For his oldies number on “American Idol’s” Top 5 “Now and Then” theme, Scotty McCreery chose Elvis’ (by way of Willie Nelson) “Always On My Mind.” And we thought he absolutely killed it. If not for Haley’s showstopper on “House of the Rising Sun,” Scotty would’ve been best of the night.
Vocally, he didn’t miss a note. If you closed your eyes, it was like you were listening to any number of current male country artists sing this song. The judges were similarly impressed. J.Lo called him “well-rounded,” though
we would add not so much outside the country genre. But still. It’s his wheelhouse and he knows how to work it.
What did you think, “Idol” fans? Do you think Scotty’s in any danger? How did it compare to his first song, “Gone” by Montgomery Gentry? We thought it was considerably better.James Durbin chose Harry Nielsen’s “Without You” for the oldie part of the “Now and Then” theme of the “American Idol” Top 5. He got so emotional about the lyrics during rehearsal that he had to leave.
And the emotion didn’t stop with his performance. Like Randy said, it wasn’t perfect. It just wasn’t, there were some pitch problems. But it’s hard to sing when you are choking back tears. Your throat gets all tight and it becomes difficult to sing at all, let alone on pitch. We thought it was a solid performance.
What did you think? One of James’ best? “Emotionally perfect,” as Randy said it was? Did you like it better than his first song? We did.
