Nuzzo

Haven’t seen a general song suggestion thread in a while, so I’m gonna create one here. For context, I genuinely believe this is one of the strongest set of finalists AI has put together at this stage of the competition. Every one remaining has put forward a performance that I’d consider at least very very good, and this is coming from a chronically online grouch in his early 30s who’s been following this show for longer than some of the current cast has been alive. My song suggestions are geared towards slightly out of the box picks that think could give the contestant a shot at a genuine Idol moment, because I do believe this season has the potential to create a LOT of those. 1. Will - Stay (Sugarland) or Jealous (Labyrinth) 2. Triston - Fast Car (Tracy Chapman) or Old Man (Neil Young) 3. Mia - A Case of You (Joni Mitchell) or Stay (Sara Bareilles) 4. Abi - Yellow (Coldplay) or In the Stars (Benson Boone) 5. McKenna - Best Part (Daniel Caesar) or Space Cowboy (Kacey Musgraves) 6. KB - Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow (Carole King) or idontwannabeyouanymore (Billie Eilish) 7. Julia - Make it Rain (Foy Vance/Ed Sheeran) or Always Remember Us This Way (Lady Gaga) 8. Jack - The Blower’s Daughter (Damien Rice) or XO (Beyoncé) 9. Kayko - Losing my Religion (REM) or Love Lockdown (Kanye West) 10. Emmy - Thinkin Bout You (Frank Ocean) or Winter (Tori Amos) I’ll come back to this post later to add some additional thoughts.

Top 12 Perform/Top 10 Reveal Template Abi Carter - All Too Well by Taylor Swift - 6 Will Moseley - Starting Over by Chris Stapleton - 4.5 Jayna Elise - Diamonds by Rihanna - 5 Mia Matthews - Over You by Miranda Lambert - 5 Roman Collins - Roar by Katy Perry - 2.5 Jack Blocker - Blinding Lights by The Weeknd - 5 Emmy Russell - Lose You to Love Me by Selena Gomez - 5 Triston Harper - Beautiful Crazy by Luke Combs - 5.5 (I think he has the most interesting voice in the competition - almost a bit Sawyer Fredericks like - which makes even his most expected song choices a little exciting) Julia Gagnon - Something in the Orange by Zach Bryan - 9 (her bold out of the box song choices really really work. She should do non-R&B songs more) Kaibrienne - Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus - 3 McKenna Faith Breinholt - Cardigan by Taylor Swift - 3 KAYKO - Somebody That I Used to Know by Gotye - 7.5 (I’m not a fan of his but this really worked and was deserving of the pimp spot) McKenna had the performance of the season with Both Sides Now but I’ve been really let down by everything else she’s done

Top 14 Perform/Top 12 Reveal Template Triston Harper - Heartbreak Hotel by Elvis Presley - 6 Julia Gagnon - Run To You by Whitney Houston - 5 Roman Collins - You're All I Need to Get By by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell - 4 Kaibrienne - I Hate Myself for Loving You by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts - 7.5 Jayna Elise - I Have Nothing by Whitney Houston - 7.5 Mia Matthews - Those Memories of You by Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, and Linda Ronstadt - 3 (I can’t remember a thing about this performance) KAYKO - High and Dry by Radiohead - 0.5 Emmy Russell - I Can’t Make You Love Me by Bonnie Rait - 5.5 Jordan Anthony - I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) by Whitney Houston - 4 McKenna Faith Breinholt - Hard to Say I’m Sorry by Chicago - 2.5 (terrible song choice) Jack Blocker - Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right by Bob Dylan - 7.5 Nya - I Say A Little Prayer by Aretha Franklin - 6 Will Moseley - Night Moves by Bob Seger - 0 (so so bored) Abi Carter - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John - 7

Very obvious (and annoying) elimination order IMO 1. Will (obvious winner) 2. Triston 3. Mia 4. Jack 5. Kayko 6. Abi 7. McKenna 8. Julia 9. Emmy 10. KB 11. Jayna 12. Roman 13. Nya 14. Jordan Anyone who doesn’t see the writing on the wall is delusional

Top 14 Reveal Template Quintavious - Make It Happen by Mariah Carey - 4 McKenna Faith Breinholt - Tumbleweed by Nowhere Man and a Whiskey Girl - 4.5 Jordan Anthony - Attention by Charlie Puth - 5.5 Jack Blocker - Feeling Whitney by Post Malone - 4 Kennedy Reid - Somethin’ Bad by Miranda Lambert & Carrie Underwood - 5 Jennifer Jefferies - All I Want by Kodaline - 6.5 Ajii - Call Out My Name by The Weeknd - 6 Mia Matthews - Burning House by Cam - 6.5 Kayko - What If? by Himself - 2.5 (this guy and his originals are starting to irritate me ngl) Nya - Water by Tyla - 5.5 Will Moseley - Gone For Good by Himself - 4.5 Abi Carter - My Mind by Yebba - 5 Odell Bunton Jr. - Wait On You by Elevation Worship and Maverick City Music - 5.5 KB Richins - Zombies by The Cranberries - 3 (very weird song choice) Mackenzie Sol - False Alarms by Lawrence ft. Jon Bellion - 6 Emmy Russell - Skinny by Herself - 5.5 Julia Gagnon - Need A Favor by Jelly Roll - 9 Jayna Elise - All I Wanted by Paramore - 5.5 Triston Harper - ’Til You Can’t by Cody Johnson - 5.5 Roman Collins - It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World by James Brown - 5

Jack Blocker - You Don’t Mess Around with Jim by Jim Croce - 5 Mia Matthews - Wildflowers and Wild Horses by Lainey Wilson - 5 Mackenzie Sol - I’ll Never Love Again by Lady Gaga - 2 Roman Collins - Never Would Have Made It by Marvin Sapp - 4 Kennedy Reid - Love Can Build a Bridge by The Judds - 3 Ajii - Like a Stone by Audioslave - 5 Jennifer Jefferies - Grave Digger by Matt Maeson - 1.5 Emmy Russell - Want You by Herself - 5.5 Triston Harper - Hope by Himself - 9 Odell Bunton Jr. - The Door by Teddy Swims - 8 KAYKO - Over You by Himself - 7 Jordan Anthony - When the Party’s Over by Jordan Anthony - 2.5 Quintavious - Hollow by Tori Kelly - 4 KB Richins - Girl I Am Now by Herself - 3.5 Nya - Georgia on My Mind by Ray Charles - 6 Jayna Elise - My All by Mariah Carey - 5.5 Abi Carter - Welcome to the Black Parade by My Chemical Romance - 7.5 Will Moseley - Makin’ Me Look Good Again by Drake White - 6 McKenna Faith Breinholt - Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell - 9 Julia Gagnon - I Believe by Fantasia - 4.5

Very clear top 5/6 for me. 1. Emmy 2. Julia 3. Nya 4. Jack 5. Jayna/McKenna

Odell Bunton Jr. - Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson (feat. Bruno Mars) - 6 Elleigh Marie - Forget You by Cee-Lo Green - 3.5 Mackenzie Sol - Jealous by Nick Jonas - 5 Jennifer Jefferies - Bruises by Lewis Capaldi - 3 Emmy Russell - Beautiful Things by Benson Boone - 9 (the only performance worth rewatching from this round imo) Ajii - Higher by Tems - 4.5 Kennedy Reid - Fancy by Reba McEntire - 4.5 Jack Blocker - Rainbow by Kacey Musgraves - 8 Roman Collins - How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) by Marvin Gaye - 6 KBlocks - Harleys In Hawaii by Katy Perry - 1 Mia Matthews - Daddy’s Hands by Holly Dunn - 7 Triston Harper - God’s Country by Blake Shelton - 6

Hailey Mia - She’s All I Wanna Be by Tate McRae - 6 Jordan Anthony - Titanium by Sia - 4 Jayna Elise - Confident by Demi Lovato - 7 Julia Gagnon - Rumour Has It by Adele - 7.5 KAYKO - How To Live Without You by Himself - 5 Nya - The Best by Tina Turner - 8 Blake Proehl - Anyone by Justin Bieber - 0 Abi Carter - Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) by Hillsong UNITED - 5.5 Quintavious - Something in the Water by Carrie Underwood - 5.5 KB Richins - Heaven by Bryan Adams - 0 (what’s everyone else hearing that I missed? I thought this was dire) Will Moseley - (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay by OtisRedding - 3 McKenna Faith Breinholt - The Story by Brandi Carlile - 6

scores are out of 100 elise 42 oliver 45 matt 62 kaeyra 57 pjae 33 zachariah 73 mariah 52 emma 65 warren 78 nailyah 66 haven 14 lucy 24 iam 55 elijah 36 paige 61 marybeth 56 we 71 michael 65 dawson 69 hannah 51 megan 56 malik 26 olivia 65 colin 47 tyson 54 nutsa 38 as someone who hadn't really been paying attention to the season up to this point, I was very underwhelmed overall

Leah Marlene - Cover Me by Bruce Springsteen - 6 HunterGirl - Dancing in the Dark by Bruce Springsteen - 5 Noah Thompson - I’m on Fire by Bruce Springsteen - 7 Leah Marlene - Flowers by Herself - 6 Noah Thompson - One Day Tonight by Himself - 3.5 HunterGirl - Red Bird by Herself - 4.5 Noah Thompson - Stay by Rihanna (Reprise) - 9 HunterGirl - Riot by Rascal Flatts (Reprise) - 7.5

Jay: Lilac Wine Leah: Heal Nicolina: Poor Unfortunate Souls Noah: Painted Blue (possibly my most rewatched performance of the season TBH) Christian: Dear God

HunterGirl - Undo It by Carrie Underwood - 7 Leah Marlene - I’ll Stand By You by The Pretenders - 5 Fritz Hager - I Wanna Remember by NEEDTOBREATHE (ft. Carrie Underwood) - 4 Noah Thompson - So Small by Carrie Underwood - 3.5 Nicolina Bozzo - Blown Away by Carrie Underwood - 4 Leah Marlene - Separate Ways by Journey - 8 HunterGirl - Girl Crush by Little Big Town - 8 Fritz Hager - Youngblood by 5 Seconds of Summer - 4 Nicolina Bozzo - All I Ask by Adele - 7 Noah Thompson - Working Man by Larry Fleet - 8.5

Leah - 7 Rings (Ariana Grande), Stars (Grace Potter and the Nocturnals) Noah - River (Leon Bridges), Tennessee Whiskey (Chris Stapleton) Huntergirl - Space Cowboy (Kacey Musgraves), Violet Hill (Coldplay) Nicolina - Arcade (Duncan Lawrence), Make it Rain (Foy Vance/Ed Sheeran) Fritz - Cardigan (Taylor Swift), A Case of You (Joni Mitchell)

Leah Marlene - Electric Love by Børns - 6.5 Jay Copeland - I Have Nothing by Whitney Houston - 4.5 Fritz Hager - All My Friends by Himself - 8 Christian Guardino - Lonely by Justin Bieber - 5 HunterGirl - You Broke Me First by Tate McRae - 8 Noah Thompson - Painted Blue by Sunday Best - 9 Nicolina Bozzo - Alone by Heart - 8 Jay Copeland - A Song for Mama by Boyz II Men - 3.5 Fritz Hager - The Ocean by Himself - 6.5 Leah Marlene - Sanctuary by Nashville Cast- 8 HunterGirl - Like My Mother Does by Lauren Alaina - 7 Noah Thompson - Landslide by Fleetwood Mac - 5.5 Nicolina Bozzo - Light in the Hallway by Pentatonix - 9 Christian Guardino - Dear God by Smokie Norful - 9.5 Christian should really consider a career in gospel music IMO.

First impression scores - will edit later after I’ve rewatched Lady K - How Far I’ll Go from Moana - 4 Noah Thompson - You’ve Got a Friend In Me from Toy Story - 6.5 Emyrson Flora - Carried Me With You from Onward - 7 HunterGirl - I’ll See The Light from Tangled - 6 Jay Copeland - Remember Me from Coco - 8 Leah Marlene - When She Loved Me from Toy Story 2 - 8.5 Nicolina Bozzo - Poor Unfortunate Souls from The Little Mermaid - 9.5 Mike Parker - You’ll Be In My Heart from Tarzan - 5 Christian Guardino - Circle of Life from The Lion King - 3.5 Fritz Hager - Go the Distance from Hercules - 8

Noah - Remember Me (someone’s inevitably going to do this, so at least a country spin on it might make it a little fresh) Christian - Fritz - Nicolina - Hunter - All is Found Emyrson - Once Upon A Dream (Lana del ray version) Leah - Surface Pressure (fits perfectly into her alternating uptempo-ballad strategy, and she’s proven that she can handle the tricky wordplay and rhythms) Jay - Mike - Lady K - Part of your World (she actually has an incredible Disney princess voice, and this is one of the best Disney princess songs)

Top 14 --------- Jay Copeland - Just The Way You Are by Bruno Mars - 3.5 (so much cheese and missed notes) HunterGirl - Baby Girl by Sugarland - 5.5 (hmm diminishing returns) Christian Guardino - Take Me to Church by Hozier - 2.5 (don't you need some kind of sex appeal in your voice to do this song justice?) Dan Marshall - She’s Got It All by Kenny Chesny - 2 (yawn) Leah Marlene - Happy Together by The Turtles - 8 (this one grew on me) Fritz Hager - Let It Go by James Bay - 8.5 (god what a whopper of a song choice) Tristen Gressett - Whataya Want From Me by Adam Lambert - 1 (ouch ouch ouch) Lady K - I Believe by Fantasia - 5 (can we go back in time and unwrite this song) Allegra Miles - Ocean Eyes by Billie Eillish - 6 (not bad, but tbh not a big loss) Ava Maybee - Sign of the Times by Harry Styles - 5.5 (see Allegra) Mike Parker - Hurricane by Luke Combs - 7 (I think this is his ceiling but it's pretty good) Emyrson Flora - Drivers License by Olivia Rodrigo - 3.5 (don't like how she goes squeaky when she goes loud) Noah Thompson - Stand by Me by Ben E. King - 6.5 (god what a whopper of a song choice part 2) Nicolina Bozzo - Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen - 7 (eh) Top 11 -------- The longer performance slots really did a world of good for the three decent-to-great performances. For everything else... eh. Nicolina Bozzo - Since U Been Gone by Kelly Clarkson - 3.5 (she's never sounded amateurish before) Mike Parker - Chasing You by Morgan Wallen - 4 (so pitchy and expected) Fritz Hager - Wonderwall by Oasis - 7 (another great re-interpretation, but now I'm worried his range is a bit limited) Christian Guardino - I’m Not the Only One by Sam Smith - 2.5 (drunk bellowing uncle on karaoke night vibes) Noah Thompson - Heartbreak Warfare by John Mayer - 5 (wish he wasn't quite so green) Lady K - Traitor by Olivia Rodrigo - 4.5 (such a weird song choice for her) HunterGirl - 9 to 5 by Dolly Parton - 3.5 (I hate how lazy this felt) Leah Marlene - Make You Feel My Love by Bob Dylan - 8.5 (docked a point for the insanely overdone song choice, but the new flourishes on the melody were all lovely) Tristen Gressett - You Can’t Always Get What You Want by The Rolling Stones - 6 (it was his time, but perfect note to go out on!) Emyrson Flora - Lovely by Billie Eillish - 4.5 (strong opening, weak end. Leah just does everything she does but better) Jay Copeland - Lilac Wine by Jeff Buckley - 9.5 (10 for me is reserved for all-time Idol showstoppers, but this came really close)

Arcade by Duncan Lawrence is a song specifically engineered to give someone a singing show moment. I think Emyrson or Leah would do the best with it. Mike could do great with The Bones by Maren Morris. Fast Car is right there, Lady K! Surface Pressure from Encanto and All is Found (Kacey Musgraves’ version) from Frozen 2 would be great, fresh picks for Disney picks. I’d give them to Nicolina and Hunter respectively, though that might be a bit on the nose.

*will edit this with the full set of scores later Ava Maybee - Cuz I Love You by Lizzo - 8 (she needs songs that really work for her tone - this one did) Christian Guardino - Creep by Radiohead - 4 (this score is too low but I don't really like this guy’s voice) Cameron Whitcomb - If It Hadn’t Been For Life by The SteelDrivers - 2 (amateurish) Allegra Miles - Tainted by Herself - 5 (not super impressed by this) Lady K - Bust Your Windows by Jazmine Sullivan - 8 (my favourite pure voice of the season, just needs to commit to performing a bit more) HunterGirl - Vice by Miranda Lambert - 8 (those opening lines might legit be some of the best country singing I’ve ever heard) Katyrah Love - Through the Fire by Chaka Khan - 4 (dated) Cadence Baker - I’m Your Baby Tonight by Whitney Houston - 3 (should’ve kept it acoustic) Dan Marshall - Stuck on You by Lionel Richie - 6 (more showings like this and this guy could be really dangerous) Leah Marlene - Wisher to the Well by herself - 7 (gets better on rewatch but still a step down from yesterday) Nicolina Bozzo - She Used To Be Mine by Sara Barellis - 9.5 (gold standard for this song right here) Sage - Brown Eyed Lover by Allen Stone - 6 (good tone showcase but too much ad libbing at the end) Jay Copeland - Believer by Imagine Dragons - 5 (song asked too much of him) Noah Thompson - Cover Me Up by Jason Isbell - 5 (fabulous song choice, should've done much more with it) Jacob Moran - Rise by Katy Perry - 6 (well sung I guess, but haaaaate this song) Elli Rowe - All I Want by Kodaline - 5.5 (wish she had a higher gear to take things to) Emyrson Flora - Love in the Dark by Adele - 7 (she would’ve been a worse loss then Kenedi imo) Mike Parker - Bed on Fire by Teddy Swims - 5.5 (good, but still don't think country is the right genre for him) Fritz Hager - Golden by Harry Styles - 7 (not bad given the iffy song choice) Tristen Gressett - Are You Gonna Go My Way by Lenny Kravitz - 7.5 (much better song choice than yesterday)

Group 1 --------- 1. Jay 2. Huntergirl 3. Elli Group 2 ---------- 1. Leah 2, Fritz 3. Lady K Unpopular opinion here, but I thought Group 1 as a whole did better than Group 2.

This night really made me miss WNTS. I think it might have produced at least 4, maybe 5 5-star performances. Lots of very good song choices. Emyrson Flora - Tell Me You Love Me by Demi Lovato - 8 (not super original but wonderfully sung) Mike Parker - Chasing After You by Ryan Hurd & Maren Morris- 5.5 (just sing John Legend already man) Tristen Gressett - Sacrifice by The Weekend - 4.5 (love the artist choice, but why this song of his?) Sage - Rhiannon by Fleetwood Mac - 3.5 (eh) Jay Copeland - You Know I’m No Good by Amy Winehouse - 9 (vocal fireworks as explosive as they come) Nicolina - Edge of Seventeen by Stevie Nicks - 7 (good but forgettable) Jacob Moran - Don’t You Worry Bout A Thing by Stevie Wonder - 4 (he kinda looks like Jason Segel, anyone else think so?) HunterGirl - Heartbreak Down by Herself - 8 (she doesn't need this show) Elli Rowe - Somewhere Only We Know by Keane - 8.5 (lovely stuff, her phrasing in the chorus killed me) Dan Marshall - Friends in Low Places by Garth Brooks - 3 (eh part 2) Ava Maybee - Anyone by Demi Lovato - 4.5 (song choice did nothing for her) Allegra Miles - Free Fallin’ by Tom Petty - 7 (too meandering in the second half) Noah Thompson - Falling by Harry Styles - 6 (guess it was a bit better than just okay) Leah Marlene - Heal by Tom Odell - 9.5 (king and queen) Christian Guardino - Imagine by John Lennon - 4 (do we really need this old school Idol stuff in 2022?) Fritz Hager - When The Party’s Over by Billie Eillish - 9.5 (king and queen) Katyrah Love - Dream by Bishop Briggs - 4.5 (messy) Cameron Whitcomb - Changes by Black Sabbath - 3.5 (eh part 3) Cadence Baker - Train Wreck by James Arthur - 2 (was it just me or was she off-key the whole time?) Lady K - Love on the Brain by Rihanna - 8.5 (not super original but wonderfully sung part 2) coulda been WNTS 5-stars: Jay, HunterGirl, Leah, Fritz, Lady K should go home: Sage, Dan, Ava, Christian, Cameron, Cadence will probably go home: Sage, Dan, Ava, Cameron, Katyrah, Cadence