Australian Idol rocked this week with special guest mentor and judge Suzi Quatro. But before we could get into the business, someone had to go. This week saw Tim Johnston, Casey Barnes, and Ashleigh Toole land in the bottom three. Despite never putting a foot wrong in the comp, Ashleigh was the unlucky one ousted. My husband wonders whether all of her fans simply intended to vote as he did, rather than picking up the phone. Either way, she definitely didn’t deserve to leave us so soon.
Hayley Warner, our resident rock chick, was a natural choice to kick off the performances. Her choice of a Paramore number was spot on. I think she took everything Suzi said in her stride and delivered a performance even more compelling than the week before.
Casey Barnes is one of the nicest guys in the comp, so finding his rock edge was always going to be a challenge. I’m not sure he did it with Carolina Liar’s “I’m Not Over”, but we saw a little more angst than we have in the past. It was a solid effort for a singer clearly out of his comfort zone.
I loved Kate Cook’s cheeky choice of Jet’s “Are You Gonna Be My Girl.” Like Casey, she wasn’t in her comfort zone, but I had to admire her commitment. While parts of it were a little shouty for me, she certainly didn’t do it by halves. She gets an A for effort.
Nathan Brake floored me. His performance of “Second Chance” made me feel more than any performance in the competition this year. I thought he was going to cry; I thought I was going to cry. It might not be a very rock and roll reaction, but I thought this was incredible.
A little like Casey, Toby Moulton is the quintessential nice guy. Unlike Toby, he made a really clever song choice and went for a little Muse rather than edgy rock. Dicko may have panned the song choice, but I thought it was inspired. It was exactly what he needed to do: soaring vocals and melody. Rock week could easily have been Toby’s banana skin, but I’m pretty sure this performance will see him sail through to the next round.
Tim Johnston looks entirely too metrosexual for rock week. If only he grew some stubble this may have been a little more believable for me. But he made a really smart choice by giving “Jumping Jack Flash” a soulful side. It really didn’t rock, but it was a whole lot better than last week’s train wreck.
When Sabrina Batshon had finished singing “Numb” both my husband and I said “Wow.” Just one word that completely summed up what she just did. She stripped away all the layers, laid herself bare, and it was beautiful. She may be theatrical, but she is genuine. It’s not theatrics for the sake of theatrics. I felt this one to the core.
James Johnston is another one of those sweet boys. Why don’t we have any dirty bad boys this year? Anyway, rock was always going to be a challenge for him. He managed to be note perfect with “Thnks fr th Mmrs,” but it didn’t really rock until the last 10 seconds or so. It was incredibly polite, and that’s just not rock. For me, this was probably the weakest of the night, but James knows his demographic and the kids love Fall Out Boy. He probably won’t even find himself in the bottom three.
I thought Scott Newnham made a smart choice with “American Woman.” It was a rock song that still had the soul edge that plays to his strength. But I’m not sure he knew that. He seemed to lack the confidence he needed to really pull this off. Rock is all about attitude, and to me this felt a bit aimless.
Kim Cooper is going from strength to strength for me. Her version of “I Want You To Want Me” was lots of fun, believable and ballsy. She’s stunning, but she is allowing herself to get a little dirtier and grungier. That makes her so approachable. I am really enjoying watching her journey.
What can you say about Stan Walker? I never would have picked Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” for him, but he delivered an amazing performance of this song. It was focused, and believable, and intense, and incredible. There are not enough superlatives for describing how good this was.
Suzi Quatro brought so much out of these kids. We had some of the best performances we’ve seen from them, and it’s tough to decided who will go. Although after landing themselves in the bottom three tonight, I’m not sure Casey or Tim did enough to escape the same fate next week.