Rock Star: INXS -- week 5

I thought it would be Jessica who would go this week. Instead, it was Brandon. Jessica redeemed herself (again) after a forced performance of Nirvana's "Come As You Are" on Tuesday with a strong rendition of INXS' "Disappear" on Wednesday. She covers INXS songs better than she covers anyone else's, which has been the key to her survival up to this point. Brandon was given the task of singing the obscure INXS song "Don't Lose Your Head", from their out-of-print 1997 album Elegantly Wasted. His fate was sealed when he forgot the words to the band's song on judgment night. He never seemed like a top contender in this contest. Maybe he has a future as a Southern rocker. Has anyone from New West Records been watching?

My vote this week went to Marty. He took a very gutsy chance performing the Killers song "Mr. Brightside" acoustically and without the house band. It was a move that could have destroyed him if he didn't pull it off. He worked without a net, and came through with almost flying colors. He may have altered the course of the show. Kirk Pengilly was so impressed that he suggested an all-acoustic week, and that is what next Tuesday's show will apparently be. That should really put some of these contestants to the test.

Suzie took a surprising chance with a chunky arrangement of REM's "Losing My Religion" that grew more intense as it went along. She pulled it off well, even though it didn't save her from the dreaded bottom three. Other notable mentions: Ty's restrained and soulful performance of Bob Marley's "No Woman No Cry", a song that fit him like a glove. Mig did fine with Free's "All Right Now", not that it surprised anyone. And Deanna made a strong comeback with the Doobie Brothers' "Long Train Running". Now I remember why she was my favorite the first week.

On the downside: Jordis flubbed her performance of Eric Clapton's classic "Layla". I didn't expect her to take my breath away again like she did last week, but this was her least impressive vocal performance to date. The smile on her face was a visual distraction, considering the song she was singing. Also, she dropped a line in the song like she did two weeks ago. She had best not make a habit of that. After her bravura performance last week, she can be forgiven for one flub. J.D.'s performance of Seal's "Crazy" was something of a disaster, lacking nearly everything that the smooth r&b song requires. He's lucky he wasn't in the bottom three instead of Suzie.

Next stop: All-Acoustic Tuesday!

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http://rockstar.msn.com

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