The collection of songs on Wednesday’s American Idol included music from season-five finalist Kelly Pickler, pop diva Lady Gaga and doo-wop revivalist Bruno Mars. At least the finalists were familiar with songs from “This Decade,” aka 2010-through-the-present, although a couple still missed the mark. Akon, who’s a big Jessica Sanchez fan, mentored this week while Jimmy Iovine was busy trying to plot Colton Dixon and Phillip Phillips against each other. Who really brought the heat to the Idol stage and how did they handle the judges’ critiques? THR has the answers to your burning questions…
Which song did Dixon hope to sing before Iovine talked him into Skylar Grey’s “Love The Way You Lie?” The 20-year-old emo rocker tells THR. “I really wanted to do ‘I Will Not Bow’ by Breaking Benjamin, which is a hard rock song. I love that song. And I’m not sure if I’m happy that I let Jimmy change it.” As for his duet of “Don’t You Wanna Stay” with Skylar Laine, Dixon admits, “Honestly, when they said I was doing another country song this week, I was a little discouraged, I was. I will not do another country song while I’m on the show. I’m putting my foot down.”
Can Joshua Ledet picture himself as a Bruno Mars-type performer? The 20-year-old has certainly shown the versatility it takes to be a big star. “If I were to sing like an upbeat song, it would probably have that kind of twist to it and be that style definitely,” says Ledet, who performed Mars’ “Runaway Baby,” adding: “Bruno is amazing and I was definitely scared going into tonight singing because he rocked that song at the Grammys.” As for his perfomance of Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger” in a duet with Sanchez and Hollie Cavanagh, Ledet confesses: “Just with (Clarkson), her range (is) so high, trying to hit those high notes every time was kind of tough.”
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What did Cavanagh take away from her mentoring session with Akon? “He kind of hit the nail on the head for me,” the 17-year-old vocal powerhouse tells THR. “I haven’t had that much experience with music so I am learning every day that I’m here. So he was right, like he was saying he had time to become a professional and we have to dive in and just be professionals.”
Is Phillips aware of what’s going on with his feet when he’s singing and playing guitar on stage? “I have no idea,” says the 21-year-old Georgia singer of Stevie Nicks‘ dreams. “I get so nervous up on stage, singing and everything so my, I don’t know, my whole body just kind of does something that I don’t know what’s going on.” Behold, his reaction to Steven Tyler comparing him to Steve McQueen and Johnny Cash’s offspring: “I guess it makes a good-looking baby. I hope so.”
Did Lady Gaga inspire Elise Testone’s outfit for her performance of “You and I?” The 28-year-old South Carolina songstress tells THR that Idol‘s stylist selected her sheer black dress, calliing it “totally appropriate for Gaga.”
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Who was Laine hoping to hear from on Twitter? None other than Pickler, whose song “Didn’t Know How Much I Loved You” was Skylar’s solo pick Wednesday night. “I think Kelly watched tonight. She might watch the performance. I hope I get a tweet from her. I really love her. She’s a sweetheart.” (Laine indeed got her wish.)
Has Sanchez ever considered being part of a singing group before? “I’ve been offered to be in groups before and I’ve always said no because I like being solo and I suck at harmonizing,” says the 16-year-old San Diego native. As for whether or not there was another song that Bebe Chez was considering, “No, not at all. The artist that I covered tonight is somebody that is not really credited for what they do and I’m glad that people got a chance to listen to the song and got a chance to know the artist (Jazmine Sullivan).”
Twitter: @Idol_Worship
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