11 Finalists Compete..Again - Recap

Last week Casey was saved from elimination. The show starts with a flashback to 1 hour before results night last week and everyone says that they are not going to use the save. When they did, Casey was surprised. Tonight Casey Abrams, Lauren Alaina, James Durbin, Thia Megia, Haley Reinhart, Pia Toscano, Jacob Lusk, Scotty McCreery, Paul McDonald, Stefano Langone and Naima Adedapo once again are going to perform and tonight it is Elton John night. They show a clip of the Idol hopefuls going through a photo shoot for the Entertainment Weekly and gave them a glimpse of their potential future.

First up is Scotty McCreery and during his photo shoot, he has fun. He meets with Jimmy and “Country Comfort” is the song that he is going to tackle. He comes out and gives his own “shout out” to his own grandma in the audience. Steven says that he loves everything about his voice and did it again. Jennifer says that he has amazing instincts and tells that he needs to always stay grounded. Randy says that he has seasoned so fast and he is so in the Zone. Ryan comes up and Scotty says that his new guitar is named “Scarlet”.

Naima Adedapo is next and she is going to sing “I’m Still Standing”. She is putting her reggae swag to it. Jimmy says that it is going to be hard to stay in tune with the change of tempo. She performs and it is a little off beat and seems that it didn’t work for this song. Jennifer says that she loves her reggae swag, but the song shouldn’t have been flipped. Randy says that it was kind of corny. Steven says that it is good that she picked a song that fit her. Naima says that she respects the opinions of the judges.

Paul McDonald is up and during his photo shoot he tells that it is not really normal for him. He gets in the studio and he is going to sing “Rocket Man”. Jimmy says that he is not going to be able to get away with his smile. He comes out and tries his best at the song with his soft voice. Randy says that it was some quiet comfort and says that he hasn’t allowed himself to push his voice. Steven says that he must have watered his suit because there are more flowers. He says that he has a great talent. Jennifer says that there is more in there and tells him to push it out more.

Pia Toscano is next and she goes to her photo shoot and the camera loves her, as the photographer states. She has picked “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me”. Jimmy says that it is not a bad thing to sing ballads, just as long as you are good at them. She comes out and once again, sings it really well. Steven says that it is always good to throw in something new and it was great. Jennifer says that it is crazy how her voice takes them places that normally it wouldn’t and says that it was great. Randy says that she has sung a ballad again and says that it was great once again. Jennifer says that they never said for her to stop singing ballads, just to change it up a little bit.

Next up is Stefano Langone and he says that his pants are too tight in the photo shoot and that he is not used to the treatment. He has chosen to sing “Tiny Dancer”. Jimmy drills his singing in the studio and has him repeat the song over and over again to be able to get the right sound from him. He comes out and it is gentle and safe. At the end of the song he walks up to Jennifer and reaches for her hand and Randy reaches for his hand too. Jennifer says that Stefano connected with the audience more. Randy says that it was really nice because he showed more. Steven says that tonight he nailed it and connected a lot more. Ryan talks about him being in the bottom three and Stefano says that he did the best he could do.

Up next is Lauren Alaina and she has a lot of fun at the photo shoot. She goes into the studio and Jimmy says that she has talent. She is singing “Candle in the Wind”. She comes out on stage and sings from her heart and it is phenomenal. Randy says that was the greatest performance of her. Steven says that he loved her from the first night she laid eyes on him. He says that if she keeps singing like she does, she will be able to afford the rest of her dress. She covers quickly and blushes. Jennifer says that she showed the side that she first showed in auditions and it was great.

James Durbin is next and the photographer describes James as an energetic person in front of the camera. He meets with Jimmy and he is going to be singing “Saturday Night’s Alright”. He says that Jimmy isn’t going to change it. He comes out in the audience and works the audience as his stage. It is all over the place, but really entertaining. At the end, they set the piano on fire. Steven says that he’s got a really good rock voice and tells that it was beautiful and a good thing. Jennifer says that when he performance, she forgets that she is judging a competition show. Randy says that he loves it when James enjoys himself and it was great performance. Ryan asks what he was nervous about and was afraid of having a Pepsi moment because he has a lot of hairspray in her hair.

Thia Megia is up next and she enjoys herself in the glamour part of the experience. She goes into the studio and says that she is going to be singing “Daniel”. Jimmy says that she is going to have to show the soft side or she is going to be in danger of going home. She comes out and sings a heartfelt song with a lot of emotion in her voice. Jennifer says that was beautiful and she internalized the song and a beautiful moment for her. Randy says that he liked it was a relaxed side of her. However it was a “safe” song. Steven says that she sang a great Elton John song.

Next up is Casey Abrams and he gets a make over on his hair and beard. He says that he is going to be a new man. Singing “Your Song”, Casey comes out and he shows the softer side of him and ends on a falsetto. Randy says that it is the greatest thing that they saved him and that it was brilliant that he did a fantastic job. Steven says that Casey sings different every time and says that is why he likes him so much. Jennifer says that the one choice that she didn’t lose sleep over was saving him. She says that she loved it. Ryan says that he was a little shocked. Casey says that he was shocked and thanks Ryan for holding him up.

Jacob Lusk is next and he is going to be singing “Sorry Seems to be The Hardest Word”. He comes out and sings it with a little holding back on the “Lusky Stank”. Steven says that the song was beautiful and it was good. Jennifer says that the arrangement was good. Randy says that he needs to remember that he needs to find that one spot where he gives it his all. He says that it was still brilliant.

Closing the night, Haley Reinhart is singing “Benny and the Jets”. She enjoys her time in the photo shoot and then goes to meet Jimmy. At the studio, Jimmy says that he wants the piano to be banging and she needs to put all three things of her personality to come together. She comes out and gives the best performance she can. Jennifer says that was “it” and it all came together and it was a great way to end the night. Randy says that for him, it was the best performance of the night. Steven says that she sings sexy. The singers have performed and now it is up to America to decide which 2 people are going home tomorrow night.

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