American Idol contestant Sam Woolf stepped up his game this week in attempt to show the judges he was worthy of their one save of the thirteenth season.
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Sam, a 17-year-old from Bradenton, FL, took the stage with a stripped-down performance of "Time After Time" by Cyndi Lauper after Idol judges Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban and Harry Connick Jr. had saved him from elimination during last week's live results show on Fox.
"Sam, I thought you did a great job tonight. I was watching you intently and, first of all, listening to your voice, for me, is such a treat. I just love the way you sing and it really gets showcased when you just play the guitar and it's just you and the guitar," Jennifer explained.
"That is your strength. And I felt you really trying to feel it and do the whole thing and really sing the words. It really came through. I even saw you make yourself blush at one point. 'I feel this. I'm getting red. Oh my goodness, I'm having feelings.' That's what is supposed to happen! You're supposed to feel something when it's happening."
"First of all, I love the fact you did that with an acoustic guitar solo. That was really, really good, man. That's a good thing. That's part of why we saved you last week, because there's a musicality there in what you do," added Keith.
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"And now, it's just coming down to performance. It's still about just loosening up and just laying into that song a little bit, because your vocal ability is all there. I just love the fact -- the way that everybody looked at you down there."
"Sam, I think you're getting better every week. We can see how hard you're working. I would just like to say two quick points. The first thing is, you were looking into the camera almost the whole time. You were surrounded by all these beautiful young girls, and you can look at them. Look at them. It's okay to look at them," Harry told the artist.
"Second thing is, go on YouTube tonight and look up Ricky Nelson -- a young Ricky Nelson -- and watch. He's not dissimilar to you because everything was very, very similar. And it's not a giant performance... but watch what he does, and I think something may -- you're an impressionable guy, so this is the time for you to learn from people that went before you. Something may click if you do that. Nice job."
The judges were able to save only one contestant eliminated by America during the finals up until the Top 6. The special save could only be utilized if Jennifer, Keith and Harry all agreed with one another, and that they did when it came to Sam potentially leaving the competition.
Contestant C.J. Harris, a 23-year-old from Jasper, AL, brought to the table what Sam lacked -- truly connecting with the audience. However, C.J. also lacked what Sam had excelled in performance-wise, which was having near-perfect pitch and intonation. C.J. sang "Free Fallin'" by Tom Petty.
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"There's never been a contestant that I rooted for note by note the way I root for you every single time. It started off a little bit shaky, but by the end, you just hit that chorus, you hit that 'free falling' part. And again, you have the ability that maybe some of the other contestants struggle with, which is to touch people's hearts, and you do that," Jennifer told C.J.
"You can't really define it. There's a connection that you have virtually every time you get up there, and that's an incredible gift. And what happens, C.J., and I've thought this was going to happen, it proves my theory. I'll say it to you every time. When you hit the high notes in that tune, you were much more in tune. We always talk about pitch and intonation and singing in tune," Harry explained.
"I'm telling you, you're going to get it, because you can hear. If you can hear the high notes in tune, you can hear the low notes in tune. It's just a matter of zoning in and focusing and practicing... When you crack that, you're going to be really tough to follow, because that connection thing is the most important of any of the attributes."
"That's the magic!" noted Jennifer.
"I would say the same thing, man. That was a great rendition of that song... To take it and make it more spoken. But the great thing about your voice is, you've got a survivor tone in your voice. That's what I would say to you. 'You may do this to me, you may do that to me, but I am going to prevail and I'm going to rise up. I'm going to survive.' That's the bit in your voice that I love, it's that optimism," Keith said.
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One contestant will get eliminated from the competition during tonight's live results show on Fox.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski