On American Idol 2012 Wednesday night, the top 7 remaining contestants performed in a repeat battle from last week. No one was sent home on the American Idol elimination results show last Thursday since the judges used their one and only save to keep Jessica Sanchez on the show. So that means everyone will get one more chance to correct their mistakes from last time to make it through to the next round.

This week on American Idol 2012, the theme for the song choices was “now and then.” Each contestant was asked to perform a song from ‘now’ (modern) and a song from ‘then’ (classic). American Idol fans will surely recognize a number of artists/songs that just seem to keep cropping up over and over again on American Idol, The Voice 2012 and other reality singing competitions lately. One would think a wannabe superstar could strive to be a bit more original with their song choices!

WARNING: AMERICAN IDOL 2012 SPOILERS AHEAD

After the requisite chit-chat and banter to start off the show, we launched into the first set of performances by the American Idol 2012 top 7.

American Idol 2012 Top 7 Performances – ‘Now’:

Hollie Cavanagh – “Rolling in the Deep” by Adele
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Comments: This was one of Hollie’s better performances, but not stellar. I don’t think it will save her from the bottom two.

Judges: Overall a positive rating, but nothing spectacular. Randy Jackson was right when he said Hollie was once again “pitchy” in places.

Rating: 7

Colton Dixon – “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga
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Comments: An interesting version of the song, but not Colton’s best performance by far. Still, it should be plenty enough to keep him safe another week.

Judges: They seemed to like it, but were not totally in love. Steven Tyler liked that Colton took a risk with the song and I agree with that, even if it wasn’t a huge success.

Rating: 7.5

Elise Testone – “No One” by Alicia Keys
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Comments: A strong performance all around, but not her absolute best of the season, which she really might have needed to stay out of the bottom two this week.

Judges: All the judges liked it and though Elise did a great job, although Steven Tyler said he wished the chorus on the song had been stronger.

Rating: 7.5

Phillip Phillips – “U Got It Bad” by Usher”
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Comments: While I thought Phillip Phillips doing an Usher song would be downright weird, I actually really enjoyed this. After a few weeks of being kind of lame, Phillip pulled out a hot one tonight.

Judges: The judges are having orgasms, as evidenced by Jennifer Lopez moaning “Yes! Yes! Yes!” Major props and love from all three.

Rating: 9

Jessica Sanchez – “Fallen” by Alicia Keys
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Comments: I’m not a Jessica Sanchez fan, although I don’t deny she is a hugely talented. Being honest, it was a really strong performance, but she’s had better ones.

Judges: The judges are gushy with love all over, although they did not call it absolute perfection this time around. Randy hopes America will support her this week.

Rating: 8.5

Skylar Laine – “Born This Way” by Lady Gaga
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Comments: Personally I think it wasn’t the best move to try to go country with Lady Gaga. It wasn’t bad, and I appreciate Skylar going out of the box, but it was a tad off.

Judges: The judges gave Skylar pretty strong praise, but I they weren’t being totally over-the-top with it. There was certainly room for improvement.

Rating: 7.5

Joshua Ledet – “I Believe” by Fantasia
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Comments: This is one of those songs that is kind of a perfect choice for Joshua, but oddly something about it doesn’t quite ring perfectly true to me. It’s really fabulous, but not 100% perfect.

Judges: A standing ovation from the judges shows how much they love it. Steven basically says this was just one more step in Joshua’s path to winning the show.

Rating: 8.5

American Idol 2012 Top 7 Performances – ‘Then’:

Hollie Cavanagh – “Son of a Preacher Man” by Dusty Springfield
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Comments: Oh Hollie, I want so much to like your songs! This one was just not one of my favorites at all. This is just one of those songs you have to do perfectly and she didn’t.

Judges: The judges think the song is better than round one, but as Steven says, she really could have pushed it even more. She’s good, but not great.

Rating: 6.5

Colton Dixon – “September” by Earth, Wind, & Fire
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Comments: This was not the right song for Colton by a long shot. He was lost on it and it just didn’t fit his voice. This is maybe one of my least favorite of his performances.

Judges: The judges are universally not pleased with the song. Steven thinks his voice is way more powerful than the song and the other judges think it is just not the right fit.

Rating: 6.5

Elise Testone – “Let’s Get It On” by Marvin Gaye
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Comments: I wouldn’t have thought this would be a good song for Elise but I liked it. I thought her voice was rich and soulful, but there were some places where it didn’t quite work.

Judges: The judges thought it was good, but not great. Randy thought she oversang the song, while Steven thought she needed to kick it up a notch. Jennifer said Elise should not be in the bottom three.

Rating: 7

Phillip Phillips – “In the Midnight Hour” by Wilson Pickett
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Comments: Phillip picked another really good one for tonight with this song. After a few weeks of being rather boring, Phillip seems to be back on the ball.

Judges: The judges are all over this one. They are giving Phillip all kinds of love again. He’s one of the darlings of the night for all three.

Rating: 8.5

Jessica Sanchez – “Try a Little Tenderness” by Otis Redding
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Comments: This song choice felt a little weak for Jessica. She just didn’t seem fully engaged and on with it. Plus it didn’t show off her powerhouse vocals the way another song might.

Judges: The judges are a little hesitant with the praise on this one. All three agree that Jessica needed to push it more and take it further, and she needs to connect with her emotions when she is performing.

Rating: 7.5

Skylar Laine – “Heart It Through the Grapevine” by Marvin Gaye
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Comments: Skylar is more in her zone with this song, although again it is kind of odd with her serious country twang. I would have liked to see her do something less overdone.

Judges: The judges are happy with her performance and they seem to be trying to drum up support for Skylar this week. Randy called the performance brilliant.

Rating: 7.5

Joshua Ledet – “A Change Is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke
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Comments: This is a beautiful song and Joshua does it justice but I think he could have possibly brought it to another level. He’s just shy of really blowing it out.

Judges: Randy thought it was perfect, but Jennifer thought he held back a bit. She begs America to vote for him and not send him home. I would be very surprised if they did any such thing so I’m wondering if that was some kind of attempt at reverse psychology on her part or something.

Rating: 8.5

Although there is usually a double elimination the week after the judges use a save to keep a contestant from being voted off American Idol, this week’s elimination results show may be only a single elimination.

In past seasons, it was typical for a double elimination to follow the use of the judges’ save, but this year we already had the disqualification of Jermaine Jones earlier in the season. That may mean that there will be no need to eliminate two contestants to keep the show on schedule for the finale.

So who do you think rocked it tonight on American Idol 2012, and who do you think bombed? Let us know your thoughts in our comments section below!

Be sure to join us tomorrow here at RealityRewind.com for our American Idol 2012 predictions and our elimination results recap for Thursday night!

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