American Idol 4 Episode Review: Top 4 --- Sounds of Nashville and Philly

Top 4: Sounds of Nashville and Philly
Less generic themes. I guess it’s all right to have them in a dual-themed week to allow the singers to show more versatility. On a side note, I think that the country theme is actually very broad, with choices from country-rock to ballads which could be made into rock, pop, or soul.

Round 1: Sounds of Nashville


Carrie Underwood: Sin Wagon
Another fun performance! Vocally perhaps not as good as the previous show, but a helluva lot of fun to watch. On a side note, what on earth is becoming to the sweet farm girl? First, she’s evil and trouble, now she’s is arriving on a sin wagon?

Bo Bice: Great Day to be Alive
I will use the same description I used during the musicals nite. He sounded defeated and not too interested in tackling a genre that he doesn’t seem to have much interest in. I am surprised as there are tons of good country-rock songs that he could make his own.

Vonzell Solomon: How do I Live
A very pitchy performance. I really wonder what happened to her since the previous week. Vocally her weakest performance. Again, I thought she picked a song that she could make her own.

Anthony Federov: I’m Already There
He did pretty well here, and I think for once did better than both Bo and Vonzell!

Round 1 rankings:
Carrie
Anthony
Bo, Vonzell

Round 2: Sounds of Gamble & Huff


Carrie Underwood: If You Don’t Know Me by Now
Very dreary. The arrangement was too slow, and she never got into the flow of the song. She lost me in this performance. She had been on a roll, and she really got derailed by this.

Bo Bice: For the Love of Money
Bounced back nicely with this. I believe he felt ore comfortable with this song and injected my effort into it. Although I thought he was shouting a bit in the middle of the song.

Vonzell Solomon: Don’t Leave Me This Way
Again, another pitchy performance at the start, but saved it with the middle and the end. It seems she is fading away in the competition.

Anthony Federov: If You Don’t Know Me by Now
Definitely a better version than Carrie’s. This was his best week by a mile.

Round 2 rankings:
Bo, Anthony
Vonzell
Carrie

Overall comments:
The top 2 favorites, Bo and Carrie, had each one good and one poor song choice. Vonzell seemed to be doing worse as the competition progressed. Although Anthony had a good week, he really has to go.

Top 4 rankings:
Anthony (voted off)
Carrie, Bo
Vonzell

Thoughts on Anthony:
To me, he was the weakest male singer this year, and yet he managed to make it this far. I always felt he was an amateurish performer, and at best could join a boyband. It was so ironical that he left on his strongest week.