Vincent Powell and Burnell Taylor are among those who get rave reviews, while Mathenee Treco's and Gurpreet Singh Sarin's performances get criticized by the judges.
- Mar 1, 2013
AceShowbiz - Ten other men performed in the second week of "American Idol" Sudden Death round. Kicking off the night was Mathenee Treco who sang Elvis Presley's "A Little Less Conversation", but Randy Jackson thought "the song choice was so wrong for you." Nicki Minaj said it felt "very cheesy and karaoke."
Gurpreet Singh Sarin didn't get much love from the judges either after singing James Morrison's "Nothing Ever Hurt Like You". "Honey child, hell no," Nicki commented, while Randy called it "terrible." The self-proclaimed Turbanator then promised he would bring classical Indian influences if he makes it through to next round.
Things changed when Vincent Powell delivered a rendition of Lenny Williams' " 'Cause I Love You". "Preach on, Brother Vincent! I loved it," Keith Urban exclaimed. Nicki added, "It was a good old-fashioned. It was a sexy old-fashioned...I could picture a bunch of 30-year-olds and 40-year-olds throwing their panties at you. That hit me somewhere." Mariah Carey simply said, "Finally."
Nick Boddington went with James Morrison's "Say Something Now", but Keith said, "The only thing I kept waiting for was the feeling of being connected to you as a person." Randy commented, "I'm looking for moments from all you guys," but Mariah said, "I heard a moment. There was one moment near the end that was very nice."
Josh Holiday sang an original song "I'm Better With You", but Randy wasn't wowed. Nicki thought he was trying too hard to please the judges, but Mariah loved the fact that "you are a singer-songwriter."
David Willis played his guitar while singing "Fever". Randy was "a little intrigued" by the performance, but Keith wanted him to explore his vocal more. Mariah commented, "I feel like the crowd enjoyed it and I've heard you go vocally a bit more...but the crowd seemed to love it."
Bryant Tadeo sang Billy Joel's "New York State of Mind" despite of growing up in Hawaii. Keith praised his song choice, "I think that was a really good song for you and you handled it really well." Nicki only liked the last falsetto note, while Mariah noticed that he got a little bit lost in his excitement.
Burnell Taylor presented what Nicki dubbed "the best by far tonight" when he covered John Legend's "This Time". "Literally, today, I would pay to see you sing," the Harajuku Barbie added. "This was fantastic," Mariah raved, as Keith called it "strikingly original."
Lazaro Arbos sang Keith's "Tonight I Wanna Cry" and the original singer thought "the song was just ahead of you and you were trying to catch up." The other judges, however, seemed to like it as Nicki said, "You played it safe, but in a good way."
Cortez Shaw was the last performer that night, delivering a ballad version of David Guetta's "Titanium". "That was a really bold and brave move...to tackle that song into a ballad form like that," Keith commented. Randy was surprised when Cortez hit the big notes, while Nicki gushed, "Is it hot in here, or is it just me?" Mariah added, "I really think you made some very good choices."
The judges then announced the results of their deliberation, with Cortez, Lazaro, Burnell, Nick and Vincent making it into the Top 20. The other five singers, meanwhile, were sent home. These additions also round up the 20 finalists of "Idol" season 12.
Top 20 of "American Idol" season 12:
Women
Men
