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On American Idol’s top 10 performance show on Wednesday night, finalist Erika Van Pelt performed Billy Joel‘s “New York State of Mind” — and her rendition left judges Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler impressed.
Contestants were tasked to cover one of Billy Joel’s songs and after Van Pelt’s rendition, Jackson applauded her effort, saying, “I loved the vocals.” He even went so far to declare her one of the best singers in the competition.
“Listen, you can clearly sing the phone book, that was beautiful there too,” Jackson said, before offering one piece of advice in regards to the oversinging. “Those who can do should and those who can’t do shouldn’t, right? .. You can go to some runs [at the end of the song] and take those liberties because you can do that. By the time you get to the end, wear us out because you got that.”
Lopez praised Van Pelt’s performance, calling her vocals “beautiful,” but agreed with Jackson. “I’d love to see you more let loose vocally at the end, but also let loose with your body too,” she offered. Tyler called it “outstanding.”
Watch Van Pelt’s performance below:
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