American Idol Top 10 Finalists Pay Tribute to Past Idol Winners

American Idol Top 10 performances: Where is Nicki Minaj?

The American Idol pays tribute to past Idol winners tonight with the theme "Music of the American Idols" . The top 10 finalist get to choose a song from a set of songs that past idol winners covered brilliantly in their respective seasons. The top 10 contestant has their work cut out this week. Song choice is key. Not only will they perform to compete with one another tonight, the voting public will see if they are at par with past Idol winners. The pressure is there as they need to do better by surpassing what their chosen winner have done with the song.  

Curtis Finch Jr.

Our Luther Vandross wannabe reprise the song "I Believe" by Fantasia. This was Fantasia's winning song in her season. He is infectious as usual but the performance was nothing close to the original. It was not even close to the Joshua Ledet cover done last season. There was nothing exciting about the performance except the big thrilling note at the end. One thing for sure, he is not this season's Mantasia. Not in this number.

Janelle Arthur 

Janell picked the song "Gone" by Montgomery Gentry which Scotty McCreery covered in his season. It was just alright. I think she sense that too when she made that "cotton in her mouth" comment with Ryan. I was expecting she picks a song from the Carrie Underwood vault. That is what I picture her. If there would be a next time, she should sing a country ballad that can tug on everyone's heartstrings. 

Devin Velez 

Devin picks "Temporary Home" from the Carrie Underwood music vault. It sounds a bit of a sleeper for me. There is that big falsetto at the end. That's just it. Its getting too familiar for Devin, too safe. I think he needs to veer away from singing ballads for a moment and think what he will do next. I think the recipe needs some spice.

Angela Miller 

Angie picks a Kelly Clarkson cover of a Celine Dione song, "I Surrender". Mariah summed it up into one word. Stellar!  Yes, I see the performance is pageantry. She does bring a bit of a drama to the performance which makes it interesting. But I don't see the fire. She needs to invoke more emotion to what she sings. A little vulnerability and humility goes a long way.

Paul Jolley 

Paul sings Scotty's "Amazed" cover of a Lonestar original.. The thing with Paul is to achieve balance in his performance. If he doesn't over sing, he is just ordinary. when he over sings, it becomes staged. It was good, a bit held back.  Not stellar.

Candice Glover 

Candice does a Jordin Sparks' cover of "I Who have Noting" by Ben E. King. Controlled power. That's how I describe that performance. And it left me wanting more. It is the first SO (standing ovation) of the night. All stood up for her, including Mariah's non-standing O. Mariah said she wanted to stand up for her but her skirt is too tight.

Lazaro Arbos 

Lazaro takes on a Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway".  Wrong song choice, I can tell. It's so painful to watch Lazaro flop this song out. Still, he is inspirational.

Kree Harisson 

Kree picks Carrie Underwood to emulate when she did "Crying" by Roy Orbison. If America wants a country artist to win this year, Kree definitely fits the bill. She can sing anything country and make it current. Yes, she does make you feel good. 

Burnell Taylor 

Burnell's choice is Idol Ruben Studdard's "Flying Without Wings". Burnell's Inflectons is contagious. His strong points are his distinct voice and how he use that to make the song his own. He makes you hear him out with his unique voice alone.

Amber Holcomb 

Again, I am going to use the word "pageantry". But she did nail the song brilliantly which gave her the second standing O of the night. She sang Kelly Clarkson's "A Moment Like This" so effortless. Great job!

My prediction

Candice, Amber, Kree and Burnell are my top 4.

American Idol Top 10: #1 Candice Glover,
#2 Amber Holcomb, #3 Kree Harrison, #4 Burnell Taylor,
#5 Angela Miller, #6 Paul Jolley, #7 Devin Velez,
#8 Curtis Finch Jr, #9 Janelle Arthur and #10 Lazaro Arbos

Angie takes the 5th spot.

Then I have the next five with Paul, Devin, Curtis, Janelle Lazaro. Anyone of the five is in danger of leaving this week.

Who is your favorite? Who do you think will be the first one to go?