This week's guest coach was Jennifer Lopez and the contestants' song choices this week had a Latin flavor to them.
Melinda Doolittle started off the show with a tune called "Sway." I was not thrilled with her song choice but, as usual, she gave a smooth, professional performance.
LaKisha Jones was up next with her version of "Conga" by the Miami Sound Machine. I thought it was a good song choice for her and it was a hot, fun performance. I was glad to see her move around the stage and into the audience for once. As she said, it took her out of her comfort zone for once. Good job, LaKisha!
Chris Richardson did "Smooth" by Santana/Rob Thomas. As the title of the song indicates, he gave a smooth, good overall performance of the song. I particularly liked his stage presence and arrangement of the song this week, but he definitely needs to polish up his vocals more to stay in this competition.
Haley Scarnato sang Miami Sound Machine's version of "Turn The Beat Around." She looked like she was having fun, but lacked energy and strength in the vocal department. While she may look good on stage, she has yet to give a memorable vocal performance in this competition, and really needs to step up her game if she is not eliminated this week.
Phil Stacey did "Maria Maria" originally done by Santana with Product G&B. I love watching Phil on stage, as he always brings great enthusiasm to whatever he performs. He had a few shaky spots during his runs and got a bit shrill on some of his high notes. Overall, it was a nice performance, but if he stays past this week he definitely needs to work more on his vocals too.
Jordin Sparks was up next with "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You," by Miami Sound Machine, who seemed to have the greatest influence on song choices this week. Her vocals were excellent and she gave a hot, sultry performance. She has been giving consistently strong performances each week now and I think she has a good shot to make it to the top.
Blake Lewis is also a heavy contender for the finals, and he proved it with the best performance of the night, when he sang "I Need To Know" by Jennifer Lopez's husband, Marc Anthony. He owned the stage, giving a hot, smooth, strong vocal performance. He showed us that he totally has that WOW factor!
Sanjaya Malakar found another song this week, "Besame Mucho," that suited him well. It was vocally okay. He did pull off the Latin accent, and he really played to the camera with his facial expressions during his performance.
