ScarletDevilCCX

One of my brother-in-law's homebrews. Okay, so the Top 24 is revealed tonight. I thought as much. They're in Malibu for this; I heard that this time the Hawaii round is the Top 24 itself. They advertise "some new twists", and then show Katy asking two contestants to have a singoff which is the farthest thing possible from "new". Leah Marlene is the first to receive the judgment, or the first to have their judgment shown (we know full well they show these out of order), and she's in full rocker mode for some reason--she mentions her dad being in an 80s rock band called "Honeymoon Suite". Katy gives her the usual fake-out, though it's not executed nearly as well. Next is Jay, one of our three Platinum Ticket winners. Is there a chance that a Platinum Ticket winner will miss out on being put before the public? I doubt it. I always found it annoying when the judges call someone "potential Top Ten", because if the judges want it enough, they can force someone to be Top Ten. The American public doesn't get a chance to vote until one round before the Top Ten and there are judges' wild cards in that round! He's singing Christina Perri's "Jar of Hearts", and he deserves to advance again. They cut to commercial before giving him his proper judgment, though it ends sounding like a no. It's a yes, this time done in proper fashion. Nicolina's up third, doing "Rolling In the Deep". I'm amazed; at one of the beltiest moments, she decided to go ballad. They tell her "No need to sit down; you're going to the Top 24". Well that was nice of them. Ryleigh Madison and Emyrson Flora are coming in together, so they're probably going to have to sing off. The latter is shown first, doing Kehlani's "Honey". Ryleigh goes with "Blue" by LeAnn Rimes--if they are indeed going head-to-head, my vote's with Ryleigh. They're both 16, and apparently one of them is more developed than the other, and they choose...Emyrson. Katyrah Love is carrying around a microphone and pretending to be a news reporter. She sings "Sweet Thing" by Rufus and Chaka Kahn. She admits her voice is a little iffy and she's not sure if she'll hit the high note. I do feel like she's not right for this show. I'm not going to say she's bad; I think this year, they weeded out all the bad ones early. But she's probably not going to go far if she does advance. Which she does. Wait, Ryan, "sings for your votes next week"? Are we actually voting on the Top 24 this time? Fritz Hager is up next, singing "Inconsequential Love", by Fritz Hager. Singing an original in the Showstopper Round, could be risky but the payoff is high. I like him. He's already in tears before even getting his results; he doesn't want to go home. Katy says there have been a few people who did originals on Showstoppers and says that "7 out of 10 times it doesn't pay off". But of course, we don't see those, do we? Then Katy gets him with the good fake-out. "We didn't put you in the Top 24. You put yourself in the Top 24." Jacob Moran, who made Hollywood in a previous season, and Allegra Miles are both also bound for the Top 24. We hear the former's song but not the latter's, which means one of three things: they don't have clearance to show it (yes, that's presumably still an issue), they put her through in spite of her Showstopper performance rather than because of it and want to protect her from having a poor performance shown (as happened in Season 16 with eventual winner Maddie Poppe), or she's meant to be Top 24 fodder. Cameron Whitcomb and Ava Maybee hit it off in Hollywood. Cameron said "How are you doing" and Ava said he talked stupid and he responded that she looked stupid. The latter is singing "Falling Again" by Harry Styles. The former's singing "It Ain't Me Babe" by Bob Dylan. I think Cam's going home and Ava's advancing. Katy thinks he's too fidgety, and isn't sure if he'd put in the 10,000 hours, and then says he's not making the Top 25...but there is no "Top 25", there's a Top 24, and he's in it. Damnit, judges! Ava's also going in alongside someone else, namely fellow hair-dye advocate Yoli Mayor, who sang "Human" by rum.gold...never heard of them. And here's our sing-off. Ava's going first, singing "Roxanne" by the Police. It's not bad, but not great; then again, I'm not necessarily expecting the best performances because it's so sudden. But then Yoli does "Honey", and it does sound good. The judges send them out so they can discuss. Katy says Ava's more marketable; Lionel says from that display, he liked Yoli...they call them back in. Luke says this is the first time they've done that before in real time...I don't think that's true, unless previous "sing-offs" were just for show and they'd already made up their minds. Ava advances and Yoli goes home. Also leaving are Douglas Mills Jr., Sam Moss, and Betty Maxwell...no, Sam! Sir Blayke is the next to get his judgment. I want him to advance. He says "Nobody should treat themselves like I treated myself." He's singing "Honesty" by Pink Sweat$; never heard of that artist, either. It's a little..."safe", I'd call it? No mistakes, but no wow factor. Katy trolling again, eliminating him from the Top 59 and putting him in the Top 24. Ellie Rowe and Mike Parker are also in the Top 24, without the Showstopper shown. Ryan's voiceover says that a lot of contestants are wondering if they did enough, but 17-year-old Tristen Gressett is wondering if he did too much. He's singing "Come Together" with a bright red electric guitar. I think it's perfect; he looks like a rock star, sounds like a rock star, commands the stage like a rock star, and the later-era Beatles songs are perfect for his weirdness. He goes through. Instant favorite for me. I'm going to say this right up front; normally I tend to gravitate towards the female contestants. Yes, I'm a straight male, and the dominance of white males on this show is attributed to straight female voters, but I don't think that that's necessarily the reason. But this year, there will surely be female contestants I like as well, but I think my #1 is going to be a guy, because Tristen is just so crazy. I wish I could've carried myself with that much swagger when I was 17. Montage of "judges think they chose the wrong song". Christian Guardino is singing "Sex On Fire" by Kings of Leon. A production assistant asks him what the song's about, and he sputters about how to say it in a proper manner before eventually just saying it's about sex. F***ing banger. I think he did it justice, too. Meanwhile, Dontrell Briggs is performing "Hello" by Lionel Richie, and it's also amazing. Christian goes through to the Top 24, but Dontrell doesn't. Noah Thompson is stepping outside the box...he's doing "Stay" by Rihanna featuring Mikky Ekko. It's a mistake in my opinion, but it turns out that the judges are pulling out the fake-out card yet again. They do it with nearly every contestant that isn't being brought in with an actual no voter! Maybe it's to test their resilience, because as Lionel says frequently, you've got to hear a lot of noes before you hear a yes. Cadence Baker is singing Brandi Carlile's "The Story". I think she was the one that I thought last night would be one of my favorites? This was just so-so. Katy says lately when she's been coming on stage, there's been fear in her face. One of the tamer fake-outs this time as she goes through. Speaking of fear, we haven't seen Kelsie Dolin yet...oh, wait, here she is. I swear I started typing that before they showed her. Oh, wow, yeah, there's a real audience here! She's singing "Before You Go" by Lewis Capaldi, wonderful as always. But she is going home. Next is Huntergirl singing "Girl Goin' Nowhere". Luke confirms what Ryan suggested: "It's up to America now". When's the last time that many contestants came before America's votes? The only time we got to vote before Top 14 in the ABC era was kind of an emergency situation in Season 18, and Season 15 had contestants auto-advanced to the Top 10 before America got to vote on them, so...Season 14, I think? And before that, Season 11? Sage and Danielle Finn The latter is singing "Evergreen" by Yebba. Never heard it. Katy says it was her worst performance Sage is singing "I Hate It" by Tenile Arts; likewise, never heard of the artist. Katy says they've been bringing in pairs all night, and one of them has to go home...and it's yet another fake out, as they both advance! Jordan Chase is up next, and we're reminded that he was Kenedi Anderson's pick for duets. He sings "Cold" by Chris Stapleton. It seems good, but he's sent home; they show Kenedi being sad about this. And now it's Kenedi's turn; she sings "Talking to the Moon" by Bruno Mars. She says backstage that she "got friendzoned by the guy she was talking to a couple days ago", so I guess yeah, they're not even pretending that she's not into Jordan. They also don't bother messing with Kenedi, telling her straightforward that it's in America's hands now and they've gotten her as far as they can. Oh, well done, producers, you're back in Season 8 form! And given that she evidently featured enough in commercials for the season that my mom recognized her before her audition even aired, and was looking forward to it, it's obviously worked. Listen, after the rough audition, I do think that Kenedi has stepped it up. But could the producers be any more blatant that they want her to be the winner? Scarlet (no last name given) is up next; we're reminded she struggled in her duet round alongside Douglas, who was already eliminated this round. She's singing "You Oughta Know" by Alanis Morissette, and WOW! She's got the voice, but more importantly, she's GOT the STAGE PRESENCE! Girl was down on all fours looking animalistic out on the stage. Katy says she's got the Eye of the Tiger and because of her stage routine I'm going to call that a pun. She's in the Top 24. She won't scream because she'll blow out her vocal cords, so she asks to hug them. Then she goes out and celebrates by doing the worm. Lady K singing an Etta James song; sounds good to me. Classics are classics for a reason. She goes through...I think. Short attention span. Dakota Hayden and Dan Marshall are our last two contestants competing for one spot. Remember, there were 59 contestants coming into this round and they squeezed this into one episode when normally they're at 40 and stretch it over two. They're just trying to trim as much as possible, aren't they? As always, when two contestants are mentioned together, the one mentioned second gets their performance shown first. Dan's singing Hard Workin' Man by Brooks & Dunn. Dakota sings "Pretty Heart" by Parker McCollum. We're getting a sing-off. Dakota's up first, and it doesn't sound good. Dan's up second, and he's much better; I think he should be the one advancing. The judges make the right choice and put Dan through. Can't wait for the voting.

A live episode! The obligatory "someone faints" teased in the opening; it happens once a year. Angry Orchard Strawberry Cider tonight; it's not something I'd have bought myself, but it turns out it's actually pretty good. We see everyone find out their partners, but I'd have to rewatch the segment over and over to get the information down in type. First up is Leah Marlene and Fritz Hager, who went with "Team Green" because they were both wearing green on the day pairings were handed out. They apparently don't get along, or maybe they do; it feels more like "friends who insult each other a lot." They sing a folk version of Bruno Mars' "Locked Out of Heaven", it's wonderful, and they both move forward. Now we get to find out the Platinum Ticket winners' partners, or at least the first one. Kenedi Anderson picked Jordan Chase because she's obsessed with his voice; she says if they don't sound good together, that's on her because she picked him. They're singing "Lean On Me" by Bill Withers and their first rehearsal did not go well. We go to break. Kenedi feels that being the Platinum Ticket winner puts even more pressure on her. Their duet name is "Hot Mess", and it's anything but. Honestly, if I'd heard this in her audition, I...still probably wouldn't have considered her worthy of a Platinum Ticket, but I would've easily considered her worthy of a Golden one. Allegra Miles and Taylor Fagins are our next duet, "Satin Soul", and they're both singer-songwriters--Taylor had the memorable BLM song. He says that as a songwriter, he's out of his comfort zone doing a duet. Already the famously limited setlist for Duets Night is showing as they, too, are singing "Locked Out of Heaven". I didn't catch what Leah and Fritz did with it, but they make it more G-rated. Lionel thinks they haven't figured out how duets work. Allegra moves through, but Taylor doesn't, and Lionel says that the only thing wrong was "the competition before us"--in other words, he did nothing wrong, but cuts need to be made and he's one of them. Huntergirl was having a nervous breakdown looking for her duet partner, until Cole Ritter came up to the mic. They're playing "At Last" by Etta James in the background, and it took a question from a production assistant for her to realize that she's talking in terms that almost sound like she's in love--"This isn't the Bachelor; I'm on American Idol!" Since they're singing a Fleetwood Mac song ("Dreams") and are both rednecks, they go by "Backwood Mac". They both go through, by unanimous decision; they sounded good together and did nothing wrong. After they leave, Luke says "There were times where she didn't sound country; she just sounded how the song needed her to sound". Sam Moss was the one who was initially rejected in the Austin auditions with Katy telling the two male judges they made a mistake, only to get through with three yesses in Nashville. Also, she's pregnant now--four months along. She's paired with Haley Slaton, who is eight months pregnant; I saw her last episode but didn't see anything of her so I thought she might've been eliminated. They're calling themselves "The Watermelon Smugglers" and singing "Dancing On My Own". Katy mentions that things got emotional a bit earlier with all the hormones. Sam goes through, but Haley is sent home--probably for the best given how far into her pregnancy she is. Sure enough, as we go to break, we see a video message from her introducing her newborn baby. Jay picked Morgan as his duet partner, and she chose their song--"Shallow". Suddenly we get a sports metaphor as we introduce vocal coach Nick Cooper. Jay doesn't quite know the story of the song, but he does well enough that they both blaze through. Next is Noah Thompson and Olivia Faye, also doing "Lean On Me". And then they make a late switch to "July" by Noah Cyrus. Ah yes, another of the old tropes--"the late song switch". Commercial break. They make yet another change to their performance, cutting out the instruments because Noah's not confident in his guitar playing. We're reminded that he's a father. Their duet name is "Kentucky Idol". I'm not sure I like this performance. Noah doesn't like his performance, either. He says he messed up. Luke seems to think it wasn't their best performance and they let it have a domino effect, but they're still in it--both of them. Next is the quirky duo of Tristen Gressett and Cameron Whitcomb, "Both Crazy" (they previously considered "Both Nuts", but decided it was too racy). They're doing "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?". I love them, though I think Cameron's voice will be polarizing. And then after starting off with a fairly straight cover, they launch into a fairly drastic upbeat remix before returning to the original for the very end. Lionel loves what they did, saying that they took themselves seriously this time. They're smack dab in the middle of the competition. Kevin Gulage and Yoli Mayor are "Dysfunctional Duo", and they start out seemingly arguing before revealing that they're doing "Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better". Luke mentions that he did that song at Lee County High School, and we roll the tape of a 19-year-old Luke Bryan. 19 in high school, huh? We see our next duet, but they haven't performed yet as of the commercial break and I've got my attention split by r/place. Scarlet has gone missing--oh, check another one off the bingo! She comes back and tells Douglas that she separated herself so she could become her best self. They're singing "Rewrite the Stars", and they're both amazing and deserve to go through. It's a shame I didn't catch las names, because they've caught my attention. Cole Hallman and Cadence Baker are "'C' Major", and they're singing "How Sweet It Is to Be Loved By You". It's soulful and I like them both and think they deserve to go through, though if I had to pick just one, it'd be Cadence. They think Cole's overworked his voice, and that Cadence has backslid since auditions where Luke said she could be the winner. Cadence does continue while Cole goes home. Next up are Christian Guardino and Nicolina, two contestants whose voices I love but I worry about their marketability. And apparently Christian has severe light sensitivity and needs to wear special sunglasses on stage. They're "Cantante Fuerte", Italian for "Sing Powerfully", and they're singing "The Prayer" by Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion, honoring their Italian heritage and Nicolina's Canadian nationality. They get an ovation from the audience of fellow contestants before they're even done. Twice, with a third at the end. My words are honestly unnecessary after that. Lionel fakes them out with a metaphor about "in a duel, someone gets shot. With voices this powerful, it's about who cut through. *beat* You both cut through." Our last duet is Kelsie Dolan and Betty Maxwell, who are in many ways opposites--the former shy and lacking in confidence, the latter a former Miss America. They're singing "Just Give Me a Reason" by Pink and Nate Reuss. Betty wants to help Kelsie, but she's unsure if she can build Kelsie up in such a short time. "I'm so glad Katy and Betty believe in me. I wish I could believe in myself a bit more". This is why we doubt Kelsie's long for this competition. Their duet name is "Mining For Peaches", But once again, when she's on stage, it doesn't show. I still think Kelsie's better, though they're both good. She did this last time, too; the mic was shaking in her hand, but when she's actually singing, I think she must be able to completely block it all out because she still sounds beautiful. Lionel admits that he wasn't sure if she'd be able to rise to the occasion because she was too scared. Both go through. And I don't think I actually saw anyone faint, like it looked like happened in the opening. Tomorrow is the Showstopper Round.

A two-hour episode without any chance to use commercial breaks to catch up on my inability to type as quickly as I think? Sign me up! Vodka and cranberry today, the old standby. Two hours means...multiple rounds, maybe? Probably. Yep...nope. According to Ryan, there are only two rounds of Hollywood Week--the genre challenge and the duets. And we've already got our alums here--Ruben, Jordin, Cookie, Haley, Lauren--and here's another reminder that there are three contestants watching the genre challenge with a free pass to the duets round, one of who I don't think belongs in Hollywood at all. The Country singers are up first, mentored by Lauren Alaina. There were six genres, so I probably missed an ex-contestant. Country, Soul, R&B, Indie, Rock, and Pop. Okay, I think Ruben's probably Soul, and obviously Cookie's the rocker and Haley's Indie. So that leaves Jordin as either R&B or Pop, I think the former. First up is Mike Parker, 27, singing "Burning House" by Cam. He does quite adequately, but I'm distracted on multiple counts, one of which is actually Idol-related. Kaylin Roberson's up next, I seem to remember really liking her audition. This is...fine but not outstanding. Olivia Faye from Murray, KY is up next and she's the best one I've heard so far but I don't remember that name from auditions. Sarahbeth Tate, 24, from Fort Collins, CO is up next, singing "To Love Somebody", and it's angelic. They've been showing Kelsie Dolin this whole time, and show her audition. She lacks confidence, which is sad because she's got a beautiful voice. Lauren's a fan, though, and is trying to encourage her (by the way, despite being a Season 10 contestant, Lauren's still younger than the oldest contestants here). Oh dear, the mic's shaking in her hands before she even starts. We go to our first break. Ah yes, that's right, these episodes tend to replay the same thing just before and just after the commercial to pad it out. She starts singing and suddenly, she's back to the beautiful singer I remember from auditions. Luke points out that she's never had a mic before. All of the people who we saw sing were called forward and continue on. And Ruben's the R&B singer...and he looks good! I think he's thinner than his competition days. Up first is Zaréh, who already has an Idol alum mentor at home, singing Adele's "One and Only". She thinks she missed a cue, but did well enough. Now we see someone who doesn't sound good in practice--Tobias, singing "Back at One" by Brian McKnight. It's better than the practice, but not good enough imo. Katyrah Love. who gets a little more backstory shown so she's probably a Top 24 member. Well, she sings well enough to get past this round, that's for sure--she even gets her fellow contestants to applaud her. "Saving All My Love For You". Katyrah and Tobias move forward and Zaréh goes home. I'm confused, because I didn't like him and I thought neither did Mom, but then she's clapping and when I tell her that the one we didn't like went through, she said that she liked him; she thought the judges didn't. Up next is the Indie/Folk group...ah, mentored by Lee DeWyze. That means Haley's the Soul singer (also appropriate) and Jordin's the Pop singer. One of these days, I need to go on YouTube and watch Season 9. Up first is Leah Marlene, the "weirdo from Normal (IL)", singing "Sk8r Boi" by Avril Lavigne. That's...not folk. Well,it is the way she's doing it. Quirky. I like it. And yes, a Third Epoch winner like Lee can certainly appreciate the creativity. We get four more singers' snippers without names on screen, and then someone who's getting to address the camera; he only got yeses from Katy and Lionel at auditions, rather than all three. Fritz Hager, 22, of Tyler TX. I know this song, and I love this rendition. "Unsteady". They show Leah again in the audience looking like she might be in love. Leah and Fritz both get their names called and go through. And yes, Haley's our Soul representative. Beautiful as always. We get two contestants talking. Danielle Finn, 17, of Los Angeles, CA, auditioned because of her grandfather; they always watched the show together, but now he has Alzheimer's. She's singing "Easy On Me" by Adele. And you wonder why I was a little uncertain about the line between Soul and R&B. Danielle is amazing. Christian Guardino has nerves...he's got Lieber's congenital amylosis, a condition that inevitably leads to blindness, but at age 13, he had an experimental gene therapy that gave him a lot of his sight back. He's singing "My Future" (or more likely, "my future") by Billie Eilish. He's almost certainly going through to the next round. Both of them do indeed go through. And now it's Rock time, mentored by David Cook. Cole Hallman, 22, of Manasquan, NJ, is performing Billy Joel's "Vienna". Not exactly the first thing I'd think of for our Rock session. But he's going through--we don't even see anyone else. This bodes ill for our rockers. We come back to Katy Perry performing "Teenage Dream", and apparently splitting her pants. And now it's a line of under-18 Pop singers. First up is Emyrson Flora, 16, whose audition we see again and she was incredible. First to be allowed to speak, that is. Morgan Gruber, 17, is doing "Anyone" by Demi Lovato and she's good. And now it's Emyrson's turn, she's back at the piano. Truly amazing. With each talented female singer we see, I get more and more angry that Kenedi Anderson is still in the competition--and to bring it home, they bring up the Platinum Ticket winners again. Ryan asks Huntergirl her opinions of the Genre Challenge so far. Back to the Country crew. "They've got no beef here!" Oh, wait, we've got another alum here, reigning champion Chayce Beckham! Who's doing a performance of his winner single. Ryleigh Madison, 16, is overwhelmed to meet Lauren--who understands perfectly because she was the same age when she was on the show and reacted the same way to meeting Carrie. She thanks Ryleigh for making her feel like Carrie. She's singing "Crazy" and she's amazing. Next is Noah Thompson, whose audition at the Austin auditions is shown--ah, yes, he's the one whose friend signed him up. He has a seven-month-old son. He, too, is singing "Burning House". I think it's better than Mike's was. The contestants with Platinum Tickets seem to be looking nervous. We just hear "all of you are going forward", and it does look like that includes the people who we didn't see because there are a lot of happy-looking people. Oh, no, wait, Jordin is a mentor for the R&B singers, too. Did Pop have a mentor? We're reintroduced to Sir Blayke, who was homeless for a time. He's singing Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors", and he deserves to go through; he's amazing. A bunch of people being shown...are we back to Pop genre? Ava Maybee...is the daughter of Chad Smith, drummer for the Red Hot Chili Peppers?! And this was someone buried on the after-Oscar bonus episode? She's singing "Roxanne" by the Police, and it's a more soulful performance than the original. I have no clue what genre we're in any more. Yeah, we're in Pop after all. I guess Sir classified himself as Pop for some reason, too. Last in this Pop line is autistic Sam Finelli singing "Say Something", and WHOA! This is a powerful performance. All three of the ones we saw are going through...no, wait, Sam isn't! Oh, and a montage of others who are going home--Delaney Renee, Luke Taylor, Mark Osborne, and one other but they're going faster than I can process names. We rewind to catch the other name that was mentioned as going through, and it's someone named "Jenna". Our designated fodder for Top 24, maybe? Soul up next; Kevin Gullage is a bit tired and having trouble with his piano playing...or maybe it was a bit, because "I'm So Tired" are the first three words of his song. Katy responds that she's "Wide Awake". Cadence Baker, 18, from Muscle Shoals, AL, is nervous being away from home. Despite still being obviously teary-eyed, she sounds good; I'm unfamiliar with the song so I don't know if she's on pitch or not. Next is Tristen Gresset, 17, from Pell City, AL. who was thought to be too over-the-top. I do remember liking him. And he does dial it back. Lionel notices that he took their criticism into consideration, though Luke's still unsure. All six of the people on the stage are still alive. Last segment. Taylor Fagins and Lady K are still in it, as are Betty Maxwell and Elli Rowe, and Sam Moss and Haley Slaton, and Allegra Myles and Dakota Hayden. They must not have licenses for those contestants' song choices. Pop Genre again. Jacob Moran, 28, of Dansville, MI has been to the Hollywood Round before. Also we have Danielle Clavell, 21, of Queens, NY--she was from the previous show of bonus auditioners, right? And now it's Douglas Mills Jr., who I seem to remember thinking was an early favorite and I still do. Luke thinks he wasn't as good as his audition and Katy agrees he's scared. Oh, no wait, Nicolina was the one who I was afraid wouldn't survive the voters! Maybe. Nah, I think it was Kelsie. No, it was definitely Nicolina, because her being Canadian was another thing I thought might not play well with American Idol voters. Well, the crowd loves her. Katy seems in awe. We only see the four of them on stage. Jacob steps forward and so does Douglas. Front row goes through. So does back row. And now the three Platinum Ticket winners come out to perform "Don't Stop Believin'", and...Kenedi's actually the best of the three of them? Didn't see that coming. Though none of them come anywhere near a certain 25-rated performance from Season 16 (seriously, I don't know why everyone else hated that). But Katy says they've got some curveballs...oh. The judges get to pick the duets...with three exceptions. The Platinum Ticket winners get to pick their own partners, and then the judges pair everyone else up.

So they dropped an extra episode on us; it's literally got a production number of 505A instead of 506. I didn't even bring my computer downstairs with me and was typing it up on my phone, and of course, I wasn't drinking. Yoli Mayor, 26, is a Cuban from Miami. She sings an original called "Beautiful Broken Things", and it's not great, and Katy actually says no but the other two put her through, but I was too tired to do this so I set the DVR to record the next show as well since the Oscars went over its time slot as expected, so that I could watch the rest the next day. I'm not drinking now, either, because I usually don't day drink (unless sporting events are involved) and I have somewhere to go tonight (I don't think I'll be doing tonight's show live, either.) Catching the whole thing off the DVR, I actually caught the teaser at the end of the Oscars, and learned that past contestants will be coming back to mentor. Possibly a repeat of Season 15's alumni duets (that were replaced by celebrity duets in the ABC era?) Anyway, we're back with another weird montage. Austin, TX auditions. Danielle Clavell, 21, is an actress and salsa dancer from Queens, NY. She's singing "Warrior" by Demi Lovato. She follows up with "Trainwreck", and Katy tells her "Less acting". The second song was better than the first. She goes through, which is the right choice but I don't think she's a contender. Next up is Katyrah Love, 23, from Baltimore, MD, and I'll admit I was kind of relieved when she opened her mouth and I heard a woman's voice come out because it wasn't immediately evident and that outfit was a bit flamboyan for a man. She's good, and deservedly goes through. We come back and Ryan tells the contestants in the lobby about the Platinum Ticket, and then we get a reminder of the recipients. Huntergirl in Nashville, Kenedi in LA--oh, we're getting new material on her audition, an original song. Sadly, it only serves to solidify my opinion that by giving her a Platinum Ticket, they're only advancing her *two* rounds further than she deserved. Finally, it's Jay from the Austin auditions. Next, we have new auditioners: Brooks Kidd, 19, from London, KY. He talks about being teased for being overweight as a kid, which surprises me because he looks downright scrawny, but he lost 60 lbs. in 2 months, but that only made things worse and he developed suicidal tendencies. He says music is the only thing he lives for. He sings "Mad World", and it's good; he deserves a golden ticket. The judges agree; they have nothing but positive things to say. We get the commercial for the Idols coming back again. We come back right into a contestant named Sage (no last name), and she rightfully goes through; they're putting the critiques in between lines of the audition. LA auditions now, and we've got...a montage. Luke knows Kentucky's the Wildcats, and Georgia's the Bullogs, but he twice tries "Ragin' Cajuns", first for Louisiana Tech and then for Louisiana-Monroe, and comes up empty both times. Next is Maurice (again, no last name), 22, from Elgin, SC; he was a foster child, and he became a country fan in one of the foster homes. He's singing "Whiskey Glasses" by Morgan Wallen, and I think it's good, though not great--he deserves a golden ticket, but he's not really a contender just yet. Luke says he needs to dial it back 10%, and Katy realizes that as a busker, that extra 10% of his is because he has to get people's attention as an outdoor singer. They put him through. We've got a child of religious parents, Israel MacFarland, 21, of Nashville, TN--he and his siblings all have biblical names. His parents don't like secular music, and his mother still gets mad when he cusses in his songs, but "cussing is one of the things I enjoy most in my life". He sings an original, and Luke says that he's a great songwriter, but his vocals aren't going to measure up on Idol. The other judges say similar things...but Lionel gives him a yes! Katy says no, and...Luke also says not yet. It's a no, but he's moved by Lionel saying such nice things. Montage of "not yets". Then someone whose name I didn't even catch on screen, but she sounds good...oh, we get a name from the judges. Ava Maybee, who they say is an Ava Yes. I agree. Lionel compares her alto to Cher. Oh, our next contestant, Scarlet, got a golden ticket last year, but didn't report to Hollywood because she was letting her grades slip. She graduated high school with second honors and at 18, she's back to try again, singing an original. It's very good, and they say they made the right decision last year. They put her through again, and that's it for the episode.

Here we are again, presumably the last of the audition episodes since the Oscars are next week giving us, theoretically, a week off. I'm sad that there even is a fifth episode, but I guess it's obvious since we're only at 2/3 Platinum Tickets awarded. Tonight's beer pick is Big Wave Golden Ale from Kona Brewing Company. Tobias Hill, 26, from Como, NC, is a church music director and high school music teacher and chorus director. Katy thinks he raided the male judges' wardrobe. He's doing "Knocks Me Off My Feet" by Stevie Wonder, and it's obvious the moment he starts singing that he goes through because he introduced himself to the judges using his last name but it was missing from the on-screen graphic, which means that he decides to go the mononym route between the audition and Hollywood. That said, it doesn't take more than a few notes for me to agree with them. Then we get him dancing to "Uptown Funk" (but not singing it), and Luke asks him if he knows the lyrics. He doesn't. Luke attempts to sing it, but he apparently doesn't really know them, either. Luke says it's not 100%, but he deserves to be thrown into the mix. Lionel thinks he's already at 125. He goes through. As we go to break, we get a montage of things I'm not looking forward to seeing in full. Morgan Gruber, 17, from Fombell, PA, is singing "Can't Be Love" by...hell if I know; I'm not familiar with it and I don't think I knew the artist so my mind didn't parse it, like when you're hearing a foreign language. She says she's not the type to worry about getting dirty--in fact, based on her description of herself, I initially thought the town name might have been "Farmville". She's very soulful. She finally decided to audition because her grandmother, who was the one who always encouraged her, recently passed away of ovarian cancer. Katy and Luke both wrote down "Top 20". Oh, we have a Top 20 this year. That...feels like a step backwards...and yet, as we go to commercial, it also seems kind of obvious, because it's Season 20. Only question is, how will the eliminations progress from there? Another Luke fan here. Or a few, really. Wait, this person's under the age limit? She looks like she's in her early forties at least, by which I mean she was in her early forties when she stopped allowing herself to age. Her time frame suggests that she is young enough, though, barely. Kimmie Carafa, 25, from Ohio. She's singing "How Do I Live", from Con Air, and she misses the high note but otherwise it's pretty good. Katy doesn't seem to think she can compete at the level needed. It's a no from Lionel, a no from Katy, a no from Luke. Oh, we've got another couple coming in, both with guitars. "Fast Forever," their original song. Kaylin Robinson of Philadelphia, PA and Matt Gorman of Raleigh, NC, both 23. Is Kaylin even playing her guitar? It's basically a prop for her, and she's probably the weaker singer, at least on the solo, though she sounds good when they're both singing. Matt might be able to go through, but I think they're better as a duo than either is as a solo act. The judges seem to think Kaylin stood out more...oh wow, they're comparing her to the Nashville Platinum Ticket recipient! Katy and Luke give Matt his noes, and then Lionel starts Kaylin's judging and she gets three yeses. I don't agree with this; I think they belong on AGT where they can actually compete as a duet. I don't get back from the bathroom in time for the start of the next contestant, but it doesn't sound like I'm missing much. But she's got a sob story; her father abandoned her and her mother when she was young. But her Twitter handle's on the screen so I guess she's going through. Saylor Woodmansee. Oh yeah, there's nothing but positivity here. She gets three yeses. We go back to break, Schyler Dixon, 27, from Nashville, TN, is singing Maryn Morris's "My Church", and it's not very good, but the bigger story is a stage hand that keeps f***ing things up...but it turns out the entire thing's a prank; the contestant was fake and the stagehand is Luke's wife. Katy was in on it; Lionel wasn't. Next up we have Cameron Kantloops from Whitcomb, BC...or was it Cameron Whitcomb from Kantloops, BC? Is "Kantloops" even correct? It is Cameron Whitcomb, 18. He's singing Waylon Jennings's "Rock Salt and Nails", and it's good. They think he's very unpolished, and are not surprised to learn that he's never sung in public before. Lionel says it's a no for now, but Katy thinks he has potential, and Luke likes him. It's two yeses and a golden ticket. Emyrson Flora, 16, of Cleveland, OH...I think she's unpolished. I think her voice is strong, but it doesn't sound good. The judges applaud. They do seem to feel a little uncertain, but again, her Twitter handle's on the screen so it's no surprise that they "roll on the raw". We get another contestant before the break, and he was homeless out in Atlanta but now he lives in LA and he has a home. Sir Blayke, 28, from Chicago, IL, singing "Die" by Ed Sheeran. Yeah, he's a yes. Make that a big yes! Consider him one of my early favorites. They make him sing a second song, acapella, and more subdued. I don't like this one as much. Luke seems unsure he belongs, but once again, the editing team has failed at building suspense yet again. Oh, the second song was an original! Lionel also seems uncertain, and Katy says she wanted to connect more with him. It sounds like a no. From Luke, it is a no. Sir says he's a quick story, begging Lionel. He gets the yes from Lionel, putting it all on Katy. Man, I'm glad the editing team sucks so much. Katy says "bring it". It's a yes. We've got someone who brought their dog in...did the human even audition? Jessarae, 26, from Santa Monica, CA sings James Morrison's "Wonderful World"; Kira Rizavi, 20, from New York, NY sings...something; and Marlene Mendoza, 28, from the Bronx, does a death metal version of Imagine Dragons' "Believer". All three are rightfully going home. And now we've got a dog groomer from Simi Valley, CA; Carly Mickeal, 23. Her dad's a musician, who will be playing piano for her. She's singing "Your Song" by Elton John. She definitely deserves a golden ticket. Yep, there's the Twitter handle on screen as she finishes singing. We get dog breeds assigned to the judges, and then she gets her three yeses. Jay Copeland, 23, from Salsbury, MD, was a music major, going to grad school for acting, but was told he had to choose one or the other so he dropped out to go for Idol. He's singing "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" by Stevie Wonder. There's no suspense, even without the Twitter handle (though it probably was there and I missed it). The judges love him. Oh, wait, there's still a surprise--he's the last Platinum Ticket recipient! Ah, so he didn't get the Twitter handle on screen before, because here it is now with #PlatinumTicket. This is the one from the Austin auditions. And...the final audition! So says Luke, and the clock says he's right. Skyler Maxey-Wert, 25, is from Lancaster, PA, but he lives in Dresden, Germany, due to his job as a ballet dancer. He posted some videos on his social media and Brandon Boyd from Incubus reached out to him and suggested he audition. Well okay then. His parents are entertainers too; his dad's a mime. He's singing "For All We Know" by Donny Hathaway. Huh, a final audition without an emotional story. Just as good, though. Very good; another potential early favorite. The judges almost forget to give him his judgment. And then Ryan says next week is Hollywood Week...and there will be shows Sunday and Monday? But Sunday's the Oscars!

Irish whiskey on the rocks tonight. Sunset Strip Auditions. Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue is there to wish a contestant luck. Katy's got a bajillion supplements and she's taking them all at once; Lionel's worried she's going to choke. Our first contestant is Zaréh, 21, a stylist originally of Miami, ...wait, it's Nadia Turner's daughter? Zaréh was four when Nadia was on. She hasn't told her mom that she's auditioning. She's singing "Bust Ya Windows" by Jazmin Sullivan, and it's damn good. She deserves to go through. The judges seem to agree. And it's three yeses. We get a preview of some of the upcoming contestants. Thomas Patrick Moran, of Denver, Colorado, though four of his five siblings were born in Ireland. He's starting with Aretha Franklin's "Chain of Fools", and he immediately realizes that he's messed up. Lionel thinks he's not being serious enough, and a "Time of my life" counter comes up on the screen, at 2. He's singing "River" by Leon Bridges, and Francisco Martin he ain't. Lionel says he's a natural-born entertainer, but to forget the singing, because he's "somebody's host". Katy, however, thinks he's got it, and gives him a yes. Luke says no. Lionel says that was a good sermon. And Lionel seems to have been won over, and it's a yes! Segment on the judges not always agreeing. It seems that Katy is the most forgiving--they've been showing a bunch where Katy says yes and the other two say no. Oh, and the one that didn't seem familiar of the three is back for a second audition! I remember that was common practice in the old days--there was one, somewhere around Season 3 or 4, who originally showed up at a site that had a fourth guest judge, and Randy and Paula said yes while Simon and the fourth judge said no, which meant no, and they came back at another site without a guest judge and none of the three judges changed their mind, which made it a yes. Sam Moss, 25, of Winterset, IA...it sounded like the two male judges thought at her first audition that she lacked the necessary confidence. Well, she's got it now. Luke tells Sam "Thank God you got so much better in such a short amount of time", and Katy smacks him. Oh, she did an original! Katy asks why she didn't do that the first time. It's three yeses. I approve; I think she could be Top 24 material. Wheel of Karaoke for the judges. Oh, and we've got a character, doing interesting voices. Kenzie Elizabeth, 20, of Roosevelt, CA...she's a ventriloquist? Though not a good one. Wait, I got the spelling right before seeing it? She, too, has a Season 10 Tour t-shirt. And she graduated high school at 15.5? That's younger than I was! And she's doing "I'm With You" by Avril Lavigne, probably my favorite Avril song that was actually released as a single (though my overall favorite is "Things I'll Never Say".) Unfortunately, Kenzie's not any good. Seems we've finally got someone who made it onto the show on their personality rather than their talent. But the judges applauded? Lionel believed she "went into character"...oh, I see. They think she's less pop singer, more Broadway. It's three noes. We're on to the Austin auditions now, background music is Phil Phillips' "Home", who apparently was the inspiration for our next contestant. Fritz Hager, 21, of Tyler, TX, is singing "Before You Go" by Lewis Capaldi, and it's not standout but it should be good enough to get to Hollywood. "Home" playing again. It's a yes from Katy, a no from Luke, and...a yes from Lionel! A lot of people whose musical influences are idols. Kevin Gullage is a bit odd, choosing William Hung as his inspiration, but unlike William, Kevin is good enough to get to Hollywood. He does. Next up is Charvonay, and she seems like a character. But it's a no; she's got "superstar character", but not superstar vocals. I'm already done with my drink and I'm feeling it. Montage of more noes. We've got a Season 18 auditioner--a Season 18 Hollywood rounder! Luke remembers him. Jacob Moran, 27, a nurse from Dansville, MI. Katy remembers him being in disbelief. He's singing "Rise" by Katy Perry, surprising the male judges. Also surprising: how good this is. He goes through. Another montage of noes. "You don't talk like that, so why do you sing like that?" Luke mentions that he once thought loud meant talent, and Lionel says his biggest problem early on was that he couldn't sing loud enough. Haley Slaton, 23, from Cedar Rapids, IA, is 5.5 months pregnant--Katy suspected as much, but didn't want to assume. It's a boy. She did the Idol Across America virtual audition. She's singing "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus. You know, when I heard that first name, I was thinking "there are a lot of ways to spell 'Haley', let's just go with the one that maps to Idol royalty and adjust as needed", and it turned out to be correct. And while she's not nearly as good as Miss Reinhart, it's a similar type of singer. Katy also mentions the raspiness. Lionel says that if he remembers the anatomy correctly, the baby's up by the lungs. We don't get an answer before the break. I get a discussion of baby location. I guess I didn't even think about how low the lungs go, because my mom mentioned that that's also why pregnant women always feel like they have to pee, because it's right on the bladder, and I was like "yeah, that I thought, but I didn't think the bladder was that close to the lungs." Second song--"One and Only" by Adele. Again, a lot of Season 10/11 vibes. I like this. They give her the pass to Hollywood. Next up is Elli Rowe, 19, from Nashville (yeah, we're back there again), and when she was little, her parents had a bluegrass band. "Give You Blue" by Allen Stone. She definitely deserves to go through. Katy says that she's very girl-next-door, and she might need to find a slightly rougher side because it's a real fight, but it's a yes, and Lionel follows with a yes as well. Luke gives her some more advice and adds his own yes. TikTok montage. Dan Marshall Griffith, 24, former Virginia Tech linebacker from Chesapeake, VA--walk-on. He loved singing, but didn't sing publicly until his grandfather's memorial service. He's singing "The Dance" by Garth Brooks. I like him. Katy's not sure, but gives him a yes, as do the other two. "Who could it be now?" Douglas Mills Jr., 18, from Houston, TX. Houston's ABC affiliate gave him their affiliate pass-he'd been singing in school, and they heard him there. It sounds like he's dealt with bullying...yeah, he confirms it. They called him "Gorilla" and "King Kong". He picked his song for the Black community, for all they've gone through for the past few centuries. I don't recognize it, but it sounds powerful, as does he. Mom compares him to Billie Holliday and asks me if I've ever heard the song "Strange Fruit." I haven't. Lionel says he blanked out, because it was that hypnotizing. Katy asks why he never tried out before, and tells his doubters to go to H-E-double-hockey-sticks. Mom asks which judge it was who got "goosies" (J-Lo) and said she got goosies. Douglas, naturally, goes through.

We open on a single keyboardist somewhere out in the wild, she starts singing "Beggin'", and then when we look back to the wider angle there's an entire marching band. And then once the intro is over, we're...back in Nashville again? Have we been anywhere other than Nashville? Tristen Gresset from Pell City, AL, is 17, though he looks older--and the fact that the judge he keys in on as being overwhelmed to meet is Lionel also makes him seem older. And the fact that he picks a Billy Joel song--"Piano Man", although that's one instrument he isn't playing, as he accompanies himself not only on guitar but also on harmonica. He's...a character. I don't dislike him; the judges feel like he's doing too much. He asks if they'd like him to dial it down, and they give him a chance for a second song. "Colors" by the Black Keys. He's going to Hollywood, right? Luke seems confused. I'm rooting for this guy. They interrupt him to give more advice, but...it's three yeses! Well done. Today's pull from the beer gacha is Golden Road Brewing Company's Hefe Weizen. I have no clue what was going on when we got back; I thought maybe we were in a "failure" montage but apparently the non-judge in the room was a staff member?. Cadence Baker, 18, from Muscle Shoals, AL, is the granddaughter of Gary Baker, who wrote "I Swear"; her father is a musician, too. She's singing Whitney Houston's "I'm Your Baby Tonight". It sounds good to me, and apparently this is a tough song because some overall highly rated finalists suffered some of their worst WNTS ratings on this song. Yeah, Katy confirms it, saying that a lot of contestants say they're going to sing that song and she's thinking "see yourself to the door". Luke breaks out the "potential Top 10 material", and I don't disagree with him; Dontrell Briggs, 26, is from Maxton, NC. He brings in a hand-knitted blanket depicting his godmother, Betty Morrisson, who died on April 25, 2021 of sarcoidosis. He's singing "For Your Glory" by Tasha Coe. ...Abstain. To me, it just sounds like yelling passionately, but volume is a big part of gospel and as someone who isn't terribly religious (and the religion that I'm not terribly observant of isn't Christianity), that genre really does nothing for me. Luckily, it turns out maybe it's not me; the reviews are quite mixed. Lionel gives him a yes, but Katy gives him a no, and Luke's conflicted. Dontrell sings another song; "Tennessee Whiskey"...and it sends him to Hollywood, when to me, I felt like it confirmed that he didn't deserve to head onwards. Ah well, he'll probably be an early cut. "Unique talent" montage. Not worth talking about. 21-year-old Abigail Brooks of Castle Rock, CO, works at a coffee shop and when the customers are gone, she sings into the handle of the broom. She calls herself an old soul...and yeah, she mentions the first time she heard Barbra Streisand, she was hooked. The judges manage to get a broom for her. She's singing "Vincent" by Don McClean. It works. Luke predicts she wins Disney Night, but isn't sure if her style as a whole is going to win American Idol. Of course she goes through. Dakota Hayden of Fordsville, KY is 17, and he's a huge country fan; Katy even says he looks like he could be Luke's son. He's way too unpolished though. Luke wants him to try his song again acapella, and it...doesn't really help, but they put his Twitter up on the screen so I guess he's going through. Lionel leads off his review with "we found someone". Katy calls him "raw and young", though, so maybe...nope, she said "Top 10 material". It's three yeses, which is three more than I expected from that performance. Then I zoned out, but it's fine because the next person isn't going to Hollywood. We've got two people meeting in the lobby who work in the funeral business. 18-year-old Emily Faith from Kingfisher, OK is a country singer-songwriter, but also works as a cosmetologist at her family's funeral home, while 19-year-old from Donovan Diaz from Herford, TX is a funeral director. Emily's up first and she's good, if a little shouty. She goes through. Donovan takes me off guard with his singing voice; his speaking voice matches his appearance (a bit flamboyant), but his singing voice is classic country. Surprisingly, he doesn't go through. Also, the judges seem to be haunted. Mark Osborne, 26, is from Bedford County, VA. He grew disillusioned with music for a time, but he couldn't stay away from it. Lionel notes that they have very similar mustaches. He goes to Hollywood, and well deserved. More pimping of non-winners, though at least it's someone who came close, Season 16 third-place finisher Gabby Barrett. Ryleigh Madison, 16, is from Whiteville, NC, and her accent is thick enough that only Luke is able to properly parse that it's not "Whatville". She's singing Gabby's "The Good Ones", and she's amazing. This should be a deep run. She goes through. It's 10 minutes to the end, so we're due for our sad/inspirational story. Today's is Sam Finelli, 28, of Peachtree Corners, GA, who has autism. He's singing "Rainbow" by Kacey Musgraves, and despite his nerves, he's very good.

Vodka and Cranberry and Lime tonight. We lead off with Miss America 2016, Betty Maxwell, 27, from Warner Robins, GA. She did operatic singing as her talent in the Miss America pageant, and she does impressions from Disney/Pixar movies. She's singing "A Moment Like This", and it's...not as good as the opera. They ask her if she does country, and she covers the other most successful Idol, Carrie Underwood, with "Jesus, Take the Wheel". Luke says that pageant girls sing like pageant girls, but she sings like a real singer. Betty says that she can sing any genre, and Lionel says that they need to change that, that she needs to figure out her genre. They put her through. We've got another "raised on Idol" kid, Leah Marlene from Normal, IL, though as Katy quickly recognizes, she's anything but. She says she used to play hockey but she had to stop because she got hit in the head too many times. She's singing "Steal My Girl" by One Direction. I think she's worth sending to Hollywood, but if she makes it to the Top 24, she'd be fodder. Katy says she wants to hear another and asks if Leah writes music. She says she does; she wrote "Wish Her to the Well" right here in Nashville, where until recently she was a student at Belmont University. Katy Perry compares Leah to Catie Turner, and I'm not surprised. And kind of agree. They put her through. Montage time, people from music families. Mike Parker from Warrenton, VA, is 27, and his whole family is musical, but his mom is going through...something. They think maybe it's leukemia? He says he feels guilty being at the audition instead of by her side, but he knows that's what she'd want, and he's singing "Strawberry Wine", and he's definitely going to get the ticket and I don't say that because we heard his sob story--I say it because I'm listening to him sing. Kelsie Dolin, 18, is from the boondocks, in her own words (Boone County, WV, though she's living in Raleigh), and she was raised by her grandparents because they felt that if they didn't take her and her sister away, the state would; her younger sister was born with an opiate addiction. Her grandmother died last year, of COVID. She's singing "Piece by Piece" by Kelly Clarkson. I'd send her through. Her follow-up is Adele's "When We Were Young". Yeah, she's going through. I hate that it's almost notable now when we only hear one song from an auditioner; the auditions already go on too long and they're padding it out by showing more footage for every one of them. Though I guess it's better than showing the bad singers that they showed in the Cowell era. We come back from commercial to Katy improvising a song about her snack with accompaniment from Luke on piano. Another montage, this time of long-time fans--oh, hey, is that a Season 10 tour T-shirt? Skylie Thompson, 17, is from Cyril, OK. A montage of the big names to come out of American Idol, including, as always, Lauren Daigle. Goddamnit, Idol, stop trying to take credit for someone who never made it before America's votes! Skylie's singing an original song she and her father (who is playing guitar for her) wrote called "Buckle Bunny", which is apparently someone who chases after rodeo riders. Luke asks if she has a cover, and she goes with "Oklahoma City" by Zac Brown Band. Oh, hey, she's good (her father also sings backup on this one). They think she's not ready yet; Lionel says it's an "optimistic no", and Luke, even though he agrees she's not ready yet, gives her a yes "because [she doesn't] deserve three noes." We get a dramatic narration...oh, it's because this guy's voice is deeeeeeeeep. 20-year-old Luke Taylor from Westchester, PA, went from 4'11" and alto to 6'1" and below bass in a few months. He's a sophomore at Liberty University, and he'll be singing "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash, and of course it's perfect for his voice. I agree with the judges that he could have a career in voiceovers. Luke Bryan wants Luke Taylor to sing "Frosty the Snowman", saying he could be a great Burl Ives. He doesn't know it off the top of his head, but when given the lyrics, he does it perfectly. Katy's worried that it'll be too much of a novelty act. Luke says yes. Lionel says he's not sure if it's a winner, but Hollywood Week can be an interesting week. Katy's not sure about it...but he's going through! And...we're finally going to get two singers without a commercial break between them no wait never mind, we're getting a trailer for Kenedi Anderson coming up "after the break". Katy is getting on Luke's case for having his shirt too far open. Kenedi is 17, from Crozet, VA. She's been moving around all her life because of her dad's job in the football industry; she's the second of six children and the "musical one" in an athletic family. She's singing "Applause" by Lady Gaga, and I don't even need to hear the judges' reactions to know that we've got our crowning overhyped contestant of the year, because apparently she was teased before the start of the show too so I've already been told how good she is (remember, I don't watch these alone) and she isn't. The judges give her a standing ovation, Katy comes up with a fanbase name for her, and Luke says she might be the biggest star they've ever found...I was about to say "please let us still be in Nashville; we've been there for most of the episode and we already saw Nashville's given out last episode", but we're clearly not because there it goes, a Platinum Ticket. It's not that I find her bad; rather, I find her wholly unremarkable. Kaitlyn from CA, 17, is an aspiring entertainment mogul; Kurtis Bell, 22, from Dallas TX, is a musician, and there was a duo before them. All are noes. Katy wants someone to make her believe again, so 20-year-old Aaron Westberry from Greenville, SC, will obviously be that person. He stocks produce. He's singing "2016" by Sammy Hunt(?). I wasn't impressed before he started singing and I'm still not impressed. Katy looks "horrified", and Luke looks confused. Okay, never mind, this isn't the one. Except, again, the writing on this show isn't good enough for that, so of course he's going through. "Fireflies" by Owl City in the background as they give him his yeses, which seems fitting because that's a very airy song. Aaron is very chill coming out of the room, and Ryan convinces him to react more. Allegra Miles, 18, is from St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. They intersperse the judges' commentary with her audition, but she's an obvious yes. Wait, are we still in Nashville? Christian Guardino, 21, is from Long Island, the son of a Sicilian immigrant. He's singing Donny Hathaway's "A Song For You". It's good. I'm not sure if he's "current" enough to get the vote--think Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon a few years ago (not that he's as talented as JLH)--but he deserves a golden ticket. And he gets it. Luke evidently doesn't know the lyrics to "Firework", leading to another Katy-Luke spat. Our final contestant of the day has envelopes for the judges as a token of their appreciation, to be opened when she's sent "to Hollywood or to Hollyhood". "Lady K", 25, from Montgomery, AL, now living in Tuskegee. Daughter of a young single mom, and she's the oldest of five siblings. Her brother committed suicide, and they needed to decide what took precedence, paying rent or paying for a funeral. She's singing Katy Perry's "Wide Awake". Since it's the last audition of the episode and has a sob story, naturally she's good. Katy says she reinvented the song. Fireworks display, leading to Katy singing her song.

We're starting with a montage, using the lyrics to "A Moment Like This" as the theming. Valid. Season 1 may not have been the deepest season, but it produced a very strong winner, and the song is what the show is all about. Up first is 19-year-old Noah Thompson from Louisa, KY, auditioning via the Idol Across America Virtual Audition. One of his co-workers signed him up, saying "He's not meant to be working for us." He's singing "Givin' You Up" by Cameron...something; I prioritized fixing the contestant's name over putting down the original artist's name, and I have a short attention span, because obviously he's making it to Hollywood, because a.) he's the first contestant of the first episode, b.) we've already seen some backstory for him, and c.) he deserves it! They bring his friend Arthur, the one who signed him up, in, and get that Noah would've never signed himself up because he doesn't have the confidence. I can relate (not specifically on singing; I'm no good at that, but at other things). Up next is 29-year-old Normandy from Baltimore, MD, whose speaking voice sounds like a 4-year-old. She identifies as a gamer, and refers to her fans as "Kitten Nuggets"...there is like zero chance that this girl isn't already a Vtuber. I was wondering how long it'd be before I started referring to a different kind of idol, but this girl has forced the issue. She gets three notes into "Proud Mary" before Katy says something that gets bleeped and walks out of the room, because the difference between her speaking voice and her singing voice is absurd. We go to commercial. Okay, we're back, with tonight's drink--Split Shot Espresso Milk Stout from Elysian Brewing Company. I've got a 24-pack of assorted beers that I refer to as "the beer gacha". Normandy's not quite as good as she seemed before the break, but still passable. They have her follow up with Adele's "Set Fire to the Rain", and it's even better than Proud Mary. Luke asks if she can speak in a lower voice, and she says she can do accents in a lower voice, and then does a pretty good Russian accent. Somewhere out there, a VTuber community is in shock that their oshi is stepping out from behind their avatar--she doesn't remind me of any VTubers I've seen, but I'm still certain of this. Also, there's something called the "Platinum Ticket", which there are only three of all season; if the judges unanimously vote that someone is worthy of the Platinum Ticket, they get a free pass to the second round of Hollywood. 18-year-old Torontonian Nicolina is singing "She Used to be Mine" by Sara Bareilles. She's got a lot of power in her voice; she could easily make the Top 24. Sadly, I don't think she's a contender to win it all because she's got too many other things working against her--including, of course, that this is still primarily a US show so a Canadian is probably at a disadvantage. As we go to break, we get a teaser of upcoming contestants, including Aretha Franklin's granddaughter. Montage of people talking to their baby children, starting of course with judge Katy. 24-year-old Tyler Allen from Mobile, AL is dedicating this to his nephew, Noah, who died just after his 1st birthday when an 18-wheeler took out the car that his mother (who also died; I'm guessing by the fact that Tyler referred to her as "his mother" rather than "my sister" that Noah's father is Tyler's brother, but that's not confirmed). Tyler used to sing Whitney Houston's "I Believe in You" to Noah when rocking him to sleep, and he sings it for his audition. Katy's in tears. It's good, but not amazing. He gets the golden ticket. Ryan makes his own introduction, and he's 46, which doesn't seem odd until you remember that he's been there from the start. Maddie Belle Glidewell from Kentucky is as country as they come, sparkling all over. I like her already. Her mom is a huge Luke Bryan fan, so they bring her in even before the audition starts. And then she says "He's Mama's idol; you're mine", pointing at Katy, and launches into the chorus of "Firework". It's not great, but that's not her real audition; Gretchen Wilson's "Redneck Woman" is. It's better, but I'm still not sure. The judges agree that the voice isn't there yet, but the personality is. It's a no. Camryn Champion, 16, from Lumberton, NJ, and Danielle Finn, 17, from Los Angeles, CA, get their auditions interspersed. Katy and Luke disagree about the latter; she's a yes, he's a no. Katy does manage to convince him, not that it matters because Lionel was also a yes. Both make it through. Grace Franklin, 15, is from Detroit, MI--ah, there we go, this is Aretha's granddaughter. She says that it still seems weird to her that her grandmother was world-famous, because to her, she was just Granny. She's singing Lauryn Hill's version of "Killing Me Softly", and yes, talent is hereditary. She deserves to go through. Katy says she's got the DNA and asks if she has any other songs, and we go to commercial break because of course we do. Grace responds by singing one of her grandmother's songs, and it works. Lionel relays something that Aretha told him. Luke's up first, and he says that for right now, it's a no. Katy seems to be leaning towards yes, and she does say yes, which means that it's Lionel's decision, and he says that he thinks the best thing for her is to take a step back and get a running start. Katy insists that she's got stardust. Lionel stands firm. Katy walks out, saying she's going to the bar. Luke says Lionel's lucky that Luke went first (because it means that Lionel gets the brunt of Katy's outburst). Katy's chasing Lionel with a folding chair. Okay, fine, I guess the commercial break was warranted, because we're in another one. Apparently there's a bromance brewing between Luke and Orlando. Huntergirl (real name Hunter Walkinowski), 23, is from Tennessee, and she helps veterans deal with their PTSD. She's doing a Rascal Flatts song, and I think she's got the voice. It looks like the judges do, too. She'll benefit from the professionals behind the scenes, because she's got way too much makeup on. Luke thinks she didn't even choose the right key and has her do it again a half step up. We get a reminder again that there's one Platinum Ticket per city, so we might get to see it soon. Cole Hallman is from Manasquan, NJ. His younger sister Katie is a huge fan of the show, and she has a chromosomal deletion; Cole calls her "his biggest fan and his biggest critic." He's 22. I've kind of zoned out because we're back from the next commercial break and that's all I've written, but he's a deserved golden ticket. Delaney Renee, 18, from Berkley, MA, is another one who didn't know her own talent; the family whose children she babysits encouraged her to put her singing out there, and eventually resorted to recording her secretly and posting it to TikTok. It went viral, and Idol was right on top of it. She's singing "Opportunity" by Sia, and she's good. Luke's still thinking about Huntergirl and wants her to perform at his bar in Nashville. She's going to get Nashville's Platinum Ticket. They surprise her at the bar. And now Luke's doing one of his songs, with modifications to the lyrics. Taylor Fagins, 28, from NYC, writes music--and plays, and is working on a TV show. As he begins (at the piano), he whispers, "This is for you." Yeah, I figured we were ready for our sob story. Ooh, I think this is a Black Lives Matter song. Yeah, now we get the names of victims. I kind of feel bad that I used the dismissive "time for the sob story"; this was anything but. This is powerful, a powerful voice and an even more powerful songwriter.

All By Myself - LaToya London, Jasmine Trias, Gina Glocksen, Asia’h Epperson, Pia Toscano, Jordan Sasser, Grace Kinstler Georgia on My Mind - Nikko Smith, Kendra Chantelle, DeAndre Brackensick, Clark Beckham, Willie Spence Blackbird - Carly Smithson, Chayce Beckham I Have Nothing - Trenyce, Leah LaBelle, Jennifer Hudson, Vonzell Solomon, Katharine McPhee, LaKisha Jones, Shannon Magrane, Jessica Sanchez, Sonika Vaid, Gabby Barrett, Grace Kinstler A Change is Gonna Come - Gedeon McKinney, Syesha Mercado, Adam Lambert, Lilly Scott, Joshua Ledet, Willie Spence

Even being mad about my robbed queens Casey and Cassandra, this is probably my favorite winner since...I'm going to go with David Cook.

It's the finale, so we have a guest star leading off. "Can't Hold Us" by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, eventually joined by the Final Three. As usual, Katy looks like a new person every week. We've got all sorts of other guests announced, from Fall Out Boy to Leona Lewis to Lindsey Buckingham. Like in Season 17, you can't afford to wait until you've heard all the performances to vote because they're cutting the third-place finisher midway. Which sucks because you have to commit to your votes. You can't unvote, at least on the text side. I guess theoretically it shouldn't matter? Grace Kinstler is leading off with Celine Dion's "All By Myself". Grace, Grace, Grace! This will play fine with casual voters, but to a hardcore Idol fan, this might be one of the worst songs to pick, because you're not only inviting comparisons to a past showstopper, but one belonging to arguably the most robbed contestant ever. You're not going to outsing Pia Toscano on this, and to win with that when she went out in ninth...it's not happening. Also, it wasn't great. 54...oh, hey, wait, this is judges' choice! Looks like someone's got the bus. Willie's up second with Ray Charles's "Georgia on My Mind". It also wasn't his best...a 66, maybe? I'm still hung up on the "All By Myself" busing, because I remembered after writing that that "I'll Stand By You" was actually Pia's showstopper, though she did reach 5 stars with All By Myself. Rather, LaToya London had the showstopper with that song, and after she got ousted in fourth, that group of judges assigned it to Jasmine Trias. Now that it's become the first song to ever be used to bus two separate contestants, "All By Myself" joins the infamous likes of "One" and "Love You Inside Out", both of which ruined perfect games for multiple talented contestants. Speaking of inviting comparisons to previous contestants, Chayce Beckham has been assigned the Beatles' "Blackbird". I absolutely loved Carly Smithson's rendition of this song in Season 7. Chayce's version is not quite as good, but still better than the first two contestants. 75. Luke invites Chayce out to go bass fishing with him. Mom disagrees with me and likes Chayce the least, and says he sounded stoned. I ask what the problem with sounding stoned when singing a Beatles song is. Blue Moon Mango Wheat, which I'd forgotten we had because it was buried behind other beers. Hometown dedications are up next. Grace is from Crystal Lake, IL, a suburb of Chicago, and is performing at U.S. Cellular Guaranteed Rate Field. Apparently as a teenager she sang the anthem there. The background music is "Fix You", which wasn't one of her better performances. Now we see her at Crystal Lake Central High School. ...Are you kidding me? "All By Myself" isn't even going to be her highest repeat factor of the night? "I Have Nothing" by Whitney Houston is the song choice, which means she gets to not even be the best of the ABC era on a song. I'd give this a 64 or so; she didn't screw up but she didn't do much for me. Next up is Willie Spence's return to Douglas, GA. He goes to South Georgia State College. His song choice is Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come", because we're apparently not allowed to have any first-time songs in this episode. That said, while I know it has been done on this show before, there's no performance of it that's sticking out in my mind. I think maybe it was best done in Season 8, which I didn't actually watch? This episode continues to underwhelm but this is not bad. 76, I guess; I think it was the best so far, but still can't give it a 5-star rating. Luke says that "we've seen that song on this show a few times before", so maybe it has been done more recently? I don't know. Next is Chayce Beckham's return to Apple Valley, CA. We're reminded that he crashed his car while drunk. We first see his co-workers, then his family--oh, yeah, the dog with the Chayce t-shirt! And we finally get a new song, Chris Stapleton's "Fire Away". Also, finally a five-star rating from me. 82. The judges comment on how much confidence he's gained. Chayce is about to walk off the stage when Ryan calls him back to talk to him. We get a message from Lin-Manuel Miranda, promoting his new film "In the Heights", and also to announce that each of the top three's local music programs are receiving a hefty donation. And then the director comes on stage to talk to Ryan for a bit, and then we get an extended actual preview. To be fair, I was already a little interested. And now we get the eliminated contestants' duets. Ryan mentions that Mickey Guyton was an American Idol alum too. To be honest, who isn't these days by their definition? So many successful artists have failed to even reach the voting phase. She's teamed with Alyssa Wray, and it's better than most of Alyssa's performances this year. Now Ryan announces the top two. Willie Spence is the first to make it, and he's joined by...Chayce Beckham. Oh, now the goofy stuff. Tom McGovern, rejected auditioner who writes jingles, recaps the season in song. And then Graham DeFranco's back with Ryan, introducing the next guest--Fall Out Boy, with "My Songs Know What You Do In the Dark (Light 'Em Up)". That's not a new song! I'm not used to the established artists not using the platform to debut new songs. Oh, right, they need something accessible to the contestants--I see Chayce, Willie, and Hunter, though presumably there are more. What's the cut-off to make the list? Ryan teases that the next set includes Chaka Khan and Leona Lewis, plus a special performance from Willie. Chaka's joined on stage by our four highest-finishing females, Grace, Casey, Cassandra, and Alyssa. I'm mad all over again seeing robbed queens Casey and Cassandra. Now another schtick, about how messed up Lionel was not being able to hug contestants during the auditions. Oh, Willie is doing Calum Scott's part of "You Are the Reason", his duet with Leona Lewis. Graham DeFranco's back again, joining Sheryl Crow on "If It Makes You Happy". Is he secretly the reason the producers decided to allow any level of past contestant other than winners to come back? ...No, he was eliminated early enough that the last set of rules would've allowed him to come back. And they continue on into "Everyday Is a Winding Road". Ryan says Graham jumped up there at the last minute...he's like the mascot for this season, I think. Oh, right, Ryan mentioned that the judges would each be performing with finalists. Our next segment has "fan favorite" Murphy (okay, I agreed when "Murphy left too soon" was a line in Tom's song), followed by Luke Bryan teaming with Casey Bishop. Not the contestant I would've expected him to team with, but then again, Chayce hasn't been eliminated yet and all the other country singers even as far back as the Top 24 have their issues (including, apparently, Hannah.) Yeah, we see that apparently Twitter was up in arms about Murphy's dismissal. He's singing an original called "Am I Still Mine?". It's...not great, honestly. His cover of "Painted Man" is a bit better, though. Katy and Luke both have a residency at Resorts World Las Vegas this summer...and so does Celine Dion...and Carrie Underwood! The latter has a message for this year's contestants. Actually, so does the former, but it's not the same as when it's coming from Idol's most successful alum. And Ryan announces that there's a contest to win a free trip to Vegas for these shows! And then we see Luke's trip to Whisky a Gogo with Casey. Oh, they mentioned a talk box...Luke's the one stepping out of his genre! It's Bon Jovi's "Livin' On A Prayer", because this show just can't be subtle. Of course Casey nails the song that produced the lowest WNTS rating ever for an eventual winner. Lionel's singing "One World" along with some of the contestants. Which ones? Looks like Willie, Grace, Hunter, Alyssa, Cassandra...is that DeShawn? Oh, and there's Casey...and Chayce. So I guess that's the entire Top Ten, minus Arthur because he was part of the returner gimmick and Caleb because he got thrown out. And now another kitschy bit, with the other judges singing the wrong words to Lionel's songs. And Cassandra Coleman gets to team with Lindsey Buckingham on "Go Your Own Way". Again, it's amazing how a season can be so strong and still be so wrong. Grace Kinstler joins with Alessia Cara on "Scars To Your Beautiful". Okay, fair enough. Unfortunately, we're back to "judges butchering each other's lyrics". At least Katy gets to add a stuffed fish to the proceedings. Luke Combs, who I've never heard of, is joined by Chayce Beckham on "Forever After All". I like Chayce better. Katy's going to be singing with Hunter, so it's her turn to have her lyrics messed up by her fellow judges, except Luke actually manages to get the correct words to "Hot N Cold". They're singing "Thinking of You", acoustic version...Katy plays acoustic guitar? Okay, now this is one of the good parts of the finale--roasting the final two. Chayce is up first, being mocked for his slicked-back hair and for general "country" stuff. He's singing Ed Sheeran's "Afterglow", and it's damn good. 90. Oh, wait this is a reprise round! And now Willie's reprising "Stand Up". Apparently he judges chickens back home...what's Graham doing in this segment too? Willie wins this round, I give this a 94, but it's not enough; Chayce is my pick. And Chayce is the winner! I'd say "not surprising given the Final Three", but we had a break after eliminating the third-place finisher for Willie to make a comeback. The credits roll over his performance of his single "23".

Good; I always forget to vote because I'm usually only on here during and right after shows.

I know, right? Such a great album.

Katy plays acoustic guitar?

CASSANDRA! Man, for a season with so much talent, they still managed to rob people left and right. Season 11 was like that too; the Top 7 was incredible, but imo the least talented of the seven won it (though he acquitted himself nicely...honestly he was the best in both Top 3 and the Finale, but he never should've made it that far).

They just can't be subtle, can they? Not only do the top three get assigned songs that were memorably slayed in past seasons, but Casey gets to absolutely slay on the song that produced the absolute worst WNTS rating by an eventual winner (and deservedly so).

Seeing Casey and Cassandra again, I'm mad all over about their eliminations.

We're now 0 for 5 on getting a song making its Idol debut in this episode. Also 0 for 5 on getting this normally generous rater to hand out a five-star score. Though at least they've mostly been four-stars. I don't know, no one's been bad, but no one's been great.

Doubt it; it feels to me like the bus is out for her. Which I'm fine with.

Okay, can't blame the judges for that one. I didn't expect to do my voting until I'd heard everything for the round, but that was horrible; just submitted my votes for both Willie and Chayce and I can pull back the online/app votes for one of them afterwards.

Judges not much in favor of Freshness Factor. At least this one's only been done once previously; pity that that, too, was a rather memorable performance.

BUS ALERT! I was chewing Grace out in my review for this song choice, saying it would do fine with casual voters but any hardcore Idol fan would not appreciate it because you're not outsinging Pia on that song and with how robbed she was, it would be an affront to the show to win with it. And then Ryan mentioned "Judges Choice". ...Except I'm getting my songs confused. Pia did sing "All By Myself", and sang it well, but it wasn't her showstopper; "I'll Stand By You" was. It was one of LaToya's, and it was the exact same song they used to bus Jasmine after she outlasted LaToya. Which is kind of appropriate since Grace is being bussed for exactly the same reason.

I didn't think there could be a shock boot in a field this strong, but this qualifies. Hopefully she still gets signed; the fact that they made the "winner singles" all the way at Top 4 tells me that there's major hype for all of them.

A Moment Like This - Kelly Clarkson, Justin Guarini, Amber Holcomb, Grace Kinstler Glory - La’Porsha Renae, Willie Spence I Was Here - Angie Miller, Willie Spence