ScarletDevilCCX

Yeah, forget the "all odds, no evens". They saved the best for last!

If I had actually voted for Alanis before the performances even started, I would now have voted for every odd-numbered contestant and none of the evens. I might still toss her some votes just based on what she's done previously and her being in my lane from a genre standpoint, but...the fact that a lot of my favorites tonight are ones that this topic has identified as "fodder", maybe not. If tonight's meh performances doom her, well, I still have my favorite girls tomorrow, and I can safely vote for them at the start of the show because there are also a few "no way, can't stay" contestants going tomorrow.

So do you think the producers were in Ryan's earpiece telling him to say "they're rooting for you"? Because I read that as "America, we know that Cecil wasn't good tonight, but we want you to vote for him anyway".

See, now this should be the fodder. I don't even think Cecil's singing badly, but the very sound of his voice irritates me.

So we're getting 24 performances in two hours, but we're also getting both solos and duets...oh, I see, half now and half later. Oh, and we've got the ability to vote right now. 8 get through from each night. Alanis Sophia will be kicking it off with Sia's "Alive". The first performance is never an easy place to be, but especially in the first performance episode of the season--I tend to always end up giving the first performance a kind of "meh" rating, and this is no different; 54 seems right. Then we go right into her duet, with Jimmie Allen who apparently auditioned in 2011 and didn't make it through to America's vote but still had a career. They're doing "Shallow" by Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga, and this is much better, I'd say 76. Katy seems to think she was overwhelmed by Jimmie, though, and was better on her solo. Okay, looks like none of the voting methods close right at the end of the show. Cassandra Coleman's doing "Find Me" by Sigma featuring Birdy. See, this is why I tend to be meh on the first performance--we have to fit the curve. This is an 80, based on the last one. She's dueting with OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder on "Apologize", which she auditioned with--she's embarrassed by that performance, but I remember loving it. In fact, I'd say her audition with it was better than this performance; in fact, it's already time to reassess some of my numbers, because I still think it was better than "Alive" but I can't give it a rating as high as the one I gave that performance! "Alive" now gets a 44, "Shallow" a 64, "Find Me" a 69, and "Apologize" a 49. Remember, the numbers for all the other performances go in relation to each other. This actually feels a lot better, though, since "Find Me" didn't really feel like an 80--it just got there because of its relation to the previous two.

Alyssa Wray is up next, doing "Something in the Water" by Carrie Underwood. She's got pipes, but points off for the facial expressions. She's too much, even though she's also just standing there (although maybe they were directed to do that, since we've still got COVID protocols to worry about?). 70. We keep up the Idol royalty, as her duet partner is none other than Katharine McPhee! They're doing Whitney Houston's "I'm Your Baby Tonight", and it's so much more natural. Am I allowed to say that? I feel racist for thinking that a black girl seems so much more natural covering Whitney than Carrie, but...Alyssa's performances were two very different genres. The second one fit better. Well, Katy says Alyssa was the first to hold their own with the star, so I feel vindicated. 83. We're going to another break, so I finally get my chance to get my drink for the night.

Fireball is the drink for tonight. Wyatt Pike is up fourth, to be joined for his duet by Ben Rector. First, he's doing Tate McRae's "rubberband". Ooh, another all-lowercaser! ...And much like Alyssa on her solo, the singing is good but I'd enjoy the performance much more on the radio than with a visual. 76, though--it'd be a 5-star on the vocals alone but he also has bad stage presence. They'll be singing Ben's song "Brand New". ...Ben's stage presence isn't great either, though at least he's moving about a bit. 39, and an edit to my rating for "Alive". Maybe the fact that I hadn't started drinking yet at the start of the show was depressing my ratings? I do tend to enjoy this show more with a little alcohol, which is why I do this the way I do.

Alana, no last name, is doing Dua Lipa's "Blow Your Mind (Mwah)". Ryan introduces her as having "traded in her tennis racket for a microphone". He also says that we're voting on "solos" by 12 contestants. Katy comments on the same thing I noticed: STAGE PRESENCE! Alana was a contestant that I kept expecting to not still be here, but that was great. 88, and she's dueting with Brian McKnight on his song "Back at One", which he says he's never done as a duet before. It shows; she outshone him. 86, but it would've sailed past 90 on Alana's contributions alone. The judges, on the other hand, seem less than impressed. Ah, I see; the reason I didn't perceive her as being a contender before this is because she was one of the ones that they kept around without showing much of so that there'd be obvious candidates to not advance. Sorry, producers, your "fodder" is outshining your favorites...again. Anilee List will be up after the break, and her duet partner will be Joss Stone.

Speaking of all-lowercase titles, Anilee's doing Billie Eilish's...I forgot which song. Well, it'll show up on WNTS eventually. It was beautiful; I'll give it an 84. She and Joss will be doing "Tell Me Something Good" by Rufus featuring Chaka Khan. ...Okay, given that last performance, and what I know about Joss Stone, and for that matter what I know about the original artists and the original song...why is this a bad rock performance? Absolutely none of the ingredients that went into this would've indicated "rock". I was ready to give instant votes to Anilee after the solo but this is an 18-rated mess. Also, Joss is cursing at the mentor monitor backstage as the judges' critiques came in. Luke makes note of the fact that both of them were barefoot--oh, right, that's a thing Joss Stone was known for. The judges were very complimentary...it's weird, the judges' critiques have largely been focused on the duets even though we're allegedly voting more on the solos.

Sadly, I was too caught up in the discussion topic (apparently Idol Forums favorite Benson Boone didn't miss the Top 24, but dropped out, and Anilee only made it as a replacement) to notice what song Deshawn Goncalves was doing, but he did it beautifully. 86. He's also dueting with Ryan Tedder, on "I Lived". I forgot there was this much of a slow part to start the song. Still, after two of my early favorites among the girls in this episode disappointed, I'm glad to see that one of my favorite male contestants in the Top 24 slayed it. 83 for being too sleepy for my tastes but being great anyway.

Graham DeFranco is still in this and is doing John Splithoff's "Raye". It is good, but it doesn't seem right for American Idol. You're supposed to be appealing to Millennials and Gen Z, not Boomers and Gen X! 82 for sheer quality, though. Ben Rector's back to duet with him, I'm not sure the song, but it's...also good, I think. 80, but despite getting good ratings from me, he's not getting my votes. Andrea Valles is singing in Spanish on "Lo Vas A Olvidar" by Billie Eilish & Rosalía (oh, thank god this got saved; trying to put in the accent took me off the page.) It's beautiful; 90. She's joined by Brian McKnight for "I'm Never Gonna Dance Again", and he sounds much better on this one; I'd consider this even better; 93. She also explains to Brian why she's got an eyepatch; she had surgery on a detached retina. (Her eyepatch for tonight is pink and bedazzled. Ryan asks her if the eyepatch throws off her equilibrium, and she says it does.)

Cecil Ray is doing "Paint Me a Birmingham" by Tracy Lawrence. Ryan reminds us that he's a father. "Alive" gets another upwards edit so that this one can land at a 42. He's joined by Jimmie Allen for "Freedom Was a Highway", which Jimmie originally did with Brad Paisley. It's well performed...but that's the problem. Even when he does nothing wrong, it's capped out at about a 56 because of that voice. The judges do give him a negative critique, though, so maybe he really will be gone soon. Lionel also points out the lack of stage performance, saying he had his hand stuck in his pocket. Ryan, likely with the producers in his earpiece, has to sum it up with "They're rooting for you", basically telling America "yeah we know he wasn't good tonight but vote for him anyway". Sorry, no.

Willie Spence is up 11th, doing "Wind Beneath My Wings". And it is...acceptable to me! 75. Not outstanding, but I'm generally a harsh critic on songs my mother used to sing to me as lullabies when I was little, so that's pretty good. He and Kat McPhee are doing "The Prayer" by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli, and he's dedicating it to his grandfather, and this takes Kat aback so she dedicates her performance to her father. This is a big risk...I think it was too big a risk. I give it a 72, but on a song with this much showstopper potential, you don't want to be putting up "only" a 72. Well, the judges love him.

Oh, right, Grace! The one whose name I keep messing up--I keep wanting to write Kintsler, but it's Kinstler. She's singing a song about body positivity. Given her own struggles with self-image, this is good. 95. She and Joss Stone are doing "Midnight Train to Georgia" by Gladys Knight and the Pips. 95 again. Grace slays it.

2 minutes ago, Brick said:

This duet song does Andrea no favours. And she really needed all the favours in the world. Her solo was pretty great at least, but nowhere near enough to avoid the fodder status

You think? I remember her name at least, which is more than I could say about some of the other obvious fodders. And now she'll stand out even more with the eyepatch.

Andrea slaying it--new best performances of the night. And she's got a sparkly eyepatch!

Graham gets high ratings from me for WNTS purposes. But he doesn't get my votes, because those are the type of performances that would've been good for winning American Idol if it had existed in the 1970s.

2 minutes ago, *Chris said:

Some people did not know who Joss Stone? in that case, we do not let that known so we do not embarrass ourselves!

 

(I am not watching but I was told that a song by my favourite Idol winner was butchered so I came to see the reaction) 

The only Idol Winner whose song has been covered is Carrie, and I didn't think it was butchered. It was kind of weird, because the contestant went to a completely different genre for her duet and absolutely slayed, but it wasn't bad.

Freaking finally. After two of my girls disappointed me to start the show off, my favorite male contestant comes through. As Randy Jackson would say, Deshawn Goncalves is in it to win it!

Okay what the hell was that? I was ready to give instant votes to Anilee on the strength of the solo, but that duet was awful! Worst performance of the night by far.

Okay, wow. Alana wasn't someone I'd taken notice of, but these were the two best performances of the night imo, and the only reason the solo is better is because Brian McKnight was doing a poor job on his own song.

I have been remarkably underwhelmed by these contestants. Alyssa was good on both performances, but the others were...eh.

Given that I was ready to vote for Alanis when Ryan first said voting was open and I saw who was in this episode, that's especially discouraging.

Oh yeah this is a two night thing.  Luckily I already had my computer booted up and a Yards Philadelphia Pale Ale open. We pick up with the judgment for Alanis Sophia and Casey Bishop, and since the math says we would be running behind otherwise, they both go through. Willie Spence had some sort of health scare in the past year, but he's here now and he's singing about it--"I Was Here" by Beyoncé. It's good, but kind of underwhelming. The judges disagree with my opinion and give him a standing ovation.

Emisunshine is singing "Piece of My Heart", and much like another contestant who sang that song, she gets better every time. I don't even remember her audition, and I didn't think she was good in the first Hollywood Round, but she's becoming one of my favorites. Lizzy O'Very is singing "Sign of the Times", and the fact that we're shifting so quickly is worrying. Camille Lamb is singing "Feel Like Makin' Love" by Bad Company. I don't remember her at all from before this. Sure enough, all three are gone. Camille is not taking it well. Mary Jo Young is up next, singing "Us" by James Bay. They say she's had some stumbles, and to be honest, I feel like this is her worst performance, but she came right after a triple-no montage without a commercial between so obviously she's going through. I'm not complaining too much, but I don't think she measures up to her competition. We go to commercial without learning that she's in the Top 24.

She does go through, as I expected. Hunter Metts is up next and the amount of lead-up we get makes it evident that he's getting through. Or does it? This absolutely does not deserve to go through. We again get a commercial before the verdict.

Sadly, my prognostication powers are still on point. Hunter's through. I figured as much; the name seemed familiar the moment I heard it in auditions, but it ended up not being spelled the way I thought it was so I thought maybe I was wrong. Next up is Althea Grace, who has decided to...oh, that's when I saw Camille before! She was Althea's duet partner. Given the reaction, I kind of wish Althea hadn't been so professional. Althea did the Beatles' "We Can Work It Out", and it's a very good performance; I think she deserves to stick around even though part of me wants her to go home so she can be with her sick daughter. Katy thinks it was a bad song choice. I disagree. Well, she is going home, so it all works out.

Next up are Ronda and Funke. Neither goes through. Grace Kinstler is up, and she sings Demi Lovato's "Father". She feels like it might not have been the best song choice, but it was important to her because losing her father was a defining experience in her life. As someone who lost my father fairly recently, I'm holding back tears right now. She's in the Top 24.

DeShawn Goncalves is doing "Over the Rainbow", and it's beautiful and soulful and of course he goes through. But somehow we still have enough time for judge shenanigans? Colin Jamieson, the former boy band member, is doing "Sugar, We're Goin' Down" by Fall Out Boy. It's not good at all, though he does manage the impressive feat of making the lyrics even more incomprehensible than Patrick Stump does. I'm surprised to learn that he's gone through.

Laila Mach and Ava August are our two youngest contestants. Ava's doing an original, because the judges said she can't be safe any longer. Laila says she's been less and less nervous each time, but she feels that an original would've been risky in a bad way, so she's doing "If I Ain't Got You" by Alicia Keys. Points off to the editors for the clumsy jump forward, but nothing wrong with Laila's performance. Or Ava's. Ava moves through...but Laila doesn't!

Oh dear, I haven't been paying much attention. Hopefully it's just a rejected contestant, but it sounded like a good one...nope, it is a reject. Nia. Next, it's time to get Liahona's verdict. She's doing "Me Too" by Megan Trainor...okay, this is the type of appalling performance that used to be included as Cowell fodder. But then again, from the moment she got passed through as a part of a brother-sister duo I'd been feeling like she's this season's Sanjaya. This performance just cements it. And the judges comments are nothing but positive. I can't believe this.

Madison Watkins is doing "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" by James Brown. I didn't even realize she was still in this. It's an impressive performance but I don't think it'll be enough, but then again I haven't really been counting yesses tonight. I'm wrong, though; she's through. Alana is doing "Bust Your Windows" by Jazmine Sullivan. She goes through, and so does Anilee List--okay, sure, now we're at the part of the show where Ryan just tells us the advancers. We still see her performance--"Ain't Nobody" by Rufus and Chaka Khan.

Cecil Ray and Drake McCain are our final two contestants. One will stay and one will go. Drake's been here before, and he's doing a Luke Bryan song, "Country Girl (Shake It for Me)". It's not a great performance; he seems to be fading out. I still haven't been paying that much attention so I kind of missed Cecil's, but forgettable is better than bad. ...Oh, wait, we hadn't seen him yet. "Beyond" by Leon Bridges. Oh, I take it back; this is bad. I'd rather have some other contestants back, but if I had to pick one of them, I guess it'd be Drake. But nope, it's Cecil.

Well this just confirms what I'd been feeling ever since she got through with her brother. Liahona is this season's Sanjaya.

I'm impressed. He actually managed to outmumble Patrick Stump.

...Wait, he's through?

I thought Althea was good enough to stay, but I can't be too disappointed because I half expected her to withdraw right after duets when she found out her daughter had had to go back to the hospital.

The amount of filmed talking we got before this makes it obvious he's in the Top 24, but I'm still holding out hope that my prognostication powers are as awful as ever.

I don't like this. I don't even remember seeing Emisunshine's audition and I didn't like her first Hollywood performance, but she put together back-to-back great performances and now she's gone.

I thought it was kind of underwhelming. Not bad, just not what I needed.

So happy that Casey and Alanis both made it through.

15 minutes ago, *Wallace said:

Who is Heather?

I dunno. I looked back through my live reviews of the audition episodes, and the only "Heather" I saw was from an episode where towards the end I said that someone was "the best of the night, but that's not as much of a compliment as it normally would be this late in the show". The fourth of the five audition shows, if that helps.

1 minute ago, Bk1234 said:

At least we have Laila and Liahona next episode! 

Oh yeah I forgot they still hadn't gotten rid of Liahona.

1 minute ago, KelseyW said:

I think they are both going through. No way they will make us wait for these two and tell one of them no...

We can only hope.

Making us wait for the verdict on both of them 

Alanis better make it through after that performance.