Although we've frequently disagreed with the judges' assessments of contestants thus far, they were pretty spot-on last night with Zorrilla. Frankly, she has yet to step up and deliver a dazzling performance on par with any of the stuff she's recorded at Mercury Sauce. And she's simply has to do that to have any chance of standing out and being a true contender.
Although she looked dashing as always last night, everything about her performance was underwhelming, from her song selection ("Breakaway" by Kelly Clarkson, in which Randy Jackson rightly proclaimed that Zorrilla hadn't brought anything new to the arrangement and didn't sing it nearly as well -- or with as much gusto -- as the original Idol winner) to her wavering pitch to her stage presence, which felt rigid and forced. At this point, it's starting to become frustrating, because there's no question the girl's got it in her.
To compound matters, she was outshone by several of her competitors, including Lauren Alaina -- which Jackson again rightly pegged as splitting the difference between Clarkson and Carrie Underwood; she resembles the two in both range and stature -- and Pia Toscano, who received a standing ovation from the judges for her rendition of the Pretenders' "I'll Stand By You." We'll see how Zorrilla fared with America tonight, when the votes are tallied and the results are revealed live.
