judges gave Joshua plenty of positive feedback; Randy claiming that Joshua "blew it out," but Josh's performance was one of the most dated of the evening and the orchestra of horns certainly didn't help. C

Jermaine Jones: 聽Jermaine brought his deep voice to "Knocks Me Off My Feet," and somehow Stevie Wonder suited the 25-year-old, self-proclaimed Mama's boy; one could almost imagine a pre-pubescent Jermaine performing Stevie for his mother in their living room. 聽And while the genre suited Jermaine (certainly far better than his 1980's Michael Jackson inspired jacket paired with a pink polo shirt and red high tops) it doesn't necessarily equate to a riveting or memorable performance. 聽C

Colton Dixon: 聽Colton's performance of "Lately," was like a ray of hope shining into the dingy, stagnant recesses of Nigel Lythgoe's most recent American Idol failure. After Colton gave Jimmy and Mary context by playing an original song, they advised Colton to rely on his vulnerability. 聽Somehow Colton managed to make the song sound not only聽believable but even current. 聽It wasn't a flawless performance vocally, but who really cares when there is that much emotion behind it? 聽B+

Deandre Brackensick: 聽Mary J. Blige tried to convince Deandre Brackensick to be "less pretty" while performing "Master Blaster," and Jimmy said he'd have to do more than swing his hair around. 聽Essentially they were telling Deandre to not be . . . well, Deandre. 聽The judges, who have continued to baffle with their enthusiasm over Deandre, were true to form on Wednesday. Still, it wasn't the worst performance of the night, the Jamaican-flair helped earn him the plus. 聽C+

Heejun Han: 聽Heejun had to be the surprise performance of the night. 聽Not only did he manage to win over Jimmy, who had some pretty harsh words toward Heejun last week, but for the first time his singing outshone his own comedy. 聽Heejun sang, "All in Love is Fair," and though it wasn't particularly modern,聽beautiful, emotional vocals are timeless. 聽 B

Jeremy Rosado: 聽Jeremy was intent on proving that he deserved the wild card save and chose to sing, "Rhythym in the Sky." 聽What resulted was a completely forgettable performance that may have convinced many people that America got it right by not voting him in to the top 10. 聽Only Randy was keeping it real, saying that Jeremy needed more swag 聽(swag would have been nice but I would have settled for a pulse.) 聽C

Phillip Phillips: 聽With such a unique, indie sound the chances of Phil pulling off a Stevie Wonder song weren't great. 聽Colton's performance gave those of us who were tormented by anxiety for Phil throughout the entire episode, a glimpse of聽possibilities. 聽If Colton could make Stevie sound current maybe Phillip could make Stevie sound edgy and alternative? 聽Phil's decision to sing "Superstition" was perhaps the only feasible decision he could make since it might just be the one Stevie song he could succeed with. 聽Often, artists are encouraged to connect to their audience but when Phil Phillips performs he gets lost in the music so completely, it seems as if he forgets the audience is even there. 聽It is that inaccessibility that makes him enigmatic and fascinating to watch. 聽B+

The Girls

Elise Testone: 聽Poor Elise. 聽Though one of the best vocalists on the show, she was completely out of sorts with her song choice. 聽Elise originally chose, "The Greatest Love of All," but Jimmy and Mary pushed her to do "I'm Your Baby Tonight," instead. 聽While the song certainly suited her better than the first, Elise seemed dejected and frustrated by having to perform a song she wasn't familiar with. 聽That frustration continued into her live performance. 聽The judges even commented that they felt like she was boxing with the song. 聽C

Erika van Pelt: 聽Erika, a wild card save, is proof that sometimes the judges get it right. 聽She chose, "I Believe in You and Me," and was encouraged by Jimmy and Mary to really make the song her own. 聽Her "meat and potatoes" voice, as Mary J. Blige termed it, was satisfying and as she reached the latter part of her song, she really added her own flavor. 聽Jennifer claimed she had "goosies" even before Erika sang - she was that good. 聽B

Shannon Magrane: 聽Though there was a moment in rehearsals when something clicked and Shannon hit some impressive notes while singing, "I Have Nothing," in her live performance, the only thing clicking was sound of the audience's tongues as they shook their heads in pity. 聽Even the judges had to admit that Shannon's performance was not good. 聽(Steven Tyler said she "crashed and burned," which is a far cry from his standard "beautiful.")聽 Afterwards, Shannon tried to convince America that she could really sing that song but the harder she tried to convince us, the less credible she seemed. 聽C

Skylar Lane: 聽Skylar managed to give Mary J. Blige "goosies" after heeding her advice to keep it softer while singing, "Where Do Broken Hearts Go." 聽On stage, Skylar played it soft but still managed to exhibit the same drive that made her stand out in last week's performances. 聽Though Jennifer complained about it sounding a bit nasally early on, Skylar took a Whitney Houston song and dressed it up in country clothes and it worked. 聽She could go far this season. 聽B+

Hollie Cavanagh: 聽Hollie selected Houston's, "All the Man that I Need," 聽because she felt as though it had a lot of emotion. 聽Hollie's voice may be tailor made for emotional songs but there are variations of emotion and this particular song, though she sang it beautifully, was not believable coming from Hollie. 聽The judges think that Hollie might make it to the end, which is hard to disagree with when she sings like this and picks such great outfits! 聽B+

Jessica Sanchez: 聽And then there was Jessica who sang Whitney's defining song, "I Will Always Love You." 聽Even if Jessica didn't choose this song herself, chances are the producers would have forced it on her since someone needed to sing it and only Jessica could pull it off. 聽Jessica is a vocal powerhouse with a breathtakingly beautiful voice; the judges were enraptured and covered in goosies as they gave a standing ovation, the audience聽collectively wept over the blessing that is her voice, and American Idol critics everywhere put Jessica's name in their headline, knowing it would optimize their web traffic. 聽But before we announce the winner in Week One, it must be said that the arrangement was rushed and didn't allow the song to build to its natural crescendo. Had the timing of the arrangement been better, she may have had a truly genuine moment - not just a moment that the producers convinced viewers she would have. 聽A-

Predictions:

On Thursday, Idol will announce the boy and girl who earned the least amount of votes and the judges will have final say over who goes and who stays. Chances are that the bottom two will be Elise Testone and Jeremy Rosado, with the judges electing to send Elise home (which, by the way, would be the wrong choice but divination is the master of these predictions, not justice.)

Check back on Friday to learn who made it to the American Idol Top 12.