The final three show is always interesting, partly because, for right or wrong, the last three standing are down to the wire, and the pressure of being one of three usually seems to be considerably more than being one of four.
And, because two of the three songs they will sing are forced upon them, it's always a hoot to see who will crack under the weight.
Of course, the first song each of them will sing tonight is one of their own choosing -- no decades to get stuck in, no genres to constrict them, so it stands to reason all three of them should perform well.
The second songs, the judges' picks, were announced last Friday in each of their respective hometowns. Each of the judges seems to have selected his/her pet (no Corey remarks please...) over the course of the competition, so it's interesting that each of them is choosing against that type. (Although I still believe that the judges choose these songs collectively, with just one judge announcing the selection for one contestant.)
Conventional wisdom would have had Randy selecting for Bo, Paula for Vonzell and Simon for Carrie. But it was wise of the show to recognize, if it was indeed recognized, that to do so would have created even more of an appearance of favoritism.
Vonzell gets handed On the Radio, courtesy of Simon. This is an interesting choice, because, if she performs it closely to Donna Summer's original, it will allow the Vonz to show off her ballad skills and her uptempo ones. Bo will take on The Rolling Stones' (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction, thanks to Paula. She told him last week she wanted him to take more risks. And this could be one huge one, covering the song Rolling Stone magazine named the number one rock and roll song of all time. It's either going to pay off handsomely, or it's going to be a disaster. And Randy isn't making it any easier on Carrie, choosing Shania Twain's Man! I Feel Like a Woman. Carrie cannot stand at the mic for this song. Neither can she merely pace back and forth, kicking a mic stand as the sole display of personality. This is a song that requires selling. And it will allow her to either prove she's ripe for stage work, or it will show she's not ready. Or able.
But what will be most interesting is to see what Clive Davis chooses. He will, after all, hold these kids' futures in his hands. And he should test them. Or, as he did last year with Jasmine, hand them a poisonous song selection that's certain to ensure a dismissal. There are rumors all over the place what songs he's selected, including Sweet Home Alabama for Bo and The Power of Love for Vonzell. I'm not totally discounting those as possible choices, but I'm not putting a whole lot of stock in them either. The only rumor that sounds plausible is that he's selected Crying (Roy Orbison/kd lang) for Carrie. I can see this as a classic Davis test. She has the vocal chops to pull off the glory notes at the end, the ones which send chills up the spine. But to sell this song, she will have to reach into the depths of her emotional core. She will need to remember the heartache last week as she waved bye-bye to Anthony. Anything less than a full-fledged emotional performance will corrupt this song and render even the most glorious note empty. That's a classic Clive Davis challenge.
But, as past seasons have proven, a great final three night does not guarantee a ticket to the finale. Kim Locke outperformed both Ruben and Clay in season two (remember the disaster of Vincent?), enough to have Simon and the producers fearing a Clay/Kim or Ruben/Kim finale, when they were banking (literally) on a Clay/Ruben finish. And the producers so feared the dialing power of Hawaii last year, that poor Jasmine got the world's worst song titles, designed to finish her off, handed to her--Mr. Melody, a hideous song that few people had ever heard and All By Myself, with which LaToya London had made herself known already that season.
It doesn't appear (so far) that any such manipulation is going to befall Vonzell, the one potential spoiler in the finale they're banking on. But to proceed, Vonzell is not only going to have to hit one out of the park (or hit three, as the case may be), but she's going to have to hope that Carrie strikes out and the legion of Anthony fans out there doesn't automatically run to the Carrie number after the public display of [tearful] affection last week.
But whatever happens, it's going to be fun to watch.
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