'American Idol' Visits Vegas & LA: Cuts Field - Chris Medina Goes Home to Milwaukee

Fox, Thursday, February 24, 2011, 8 PM (ET) "American Idol" visits Vegas. The Mirage hotel, in a clever bit of cross-promotion, allowed "American Idol" contestants to use the stage and props that normally present the Beatles extravaganza "Love.

As the program kicked off, the 327 contestants had been pared to 61. One-third of them would be cut after their performances onstage at the Mirage singing Beatles songs. It was disconcerting to hear a few contestants say they had never heard or sung a Beatles song. (I'd say that, alone, should mark them for elimination).

CHRIS MEDINA

However, most were familiar with the Beatles catalogue, and the emphasis this night was on finding the contestants who represent "the total package," meaning they have the sound, the look, the stage presence, the finesse, the ability to withstand the pressure of "American Idol", and the appeal to go all the way. There are many contestants we've been following these past weeks who do not seem to have ALL of those qualities. One was the young man from Wisconsin with the biggest back-story, Chris Medina, whose fiancée Julianna visited the Idol set in a wheelchair, a victim of TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury). Chris was a stand-up guy, but there were far better singers in the competition.

The romantic back-story was compelling, however, and Chris seemed like a nice---if not that cute---guy, but he did not have that strong a vocal instrument. However, having to cut him from the competition practically forced Jennifer Lopez to have a nervous breakdown as she said, "I wish you the best of everything. And we'll miss you." Randy Jackson followed with "Yeah, Dude. Big heart you got." Steven Tyler kissed him. (No, I did not make that up). As he exited, thanking the judges for being so gracious to his injured love, he said, "Hey, Man, it was a great run."

A small girl in the hallway (also cut) was heard to mutter, "Goin' back to reality. This was nothin' but a dream" and that about summed it up for Chris Medina this night.

PERFORMANCES

There were some truly outstanding performances, including "The Long and Winding Road" as sung by Haley Reinhart of Wheeling, Illinois, Naimi Adepapo, and Jacob Lusk-the black singer with earrings in each ear who has been coming on strong during the past three shows. Comments were "Very, very nice. I love that. That was really nice." (Randy Jackson) "Really good job" (Jennifer Lopez) "You nailed the harmonies. Just beautiful. So well done." (Steven Tyler) Randy added the colorful remark to Jacob, "You got the gas in the car. Go for it. When in doubt, do you."

RACHEL & LAUREN

Rachel Zevita of New York, who sang "Eleanor Rigby" in a duet with another girl, was also good.

Lauren Turner, 24, who sang "Let It Be" did well.

TIM, JULIE AND JOSH

Tim Halperin, 23, elicited the comment at the table from J-Lo, "I love him." The 23-year-old has a Josh Grobin quality and was paired in a duet on "Something in the Way She Walks" with silver-dress girl Julie Zorrilla. I wrote, "Josh Grobin, move over." They were good.

JEROME, LAKEISHA and TATYNISA

Jerome Bell, 27, Lakeisha Lewis---a large African American girl with a powerful Aretha-like presence---. and Tatynisa Wilson, 20, from Illinois, sang "I Saw Her Standing There" and there was a split opinion on whether they had nailed it (Steven Tyler - yes; J-Lo, No) Lakeisha was later cut, but she left vowing that we had not seen the last of her, and, given Jennifer Hudson's career trajectory, I'll bet she's right.

KENDRA & PAUL

Kendra Chantelle of Loudon, Tennessee and Paul McDonald, 25, from Nashville, did extremely well singing "Blackbird" and it is obvious that the judges like the quality in Paul's voice. Plus, he's cute and plays guitar. Both of these performers looked good, and the fact that Paul listed his occupation as "musician" and was from Nashville seemed "right."

MELINDA & THIA

Melinda Ademi and Thia Megia (only 15, from Mountain House, CA) sang "Here Comes the Sun." Randy pronounced it "very, very interesting. Thia, you found a way to keep the phrasing together." Then Steven Tyler said that Melinda was "behind on your phrasing" and added, "It was just all right, for me." Thia made it through. Not sure about Mellnda, but they had the Vocal Coach from Hell in Peggi Blu, who could use a few lessons in positive reinforcement. (I'm thinking the small girl who said it was "just a dream" was Melinda, but unsure on her identity.)

STEFANO & JAMES

Stefano Langone, 21, and James Durbin (the contestant with Asperger's and Tourette's Syndrome) sang "Get Back" and earned the comment, from Steven Tyler, "I don't think I ever heard two higher voices together." He pronounced the range they were singing in, "wayouttasphere." [Steven Tyler should know.] High energy duo.

KAREN & PIA

Karen Rodriguez, a contestant recruited from MySpace videos, 21, has sung with Pia Toscano for some time and the duo did well on "Can't Buy Me Love."

JUNE BUG

June Bug (Clint Jun Gamboa) has not been squashed yet. He sang, "Please help me" and tried to set up some semblance of fake compassion for another contestant who had just been eliminated (Keisha). I think that the audience will not forget June Bug's cruelty to Jaycee Badeaux of Louisiana (who is bound to exit early, as he cannot dance at all and merely has the choir boy sound down). Whether June Bug makes it through to Hollywood or not (he did), he's toast. Viewers are not going to forget a bully nor vote for him.

ASHLEY & SOPHIA

These two girls sang 'We Can Work It Out." They couldn't. They were bad and were justifiably cut. ("Not your best performance" from Steven Tyler. "It wasn't hot today. I didn't quite get it" from Randy).

DENISE, SCOTTY and LAUREN

This was an odd trio that the judges compared to the Marx Brothers. The song ("You Say Goodbye") was weird and the treatment followed in the same weird vein as they ran around an old-fashioned red British phone booth and the vocals suffered. Lauren Alaina, the 15-year-old from Georgia, is one of the stronger voices in the competition, and she made it through. Scotty McReery, with the deep, deep voice was also passed on. Denise Jackson I am not sure about, but the song was definitely not their finest hour.

CALEB HAWLEY is interesting (Joe Cocker style) and I believe he remains a contestant. Melodica/bass guy,

CASEY & CHRIS

As mentioned in the first paragraph, the duet between Casey Abrams and Chris Medina, where they fell backwards on the "Love' bed was just so-so and Chris was cut.

ROBBIE, AARON & JORDAN

This is a hot trio to watch. Robbie, from New Jersey, is really cute. The judges told Jordan they had "high expectations" for him. Of Robbie, Steven Tyler said, "Fantastic. You nailed it again." Aaron Sanders, 26, of Teaneck, NJ was also good. They sang, "Got to Get You Into My Life." Randy said, "I was really impressed."

CARSON "CRAZY EYES" HIGGINS: gone

MOLLY DeWULF (White House Intern): gone.

HOLLY CAVANAGH, 17, the petite blonde who sang her heart out:to make it this far was cut. "You belong in the top 24. In a year or two, you could come back and win the whole thing." Jennifer Lopez told the tearful Holly that she wanted to put her through, but was outvoted by the male members of the panel.

ASHTHON JONES

Ashton came out to hear her fate dressed in a flowing blue dress with a blue flower in her hair. She was called "the whole package" and "one of the most consistent contestants we've had," so you go, Girl!

As Lakeisha Lewis, who was cut (and Alex Ryan, from NJ who was cut) voiced it: "I mean, it hurts, because it's your dream, but I'm gonna' be here, one way or another." We also learned that Holly Reinhart had tried out once before.

Stay tuned for further developments.