Heart and Soul (and R n' B)

The Top 12 Finalists battled it out yesterday at the Soul and R n' B Week of Philippine Idol. The two performers with the lowest votes will be eliminated tonight.

Although I'm so rushed with time because it takes time updating the Idol Radio, I'll give my insights about last night's show:

* MAU messed up with the lyrics of Beyonce's flagship show "Crazy In Love." I agreed with the judges for her regarding her dancing. She should have either gave out more on her dancing or she should not have danced at all, focusing on her vocal powers.

* KEN struggled with his song "What's Goin' On?" Although Francis and Pilita gave him praises, I think he has yet to surpass his audition phase.

* APPLE gave out her best performance to date. Although "Natural Woman" is still "owned" by American Idol's Kelly Clarkson during her performance at World Idol, Apple's performance is still both respectable and enough to sail through next week.

* STEPH should have done that over-the-top performance she did in the wildcard if she wanted to own Tina Turner's "Proud Mary".

* JAN's performance is so meh. Next.

* REYMOND seemed struggling with singing soul songs like his piece "I'd Rather." Oh well, he did well.

* JELI's rendition of Mariah Carey's "Always Be My Baby" was just plain horrible, from the outfit to the pitch problems. And I feel so sad for Francis and Mamita that they are not honest enough with giving negative comments. Why are there in the first place anyway?

* GIAN ran all over the place, again. Gian's great, I really do think that way. But when he dances while singing, the magic in his voice simply vanishes.

* MIGUEL was a surprise. I do not want to elaborate.

* POW's rearrangement of Usher's "U Got It Bad" was great. Although it wasn't her personal best, her performance was one of the best this week.

* ARM seemed to be angry when she sang "Respect," like lashing out at her landlord after trying to evict from her apartment or something. But on the plus side, we witnessed her full potential with this performance.

* DRAE's performance of an erstwhile-unfamiliar "You're Not A Young Man Anymore" was unbelievably the best this week. Sadly, I couldn't find an mp3 of his performance as of now. I'll update the radio once it's available.

Here are additional notes and observations from last night:

* Francis and Pilita are just plain nice, bordering on the boring. All Idol judges, not just Simon Cowell, are known to be frank and critical of the contestants. Watch the clips of other Idol shows and see what I mean. Where have all the wit and humor they delivered during the audition phase gone?

* Pilita should stop going back to memory lane and referring past performances of each contestant (and even as far as performances outside Idol).

* Ryan C is becoming the monster that we expect from him. Arnel and Tuesday (or even Mitch Valdez) should accompany him next season. Just kidding.

* Gretchen Barreto just doesn't respect the PI judges. I don't care if you own the network, at least you did not set good example as a good audience member by not being attentive during the judges' comments, talking loudly to the person beside you during the live show, texting during the live show, basically everything that you did on cam last night.

* Finally, Philippine Idol should keep Rich Ilustre as the director. Mark Reyes' credibility as the co-director lost when he showed Miguel's butt with the caption "MEL VILLENA". That was just so wrong.