Reviews of Joshua's Performance Last Night

Source: NOLA.com










Lisa de Moraes @ WashingtonPost.com:

Iovine pronounces Joshua Ledet’s song choice, Harry Nilsson’s “Without You,” “one of the most challenging five songs you could ever sing in pop music.” “That chorus is a magic trick,” Iovine warns. He doesn’t sound too confident about Joshua’s ability to pull it off. But Joshua, who’d picked the tune because his idol is Mariah Carey who’d covered it, runs through the difficult changes effortlessly and with so much emotion he has trouble finishing the number.

Another standing O at the judges’ table. “It was Mariah’s birthday yesterday and I was talking to her,” Randy begins. That’s all we heard. “You’re a phenom,” JLo adds.

Annie Barrett @ EW.com:

Joshua Ledet's cover of Mariah Carey's version of "Without You" started off a little shaky, but I could have been disoriented by all the weird "unfinished trees" he had to navigate onstage. There were even some digital hack-job trees in the giant oval behind him. Pretty scary stuff. I had no idea this song required an eerie doomsday forest.

Perhaps the theme of the segment was "sap." After Joshua took us to church again with a hearty helping of vocal acrobatics, he became extremely emotional and even wiped his nose in the middle of the last line of the song. Unheard of! Standing O from the judges! So at this point they had stood up for every guy, and J. Lo would soon be forced against her will to rise to her feet for Elise. That seems fair.

Anyway, I liked this from Joshua -- it reminded me of last week's "She's Got a Way," but in this case the song actually did warrant his histrionics and a big crescendo.

Chuck Barney @ MercuryNews.com:

Joshua Ledet: He sang himself into tears, and he sang the judges into a standing ovation. This is love, and Joshua can sing to me any day of the week and twice on Sundays.