ScarletDevilCCX

And I thought I was generous with my reviews. (Though admittedly I think I've been less generous this year than in years past). There's barely any negativity in here at all!

This wasn't soft enough for you?

Cool. Then mine are Casey and Grace.

Damnit, all the good ones are already taken. Casey and Brett, I guess. I remember liking Brett and being disappointed he didn't make Top 13.

I'll claim Casey and... I'd say Grace as my second then, but I see BK's claims listed as Grace and Anilee. Grace if she's available, otherwise Andrea for my second. I may be a fan of Hannah, but I'm not stupid; I can tell she's not going far in this. (Also, voted.)

Locked Out of Heaven - Cortez Shaw, Colin Jamieson Chandelier - Trent Harmon, Hunter Metts Decode - Colton Dixon, Jena Irene, Casey Bishop And the duets for fun: How Deep is Your Love - Not Jason and PJ, that's for sure. Angels - David Archuleta, HeeJun Han, Lazaro Arbos, Beane & Josh Groban She’s Country - Maddie Walker, Hannah Everhart & Jason Aldean Who Will Save Your Soul - Cade Foehner, Hunter Metts & Jewel (I refuse to give Hunter any credit for this. I mean, yes he technically outperformed Cade but that's not a very high bar.)

1. Casey Bishop 2. Chayce Beckham 3. Beane 4. Mary Jo Young 5. Hannah Everhart 6. Ava August 7. Liahona Olayan (wait, what?) 8. Colin Jamieson (double what?) 9. Hunter Metts 10. Madison Watkins 11. Caleb Kennedy 12. Jason Warrior. I should note that I'm giving equal weight to the solo and the duet here. If I weighed the solos heavier, Caleb drops to last place (Jason's duet was by far the worst of the 24 performances tonight), and Colin's still in 8th but he's a lot closer to Liahona and Ava and even makes up a little ground on Hannah.

With breaks for when there was a double-digit gap in my WNTS ratings: 1. Casey Bishop - “Decode” (Paramore) 2. Casey Bishop & Brandon Boyd - “Wish You Were Here” (Incubus) 3. Beane & Josh Groban - “Angels” (Robbie Williams) 4. Hannah Everhart & Jason Aldean - “She’s Country” (Jason Aldean) 5. Chayce Beckham & Brandon Boyd - “Drive” (Incubus) 6. Mary Jo Young & Jewel - “Foolish Games” (Jewel) 7. Chayce Beckham - “Afterglow” (Ed Sheeran) 8. Ava August & Josh Groban - “Both Sides Now” (Joni Mitchell / Carly Rae Jepsen) 9. Beane - “Don’t Start Now” (Dua Lipa) 10. Liahona Olayan & PJ Morton - “Say So” (PJ Morton & JoJo) 11. Mary Jo Young - “Castle on the Hill” (Ed Sheeran) 12. Colin Jamieson - “Locked Out of Heaven” (Bruno Mars) 13. Hannah Everhart - “I Was Wrong” (Chris Stapleton) 14. Ava August - “driver’s license” (Olivia Rodrigo) 15. Hunter Metts - “Chandelier” (Sia) 16. Madison Watkins - “Holy” (Justin Bieber) 17. Liahona Olayan - “Just Friends” (Audrey Mika) 18. Jason Warrior - “Call Out Your Name” (The Weekend) 19. Hunter Metts & Jewel - “Who Will Save Your Soul” (Jewel) 20. Caleb Kennedy & Jason Aldean - “Fly Over States” (Jason Aldean) 21. Madison Watkins & Tori Kelly - “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing” (Stevie Wonder) 22. Colin Jamieson & Tori Kelly - “Hollow” (Bruno Mars) 23. Caleb Kennedy - “Midnight Rider” (The Allman Brothers Band) 24. Jason Warrior & PJ Morton - “How Deep is Your Love?” (Bee Gees)

Jason, Madison, and Colin are the obvious ones. Based on tonight's performances, Caleb should be the fourth, but he's country so it'll probably be Liahona.

Okay, went back and watched the ones at the beginning that I missed. Hannah started strong on her solo, but then she got pitchy. Her duet with Jason Aldean was incredible though. Jason and Madison weren't good at all. Beane was. It seems like every year, there's one contestant who gets a lot of air time all throughout the auditions and Hollywood rounds, and I don't like any of their performances, and then they hit Top 24 and suddenly it's like "oh, that's why they made it this far!" Beane is that contestant this year. Hated him up until tonight, but he was good.

The reviews are going to be a bit out of order because I've got a meeting I have to go to and it's literally starting at 8. I have a DVR so I'll come right back for the ones I missed. Also, I might be doing this one sober all the way through. We'll see. The meeting was supposed to be a short one, because of the basketball game coming up, but it took about twenty minutes just to get enough people to start. However, once it starts, it does go quickly! It's about half past 8, and I'm thrown right into Hannah Everhart dueting with Jason Aldean on "She's Country". They've brought out the star in her! I'll still rewatch the whole thing before giving a rating, but the early feeling is that it'll be something pretty high. The judges seem to think her talent is the part that needs to catch up with her personality. I don't think that's quite right. Hannah's number is 16, so I guess that's the fourth of the night? Mary Jo's up after the break. Mary Jo's doing Ed Sheeran's "Castle on the Hill", and this is the type of performance I have the most trouble critiquing, because she sounds freaking great but she still didn't give a good performance. Still, I've gotta give it like a 77. She's got a great voice, but she's not ready for live performances. Then she duets with Jewel on her song "Foolish Games", and wow. 90, but with the caveat that even if Jewel's other partner for tonight is one of the people I don't like I'll probably end up giving it a decent rating because she's really bringing it. Chayce Beckham is...I missed what song he's doing because I was reading through the discussion topic to see what I missed. Sounds like our first three contestants were Jason, Beane, and Madison? Okay, so I didn't miss much; one that I absolutely want out and two that I'm kind of neutral on. Chayce is not either of these, and he gets another 90, but I need to get more locked in. For his duet, he's joining Incubus frontman Brandon Boyd on "Drive". Usually I need to get my drink on before I start going into full Paula/J-Lo mode, but here we go again: 92. (Angry Orchard Unfiltered, for the record.) Colin Jamieson's up, doing "Locked Out of Heaven". He's got stage presence out the wazoo, but he's not a good singer! I'm giving him a 66, because this wasn't awful on the singing and he's just such a good performer. He's joined by Tori Kelly for her song "Hollow", but unlike the high-energy "Locked Out of Heaven", this song doesn't allow him to paper over his vocal shortcomings. 27. Liahona Olayon is doing "Just Friends" by Aubrey Mika. It's...not bad. Maybe. Actually, the longer it goes on, the less inclined I am to be charitable towards it. 45. The judges give her a standing ovation. She's joined by PJ Morton for "Say So", which he originally did with Jojo, and she wants to show that she's not just pop and can be emotional. Wait, she's supposed to be pop? ...Wait this is actually good. Stick with this. Don't do the pop thing. 78. Wow, this seems like it's been a very long commercial break. But it's finally over, bringing us to Ava August. She's doing "drivers license" by Olivia Rodrigo, which I've heard things about. ...Yeah this is not a good song. She's a good enough singer, though it lacks that certain something--but this is a cautionary tale about performing something too current; this song should be "quick to be forgotten". 51. She's teaming with Josh Groban on Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now", and she's starstruck. Josh brings out the best in her, and it's much stronger. 86 seems right, maybe even conservative. Caleb Kennedy will be joined by Jason Aldean as well, but first he's doing "Midnight Rider" by the Allman Brothers Band. I feel like he's just shouting it. 25. I lost focus enough to not even notice the name of the Jason Aldean song he'll be performing in his duet. It's not much better, though; I give it a 33. Oh, hey, remember when I said that Jewel's second duet partner could be someone I hate and I'd probably still rate it well? Yeah, here's Hunter Metts, software developer turned musician, doing Sia's "Chandelier". The signature showstopper of a past winner? BYE FELICIA. 50; it wasn't bad but it was weird. Next, he's doing "Who Will Save Your Soul" for his duet with Jewel. As expected, she is amazing, but it's not enough to save his soul. 39, because even Jewel starts to get bogged down by the end of it. Jewel seems angry at the judges' commentary to him...because they actually disliked him! Yay judges! Casey's doing "Decode" by Paramore, and luckily I didn't watch Season 13 so I don't have "past 5-star performance" syndrome on it. Not that it would matter. My first 100 of the season. She'll also be joining with Incubus's Brandon Boyd. He teaches her about psyching yourself up with a "power pose", and then they'll be singing "Wish You Were Here". She might've been a little starstruck, but it's still a 98. Katy gets caught up in the rock vibe and tells Casey to "make the stage your BITCH!" And back to the start, with typical overblown opening from Ryan. Up first is Jason Warrior, but I got the order of the next two off; Madison's before Beane. Jason's doing "Call Out My Name" by The Weeknd, and even when I've already seen two-thirds of the other contestants, the opening performance is meh. He's too overblown. 44. He's teaming with PJ Morton, who apparently has a bunch of Grammies? I've never heard of him. They're doing "How Deep Is Your Love" by the Bee Gees, and if I weren't giving out ratings, I'd want to fast forward through it. I still do, actually, but I'm glad I didn't because I might've accidentally given it a double-digit score. 6, because it was bad and then kept going and going. Katy says it's the "best she's seen so far", but it's the first performance of the episode so . Madison's up second, doing "Holy" by Justin Bieber. It's a bad song, but she does okay with it. 48. She's teaming with Tori Kelly, and we get some religious talk. They're doing Stevie Wonder's "Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing". It starts out seeming like it's going to be okay, but devolves into a bunch of silly attempts at big notes and trying to compete with each other. I don't know who won, but all of us lost. 32 seems about right. I was about to get sour because the damn meeting forcing me to start in the middle was going to have me ending with weak performances instead of the massive slayage that was Casey Bishop, but then I remembered--Beane isn't the last one I'm listening to; Hannah is. My other favorite of these 12 coming in. Beane is "bringing down the house on his own", according to Ryan. He's doing "Don't Start Now" by Dua Lipa, and...okay, fine. Every year there's one contestant who I hated during auditions/Hollywood, but then I start to enjoy when Top 24 comes around. Apparently Beane is that contestant this year. 80 for me. Beane mentions his boyfriend during his conversation with Josh Groban,; they're doing Robbie Williams' "Angels", and he says he's going to change a "she" in the lyrics to "he". Josh, of course, is amazing, and it's kind of unfair to have to deal with that because he's obviously going to overshadow Beane...but Beane's pretty good too! 95! Hannah's doing Chris Stapleton's "I Was Wrong". She starts out strong, but starts getting a bit pitchy. 64; I still love her but that wasn't a great performance by her. And of course, she's sharing meat with Jason, too. She's definitely a character, though she has to avoid becoming a caricature. Someone else on IDF called her "Kellie Pickler on sedatives" and I kind of get it. As I heard from catching the end live, "She's Country" was a hell of a performance. 94 seems right, and now we're done.

I take it back. My hatred of Hunter is not as strong as my love of Casey. Might not even give full votes on the other methods to all the contestants I've already texted in votes for.

That's what I'm afraid of. Afraid enough to vote for other contestants that I hate because anything to get rid of this guy.

Sorry, but not even Jewel can save this soul. If this forum's opinion of Hunter is in any way representative of the whole of the voter pool, looks like it might have to be full votes to all eleven other contestants from me, much as I hate the idea of voting for Colin or Liahona (or Caleb's performances tonight).

You're gonna do a previous winner's signature performance?

Oh, I'm voting for her. Though in fairness, it'd take a major misstep for any of Jason/Madison/Hannah/Mary Jo/Chayce/Ava/Caleb/Casey to not get my votes this week, simply because they're not Beane, Colin, Liahona, and Hunter. But, uh, about that "major misstep"...yeah. Sorry, Caleb, but that wasn't even good enough to get my "these are the people I want off so I'm voting for everyone else" votes.

Stop shouting. Start singing. You're better than this, Caleb.

That assumes that Idol is actually still popular with the teenagers. I'm in my early thirties and I'd heard of the song, but never actually heard it. I do see the benefit, but I almost feel like there's such a thing as too current.

Those boots with that dress? Really? Also, the solo was a poor song choice. Danger of picking something too current; you might pick something that isn't good.

Who? Oh, right, the person from that audition episode where I said "this was the best performance of the night but that's not nearly the compliment it should be this late in the episode" at around the 90-minute mark. Yeah, I don't really remember her, but I suspect I'd rather have Laila.

Okay, Liahona, can we stick with this lane? I know you said you wanted to show a different side of yourself with that performance...I hate the side you'd been showing before; this is much better.

Nah. On his solo, he was at least a good performer who just couldn't sing. Forced to stay put on the stage and play nice with a "star", there was absolutely nothing redeeming about the duet (and yes I mean nothing, the judges obviously did a good job not putting Tori through to the Top 24 when she was a contestant).

Okay, looks like the three that I missed completely were Jason, Beane, and Madison. Well, I'm going back for them anyway, but I probably didn't miss much--two "fodder edits" sandwiched around a "get the freak off my stage". Missed most of Hannah's set but I liked what I saw. Mary Jo and Chayce were amazing. Colin can't sing, but on the solo he was at least able to paper over his shortcomings with his skill as a performer.

You really think? I agree it'd be a surprise if she went home, but Group A was much heavier on contestants who received almost no air time. She should be fine. (I'm hoping. She had an off night imo; if she'd been anywhere other than 1st, I probably would've ended up voting for her before she even performed, but I couldn't in good conscience vote for her when contestants that had received the "fodder edit" were killing it left and right.)

She was incredible last night. Add me please.