'American Idol' recap: Motown Madness

It was Motown Week on American Idol, which meant a lot of white blazers, plenty of scrambling to Wikipedia the 1960s, and "a massive amount of pressure," considering that the Top 10 who survive tonight's elimination will end up on the season 10 summer tour. At the top of the show, Ryan began to descend the Stairway to Heaven, and then before we knew it -- about a year later -- it was time for the singing. Here's how it all went down.

Randy Jackson's Mini Recap for Busy People: "They're all really good tonight. They all showed up tonight."

Wow, thanks Dawg! That's so cool, that you're blogging.

Casey Abrams kicked things off with a growlin' and howlin' rendition of Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard It Through the Grapevine." I thought it was pretty standard Casey fare, but the judges found it more mind-blowing than I did. Steven called out Casey's "crazy out of control ego" as essential for working artists today, and J. Lo wracked her brain thinking of anyone who could possible compare to Casey. "Is there anybody out there right now like you? You might be, like, the guy right now!" Hold your horses, woman, this is just the first song. Even though the violinists ended up dominating Casey visually when he was back up on the stage, I loved that there was a live orchestra at all. The strings are such a vital part of that song. Strings! They're amazing. They might be, like, the band section right now. I was not a fan of the flatter, straighter hair on Casey -- it reminded me of the low-flow shower head episode of Seinfeld, which is always special, but not a great look for real life.

Thia Megia looked like an upside-down flower tottering around in stilettos as she sang Martha and the Vandellas’ "(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave.” I felt extremely uncomfortable watching this exquisite robot try so hard to have fun. Also, I find this song hilarious in that its most distinctive element is, obviously, someone yelling out "HEAT WAVE" over and over. It's almost a directive, like "DANCE PARTY." It's preposterous! Like who is this lady and why is she so emphatic about the weather? You sort of have to be kidding in order to pull it off. And I sort of get the impression that Thia has never made a joke in her entire little life. The judges, of course, loved it. "Okay! Okay! Okay!" began J. Lo, and if she'd ended her critique right there, we would have been on the same page. They were all thrilled that Thia had taken the bold step of trying extremely hard to loosen up. This one's losing steam, I think. Its battery could die at any moment.

Even though I still think he has trouble staying in tune, we can go ahead and count Jacob Lusk's “You’re All I Need to Get By" as one of the best performances of the season -- controlled, but still powerful and soulful. I really, really dig the quality of his voice, and just wish his transitions from very high to very low (and vice versa) weren't often so jarring. He gets it, though. The performance quality is there and he actually connects to lyrics. In fact, what I loved most about this performance was how clear it was that Jacob loved this song. His phrasing on some of those last text-heavy lines was so natural, it was almost conversational. He didn't take it over the top. It was just a very mature performance. Pink cuff links never hurt anyone, is all I'm saying. Hmm, was it just me or did J. Lo seem extra horny last night with all that chatter about how Jacob made us beg for those notes? Seems like these contestants had her squirming around a lot in that swivel chair. It could have something to do with the extra coats of oil on her freshly shaved legs. Maybe all of this -- season 10 in general! -- is an artful extension of J. Lo's ad campaign for Venus. Whoa.

And woe. Poor Lauren Alaina, who had to follow Jacob's ladies-only front row hug parade with her version of the Supremes’ “You Keep Me Hangin’ On.” I feel like she needs a new narrative each week -- last time, she was sick; this time, people are mean to her on the internet. (Sounds like the Deej needs to have a heart-to-heart with Uncle Jesse. They can jam afterwards!) This competition's D.J. Tanner won't let her naysayers bring her down. Set her free, why don't you, bully? In terms of content, though, I enjoyed Lauren's performance and somehow didn't even mind that she nearly felt up Randy. I'm always struck by how strong her voice is, even when she's clearly not going full-throttle. I don't like when she gets too breathless, but I do appreciate her twang and liked the way the intentionally went sharp on "hanging on." Are we loving or loathing the way Lauren giggles into the mic after her final notes? I keep changing my mind. I love to laugh, but I hate faker bakers. (Update: The original version actually contained a giggle at the end. I think I'm going with my final answer is "love"!)

Stefano Langone probably made a mistake in choosing Lionel Richie’s “Hello” after David Cook sang it so memorably in season 7. It's not like the song should be totally off-limits or anything, but Stefano hadn't ever even heard it! This is really not something that should be admitted out loud. It bothers me when people pick songs that are new to them, because a live performance requires a certain level of credibility beyond "it was on the list so I memorized it." That's not knowing a song and feeling a song, which is a shame because Stefano strikes me as someone who cares about emotional impact. He probably just didn't know any of the available songs, period. Maybe? How? I don't know. It's baffling. J. Lo encouraged him to connect with the lyrics as if he was telling a story or writing a letter. (Writing a letter! How archaic. Is that like texting?) "I don't want the intensity to come from you wanting to do well," she said. "I want it to come from because your heart is breaking." Randy chimed in: "Ooooooh!" I agreed with Randy here, but then Dawg went downhill. "You've been in relationships," he half-announced, half-asked Stefano. Sure, he's got things going on. "Ryan and you, you know," Randy continued. And at that, Ryan inhaled sharply, remembering how tenderly Stefano had clutched his shoulder just moments before, in fear that Ryan's rose petal breath would become too garlicky from Stefano's mom's leftovers. (For more Ryan/Stefano fan fiction, try my new life partner Richard Lawson's 'Idol' recaps when you're done here. You'll quietly say "I love you" just as you finish.)

After risking her life to walk down Ryan's death stairs in six-inch heels, a flat-ironed Haley Reinhart sang the Miracles’ “You Really Got a Hold On Me.” It was the perfect song choice for someone who kind of slurs and purrs her way through the music anyway. Jimmy and his team of dreamcatchers worked with Haley on her physical performance quality this week, but I didn't really notice an improvement. She was all sensual and sex-oozing, same as ever. Actually, now that I'm throwing some significant brain power into this, Haley and Scotty both seemed to be leaning to one side nearly the whole time last night. Is this insane? Was I the one leaning? I really think it was them. Anyway, Randy found a way to pat himself on the back while complimenting how Haley had become "the singer we always thought you were," and even said he detected "a little Janis" [Joplin] in there. J. Lo said Haley may have the most soulful voice of anyone in the competition… on the girls' side. My estimation of Haley went way up during her post-performance check-in, when she imitated Sally Field. "You like me! You really like me!" Well, yeah, now I do! Good for her for even knowing about that. Conversely, Pia's pre-packaged pageant answer backstage put me to sleep.

Scotty McCreery, a big-time baller, has fallen into a bad habit of starting out seated and then getting up only to walk around uncomfortably and avoid letting any part of his fingertips touch the microphone. He's so silly like that. The producers and Scotty put a country spin on Stevie Wonder’s version of “For Once In My Life” that sounded pretty good, even if it's not really my thing. I've noticed that Scotty's very fond of pointing cattily to the audience as if including them in his interpretation of the lyrics, which you'd think would be engaging but just doesn't really work. He also makes a lot of "Check me out!" faces each time he looks in a new direction or boldly takes a step. I wish I wasn't so annoyed by someone who scored a nine-point basketball shot from the balcony of a mansion. This creature should be my hero. But this was definitely one of Scotty's smugger weeks. I may not be that into him right now, but Steven said Scotty "tweaked" him, Randy called him a "young lady killer," and J. Lo swooned too, saying "every time you hit that note at the end you get me all over again." Huh. Even my sister wrote in via email: "I did like the end with his low voice and creepy look." What?! I guess I need to get on board and better appreciate things that are creepy. I'll have whatever you ladies are having. Let's trip out.

"I feel like this song gets me," said Pia Toscano about Stevie Wonder’s “All in Love Is Fair." It seemed like an absurdly self-centered thing to say on camera, but the more I think about it, the more I get it. And the more songs get me! For music lovers, this really is the point of music -- the enthralling (and at times terrifying, depressing, illuminating, etc.) chance to internalize a song and feel like it was written for you. So even though this was the same ballad she always sings, at least Pia's heart was in this and she felt connected to the song. Pretty much the exact opposite of Stefano. J. Lo thinks Pia can have a career like Celine Dion and do two-hour concerts one day. Not so fast, said Randy, who ordered Pia to not sing yet another ballad next week. Good move by R. Jacks! Pia is unnecessarily becoming as niche as Scotty is in this competition -- and she's not a 17-year-old wide-eyed country boy/ladykiller/recent basketball star, so she better watch out. Put your sneakers on, girl, and kick some ass!

The boy with the cougar pin, Paul McDonald, went with a folk-rock version of the Miracles’ “Tracks of My Tears” -- another song commonly considered to be "owned on the Idol stage" by someone else (season 8's Adam Lambert). Paul was more of a success than Stefano because he put his own spin on the song. Ew, sorry I just turned into Randy. The point is, no one was thinking about Adam because enough new and strange Paul McDonald stuff was happening on stage. In fact, after he finished, I was dying to listen to both the original version and Adam's. Is that good or bad for Paul? Interest is interest, I suppose. I do wish Paul had sung the whole song like he did the last few lines -- not only did he seem more comfortable in his own straitjacket skin, but he finally acknowledged the gravity of the song and lyrics during those final moments. Even Randy was gushing. "Dude, when you sing tender at the very end, oh my God, dude. Definitely got the husky thing going on." Randy actually says these things. Constantly! J. Lo said Paul "had like a tear in his voice," which is kind of profound. "You're the complete package," she continued. "All you need is a producer, and there you go!" She would know!

But J. Lo didn't get her first goosebumps of the night (always a milestone, like the first Maks booty pop of each DWTS season) until Naima Adedapo belted out Martha and the Vandellas’ "Dancing in the Street." A lot of Naima's singing sounds like yelling to me, but I guess this was a fairly accurate copy of the original song. The random African dance thrown in at the end didn't seem so out of place to me because my mind associates this song with the audition montage for the DTV dance contest in Girls Just Want to Have Fun. The whole point of that scene is "Look at all these nuts! Dancing!" So I was already there. It made sense to me. Everything made sense…except those pants. The judges raved about her risk-taking and Naima even got an "It was E to the Z, ooh, tweedle-y dee" from Steven. That's almost never the case. Still, I can see the dance being a turnoff to many voters. If Simon were still at that table, he'd be using one of his favorite words, indulgent, quite a bit with Naima. Hey, it's better than being boring. HEAT WAVE!

James Durbin loves that dance cam. His “Living for the City” started out awkward, but as soon as he jigged on over to his favorite dance ramp and revved up the vocal power, the performance fell into place. Still, at one point near the end of the song (I originally wrote dance, yikes), the camera panned to Steven and he was just sitting there completely motionless. Nothing was happening, but it was such an intense nothing, if you know what I mean. Perhaps Steven was wondering, as I was, whether James' lapel skulls were attached to his jacket or printed on a scarf. Oh, and the security tail was back. "You are serious business up there," said J. Lo, once the crowd had finally died down and she knew she was being heard. The Durbs does need to stand at attention a little sooner to listen to the judges when they deign to speak to him. I'm sure suddenly having adoring female fans behind the stage is very exciting, but Jennifer Lopez could be about to tell you how stunning you look tonight, at any moment. You gotta be ready.

Anyway, bottom line: Some of the high notes James hits are just insane. In a good way. Take it from Steven Tyler: "Sometimes it takes a little bit of crazy to make a difference in this world," said our wise old loon in his most piercing commentary of the night.