I've never really been a fan of elton john but i think his stuff arent so easy to sing... thus, i predicted some horrid performances and i was right. How unfortunate~ SIR Elton John, however, is too much of a big-shot to make an appearance as guest judge but he was kind enough to appear in the recorded commentaries to say his piece about each of the contestants. I've got a weird feeling that the eltonjohn theme not only presided over the songs, it was also dominant in the dress code... Jackets and dresses in fuchsia or fluorescent colors just dont seem to work for me somehow... ;p
The Heavyweights -
I think Jennifer Hudson's Circle Of Life is the big winner for the night. She just nailed the song with the sheer power of her voice and i was... awestruck!!! Without a doubt, she blew all the other performances before her clear out of the water... Latoya London made up for last week's lackluster performance with Someone Saved My Life Tonight and it was the perfect song to showcase the wonderful control she has over her rich vocals. Moreover, i'm so glad that she decided to forgo her gruesome hair extensions~ LOL! Although I've never been an ardent supporter of George Huff, i must admit that his rendition of Take Me To The Pilot was certainly one of the better performances of the night. I just realized how consistent he has been vocally, week after week, and his unflagging enthusiasm is indeed something to marvel at. More importantly, he succeeded to gospel-ize an eltonjohn song with heartfelt credibility~ way to go, Georgie!
The Middleweights -
Fantasia Barrino's Something About the Way You Look Tonight was very reminiscent of her performance during country week. That's not a bad thing at all but why did she have to do that "yeah yeah yeah" thingy again??? SERIously, i think George Huff and Fantasia Barrino are bordering upon the realm of predictability because they just have that uncanny ability to mould whatever song from whatever genre/theme to suit their vocal styles. Latoya and Jennifer on the other hand, seem to do it the other way around... I'm not really sure which method works better but I'm more inclined toward the latter; Nonetheless, I hope that these four aforementioned will somehow make it to the top four positions in this competition ;)
Jasmine Trias' Dont Let The Sun Go Down On Me started off pretty well but there were a few shrieky parts and at least two or three flat notes. It's apparent that her voice has yet to mature as well as her other, older peers in this competition so in that sense, my poor jasmine is at a slight disadvantage :-( Jon Peter Lewis was in his element singing RocketMan; he's got the vocal tone to carry an eltonjohn song convincingly but regrettably, i think his voice is just not strong enough for him to be one of the frontrunners in AI3.
The Lightweights -
Diana Degarmo's outfit was gorgeous but her I'm Still Standing was absolutely*bleargh*... But Paula mentioned something about her being sick so i guess that explains it; furthermore, Diana did look abit under the weather. Camile Velasco seemed to be enjoying herself onstage so much, I feel quite guilty for not being able to enjoy her rendition of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. But it really was a shaky piece and i fear her days on AI3 are numbered, just as Simon had prophesied. Similarly, John Stevens' Crocodile Rock was as disappointing; he seemed to be getting from bad to worse each week and this time it was near-intolerable. It's such a waste really; Camile & John are both incredibly talented but their vocal styles are too genre-specific and therefore, the varying themes on AI only emphasizes their lack of versatility rather than anything else. The harsh reality that these two favorites of mine might face the axe sometime very soon is certainly rather depressing. Even so, someone has to go...
Bottom three predictions: Camile Velasco, John Stevens & Diana Degarmo.
