I started to do an American Idol Season 11 power rankings, but it did seem disingenuous. As much as I respect Jessica Sanchez and Phil Phillips, Joshua Ledet should win American Idol Season 11.  Joshua Ledet has put together the single most impressive season of American Idol I have ever seen.   Joshua Ledet gives us hope that the burgeoning “old soul” movement my actually blossom into a full fledged soul music renaissance.

Joshua Ledet’s Incredible American Idol Season

I wasn’t around for Kelly Clarkson‘s triumphant season 1, so I can cannot make this claim fully.   Joshua Ledet has put together the most impressive string of performances in American Idol Season 11. From “When A Man Loves A Woman” to “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” to “Without You” to “To Love Somebody” to “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World”, each week he amazed and surprised Jimmy Iovine, the judges and me. Each week we though he had peaked and each week he set a new bar of amazement. Last week’s version of “Its A Man’s Man’s Man’s World” was nothing short of a revelation.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4babjH3QF8

Steven Tyler said of this performance, “I have never heard anything like that in my life.”  Randy Jackson declared it the best performance ever, on any singing competition show.  I just got chills watching the video.

Joshua Ledet Is A True Soul Singer

We have not seen anything like Joshua Ledet since Terrence Trent D’Arby in the 80′s. With the second generation of Motown, the emergence of superstar Michael Jackson and disco’s flash, soul moved from the blues based street music of the south to a radio friendly pop genre. We traded Al Green for Usher, Curtis Mayfield for Maxwell and Otis Redding for Luther Vandross.  R&B is not bad, but it is not soul. Unlike so many soul performers on these singing shows, Joshua Ledet is not copying the greats, he is taking their songs and making them his own.  A shining example of this is when Joshua sang “When A Man Loves A Woman” early in the season.  This song was perfect when Percy Sledge put it to record 40 years ago.  They might have well as retired the song because everyone who followed was just copying, until Joshua Ledet began to show off.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQ4pNlvt0m8

This was the moment when we began suspect that Joshua Ledet was something special.  It was not the first of the 13 standing ovations Joshua Ledet received from the judges during American Idol Season 11, but it was one of the most enthusiastic.

Joshua Ledet Can Make Soul Cool Again

Yes, Steven, Jennifer and Randy are given to hyperbole, but 13 standing ovations? In two seasons I have not seen Jimmy Iovine so anxious to get his hands on a singer. Jimmy Iovine cannot wait for the end of Joshua Ledet‘s American Idol journey because he wants to make a record. You can see Jimmy anxious about songs to put on Joshua’s first records because he wants to take advantage of a special talent. From Mary J Blige to Akon to Little Steven, industry veterans are truly excited by the young soul singer.

We do not know if Joshua Ledet has written any good songs, but most of the truly great soul songs were written by someone other than the singer. The talent of a true soul singer is the ability to interpret someone else’s song.  Joshua Ledet blew everyone’s mind when he turned a song he had never heard into this in just a few days:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkJ1e11VA_A

This is a great British pop song. Joshua Ledet turned it into a a soaring soul tour de force.

We don’t know if Joshua Ledet will win American Idol Season 11.  As a matter of fact, we think he is the least likely of the top 3 to win.  Jessica Sanchez seems to be a perfect selection for the tweener voting crowd and Phil Phillips has yet to see the bottom 2 this season.  However, let me be clear, Joshua Ledet should win American Idol Season 11.

Join us tonight as we watch Joshua Ledet, Jessica Sanchez and Phil Phillips perform for their spots in the American Idol Season 11 finale. They will perform one song selected by the judges, one song selected by Jimmy Iovine and one song that they select. Two hours should leave room for full performances of each of the songs. Join us for our live blog and share our immediate reactions to the close of one of the best seasons of American Idol.

Ten Stories
mewithoutYou
Independent
Progressive
Buy: Amazon

Shooting Star EP
Owl City
Universal Records
Electro-Pop
Buy: Amazon MP3

If you have read any of our articles you know that we are thrilled by the soul sensibilities of Joshua Ledet.  I also know that not many people like or even appreciate the great soul music that erupted out of Memphis, Nashville and Muscle Shoals in the 60′s. However, last night Joshua Ledet summed up all that is great about traditional soul music.  The dynamics of his performance, the pace changes, the repressed roars and the not so repressed roars all combined to pay homage to Otis Redding, Al Green, Sam Cooke, Wilson Pickett, James Brown and all those greats from the sweaty R&B clubs.  I have not seen anyone in the music scene over the past 25 years that captures that energy and can deliver it with such unbridled talent.  Joshua Ledet is at the bottom of some of the voting prediction sites.  If he goes home tonight we will have lost the only original artist left on American Idol Season 11.

Now it is time to find out who gets a home town parade and who will quietly go home to start their music career for real.

David Cook will perform live and we will get a taped performance from Jennifer Lopez, but we really only care about the results.

Looks like Phil Phillips couldn’t make it to the Ford video shoot.  It is amazing how he has fought through illness all season to stay on American Idol Season 11.

First results already.  First up Phil Phillips. The screaming girls love them some Phil Phillips. Jimmy Iovine thinks Phil Phillips found his true voice last night. Phil Phillips’ fate has been kept secret by Ryan Seacrest.

Now we will not find out what happens to Hollie Cavanagh. Jimmy says Hollie crashed and burned last night, but we still don’t know what the 70 millions voters had to say.

David Cook’s new song “The Last Song I’ll Write For You” is pretty good. That could be a hit.

Now time to hear what Jimmy has to say about Joshua Ledet. Jimmy hated his version of “You Raise Me Up”, but Jimmy agrees that Joshua created the type of magic rarely seen on American Idol, with “It’s A Man’s World.”

Jessica Sanchez gets to take the trip across the stage to Ryan. Jimmy thought she was just putting on a show with “Steal Away”, but he loved the Dreamgirls song. Jimmy called it “shock and awe”.

Okay 12 minutes until the end of the show.  How is Ryan going to reveal the American Idol Season 11 top 3?

Who is safe?  Jessica Sanchez and Joshua Ledet are having a parade. At least we know that the two best singers of American Idol Season 11 made it to the top3.  The final American Idol Season 11 parade will be for Phil Phillips.  Hollie Cavangh just could not put enough great performances together to make it all the way to the end, but it was a tremendous run.

Join us next week as we drive to the final of American Idol Season 11.

Tonight the American Idol Season 11 Top 4 will sing two songs.  They will sing songs that “they wish they had written”.  That could be anything.  The other song selections should be of the “California Sound”. Don’t know what that means. I hope everyone is amazing and we get each performers best shot tonight.  Join me now as I live blog the American Idol Season 11 top 4 performance show.

The first theme is California Dreamin.

Phil Phillips is up first with “Have You Ever Seen The Rain”.  This is one of the first rock songs of my youth.  Phil performs without his trusty guitar and interprets this as a light hearted summer song.  I doubt Phil knows this is a war lament song, like many of CCR’s songs.  He sang it pretty well, but I did not not like his cheery, light hearted interpretation. J-Lo says his vocal quality was perfectly chosen.  Randy thinks he started off pitch but quickly recovered.  The judges seemed to like that much more than me.

Hollie Cavanagh goes big ballad again with Journey’s “Faithfully”  I am not sure this is going to help Hollie’s quest to make it into the American Idol Season 11 top 3.  Watching her strut across the stage, there is just a new cockiness in Hollie’s entire demeanor.  I am not sure this was the best song to show off her big voice.  She fought through most of the song in her lower register.  She hit some big notes at the end but we needed more of that than we got.  Randy loved what she did with his band’s song.  J-Lo hits it with her comment about how laid back Hollie has become.  Stephen loved her choice of song and her performance.  Maybe I am just in a bad mood tonight but the judges are loving these performances much more than me.

I am just not understanding these song choices.  On a night when Joshua Ledet needs to show his modern relevance as a pop artist, he chooses Josh Grobin’s “You Lift Me Up”.  Okay, Joshua Ledet is dedicating this song to his father. Didn’t know that was a gospel song. That was another vocal tour de force by Joshua. I loved those breaks in the middle of the song.  That was a great interpretation of a song I did not think could be interpreted.  All of the judges are in awe of Joshua Ledet and his future.

Jessica Sanchez makes the most interesting song choice of the night with Etta James’ “Steal Away”. Jessica picked a song that allowed her to let loose with her big vocals and she did just that.  Fantastic performance.  She romped and stomped all over that song.  J-Lo says she is one of the best female singers on the scene today.  Randy loved how she tapped into the blues.  That was my favorite performance of the night so far.

Finally, Phil Phillips gets to sing a duet in his wheelhouse. He and Joshua Ledet do a good job with Maroon 5′s “This Time”.

American Idol is wasting a lot of time tonight with duets, group numbers and videos.  Let’s get on with it.

Phil Phillips wishes he had written “Volcano” which was written by Damien Rice. Back with his guitar Phil Phillip is accompanied by a cello. This was brilliant choice by Phil Phillips.  The song is contemporary but not well known and it is a perfect song for his voice.  This dark, simple, haunting performance marks the re-emergence of Phil Phillips. Stephen says he has never heard Phillip sing like that.  J-Lo says very few people could have pulled that off.  She called it one of the most beautiful, most poignant moments in the history of American Idol.  Randy says it was one of his best performances of Season 11.  We loved that performance.

Hollie Cavanagh wants to write “I Can’t Make You Love Me”. Let’s see if she can. Beautiful singing with a beautiful voice but I think the production was a little over the top.  Hollie just got caught up in the production.  Stephen thought the song came up a little short.  J-Lo just does not think she connected with the emotion.  Randy did not think the song fit her talent.  He said the song had nowhere for her to go with the song. Unfortunately, this was not the night of great performances that Hollie Cavanagh needed.

So Joshua Ledet is doing James Brown, “It’s A Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World”.  He is singing it to honor his mother’s role as the backbone of their family. This kid is the real deal.  Soul just oozes from this performance.  What a showcase.  The growls, the grunts, the screams. OH MY GOODNESS. Joshua Ledet just set American Idol on fire.  Anyone not amazed at this moment does not understand soul music.  Stephen says no one has ever sang that good on this show, ever.  Stephen says he has never seen anything like that at.  J-Lo had to turn to spanish to express herself. Randy says it is one of the greatest performances of any singing show ever. With that atomic performance, Joshua Ledet just said to America, “any questions”?

Now time to finish the American Idol Top 4 with Jessica Sanchez singing “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going” from Dreamgirls. This is Jessica’s response to the judge’s save.  This is the perfect song for a singer like Jessica Sanchez. That was some crazy good singing, but I think it was too much too soon.  She went big and crazy right from the beginning and she sort of lost me.  The rest of the performance was sort of muddled for me.  I would have liked a little more emotional development and dynamics in the song.  The judges do not agree and give her a standing ovation. The judges said it all with their standing O.

Joshua Ledet had the best performance of the night. Phil Phillip defined his identity as an artist.  Jessica Sanchez showed off her voice.  I am afraid the Hollie Cavanagh did not raise her game enough to hang with these other three performers.  Joins us tomorrow night as we find out how our American Idol Season 11 top 3.

This picture pretty much sums up where we are in American Idol Season 11. It seems that Hollie Cavanagh has burst through her mid-season slump to provide much of the energy and excitement of the past two weeks.  At the same time, Jessica Sanchez appears to be hanging on with her great voice but she has not shown much growth this season.  Phil Phillips has been fading badly and you can see it in his eyes.  All reports are that he is fighting through some severe health issue and is barely hanging on.  Through it all Joshua Ledet has been putting together a spectacular string of performances to have one of the greatest American Idol seasons of all time.

We only have three performance shows left and I have no idea who is the favorite to win American Idol Season 11.  Given where we are today, I think my top 4 would have been Joshua Ledet, Colton Dixon, Skylar Laine and Hollie Cavanagh.  However, I can’t vote 60 million times and I think this is a very good top 4 and I think we are in for an exciting three weeks.  Every one of these top four placed at least one performance in our American Season 11 Top 10 performances.

American Idol Season 11 Top 4 Power Rankings

1) Joshua Ledet- People that don’t like him claim that he screams through every song. He does not. Screaming compromises tone and undermines pitch. Gospel and soul singing call on the singer to express emotion through pushing their vocals. Compare Joshua Ledet to Otis Redding, Andre Crouch, Sam Cooke, Fred Hammond, Al Green or Teddy Pendegrass. Joshua Ledet can sing with the best of them. However, his tremendous vocal talent is not what puts him into the American Idol Hall of Fame. Joshua’s ability to dig into a song and pull out the emotional core of a song and then deliver it to us in performance after performance after performance is what sets him apart from Jessica Sanchez, Jacob Lusk or David Archuleta. There is a depth to this young man’s talent that is only now being mined. In maybe the best season ever of Amercian Idol, Joshua Ledet has set the bar week after week. Last week’s “To Love Somebody” was the final proof for me of Joshua Ledet‘s greatness. American Idol Season 11 is so talented that every perfomrance over the next few weeks will determine the ultimate winner, but I have decided that, for one21music, Joshua Ledet is the best of American Idol Season 11.

2) Hollie Cavanagh- Here we go again.  Hollie Cavanagh has flipped the switch and has turned into a formidable force on American Idol Season 11.  If you remember she started the season by taking on Celine, Christina and Whitney three weeks in a row and we were blown away by her vocal prowess and control.  Then, as American Idol Season 11 heated up, Hollie Cavanagh did not repsond.  Her performance were wooden and without emotion and her general stage demeanor was tentative.  Then Akon made the comment about “fliping the switch” and she did.  Since then her performances have been engaging, heart felt and, well, fun.  Between performances her free wheeling spirit and sense of humor has emerged.  Hollie Cavanagh has become a real delight on American Idol.  The exclamation point on this comeback was last week’s intimate, wrenching performance of “Bleeding Love”:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBnWBohxtKg

3) Jessica Sanchez- I know, I know there are many who believe Jessica Sanchez to be the class of American Idol Season 11.  I believe she is very, very talented.  I just don’t believe she is the best of this bunch and that is no insult.  Jessica Sanchez‘s performances wow me and sometimes thrill me, but they do not really pack much of an emotional punch for me.  Maybe she is mature beyond her years but I just do not believe she has the life experience to connect with “Try A Little Tenderness” or the gravitas to pull off “Proud Mary”.  I also do not believe she has learned to use her vocal power to deliver the emotional power of a song.  Too many times she goes on runs when the simple melody would be much more powerful.  Her performance last week of “You Are So Beautiful” is a grand case in point. This was powerful and impactful until she threw in those little runs on the last two choruses that actually diminished the emotional intimacy of this song.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOHEG43OHsw

4) Phil Phillips- Once again, I know he has many fans.  Quite frankly, I think he is the favorite to win at this point.  However, I would place at number six or seven if I were ranking American Idol Season 11.  His style is fun, exciting and quirky.  I love the way he bends songs to his view of the world.  Thing is he really can’t sing all that well.  Other thing  is, he has not really evolved much over American Idol Season 11.  Rather than peaking to the finish he had been plateaued for several weeks, until last week, when he regressed.  He just turned “The Letter” into a song I could sing (that is not a compliment) and with “Time of The Season” and “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” he showed the limits of his singing ability.  Phil Phillips is a highly talented musician with a clear and interesting vision.  American Idol is just not the show to reward that talent.

Three more weeks to see who the American Idol audience loves the most.  I hope you are enjoying this season as much as we are.  Join us tonight as American Idol Season 11 has another dual performance night with “California Sounds” and “songs I wish I would have written”.

Over Land & Sea
Lauren Mann & the Fairly Odd Folk
Catapult Records
Indie Folk
Buy: Amazon MP3

Church Clothes Mixtape
Lecrae
Independent
Rap

Sun Midnight Sun
Sara Watkins
Nonesuch Records
Bluegrass/Folk
Buy: Amazon MP3

We Are Creation
We Are Creation
Come&Live!
Worship
Buy: Amazon MP3

New Releases For May 11th, 2012

Wait Of The World
Atombender
Independent
Rock

Thrones EP
Good Luck Varsity
Independent
Pop Punk

So this is my favorite song from O’Brother‘s 2011 record, Garden Window, so I am super stoked that they made a video for it. The thing is, the music video for “Lo” is a little….. disturbing, so Im going to warn you right now its a little rough. ENJOY with caution

Check out the epic-ly awesome new music from War Of Ages with their song “Silent Night”. Enjoy!