'American Idol' on March 16, Wednesday, Showcases 12 Accomplished Performers

Fox, Wednesday, March 16, 2011, 9 PM (ET) Two hours of performances on "American Idol" on Wednesday night produced only 2 lackluster performances (Haley Reinhart and Karen Rodriguez) and only 2 "meh" moments, for me (Naima Adipopo and Stefano Langone). The judges really liked Stefano, so my "meh" reaction is just me. I could live with the elimination of any of the above, but I'd feel worst about Naima's departure.

The performers sang songs from their birth years this night. The years ranged from 1995 (15-year-old Thia Magia) to at least 2 (Paul McDonald of Nashville and Naima Adepopo) born in 1984. Performers aged 15 to 27 turned in stellar performances, doing themselves and the artists they chose proud.

My own personal favorites were James Durbin (born 1989) singing Bon Jovi's "I'll Be There for You" with pyrotechnics at the end that made both Jennifer Lopez and Randy Jackson laugh, but made the people at home happy and cause Steven Tyler to say, "That man right there has a rich vein of inner crazy." Considering James' diagnoses of both Tourette's Syndrome and Apberger's Syndrome, I hope that Steven Tyler doesn't incur criticism for politically incorrect comments. It seems, in this day and age, that there's always an outcry about anything not considered "politically incorrect."

After James' over-the-top performance, I liked another over-the-top performer, Casey Abrams, who is surprisingly young (born in 1991). He took on Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and Steven Tyler declared him to be "the goop that great stuff is made from." Randy compared Casey's talent to that of groups like "Radiohead" or "Muse." He commended the fact that Casey, who played guitar accompaniment, puts art first...before commerce, and called him "fearless." My Music Business daughter graduate has all her chips on Casey to win, as does one either "People" or "Entertainment Weekly" magazine.

However, how can you hand Casey the trophy when you also have Pia Tuscano, Scotty McReery, Lauren Alaina and Jacob Lusk to contend with? (And I haven't even mentioned Paul McDonald) All did a great job.

The only performers I found wanting were Haley (Reinhart) and Karen (Rodriguez) with less enthusiasm, on my part, for Naima and Stefano, on my part.

A more detailed account of each performer will follow in another article, but, just to predict, those "on the bubble" (which my husband always says, with a laugh) are those mentioned above..