Now THAT is how you do a wild card round and sing for your life!  The not letting everyone sing for a wild card chance and not telling them who get to until they called names was GREAT!  Amped it up and let the singers actually need to tap down and use pure stress emotion to get it done.  Loved it.  Now they just need to find a way to get that emotion from contestants every week. 

I would have been cool with any of the girls allowed to sing for the wild card making it through because they all “brought it” last night.  I wish Ashthon, Kendra and Naima had shown that amount of raw passion on Wednesday.  Then they could have fought the “Hero” and “Fallin’” warbling girls (Karen and Haley) for their spots since—to me—all three are better singers.  I also find it interesting that the judges upped the wild card count to three (when we were originally told it would be two spots), then moved two of the girls on.  Comparing both groups from the Tuesday and Wednesday performances, I think the girls had more bench strength in terms of pure vocal talent.  Song choice is what did many in vs. going off pitch or lacking stage presence.

For the guys, Stefano had to be given the wild card.  Hands down, he out sang the other guys for the showdown.  Is he the better vocalist all-around?  I’m not sure because he sounded shaky on Tuesday.  I liked Jovany on Tuesday and liked him last night, but his nerves showed up last night where Stefano was rock solid going the gospel route.  Robbie sang better last night, but again I didn’t feel like he was fighting for his life and leaving it all on the stage.

On a side note, I did get a sick kick out of Clint freaking out even before receiving his results of doom.  Kind of felt like a karma coming back moment for making a 15 year-old cry during group night.  The voters (and then judges) spoke loud and clear to him.

Lauren A. is overrated.  Not a fan of hers.  Ditto for Thia.  I anticipate many weeks being bored by them both.  If Thia starts breaking out Disney soundtrack hits, I’m going to need counseling.  I also think that Lauren would have crumbled and Thia sang like a robot if forced to sing for their lives.

Flickr image by SENSE Media