Skylar Laine ‘Refuses to Be Tamed’ on ‘American Idol’ With Lady Gaga + Marvin Gaye Covers
The Top 7 took the stage again tonight (April 18) on 'American Idol,' and this time they had to do two songs: The first, a post-millenium hit and the second an older, more soulful song. Taking on the challenge in full, country hopeful Skylar Laine bit off Lady Gaga's 'Born This Way (Country Road Version).' Spanning the gap between the country world and the pop realm, Laine brought it once again this week.
Before she took the stage, Laine met with Jimmy Iovine who loved her song choice and urged her to make sure not to fall into the realm between the country version and the pop version. And when the powerhouse vocalist took the stage accompanied by a fiddle, she heeded his advice. Sparkling in a shimmering top with her straightened red hair down, Laine brought her attitude, her voice and her surprising ease to the stage.
After Laine wrapped her performance, she had Jennifer Lopez gushing. "I love that version!" she said. "I've never heard that version! I love that version of that song. A more perfect song for you does not exist!" The other two judges agreed, with Steven Tyler thanking Laine for being born that way and with Randy Jackson adding, “Dude, you are just so beyond ready to me. That was amazing, dude – amazing!”
For her second song of the night, Laine brought the house down with Marvin Gaye's 'I Heard it Through the Grapevine.' Leaving all sweetness by the wayside for the song that doesn't really pride itself on tender moments, Laine brought her biggest voice and came at the song with a ferocity that had the audience in the palm of her hand. And that's what the judges most praised in the end.
“I feel like every time you’re on stage it’s a party,” said Jackson, explaining that both Laine and Phillip Phillips have the ability to connect with the fans like no one else. “Skylar Laine’s got a brand," he said. After Lopez praised Laine for her spunkiness that even had the power to get little girls in the audience dancing, Tyler summed it up in that way he has: “I agree," he said. "You’re like a wild horse who refuses to be tamed.”