Movie night was not kind to many of the final eight on “American Idol.” Despite raves from the judges, the general consensus outside the IdolDome was that there wasn’t a whole lot to cheer for and that Randy, Steven and Jennifer hadn’t learned the harsh lessons of ToscanoGate, i.e., they were still treating all the contestants like they were already superstars and giving each one a gold star for effort.
The show also featured a performance from original “Idol” Kelly Clarkson and country singer Jason Aldean, singing their platinum-selling duet, “Don’t You Want to Stay” as well as Rihanna, who sang a dramatic rendition of her ballad “California King Bed.”
"Idol" blogger MJ Santilli also said it might finally be time for America to send a guy home on Thursday (April 14) night. And she was pretty sure that man would be McDonald. "He performed in a dead spot in the beginning of the show and his manic, croaky performance of Bob Seeger's 'Old Time Rock n' Roll' was all over the place," she said of McDonald's take on the "Risky Business" tune on "Idol" movie night.
Trying to keep things cool, they just gave each other a tight hand squeeze before Casey went back to the couch. After Paul McDonald and Stefano Langone joined Haley in the bottom three, the show cut to commercial, and then it was Haley who crossed the stage and made a beeline for Casey.
The remaining four boys — Jacob Lusk, Stefano Langone, Paul McDonald and James Durbin — played a medley of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Sounds of Silence” and a chipper “mrs. Robinson,” (in)secure in the knowledge that two of them would be in the bottom three.
