ScarletDevilCCX

Yeah, I didn't notice her at first, either, but I just ran my "own personal CSAB" using the ratings I gave, and much to my surprise, she won it despite having to use projected ratings through three multi-song weeks and being forced to actually use her Wild Card night performance as a Wild Card performance instead of as her first projected rating. But she was just that consistent (and also had the good fortune to have her weakest performance come in Top 20, where everyone was guaranteed at least a shot at a Wild Card). She came on strong, too--since CSAB rules state that a contestant's unused wild card performances stay unused if they're eliminated before they'd need them, she ended up leaving with the highest average of anyone who made the Top 11 IRL and among members of the Top 14, was only exceeded by someone who needed a Wild Card to get there, which Emyrson didn't. So yeah, I definitely feel I overlooked her. I think I went into the voting rounds with a negative opinion of her because during the Hollywood Rounds, they did a "one stays one goes" where she was the one who stayed and I thought at the time that they'd made the wrong choice. So that was forever going to paint her as "doesn't belong there". But the thing about the youngest contestants is that they have the potential for the greatest growth arcs. And Emyrson left after her two best performances. She's one to watch out for.

I think I have to agree. Really the only issue in the elimination order, aside from us not getting a female winner, was probably Jay sticking around too long. If only the judges hadn't given him the wild card off of an absolutely dreadful wild card performance, we might've been able to challenge Season 11! (Though I'll concede that Top 20 night might've been his best performance; he very well might have deserved to get in directly on America's vote.)

In fairness, Season 16 repeating itself was a possibility on the table too, where country male and country female split votes to let non-country female in. At least in theory. In reality, Season 16 actually having a two-night finale like a FOX era season was what allowed that, and the voting continuing after the 3rd place elimination meant that even if Hunter had gone out in third like Gabby did, Leah wouldn't have been able to take Noah 1-on-1.

Malibu and cola. We open with the whole cast doing "Good Feeling" by Flo Rida, alongside Flo himself. Carrie Underwood won't be able to make her scheduled performance due to a Covid exposure in her group, but there's still no shortage of talent, including some old-school talent in Earth, Wind, and Fire. Speaking of old-school, the theme for round one is the music of Bruce Springsteen! Leah's leading off with "Cover Me", and she's got her guitar out on stage with her. On the subject of "Cover Me", Katy Perry looks like a wardrobe malfunction waiting to happen. I'm not sure that those big rock songs are right for Leah, though; she kind of got overwhelmed by the music. I'll give it a 72; Next up is Huntergirl with "Dancing in the Dark". It's almost effortless; I give it a 92, and it's only that low because, like I said, she made it look too easy. Noah closes out the theme with "I'm On Fire". As predicted, the theme is custom made for him, and he takes full advantage with a 97-rated performance. The hometown visits are up next, so we should get some great performances, judging by the fact that Leah leads off the round with an original, "Flowers". 100, of course. Noah's hometown visit is up next. Oh, I guess they're all doing their "debut singles". Noah's is called "One Day Tonight". It's nothing special, honestly; I'll give it a 76. Huntergirl's next, and her song is called "Red Bird". Perhaps I needed to pay more attention? I just kind of carelessly tossed out the 100 for Leah, but this is...Huntergirl deserves to win. I'm just going to say it straight out. I don't think I'll withdraw the votes for Leah...actually I might. Anyway, this gets a 105. The results of the first two rounds are coming soon, but first, we've got the first of our "eliminated Top 10 members perform with an established artist"--Jay joining EWF on "Shining Star", and then "Let's Groove", and of course, "September". It wouldn't be an Earth, Wind, and Fire medley without September. And now we get a montage of a bunch of contestants, from the Top Ten on down to Hollywood eliminees and perhaps even the ones who didn't get the Golden Ticket. Oh, and now it's time for another Top Ten collaboration, Mike Parker with Deana Carter on "Strawberry Wine". It goes fine, and then Ryan announces he has the card for the elimination and the crowd immediately starts booing because they don't want anyone to go. Noah's the first to move on to the Top 2, and Huntergirl is the other. Ben Platt and Lady K are dueting on Elton John's "Take Me to the Pilot". After that, Gabby Barrett has a new single, "Pick Me Up". But she's not done on the stage, being joined by Emyrson Flora for "The Good Ones". Wouldn't have guessed she'd be the one to duet with Gabby, but then again I'd nearly forgotten about her already. Multiple contestants out on stage alongside someone I'm not familiar with. Even after hearing the name spoken multiple times, without seeing it written, I have no idea. Ty something? They mention the duet challenge. But up next, it's Nicolina with Sara Bareilles's Tony-nominated "She Used To Be Mine"--I'm guessing the other person out on the stage is Sara Bareilles? Yep, it is. She and Ben Platt will be back together, but when we return, Katy's taking the stage alongside country star Thomas Rhett. Thomas Rhett's new album is called "Where We Started", and Katy Perry's featured on the title track. But now we get to the part where the rest of the contestants roast the Top 3 and we get the absolutely priceless image of Fritz and Jay failing miserably at walking in high-heeled boots. Now it's Fritz joining James Arthur on his song "Can I Be Him". Personally, I prefer Fritz's voice to James's, and remember, I was rejoicing when I realized that Fritz had been eliminated last week. Mom is wondering if this song's close enough to Blink-182's "I Miss You" to be potential plagiarism. You know, I hadn't even noticed, but the choruses do sound a bit similar (musically, not lyrically). I shouldn't have doubted her; her father trusted her ear enough to run his compositions by her to make sure he hadn't accidentally plagiarized anyone (more often than not, he only "plagiarized" his own previous works.) After the break, it's Christian's duet with Michael Bublé. They sing Charlie Chaplin's "Smile". It's quite a moment. Then we get the judges being quizzed on the Top 3. And we get another duet, Noah Thompson with Melissa Etheridge on "I'm the Only One". Lionel now performs with the Top 10, followed by that promised collab between Sara Bareilles and Ben Platt. Now we bring back the Top 2, and for what might be the first time all competition, Huntergirl's not wearing cowboy boots. The top two both win Disney Cruises along with three guests, and after the break, we get two more contestant/judge collabs, Huntergirl with Luke Bryan and Leah with Katy Perry. I try to get a bathroom trip in on the commercial, but it takes longer than expected so I have to listen to both of those performances from the bathroom, and come back just in time for Noah's reprise, "Stay" by Rihanna featuring Mikky Ekko. Katy says "How dare you wear that suit and sing that song," and Noah says he's never worn a suit in his life, before remembering that he did wear one to prom. I nearly forgot I'm supposed to be rating performances again after almost two hours of unrated performances. This is possibly his best performance yet, I'll give it a 102 based on my rating curve for tonight Unsurprisingly, Huntergirl's reprising her audition song, Rascal Flatts's "Riot". She did win a Platinum Ticket, after all. And of course, it's the best of the night, which I guess is a 107? I dunno; I've been distracted all show long. We're back to crown the winner. It's Noah. Again, never surprising when a guy wins.

Huntergirl deserves this win. Everyone left is good, but Huntergirl's the best.

I feel like this theme works against Leah, or at least, her song choice did. She's not suited for the loud rock songs; she works best with softer folk songs.

Just watched this week's show off the DVR, I'm stunned. My response to Huntergirl being first to be announced safe was "way to remove all the suspense", because I had Fritz and Nicolina as locks. Was cautiously optimistic about Fritz leaving when Noah was second announced, but was still fearing that he'd be the last one safe instead of Nicolina. Never would've guessed that it'd be both of them leaving. And I'm not really that disappointed. Yeah, Nicolina probably deserved that spot more than...Noah, I guess...but we all knew she wasn't going to win. Any of these three would be a worthy winner, and I don't know who I'll be backing. (Well that's not true, obviously I'll be voting for Leah, but I'm fine with any of them.)

This space reserved for a review, to come on... Wednesday, probably. I'm on vacation right now. Sam Adams Boston Lager tonight. Unfortunately, the tab reloaded after coming back from a pause because I tabbed over to something else to keep the computer from going to sleep, so I'll just quickly post the ratings for Round 1: Huntergirl: 90 Leah: 78 Fritz: 67 Noah: 54 Nicolina: 92 It's a shame; I did have some nice stuff written during the first three. The pause was in Noah's intro, and to be honest, we had to rewatch that because we got in an argument after I came back. Before we get to Round 2, FINNEAS is singing his new single, "Naked". I'm going to save the topic again. The theme for the second round is "Closing Numbers", which is a theme with a lot of room for interpretation. Leah's doing "Separate Ways" by Journey, and holy crap. Normally I need something to hit 100 and then get topped to break the scale, but this gets a 105 right off the bat because I need some wiggle room for her to "win the night" when she was only in third place after Round 1 and there's no reason to think the two ahead of her will screw up. Huntergirl's up second this round, and we get a behind-the-scenes look at the Top 5 working to produce their first singles. I remember they did that in the past, too, creating singles for the whole Top 5, or whatever the penultimate round was. Correction--Top 7. Huntergirl's doing Little Big Town's "Girl Crush". That's probably going to keep Leah from being first on aggregate from the second song alone; I imagine this will be great. And it is; there's the 100 we needed to justify having a 105. Fritz is up third, and he redeems himself nicely here, I haven't been spoiled on who actually advances, but I know Fritz is considered the favorite, and while I don't think he's better than any of the remaining girls, he'll be a perfectly acceptable winner. ...Actually, this isn't that great. 70. Nicolina's going with Adele's "All I Ask", We already know Nicolina can do big notes; this is honestly a little unimpressive. 84. The crowd loves her, though, so perhaps she's in the finale? Luke seems to think so. Noah's singing Larry Fleet's "Working Man". Ryan suggested that an alternate title for this theme was "Epic Encores", so the fact that Noah chose this type of song says a lot about the type of artist he wants to be. But...I don't dislike it! I'll give it an 88, which means...Fritz is my bottom contestant on the night! Luckily, Lionel gives the "If you want this man, vote." Leah kind of also got one of those, I think, and Fritz didn't. Could we see the surprise boot I've frequently been hoping for? Ryan gives a long list of performers for the finale, including Carrie Underwood...and Gabby Barrett, again. The first person to be announced for the Top 3 is Huntergirl! Wow, way to remove all the suspense...wait, Noah made it?! OMG WE DID IT!!! ...Wait, what, Leah's there too?! ...I'm shook. I said that announcing Huntergirl first removed all suspense because I thought that Nicolina and Fritz were pretty much locks. I expected the last spot to come down to Noah and Huntergirl. When Noah was announced safe, I was optimistic that it was at Fritz's expense, but I was still a little concerned that it was at Nicolina's instead. Never would've guessed that both would be knocked out, which makes announcing Huntergirl first the right option, since she's honestly the least surprising inclusion of the three.

This is going to be our first all-white Top 2 since Season 16, though...

I mean, yes that's what happened, but it was still surprising in a way. He's the presumptive favorite, so leaving him as the last to be saved removes all drama--him being one of the last three standing for one spot just screams "shock boot".

I'm stunned. Really thought Christian would survive, especially after they announced Leah safe because I couldn't imagine Fritz being left to be the last to be declared safe--he's so obviously safe that the only reason he'd be not yet declared safe with only one spot remaining would be if he was a shock boot.

Happy Mother's Day everyone! I'm sure we'll be celebrating it on Idol. Had some cabernet at dinner, but I'm still going to have a beer; Golden G.O.A.T. from Sam Adams. ...Hello? It's been like a minute with nothing but a black screen. Oh, here we go, and they're recapping Katy's shenanigans from last week as Ariel. Well, I guess it's a good thing that they never have anything important in the first few minutes...oh! Two of our contestants have tested positive for COVID. Noah Thompson tested earlier in the week and will be performing from his hotel room, and Fritz just tested positive earlier today so we'll be viewing his rehearsal video from yesterday. Tonight's theme is TikTok--either a song that the contestants themselves posted there, or something that's associated with a viral sensation. Leah's up first singing "Electric Love" by BORNS--I'm not going to bother experimenting with my keyboard looking for the right sequence to spell that properly. It was...entirely fitting for the theme of "TikTok"--vapid and devoid of any real content. 47. Jay is up second, showing off his muscles, and apparently "I Have Nothing" is a common song on animal videos on TikTok so we're getting the...is it the 11th or the 12th rendition of this song on this show? Oh, and the mentor for this show is Will.i.am of the Black-Eyed Peas. He makes it his own. It's...not bad. 64. A big step up. Katy seems to love it. Only one judge judges each performance tonight because we're tight on time. Ryan's announcing the TikTok Idol Duet challenge--open the app, duet with your favorite Idol, and you might be featured on the finale. Next up is Fritz Hager with an original song he posted on the platform, "All My Friends". Will.i.am asks him if he went to songwriting school, and says "good" when Fritz answers in the negative, because there's no good drowning in someone else's ideas. Fritz is out there with an electric guitar, and there are two other dudes with electric guitars as well, and he's rocking out. And this is an original! 83. If I'd known he'd do this as an original, I might not have fought so hard against his status as the apparent WGWG of the year. Christian Guardino is singing "Lonely" by Justin Bieber & benny blanco, because he really connects to the song; he did a cover of it on TikTok. He says he sometimes struggles to talk about his retinal condition. And this is his best of the season; 82. Michael Bublé also video calls in, and asks to sing with Christian at the finale. Perfection. Huntergirl's singing Tate McRae's "You Broke Me First". I don't know who that is, but apparently it's a pop song. Hunter heading out of her comfort zone? Well, so far so good. Correction: the song title is "you broke me first". Why is that suddenly such a trend? 85. We're getting plenty of great performances, but no showstoppers yet, which gives us just as narrow a band as if I was going over the top with my praise. Ryan mentions Hunter's nanna liking Derek Hough last week and says he knows Derek's favorite food. Oh do you now? Noah Thompson is up sixth, and apparently the meetings with the mentor were early in the week because Noah still got to meet with him, too, He doesn't know much about social media, so he's singing the song he was singing in the video his buddy Arthur posted of him. "Painted Blue" by Sundy Best. No, that's not a typo. And this is...amazing. The stripped down acoustic performance is perfect. 98, The judges are giving him a standing ovation. It's well deserved. Luke says American Idol is great at finding stars, and they're stars whether they're on the stage or sitting in a hotel room with COVID. Nicolina has the pimp spot, and will.i.am. is going to follow her on TikTok...and they make a TikTok together of BEP's "I've Got A Feeling"?! And Nicolina's performing Heart's "Alone". Always a dangerous prospect with the Idol nerds, taking on a top contestant's best performance of their run. And this was Carrie's. That said, she stepped up to the task. 90. Oh, but the performances aren't in the same order in Round 2! Which is the Mother's Day Round. Jay and Fritz are our first two, so we could be looking at Leah in the pimp spot with the other six in order. But first, Ryan reminds us that Carrie did "Alone" on Idol and announces that Carrie will be the mentor for the Top 5! Jay's doing "A Song for Mama" by Boyz II Men, which is one of his mother's favorites. He says he hopes that not only his mother, but all the mothers in the audience listen to his performance and know that they're loved. You know, I woke up this morning to my mom bitching about how she feels unloved because my sister is just ignoring her, didn't even call, and then this afternoon my sister showed up in person. And I hadn't completely ruled out that possibility, though it turns out my other theory, that she was taking advantage of the rare day off to get some rest because she's pregnant, also turned out to be correct. As for Jay's song, it's a 73--nothing special, but very good. Fritz has a song he wrote for his mom and for his late grandmother. "House on the Beach". It's very pretty; 78. And Luke gives us the "please vote everybody"; Ryan even backs him up. I was wrong; Leah's up now. But first, congratulations to Lionel Richie for his induction to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Ryan presents him with a cake shaped like a record player, complete with moving parts. Leah's doing "Sanctuary" by Nashville featuring Charles Eston, Lennon, and Maisy. A slow song, exactly what I hate. My favorite going into the night is not doing a damn thing to earn my vote! I'm not even sure if this is good without my biases against songs at this tempo. Well, the crowd loves it. I say 42. Huntergirl's up fourth, covering Idol alum Lauren Alaina. Which in all likelihood means she's actually covering a much less well-loved Idol alum. Yep, it's "Like My Mother Does", best known as Lauren's would-be coronation song, but actually originally by Kristy Lee Cook. I liked KLC on the show, but as unpopular as that opinion was at the time, it's doubly so now. This performance is solid, I'll give it a 75. Noah's covering "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac, and Nicolina's set to follow him, so that means the pimp spot belongs to...Christian? Noah's dedicating it to his grandma. His performance is...not starting strong. And yeah, it's not great. 48. I don't like it. Luke disagrees with me. Lionel says "I'm not going to wish you any bad luck, but when you're sick, you sound better". Yeah, Katy also says that he did his best yet tonight. Nicolina's also dedicating her Pentatonix song to her nona--"Lighten the Hall". Lionel says the song was absolutely flawless, and I have little reason to argue. 93. Christian's doing "My God" by Smokie Norful. The title's appropriate, because my God! Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. 100. Five of the seven contestants on stage, because two are in quarantine. Those two are up on the video screen. The first to make it through to the Top 5 is Noah. We may already have problems. But the second one through is Nicolina! Much better. The third one through is Huntergirl, and the fourth is...Leah! Okay, this is kind of a win-win. And Fritz is the fifth. Why'd they save Fritz for the last to be declared safe? Stupid.

I mean last week, 9/10 contestants were amazing...and yet Jay's still here.

Yeah, I know. I'm hoping we get Jay/Noah leaving but I feel like it'll be Jay/Leah and after tonight, I can't even argue it.

Wait, you're saying that Jay of all people is one of the few safe ones? Or are you just assuming that he's one of them but Fritz is the only one not a possibility for the other?

It's not an advantage in this format, but it's still a sign of the producers' favoritism. Or something like that. Like back when it really was a clear advantage, the producers' comments seemed to indicate that they were under the delusion that the leadoff spot was the pimp spot, or at least wished to claim this.

This isn't good. We've heard this song on this show before. It's been better.

Not surprised; this site never seems to be that high on the country singers.

Huh. Pimp spot to Christian? And for the heartstrings round no less...I think he's gotta be safe now.

No, no, it's fine, all the blond girls IDF likes are already out. ...Well, a lot of them are. Damn, we really had a lot of blonds this year, didn't we? Hunter, Leah, Allegra, Elli, Kenedi, am I forgetting anyone?

Wait, really? Damn, I actually liked KLC when she was on the show!

I wasn't a fan tonight, but then again I'm almost never a fan of the ballads.

Another week of the judges choosing "right after a Fritz performance" to remind everyone that they need to vote for their favorites. Oh, and Ryan gets in on it too this time!

Wait, Fritz is doing an original song double? He really is the chosen one! Haven't seen that since Alejandro.

Well Jay and Fritz were second and third. I think they've done this in previous years with two-song Top 7's: 1/14, 2/8, 3/9, 4/10, 5/11, 6/12, 7/13.