American Idol - May 18

After the May 18 episode of American Idol, Silver Chips Online's judges voiced off on the night's performances.

Ellie Blalock

Record-producing legend Clive Davis dropped by the American Idol competition tonight, offering praise as well as criticism for the three finalists: Jasmine Trias, Fantasia Barrino and Diana DeGarmo. The three ladies kept up their fierce competition throughout this episode, consistently outdoing themselves and impressing their studio and television audiences.

Jasmine Trias: Jasmine sang "Saving All My Love For You," "Mr. Melody" and "All By Myself." Jasmine was pretty solid in all three songs, but faltered a bit in "Mr. Melody" and "All By Myself" as she faced the songs' unique tempos. Jasmine definitely challenged herself this week, although I'm not sure she was able to pull it off. Jasmine was the weakest performer this week and will need some luck to get a second chance.

Fantasia Barrino: Fantasia really can do no wrong in the eyes of the studio audience or myself. She performed "Chain of Fools," "Fool in Love" and "The Greatest Love of All." She performed amazingly in each, singing perfectly naturally and beautifully. However, when she performed Aretha Franklin's "Chain of Fools," she couldn't quite meet the standards set by the famous superstar diva, but it was not an issue, since Fantasia is a diva herself.

Diana DeGarmo: Diana tried very, very hard to impress everyone this week, which could win her some votes this time around. However, in her three songs, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," "Because You Loved Me" and "Don't Cry Out Loud," Diana could at times sound as if she was straining or shouting the song rather than singing with the amazing voice all of America knows she has.

Most likely Jasmine will have to say goodbye to American Idol tomorrow, although with the way voting has turned out so far, you never really know. Fantasia excelled, and Diana remained solid. Thus, if America votes based on performance, Jasmine will be leaving.

Shewit Woldu

American Idol has come down to its final weeks, and, following last week's surprise vote, people are questioning who will be America's third idol.
 
Well, America, I have the answer. It is no other than Fantasia Barrino. She was the star of tonight's show with two fast-paced songs showing off her charisma on stage and one slow slog to show people that her voice is more than beautiful. This was not a surprise, considering that she would take turns being the best performer with LeToya, and LeToya's absence placed all of the focus on Fantasia.
 
This, however, does not mean the other two performers were terrible. In fact, Jasmine gave one of her better performances, but her best is just not good enough. She sang "All by Myself." Unfortunately, when she loses tomorrow, she'll be all alone.
 
Diana DeGarmo was not in Jasmine's league. She sang beautifully, but she still has a long way to go in developing her voice. Yes, it is nice that she can keep the same note for the longest time but that doesn't mean she should stretch out every last word of every line.
 
So, although I am excited to say my goodbyes to Jasmine, next week it will be nice to announce Fantasia as the next American Idol.