America is down to the final twelve. Last night, the theme was soul. Will the next American Idol be La Toya London? Amy Adams? Matt Rogers? Camile Velasco? Jon Peter Lewis? Fantasia Barrino? George Huff? Jennifer Hudson? John Stevens? Leah LaBelle? Jasmine Trias? or Diana DeGarmo?
Up first on Tuesday evening:
#1
La Toya London
Oakland's La Toya London starts out the night with "Ain't Nobody."
Her goal, she says, is to step out on stage and touch people. And that she did last night. Despite the distraction of the flashing lights in the background, La Toya rocked the house.
Judge, Randy Jackson tells her "Man, what a way to start the night. That was hot. I loved that. I loved the way you showed your personality. This is going to be a hot night."
Paula Abdul affirms "You are a star."
Even Simon Cowell echoes the praise. He says, "I don't know where you go from here. That was just an amazing performance." "Awesome," Simon says.
#2
Amy Adams
Goofball, Amy Adams loves the rush of being on stage. She sings "You Make Me Feel Brand New." Randy and Paula think the performance is O.K. However, Simon feels she was dreary. We love her attitude and her response "Hopefully America will allow me to try harder next time."
#3
Matt Rogers
Matthew Rogers!
The Oakland Raiders' Marques Tuiasosopo, who was the quarterback for and teammate of Matt Rogers at the University of Washington, said "Matt sang everywhere. He'd be putting on his jockstrap at 6 a.m. and started singing opera." Needless to say, his Husky teammate is very proud of Matt.
Uncle, Brother, Son, Matt is a lot of things to a lot of people. However, what he wants to be right now is America's Idol.
Randy makes Matt worry with his initial look, but then says "That was your best performance yet." Paula loves and has confidence in Matt that he will go forward, in part, because he picked the right song. She loves the fact that he was having fun on stage. "You're Mr. Showman," she says to him.
And then, in a falsetto voice, Matt says, "Hi, Simon."
Simon responds with "With the exception of Ryan Seacrest, I don't think I've ever met anyone who is more happy to be on TV." "And your package was like some ghastly Presidential thing. Your performance was a second-rate Tom Jones." Boo-hiss.
We love Matt.
#4
Camile Velasco
The beautiful Hawaiian girl, Camile Velasco, sings "Son of A Preacher Man." Camile's voice is phenomenal, but she needs to learn how to let it rip. "'Wow' is in you," Randy tells her. But he says he didn't see it tonight.
#5
Jon Peter Lewis
The guy who gets his groove from his dad, Jon Peter Lewis wants more than anything else to make good music. Singing "Drift Away" Randy affirms that he can sing, and that he was feelin' him. "Let the vocals do the talkin' man," Randy tells him.
With a huge smile on her face, Paula tells Jon he's spoiling us. "You've got a great presence on camera. You're a lot of fun. America loves you."
And for the best compliment of the night, Simon tells Jon he is "the dark horse to wins this competition." "You have potentially a very good voice," he adds to the mix.
To add to the fun, Ryan Seacrest encourages Jon's dad to show his moves to the crowd. Twistin' and turnin' in his Nike shirt, Jon's dad probably doesn't realize what great free advertising he has just given the other master of "sole."
#6
Fantasia Barrino
One of the high points of the night came from High Point, North Carolina. Fantasia Barrino gets much of her soul from her Preacher Mom and Preacher Grandma. Ready to have fun and "wild out," Fantasia sings "Signed Sealed Delivered."
Randy compares her to a young Aretha. He calls her one of three or four of the best performers in the house.
Paula tells her "We're like your church. You are amazing."
And Simon?
Simon says, "You are the real thing."
Wow!
#7
George Huff
Smilin' Baby George Huff, who grew up in the projects of New Orleans, loves music. His mom says he gets his dip and moves from church. George's rendition of "Sittin' on the Dock on the Bay" is "So good. So good," says Randy. Randy calls George "a seasoned veteran." He tells him it is best performance yet."
Simon tells George, "Unlike La Toya, I don't think you are aware, actually, how good you really are." He goes on to say, "I really hope you'll just slow it down and prove to America what a great vocalist you can be." "Very, very good," he says.
#8
Jennifer Hudson
Cruisin' Jennifer Hudson has the presence of a star. She has the voice of a star.
Simon's reaction "You were very good. I just thought you oversang the song." Randy and Paula disagree. They loved her rendition of "Baby, I Love You."
#9
John Stevens
In contrast, John Stevens does not "oversing" his Stevie Wonder song.
Baby Face John gives a "classy performance" Paula says. But Randy says he was bored to tears.
Simon's up. Fully expecting to hear Simon say, "I have to agree with" ... "Randy." Instead he says that he agrees with Paula.
Simon goes on to call John the "real, unique artist." He says "I like that you're here because you break up the monotony that I'm a little bit concerned about tonight." Simon adds, "This guy is a good singer." He tells Randy that he needs to wash his ears out.
John got started on his music singing journey thanks to his grandparents. Keep on singin' John. We love your sound.
#10
Leah LaBelle
Leah LaBelle joined the "Total Experience Gospel Choir" when she was eleven years old. A Junior at Garfield High School in Seattle where Jimmy Hendrix and Quincy Jones went to school, her principal believes Leah may become the next person to make the national scene.
Sporting straight hair, she sings "Hanging On." However, sadly the judges do not believe she will be hanging on to the show.
In fact, Simon encourages her to pack her suitcase.
She looks like a ten, but to the three judges her performance unfortunately doesn't match.
#11
Jasmine Trias
Single Surfin' girl, Jasmine Trias has more talent singing than surfing. Thank God she doesn't wipe out beltin' it out on this evening.
Half-way through her rendition of "Inseparable," Tim's says "The test for me is 'Does anybody send chills down my spine?' Hitting the rewind button, he says "Jasmine does it for me tonight. Listen to her."
"At 17," Randy's response is "You can really sing. This is what this competition is about."
Paula tells Jasmine that from her perspective this is the best performance of the night. She applauds her mature voice.
Simon says "It was just superb." In addition, he goes on to say that "You have the potential to be really, really good in the future."
#12
Diana DeGarmo
Cheetah-freek, cat fisherwoman, Diana DeGarmo "came out singing and never quit," her mother says. Diana's main goal with her talent is to make people happy.
Randy says to Diana, "You know what 'That was incredible.' You're sixteen. That was dope, dude." He reiterates, "This is the best top twelve we've ever had."
Paula calls her "Brilliant. A star."
Simon says he doesn't feel touched the way Jasmine touched him. He agrees, however, that Diana can sing "good."
So who will it be? Who will be America's #1 pick? And who will be sent home tonight?
#1? #2? #3? #4? #5? #6? #7? #8? #9? #10? #11? #12?
Now begins the sad process of letting go of one performer each week. Based on the comments from the judges we can guess who it will be; that is, if their vote influences the 30 million people watching.
Our top three? Homegirl, La Toya London. Jasmine Trias. And Jon Peter Lewis.
Of course, what's not to love about George Huff?
But who had the most soul of the night? We would have to say sixteen year-old, Diana DeGarmo!
For our six and eight year-olds, the two hour show on a school night was too late for them. So, right now starting at 6:30am, they are watching the tape and will soon tell us who they would have voted for. Matt Rogers will undoubtedly be #1 for our eight year old because he won her heart over a long time ago.
We're guessing our six year old would have picked Matt or George.
The nineteen year-old in our house, who is from Sweden, clearly finds favor in Diana DeGarmo and George Huff.
One thing is for sure...
Ending the week of March 14th, Fox is on top in the adults 18-49 demographic. On Tuesday night, once again the network proved why Fox is so very hot.
Congratulations to all of the contestants for making it this far!
Thanks Randy, Paula, Simon and Ryan, for another entertaining evening; this time with a few unexpected twists.
Inspire & Be Inspired(tm).
~Jennifer
Related Articles: MTV.com, Simon Cowell Picks Favorites As 'American Idol' Finals Begin, 3/11/04
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