Things were getting downright freaky at the judges' table tonight on American Idol.
While it was a mostly positive evening for the Top 11, who seemed to get a kick out of the show's salute to Motown, one contestant in particular had Jennifer Lopez quaking in her stilettos and Steven Tyler talking in vivid metaphors.
Well, more vivid than usual, anyway...
"You took your time, like a true professional, dude!" Randy Jackson praised Jacob Lusk, who finally toned down the theatrics enough on "All I Need to Get By" to remind us why the judges think he's the best darn thing to hit the Idol stage since...sliced bread?
But in raving about Jacob's timing, Randy may have started something.
"You held it back, you milked it, and at the very end," Steven continued, "it just was beautiful. You did it, man."
Then J.Lo chimed in. "You made us beg!" she exclaimed. "You made us beg for those notes! We were like, 'Give it to us, Jacob! Give it to us, Jacob!' You know what it is? You move me. You move us...You just took your time with it and you made us beg! Crazy!"
Crazy, indeed.
But though no one had that particular effect on the judges for the rest of the evening, there was some good stuff. (Ryan Seacrest even noted about an hour and a half in that Randy hadn't used the word pitchy once.)
Casey Abrams, though probably not intentionally styled to look like Zach Galifianakis, returned to form after his failed Nirvana experiment with "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," which gave him the opportunity to growl and connect with the audience all he wanted.
Facing mandatory Motown, country boy Scotty McCreery could have been a disaster this week—but he and the producers figured out a country arrangement of Stevie Wonder's "For Once in My Life" and, somehow, the kid made it work. Some of his high notes were a little iffy, but, as Randy said, the low notes were "lady killers."
Pia Toscano's voice rang out like the crystal bell it always is on "All in Love Is Fair," but the judges are finally tired of her just standing there, singing a ballad. Jennifer said it's time for Pia to "own that stage" like Céline Dion, and Steven figured that if his fellow judges want her to "step it out, put [her] sneakers on and kick some ass"—she'll do it.
Same went for Stefano Langone: The judges loved his voice as he walked in David Cook's footsteps on "Hello," but they don't feel he's connecting enough with the audience. Maybe they're perceiving things differently from up close like that, because he sure seems to be pulling in the votes...
Paul McDonald brought the Paul McDonald to "The Tracks of My Tears" and, as always, if you like a shot of Rod Stewart rasp with your indie rock, there's nothing not to like about him. Actually, by playing his own guitar this time, Paul's long limbs weren't all aflutter and it was a good chance to determine whether you actually like his voice or not.
We do.
James Durbin closed the night by showing some really nice range—plus a few yelps and shrieks, of course—on "Living for the City."
Haley Reinhart growled and purred her way through "You Really Got a Hold on Me," prompting the judges to finally welcome the Haley of yore back to the competition. And just in time, too, considering she was thisclose to going home last week.
Similarly, Naima Adedapo sounded 100 times better on "Dancing in the Streets" than she'd sounded in weeks past on more contemporary pop hits. But a little torn on whether or not she should have stopped singing to bust a move toward the end of the song, just when she was really hitting her stride.
"It was American Idol morphing into So You Think You Can Dance," Ryan quipped as SYTYCD producer and judge Nigel Lythgoe applauded from the audience.
Lauren Alaina and Thia Megia gave sort of interchangeable up-tempo performances earlier in the evening, both looking glamorous as they strutted around the judges' table and into the audience. Lauren sang "You Keep Me Hangin' On" and Thia did "Heat Wave."
But while Lauren's voice enhanced the Supremes classic, Thia may have hit a wall as far as how exciting she's going to get.
Another contestant goes home tomorrow, one week shy of an automatic spot on the American Idols Live summer tour.
(Originally published March 23, 2011, at 7:02 p.m. PT)