Live at American Idol: Will Pia's Lack of Performance "Punch" Ruin Her Chances of Winning?

She's a constant favorite among Idol voters, but could the golden voice be sent home early?

Every Idol fan knows Pia Toscano's voice is one of the strongest in the competition, but if voting was based on moves alone, she'd have been voted off weeks ago.

Is it stage fright or just feeling awkward that has kept her from letting loose?

From our seat behind the judges table at Wednesday night's performance show, we saw her moves when the cameras weren't rolling and found out why the finalists' song choices aren't so easy to make...

Pia is the total package. Almost. Her looks, her voice and her style are the stuff stars are made of, but her rigid body language is becoming a problem. We gotta give Pia props for finally stepping away from her usual ballad, but even all the flashing lights and backup singers couldn't mask her boring stage presence. Many could chalk it up to stage fright and not knowing what to do, but when given the opportunity to get goofy with her fellow Idol contestants, she did her best to not take part.

At first we thought she might be feeling shy to strut her stuff, but after Paul McDonald's performance, everyone in the competition hit the stage at commercial for a supercute and amazing dance party with the show's stage manager. Everyone, except Pia.

While Lauren Alaina, James Durbin and Stefano Langone showed off their line-dancing and joined Casey Abrams in some goofy square-dancing, Pia was finding every possible way to hide in the back and disappear. Jacob Lusk did his best to pull her out on stage and lead her in a few twirls and groovy moves, but Pia wasn't having it. She'd participate then head back to the shadows, sometimes grabbing onto the back of James in an attempt to use him as a wall.
 
We get it. Not everyone is a mover and a shaker, but her fear of looking awkward and refusal to pick up her feet and sway her hips is something we think could potentially kill her in this competition. C'mon, girl! Those who are afraid of looking stupid shouldn't be in this business, so you better start showing us your fun side.
 
After an amazing show, we had a chance to sit down with the finalists, who told us their first song choices don't always make the cut. "Song choices are always kind of tough because there are so many freaking songs," Paul told us. "This week it was tough for me because I took in a handful of songs and [the producers] were like, 'Yeah, that sounds like crap.' I kept learning different songs and we finally ended up sticking with the Johnny Cash, kind-of-country thing, but it was tough. The bigger the pool, the harder to choose from."