"American Idol" Top 13 Perform -- Durbin Sings McCartney, Adedapo Tackles Rihanna

The loss of nearly half their number last week may have shaken the "American Idol" Top 13. While this talented group of singers had the home audience expecting a lot of "wow" moments, tonight's performance segment had more "interesting" elements than anything that truly blew us away. What was probably the most shocking of the night was the judges actually criticizing their 15- and 16- year old favorites, reducing them to bewildered pouts and tears.

The night started out letting us know that Jennifer Lopez has gotten her money's worth out of doing "American Idol." Not only is she getting a handsome sum to appear on the show, but the promotion of her new song/video on results night helped launch her single to number one on iTunes. We were then informed that the contestants actually worked with producer Jimmy Iovine and other industry professionals to record their songs, and get help to hone their skills before performance night.

Lauren Alaina: The "AI" contestants were performing songs by their own personal idols tonight, so Lauren chose Shania Twain's "Any Man of Mine." While Lauren is definitely perky, she surprisingly didn't move around much on stage until much later in the song. She also didn't add any oomph to the song, somehow rendering an upbeat tune kind of boring. I sound like a broken record at this point, but as usual, her vocals improved by the end of the song.

Though the producers in the clip lavished praise all over Lauren, the judges were more reserved. The world stopped spinning on its axis when judge Steven Tyler said he wished the performance "had been more kick ass." Lauren's head dropped to her shoulder and with her stunned, blank expression, she looked like a malfunctioning femme bot from the "Austin Powers" movies. When Jennifer Lopez and Randy Jackson agreed that the performance didn't show Lauren's true potential, Lauren turned to Ryan and pouted. "I had a good tiiiime," she protested. Then she said she'd wanted to do something more up tempo than the ballads everyone else was doing, but apparently it wasn't good enough for Steven. Then she called Ryan Seacrest "Peaches" again. Ryan hid one hand behind his back to hide the Wolverine claws that had just sprung out between his knuckles. "I'm gonna get you for that," he threatened "playfully."

Casey Abrams: No surprise that the musically passionate Casey wanted to put his own spin on Joe Cocker's "With a Little Help From My Friends" (which is, incidentally, a Lennon/McCartney song originally performed by Ringo Starr.) Casey started out sitting on the "American Idol" grand staircase, which didn't seem to suit his performing style or the song at all. He also wasn't as strong vocally as he's been on his jazzier numbers, but Casey is definitely the definition of "oomph." As the song ramped up, so did Casey's energy, and he once again engaged everyone in the room.

Jennifer and Randy loved the performance, with J-Lo saying she felt that she was "watching somebody important." Steven was effusive about Casey's "rainbow of talent" and "plethora of passion." The audience was extremely supportive, but for most of the night, it appeared that their seats had been wired with electricity and they had imbibed several cases of Mountain Dew each. The difference in responses to contestants usually ranked between rabid mass hysteria and heads-may-explode "Oprah's Favorite Things" hysteria. It was a little tough to judge the subtle nuances between the two.

Ashthon Jones: Since the judges compared her to Diana Ross last week, Ashthon decided to tackle a Diana Ross song "When You Tell Me That You Love Me." My former excitement about Ashthon rekindled when we got the filmed segment of her working with producers, talking about working to extend her range and their confidence in her. In the few clips we heard, she sounded much stronger than before. Unfortunately, when it came to the big "American Idol" stage, she once again had a weak tone to her voice. She looked lovely in a satiny white gown with her gorgeous hair blown out Ross-style, and her final notes at the end of the song were sweet, high and clear.

Jimmy Iovine had promised that legendary Motown founder and producer Barry Gordy might turn up for the performance night--and he did. So it was sad when the judges had to tell Ashthon that her performance wasn't that strong. Randy's compliment was that every time she went sharp or flat, she managed to pull herself back in. Steven felt there was a "lot more" that Ashthon would eventually show us vocally. J-Lo called Ashthon a professional for keeping her cool during less than stellar notes, and suggested that Ashthon try to pull the audience in more, starting with selecting a song that more people knew.

Paul McDonald: Paul worked with producer Don Was on Ryan Adams tune "Come Pick Me Up." Wearing a red and black 80s military style suit, Paul had a whispery start to the song that had moments of charm but didn't sound quite in tune. As the tempo picked up, so did Paul's vocals, and he started hop-skipping around the stage in a sort of amped-up Rod Stewart soccer-move fashion. Paul is still on the cusp for me...his vocals aren't quite strong enough to carry the intense quirkiness. I get the impression he's a little lost out on his own, and does better when he blends his vocals in a duet or with his band.

All three judges praised the "character" of Paul's voice, but Steven did point out that it was a bit pitchy--and that a good chorus was Paul's strength. Jennifer said that she hoped the "American Idol" audience would "get it." This led to one of the best moments of the show, when Ryan asked Paul how to do some of his dance moves. Then Ryan proceeded to bound around the stage in circles, in a hilarious parody of Paul--who good-naturedly weaved his own dance into Ryan's. Absolutely hilarious, and probably the best physical humor we've seen from Ryan--even counting those million bear hugs he always gets roped into.

Pia Toscano: First, we need to shoot whoever made Pia sit on a tiny stool while wearing a mini-dress. That's just cruel, and also makes the cameraman's job on a PG show that much more difficult. Pia's idol is Celine Dion, so she chose "All By Myself." Never mind that the song was written and performed wonderfully by Eric Carmen in 1975. Pia definitely hit some beautiful power notes in her version of the song, but many times during the number she backed off of her notes as soon as she hit them. This left it all feeling a bit insubstantial, especially since even when she grabbed and sustained a note, there wasn't a lot of emotion behind what is an incredibly poignant song.

The manic audience went crazy with declarations of love and whistling from the male portion of the audience. Jennifer Lopez was speechless over the performance, saying it topped last week's. Randy said the notes were dead on, and he was in awe. Steven wished her a Happy International Women's Day. Unable to swear on network TV, it seems Steven may also be turning into a malfunctioning femme bot.

James Durbin: At this point in "American Idol," I was thinking I hadn't yet seen anyone that made me want to rush to the phone or computer and register my votes. That all changed with rocker James Durbin, the Judas Priest performer who decided this week to sing...Paul McCartney. His selection of "Maybe I'm Amazed" turned out to be an inspired choice. The kid is still a little raw around the edges, but his range is phenomenal. He sang part of it sweetly, part of it with a soaring rocker wail and into just the tiniest bit of a rocker screech. Then he ended it sweetly again. He was charismatic, and powerful and entertaining. One of the top performances of the night.

Randy was particularly effusive, calling James one of his favorites and saying he could "sing anything and slay it." Steven said the "kicked it into next week." Jennifer loved the "melodic quality" of James' voice, his vibrato, "and everything." Ryan asked about James' refined rocker look, and James announced that he'd gotten a haircut and had "no tail," which gives his detractors less ammunition against him. James had fun stirring up the audience into frenzied applause until Ryan gently reprimanded him for holding up the show. This kid definitely loves the attention.

Haley Reinhart: Haley is definitely an acquired taste, and she may have made the same mistake as last year's quirky contestant Lilly Scott. Lilly got sent home in a surprise elimination after she sang a Patsy Cline tune--tonight Haley chose the Leann Rimes song "Blue," which Steven Tyler pointed out had been originally intended for Patsy Cline. Jimmy Iovine was impressed that Haley tackled the song, and she gave an engaging performance. She definitely had the Cline vibe, but her yodel on the chorus seemed to hit one slightly flat note each time. The performance was still strong overall, with a great final note.

Steven said he thought Haley had made the country and western fans in the "American Idol" audience very happy. Jennifer liked it, and admired the "special things" Haley can do with her voice, including the yodeling. Randy said it was a bit of a jump to go from Alicia Keys to Leann Rimes, and he found it all a bit boring and luau-esque. J-Lo argued that Haley was a very sexy singer, and didn't need to go running around the sage to be interesting. Ryan quipped that "provocative stuff makes Randy uncomfortable."

Jacob Lusk: It seemed a little surprising when Jacob named R. Kelly as his idol, and cringe-worthy when we found out we were going to get yet another version of "I Believe I Can Fly." I also don't think Jacob's impromptu play-acting of his former job as a "spa concierge" really helped him with the voters, so thanks for that, Ryan. I must give Jacob immense credit, however, for selling the R. Kelly song and not making it syrupy/corny. Jacob started beautifully with his stellar vocals nicely controlled. Then he brought in a choir to back him up, which was nice, until he got into the higher-pitched screamy bits that seem to have a crying, "wah!" sound to them that I'm not all that fond of. The guy has a good voice; the style just isn't my favorite.

Steven described Jacob as "pure passion" and "pure music" and told him "you are that bird." Randy complimented Jacob for having an easily identifiable, signature sound--but he did call him out for falling off the vocals a bit and hitting some notes sharp. So maybe it isn't just a style thing.

Thia Megia: Since Randy pointed out Thia's vocal resemblance to Michael Jackson last week, Thia decided to do one of his tunes. I have a feeling she doesn't have a music icon. A thousand points to Jimmy Iovine for pointing out that "Smile" was not originally a Jackson tune, but a Charlie Chaplin one. Thia had no clue who Chaplin was, and referred to him as "Charlie Chapman" in her "American Idol" video until she was corrected by someone off-camera. I am now going to don my cranky-old-man-sitting-on-the-front-porch persona, and wave my arms and rant about the youth of today not knowing who The Beatles or Charlie Chaplin--or Eric Carmen are.

I haven't been a big fan of Thia's, but I found myself extremely impressed tonight by the quality of her vocals. The song started slow and simple, and Thia belted out the most beautiful, crisp clear notes--strongest of the night. Then the song segued into a strange little jazzy beat which didn't seem to suit the song, and once again, Thia doesn't really connect to the emotions of the piece. But I thought her vocals were flawless.

Strangely, Randy told Thia she had been "pitchy" in spots, and that he hadn't loved the "jazzy part." Steven and Jennifer agreed that the beginning had been stronger and then had fallen apart somewhat in the up tempo part. Honestly, I didn't hear that, but Thia confessed to Ryan that she had felt more comfortable at the beginning of the song. And then backstage, she cried, and said she hoped maybe America would give her another chance. This is where that 15 year old frailty comes in--she should have stood up for herself more, especially since it was a solid performance.

Stefano Langone: Stefano decided to sing Stevie Wonder tune "Lately." After last week's beautiful wildcard performance, I was disappointed in his singing here. He was weak on the verses, and seemed to just lose control of the song entirely. It didn't seem to be his style at all, though he did manage to belt out a few strong notes.

Steven told him that he took a difficult song and "pulled it off," and said the performance had built in intensity "like a volcano." Jennifer, who's loved Stefano from the beginning, said he "sounded great" and that it was "really you" (I thought the opposite.) Randy said "by the middle you were soaring," which seems like faint praise--but it was said very enthusiastically.

Karen Rodriguez: For her "American Idol" Top 13 performance, Karen chose to sing Selena's "I Could Fall In Love." Dressed in a black dress, with a tight ponytail, smoky eye makeup and big blingy earrings, Karen said she was inspired by Selena and Jennifer. Unfortunately her performance of the song was too insubstantial and plain, without any of the sweet tenderness of the original. Like many "AI" contestants, there were a few good big notes, but overall it was another bland, pageanty performance.

Jennifer's first comments to Karen were how beautiful she looked, which was no shock since Karen looked quite a bit like J-Lo. It was also a nice way of saying the vocals weren't so great. Jennifer thought Karen seemed a little uncomfortable with the notes, and Randy said it sounded like she was fighting the song, and that it was "too sleepy." Steven agreed that there wasn't enough energy.

Scotty McCreery: Scotty kept it in his wheelhouse tonight, deciding to tackle the Garth Brooks tune "The River." Scotty humbly said "I hope I can do it some justice." I'm not a big country fan, but Scotty definitely has a good sound. He's comfortable on stage, there's a warmth to his singing, and he's got that appealing little warble in his voice that reminds me of Randy Travis.

Contradicting what has been said to many contestants in "American Idol" history about "changing it up," Randy commended Scotty for sticking to his roots: "If it ain't broke, don't consider fixing it!" Steven was completely out of words this time, rambling something about Roy Rogers. Jennifer complimented Scotty on his newfound ability to draw in the audience and connect with them.

Naima Adedapo: I thought that Naima singing Rihanna's "Umbrella" would either be a stroke of genius or a very bad move. I think the jury's still out. Obviously, Naima needed something contemporary to appeal to the teens in the audience who didn't know what to make of her more jazzy numbers. Naima traded in her long gowns for a more eclectic rocker vibe, and gave the song her all. The vocals were a tad flat at the start, but she launched into a couple more aggressive, upbeat verses and nailed it, especially on a cool Jamaican style rap interlude. She was fun, exciting and inventive, and let's face it--Rihanna isn't always on pitch when singing live, either.

Steven called it "crazy good" and while he called out the pitch problems, he said she'd brought "flavor like no one else has done." Jennifer applauded Naima's "fire" and said that Naima was doing it "like the stars do it"--she was working the stage, just dancing and selling the performance. All Naima needed was to work on the her vocal control. Randy said Naima's "cu-offs" were a bit rough, but that he loved the reggae part and wanted to hear more of that.

The Verdict: On the girl's side, I thought Thia had the strongest vocals technically. Haley and Naima brought the most excitement. Pia had some good power notes, but her performance didn't really wow me the way it did the judges. Lauren and Karen needed more energy in their performances, and Ashthon still can't seem to conjure up enough power behind her voice.

The guy's definitely fared better. Scotty, James, Casey and Jacob once again gave solid, engaging performances. Paul's votes hinge on people "getting" his unique style, and Stefano could still be working his status as the only guy in the competition who is remotely boy band material.

I'm suspecting that as usual, the girls will be at the bottom of the heap on Thursday's elimination show.

Watch "American Idol" every Wednesday and Thursday night at 8/7c. Check your local listings to verify times.

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