Round of 6: Pop/Rock - August 13-14

When I say Pop Rock this week, I'm not referring to the candy from a number of years ago. I'm referring to the genre that the 6 remaining singers will get their songs from this week.

Still reeling from last week's results, Ben starts with a reminder of how important it is to vote. He then notes that this week, the Top 6 have received some advice from members of Maroon 5! After the usual comments from the judges, we get a brief bio of this week's guests. Their first album sold over 10 million, and their current one, "It Won't Be Soon Before Long", has already gone platinum. With songs like "Makes Me Wonder", it's easy to see why.

First up tonight is Tara Oram. She asked Maroon 5 how they balance a high-energy stage performance without sacrificing strong vocals, and the band's frontman, Adam Levine, said to just not let the physicality overtake the singing. With that, Tara gets things going with "Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves. Jake said it's a tough song to do due to its popularity, and she fell short with the singing, but her performance was strong. Sass thought the song suits her personality, but Tara didn't sing as great as she acted. Zack basically thought it was awful.

Moving on to Jaydee Bixby, who wanted to know how Maroon 5 deals with their fame. Adam said that they don't let it get to them, and James Valentine added that they never forget why they're there; because of the fans. Tonight, Jaydee sings Lonestar's "Amazed". Farley said his ears were throbbing, since he feels that Jaydee didn't hit the notes. Sass said that like Tara, he looked better than he sounded. Jake thought he sang it pretty good, but he just doesn't find it believable.

Next up is Matt Rapley. He wanted to know how to stay focused on stage, and Adam responded that they should stay focused on what they're doing at the moment. Sounds like good advice for Matt to follow, as he sits at a piano and performs "Everything" by Michael Bublé. Zack thought he did a lot better than he had done in the last couple of weeks. Jake noted that there was a lot of entertainment in that one, and Matt looked comfortable with it. Farley agreed with Jake, and thought Matt has shown that he's evolving.

Time for Carly Rae Jepsen to take the stage. But first, she asked how they make their decisions when it comes to artistic choices, and Adam said to get a good manager, and to stay rational, but take others' opinions into account as well. Now, we'll see how Carly Rae does with "Come To My Window" by Melissa Etheridge. Zack thought it wasn't as bad as others have been tonight, and he didn't know why she chose that song. Jake was concerned about her song choice at first, but felt that what Carly Rae did was smart; she did it her way, and it was good. Sass thought that was the best version of the song she had ever heard!

Brian Melo is up now, and he was wondering how to maintain emotion with a song when singing it every day. Adam said that the important thing is feeding off of other people's reactions to it. This would be a good time for Brian to follow that advice, as he goes into his rendition of Live's "The Dolphin's Cry". Farley felt that he has a really honest sense of performance, and he's "Melo-dramatic". Sass thought it was an excellent song choice, and it was inspiring. Zack said it was the only real performance of the night, and Brian "kicked it".

Looking to make a strong finish to the night is Dwight d'Eon. He asked Maroon 5 what part of the music business surprised them the most, and James felt it was how much it became about promotion and marketing. With that, Dwight has his guitar ready, and he performs "Smooth" by Santana and Rob Thomas, complete with Canadian Idol's first ever guitar solo! Farley really enjoyed that performance, and it had a lot of energy. Zack thought it was cool, and Dwight had his own vibe, despite the choice of wardrobe (in particular, the jacket and pants). Jake, after saying that he saw that jacket in Zack's closet, said that it wasn't strong vocally, but it was strong performance-wise with some nice guitar playing.

Well, this was definitely an interesting night. But after what happened with the results last week, who knows where the votes will go this week. My prediction? I think Matt and Carly Rae will be in the trouble zone, but Tara will be the one sent packing. I would have picked Jaydee yet again, but let's face it; he seems to have quite the fanbase, judging by the fact that he hasn't even been in the Bottom 3 yet.

Tomorrow night, Maroon 5 performs, and the Top 6 will be cut to 5.

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Last night, we saw 6 interesting performances in the Pop Rock genre. Tonight, we find out which one Canada liked the least.

We start with a performance from the Top 6, then, during Ben's usual spiel, he mentions that over 3.1 million votes were cast this week! After a recap of the performances that those votes were for, and a break, we go right to Maroon 5 performing their latest single, "Wake-Up Call"! Afterwards, we find out that they will be coming back to Toronto on October 4th at the Air Canada Centre as part of a tour! With that, they have some more time to fill before results time, so we now get to hear "Makes Me Wonder"! 2 great performances from a great band!

But now, it's time for results. You know the drill...

Matt - SAFE
Carly Rae - Bottom 3
Jaydee - SAFE
Dwight - Bottom 3
Brian - SAFE
Tara - Bottom 3

With that, we have Carly Rae, Dwight, and Tara in danger of going home. Frankly, I'm surprised that Dwight is there, but then again, last week proved that anything can happen. As for what the judges think, Sass understands why 2 of them are there, Farley predicts that Carly Rae is headed home, Zack tells the singers that someone has to do something to make people go "Wow", and Jake says that besides Brian, no one has really stepped up like they need to.

So who is out? Rather than saving one of the 3 first like he normally would, Ben gets right to it...

Carly Rae - SAFE
Dwight - SAFE
Tara - OUT

And that will do it for Tara Oram. She closes the show with "Walking on Sunshine". As for the 5 singers that survive, next week could be a big one. That's because next week is "My Own Idol" week, where they'll be choosing songs from those that inspire them. But that's not all. Next week's special guest will be someone who has been through this whole process in the U.S. 5 years ago; the first American Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson!