American Idol

They sang, and we voted. It’s out of our hands now, but let’s review our picks for the best and worst performances from the Top 13 show. We’re giving gold stars (Rachel Berry would approve!) to four performers this week.

Best All-Around: Casey Abrams. Casey’s lively take on Joe Cocker’s arrangement of a Beatles classic was a terrific combination of commanding stage presence and strong vocals. As Randy told him last night, his performances are fun for the audience. Casey’s consistency could eventually work against him with voters (people love to watch performers grow), but so far, we’re not complaining.

Best Vocals: Pia Toscano. Taking on Celine Dion (though the original is actually by Eric Carmen) was a bold move, but Pia has the range and vocal control needed to pull off a huge, difficult ballad. She also looked gorgeous. We wouldn’t mind seeing her try something upbeat in the weeks to come, but last night’s singing was outstanding.

Most Improved: James Durbin. At times, James’ determination to remind us that he’s all about Rawk! and Metal! has been a little off-putting. Last week’s Judas Priest performance was good, sure, but it seemed like he was trying too hard. This week’s restrained performance (and ditching of the silly scarf “tail” he liked to have hanging from his pants) was much more enjoyable.

Boldest Move: Naima Adedapo. Naima’s wild-woman performance of Rihanna’s “Umbrella” was flawed in spots, but it was so exciting to watch. To take a song that was a huge pop hit just a few years ago and completely go for it the way Naima did takes guts, and we think the result was worth the risk, especially for the reggae verse that she wrote herself. Too cool.

On the other end of the spectrum, we have a trifecta of the not-so-great. And they’re all ladies. Sorry, girls!

In no particular order:

Thia Megia’s cover of “Smile” by Charlie Chaplin (via Michael Jackson) started out reasonably well, but fell apart halfway through. The strange jazzy arrangement just didn’t work. Also, a word of advice to young Thia — even though the song is called “Smile,” it’s not actually a happy song, so you probably didn’t need to beam through it.

Ashthon Jones looked incredible singing “When You Tell Me That You Love Me” by Diana Ross, but unfortunately the vocals didn’t match up with her fabulous diva style. We’re not sure whether it was nerves or poor song choice (maybe a little of both), but the performance was a dangerous combination of bad and boring.

Poor Karen Rodriguez. She really loves Selena, so it must have been tough for her to get bad reviews on her performance of the late singer’s “I Could Fall in Love.” Unfortunately, Karen really brought nothing to the song. She seemed to have difficulty with the vocals, and her stage presence... well, let’s say the whole thing felt a little bit like that dreaded word (for the Idol stage, anyway) karaoke.