Ten weeks have flown by and we're now down to our final three contestants for this season of American Idol.
Jasmine Trias
1. Saving All My Love For You - Perhaps Jasmine shouldnt have chosen a Whitney Houston song afterall; comparisons to the original would be inevitable. Her rendition was uneven at best although she did manage to wrap things up rather well. On the whole, the only compliment that came to my mind was nice. However, I was almost certain old Clive Davis had some lewd thoughts while looking up Jazzy's skimpy skirt-thing. And seriously, she should ditch those 9-inch stilettos; they seem to be hindering her movements onstage!
2. Mr Melody - I think Paula chose a ridiculous number for Jasmine. This song just doesnt bring out her strengths at all and certainly, it's not going to improve her chances in this competition.
3. All By Myself - It's ironic that Clive Davis chose this song for Jasmine. I'm sure he is aware that Latoya, who was ousted only last week, once performed an amazing rendition of this song and there's just no way dear Jazzy could ever perform better or even on par with her. With that said however, I thought Jasmine could have done this song splendidly (since she hit all the high notes right) if she had emoted the song rather than just perform it by rote. *haiz*
Fantasia Barrino
1. Chain Of Fools - Fantasia already covered this song on the new AI3 cd and frankly speaking, i thought that she sounded abit bland on that aforesaid recording. Hearing and seeing Fantasia live however, is a different matter altogether. She almost made this song more exciting than it actually is~!
2. Fool In Love - Simon's pick for Fantasia wasnt really as magical as he had claimed it would be though. A very formulaic, crowd pleaser performance. Nevertheless, it had Fantasia's charismatic stamp all over it.
3. The Greatest Love Of All - Clive Davis is a genius~!! This has got to be my favorite Fantasia performance of them all! I've heard this song being performed many times before (it's very common to hear this whitney classic being sung at talent shows) but never in such a raw and bewitching way as Fantasia had done. There's almost an untame quality about Fantasia's vocals here which is very heartrending... I was totally bowled over!!
Diana Degarmo
1. Ain't Mountain High Enough - This is so typical of a Diana Degarmo song; very uptempo with plenty of places to show off her strident voice and lung power. Just the sort of thing that would make me feel distant from her... And the sight of her heaving bosom through her see-thru' window is quite disturbing... :P
2. Because You Love Me - Randy probably chose this for Diana to test her competency at handling a pop ballad and I must admit, it was quite a flawless piece. Those last few high notes gave me goosebumps!
3. Don't Cry Out Loud - Another goosebumpy rendition! I think this is the best Diana song in the whole of AI3 yet~!! Although it doesnt really leave much room for emoting (due to all those long notes), I guess Diana deserves a spot in the top 2 just by virtue of this song alone. This girl can definitely belt better than anyone else (maybe except Latoya London) in this competition ~!
From this point, it is easy to assume that Diana and Fantasia are the ones more deserving to be in the top two spots for next week. Fantasia's macy gray-ish vocals may be a tad grating at times but there's no questioning her uniqueness and starpower, and her ability to work the crowd. When inspired, she is capable of delivering nuances of emotion in her songs which are unparalleled. Diana's strengths however, is her polished performing skills and note-perfect vocals. Being sixteen, I'm sure she has hordes of tweens in her fan base, ready to show their unflagging support. Despite having a few rough performances here and there, she has worked quite hard to be where she is right now. Jasmine on the other hand, has remained pretty much stagnant and evry reasonable viewer is already waiting with bated breath for her to bid her final farewell on the show...
