‘American Idol XIII’ top 5 review: Jena Irene, Sam Woolf, Alex Preston take requests

Request night arrived Wednesday on “American Idol XIII,” and despite our myriad of concerns over whether or not this was going to be a completely unmitigated disaster, we’ll at least give the crew some credit for being at least solid … if not exactly spectacular.

In the end, though, let’s hope that this theme is either retired moving forward, or “American Idol” chooses to actually pick songs that haven’t been done a billion times in the future.

10. Sam Woolf, “Sing” – To be fair, we were expecting terrible disaster with this performance. It was only just kind-of bad with him falling apart in the chorus. Sam can sing and he can play the guitar, but he seems somehow incapable of looking like he is actually happy to be there most of the time. It’s his personality that keeps him from being endearing. It’s not that he’s a grump so much as it is that whatever emotion he has just isn’t showing up on his face.

9. Caleb Johnson, “I Don’t Want To Miss a Thing” – This was uncomfortable. To be fair, Caleb sounded like he wasn’t really even like the idea of singing the song, and he was out of tune and a little emotionally hollow. Caleb’s strength is big, fun performances that let him rock out. He couldn’t do that here.

8. Jessica Meuse, “Human” – Another song that the artist wouldn’t have picked for herself. We thought Jessica did a lot with the song, so much so from an emotional standpoint that we didn’t notice the pitch problems. To be honest, we just don’t really care for the song. It doesn’t suit her style, and feels more like “Generic Idol 101.” Boo to the random fan who picked this!

7. Alex Preston, “Sweater Weather” – We find it funny that Alex only really listened to the song twice before recording it, and this is pretty impressive mostly thanks to that. It’s a charming enough performance with a nice little groove to it, even if it’s hardly what we would call magic … or to use the weather analogy, a semi-nice day outside.

6. Sam Woolf, “How To Save a Life” – This was better than almost anything that Sam has done so far this season. There was emotional vulnerability! Also, there was an effort to do more than just sing the notes of the song, and carry a message to the viewers. Once again, this was what happens when the viewers actually pick a good song.

5. Jessica Meuse, “Summertime Sadness” – It was pretty jarring to see Jessica go with the makeover to work with the theme of this song. Everything about this worked for us, especially the haunting notes at the end. We don’t exactly know what Keith Urban wants from her when it comes to theatrics. Should she try to lead a marching band down the stage?

4. Alex Preston, “Say Something” – If we hadn’t heard the song on “The X Factor” from Alex’s buddies Alex & Sierra, it probably would’ve been even better for us. This gig is practically an “American Idol” All-Stars run for her with all of these great duet parts.

3. Jena Irene, “My Body” – We don’t necessarily think that this was perfect, but it got better and better as it went before rocking the song’s face off at the tail end. Jena can really perform! She works the stage as well as Caleb does, but the real difference between the two is that she can also go to emotional places and tap into herself when she sings. Not all of that was necessarily here, but she still sold it well.

2. Caleb Johnson, “Still of the Night” – This was exactly in Caleb’s wheelhouse, and for that reason, can you really be surprised that this was really good? Caleb did have the assistance of the echo effect attached to the vocals, but most singers in the industry do. In combining everything, this was his best in a few weeks.

1. Jena Irene, “Valerie” – The only criticism we have here is that Jena never should have left the mic stand with this one. Everything else was great, from Rickey Minor’s “rock face” to the outfits to the live band to the bright red “Jena Irene” in the background. Also, what a nice move to just sing it how she wants to … judges be crazy.

Who was your favorite on Wednesday night’s “American Idol XIII” episode? Share your thoughts below, and click here to see where we ranked our contestants going into this episode. Also, sign up now to get more news worth singing about via our CarterMatt Newsletter.

Photo: Fox