American Idol Does The Music of Barry Gibb
Working with yet another music legend, the four remaining finalists on American Idol were mentored by the great Barry Gibb this week. The contestants performed two of Gibb's songs apiece. Unfortunately, with a large and stellar catalogue from which to choose, several of the finalists' song choices were ill-fitting, leading to an overall lackluster evening.

Following is the It's Destiny! panel's take on the AI6 Top 4: The Music of Barry Gibb.

Our guest panelist this week is 18-year-old Morgan from San Jose, California.

Melinda Doolittle "Love You Inside & Out"
Morgan: Melinda was rocking some tight pants this week! She looked good and younger than she has before. I liked her top. I thought she sounded really good on this song. I liked how she moved on the stage too.
Score: 9.0
Destiny: Welcome, Morgan! Glad to have you here with us this week. I, too, thought Melinda looked good in her tight jeans and flattering black top. Her vocals and stage presence were really underrated by the judges on this one. Go figure.
Score: 9.2
Tammy: Glad to have you aboard, Morgan! What was with all the emphasis on this song being done by a female? Barry Gibb needs to youtube himself some Feist. I wasn't really thrilled with Melinda's version, it was a bit dull for my liking. She did about as much as she could with it, as it's not really a song that really resonates that much in the first place.
Score: 8.4
Liza: Ditto the welcomes, Morgan! I love me some Melinda, but I don't love me this song, and I was a bit dismayed when I found out that she chose it. Not only for the song itself but for the fact that this song helped get LaToya Tamyra'd in season 3. Hopefully, since the "You Keep Me Hanging On" curse ended this year, this one will too. But getting back to Melinda, I did like her look tonight, and I thought she sounded lovely as usual.
Score: 8.5

Blake Lewis "You Should Be Dancing"
Morgan: Hot! I love the jacket he wore on this song. I'll dance with you anytime, Blake. Cool cat. This could be blaring in any club or on any radio across the country.
Score: 9.0
Destiny: I, too, thought Blake looked hot in his jacket. I love his hair, too! I was hoping he'd add some blonde back into it. He is so appealing! And the man is a human computer. The digitizing of a song he does with only his mouth is amazing. And the musical skills required to do what he does are incredible.
Score: 9.0
Tammy: I'll give Blake some high marks for the ensemble he's sporting tonight, but I wasn't thrilled with the beat boxing that he added to it. I didn't think it really worked with the song, and unlike his Bon Jovi cover last week, it never blended all that well together.
Score: 7.9
Liza: I actually thought that the beat boxing was the only thing that saved this mess of a performance. I can't imagine how bloody awful this would have been if it was just vocals. Because the falsetto and echo chamber are not your friend, Blake.
Score: 6.0

LaKisha Jones "Stayin' Alive"
Morgan: This wasn't a good song choice for LaKisha. I don't know why she chose it. It didn't seem her style. I didn't like how she slowed the song down either. It didn't wow me.
Score: 8.0
Destiny: LaKisha sounded out of breath on this one. I agree that it was a poor song choice for her (or anyone for that matter). The arrangement was a mess, but her actual voice sounded good despite the breathiness.
Score: 7.6
Tammy: I actually liked the slower tempo of this song. I thought it was cool. There were parts where I thought she oversang, though.
Score: 8.3
Liza: I was expecting a total train-wreck when I heard she was singing this song, but it was surprisingly not bad, although it IS a little weird to hear this iconic song done this way.
Score: 7.25

Jordin Sparks "To Love Somebody"
Morgan: I liked Jordin's hair this week. She is so pretty and her voice is beautiful. I really liked this.
Score: 9.5
Destiny: Jordin did look lovely this week. I thought she sounded much better at the piano with Barry. I don't think the stage performance of the song quite matched what he called the best version of this song he'd ever heard. It was good. Not outrageously great.
Score: 9.0
Tammy: I agree, Destiny. It was good. For me, Jordin really never lost herself in the song, and the parts where she was supposed to be all spontaneous and just feeling the moment came across as too rehearsed and contrived. And this was the BEST!VERSION!EVER! of this song? Somewhere, Clay Aiken shakes his fist angrily at the tv screen. Heh.
Score: 8.9
Liza: Clay and Josh Gracin could shake their fists angrily. As much as I wanted Josh gone later in season 2, his singout of this song while holding his little baby remains one of my favorite moments of that season (not because he was leaving. haha!). So while the vocals can be debated about whether or not her's or Clay's was better, I would definitely say that this song was emoted better by Josh. I actually quite liked how Jordin sang the song with a bit of a country feel to it, but then she went and Mariah'd it, and it suddenly wasn't so interesting anymore.
Score: 8.75

Melinda Doolittle "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart"
Morgan: Melinda sounded awesome on this song. She is a really sweet girl. I felt sad for her during this song. Guess that means she did a good job!
Score: 9.5
Destiny: Talk about making a song her own. Melinda took the reigns and crafted this into a torch song. Great job! I am boggled as to why the judges chose this week to slam her. I thought it was one her best.
Score: 9.2
Tammy: I like that finally, Melinda unleashes a few glory notes. There's no disputing the quality of her singing, but her recent performances have a same-ness about them (which is what I think the judges feel the need the point out...that, and the fact that Jordin is The Chosen One and any competition must be mowed down to pave the way to her coronation).
Score: 9.0
Liza: I truly do not understand Paula Abdul (Heh. Who does?!). She chooses THIS moment to tell Melinda to throw out the technical stuff when Melinda TOTALLY let loose and just wailed on this song?! I would not have sniffed if Paula had made that comment after the first song, but after this one?! I think I preferred puppies and rainbows Paula to this version who makes absolutely no sense. This performance was near the level of "My Funny Valentine". Oh, and I have to comment on Melinda's personality for those who think she has none. Her humor is low-key but really funny. "My mom crossed out Bad and wrote Good". "I don't want to sing about being a loser on American Idol". Hee!
Score: 9.5

Blake Lewis "This Is Where I Came In"
Morgan: Blake is a bad boy in the danger zone! Cool cool performance. I want to see more from Blake. He better not be going home this week.
Score: 9.3
Destiny: Blake is a cool cat. And so contemporary. This song sounds like a hit. The judges can jump off a cliff!
Score: 9.0
Tammy: This performance seemed to have better flow than his first, but I didn't feel that the beat boxing was necessary in this song either, and took away from my enjoyment of him. I could totally hear Blake recording this song, though. He did a good job in updating this one.
Score: 8.9
Liza: I swear I am not a Blake-hater. I really do want to like his performances, but he did himself no favors this week. I agreed with Simon that it was a bad song choice, and I agree with Randy (and Tammy) that he didn't have to beat box here. He should have laid off the sound box on one of the songs this week just to prove he's not gimmick boy.
Score: 5.5

LaKisha Jones "Run To Me"
Morgan: LaKisha croaked on this one. I didn't really like the song. It was boring. She needs to be the one to go home this week.
Score: 7.0
Destiny: Yes, she croaked on the last note, but I don't think that should overshadow the rest of her beautiful performance. Her vocals were so rich throughout this song. Lovely.
Score: 9.0
Tammy: I thought it was a bit boring too. Her voice did sound good, but she'd already put me into a coma by the time she decided to put any energy into the song.
Score: 7.4
Liza: I really like this song, and I thought LaKisha sounded lovely on it (and looked lovely as well) ... until the end. That was quite the unfortunate ending.
Score: 8.0

Jordin Sparks "Woman In Love"
Morgan: Jordin looked pretty again on this song. I liked her dress. The judges were wrong about her. She sounded great.
Score: 9.3
Destiny: Jordin has a beautiful tone to her voice. And she is a charming girl. I don't love this song, especially for a young girl like Jordin, but she sounded about as good as she could doing it.
Score: 8.8
Tammy: Loved the dress, but the performance seemed a bit...weird to me. Jordin was very sharp in some parts of the song, and the whole thing came across as so oddly melodramatic that it seemed more parody than performance.
Score: 8.2
Liza: Echoing the sentiments on how pretty Jordin looked tonight, but her vocals didn't match her looks on this one. I am pleasantly surprised that Randy called her on her pitchiness. And that Simon called her pageanty and said that she was 17 not in a "OH MY GOD, SHE'S ONLY 17!" (tm Randy) way but in a "Good lord, kid; you're only 17 years old. Stop sounding like you're 37!" way. I just wish someone would finally call her on her breathiness/gasping for air.
Score: 8.0

Who Should Be Eliminated:
Morgan: LaKisha
Destiny: LaKisha
Tammy: Jordin. And can we bring back Phil? Thanks.
Liza: Blake

Who Will Be Eliminated:
Morgan: LaKisha
Destiny: LaKisha
Tammy: LaKisha
Liza: LaKisha

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