Bouli

so when is IDF actually gonna get over the elimination of a white female and stop using it as an excuse to tear down other artists

*pulls out my watch* I'm still waiting.

Ooh, here's another unpopular opinion: These eliminations are not that bad tonight.

The only ones that I'm really sad about are Khalea Lynee and Gracee Shriver. Yesterday, I would have been sad about Jake Haldenvang, but he just isn't good live. Sucks because I would have liked having a rocker last longer for once, but he didn't have the chops.

And another one: sometimes, I like it when divisive contestants get through because it's entertaining to watch the meltdowns. I'm having a lot of fun over Will and Hello Sunday, even if it is at the expense of superior artists. :icecream:

Cali is a copycat of previous contestants. She tried to imitate Chloe's path by singing Fleetwood Mac and Chris Isaak and now she wanted to be a new Melanie Martinez with this Britney cover. Not an original artist at all

In defense of Cali... I don't think she's trying to copy previous contestants at all.

For one thing, before I say any of this, the producers have a bigger hand in these decisions than the contestants do.

Also, Chloe Kohanski was not the first person to sing "Wicked Game." Moushumi from Season 10 auditioned with it, and Taylor John Williams sang it in Season 7. Cali's arrangement of it sounded a lot like Moushumi's, but a half-step lower. Probably many more who I can't think of have done "Wicked Game," too.

Maaaaany of them have also done Fleetwood Mac; that's a really common band for people on this show to cover, always has been. She didn't even sing the same Fleetwood Mac song; she did "Dreams" instead of "Landslide" (which tons of other people have done on this show, too). And I can think of at least 2 singers on this show who have remixed "Toxic." (Jackie Foster in Season 14, and Davina Leone in Season 12.) None of the remixes are even remotely similar to Melanie's version; all of theirs are swampier and bluesier, rather than being indie.

I respect your opinion, but I don't think that's what Cali is doing.

What she IS doing, though, is breaking my heart by giving one of the worst performances of the night.

Some more unpopular opinions about the Playoffs (really doubting how unpopular these are considering that I agree almost entirely with ShadowGuy):

I can't stand Kat. Good Lord. I'm trying to be more open-minded about indie styling in singing voices... but she is awful. She is SO empty and boring, and there is nothing compelling about her. I could understand arguments with singers in past seasons, but Kat does absolutely nothing for me.

And Kat was egregiously off-pitch tonight.

Apparently IDF was ambivalent about Max tonight? I don't get it. I thought he was tied as the best of the night, alongside Myracle.

Speaking of her - y'all are sleeping on Myracle. She's fantastic. I admit that I didn't like her at first, but she came to the table to eat tonight when hardly anyone took a big enough bite. She killed it with a perfect song choice, and she really stood out.

I also really like Will. I understand that he's divisive. I STILL think people are misunderstanding him and his mannerisms. I don't know how many times the show has to declare that he has Asperger's before people learn to extend more patience and kindness towards the guy, instead of writing him off as arrogant, self-centered, and obnoxious. None of those words apply to him at all.

I'm sure most people here are aware of Charlie Mason's grades on TVLine. I'm curious to see how we would all grade contestants. I'll start.

BLAKE

Ricky Duran: C

Cali Wilson: C-

Gracee Shriver: B

Kat Hammock: B-

Ricky Braddy: C

GWEN

Rose Short: A-

Kyndal Inskeep: B-

Joana Martinez: A

Myracle Holloway: A+

Jake Haldenvang: D+

KELLY

Shane Q: C-

Hello Sunday: C+

Damali: C

Max Boyle: A+

Jake Hoot: B+

JOHN

Khalea Lynee: B+

Alex Guthrie: B

Marybeth Byrd: A

Will Breman: B+

Katie Kadan: A

Well, one thing's for sure... my Top 13 predictions looked A LOT different before I actually heard them sing. Some folks (including some of my favorites) crumbled under the pressure...

By the way, these ARE NOT the results that I want; these are just the results that I predict, based off of tonight's performances.

BLAKE:

PV: Gracee Shriver

PV: Kat Hammock

Save: Ricky Duran

Wildcard: Ricky Braddy

Elim: Cali Wilson

GWEN:

PV: Joana Martinez

PV: Rose Short

Save: Myracle Holloway

Wildcard: Kyndal Inskeep

Elim: Jake Haldenvang

KELLY:

PV: Max Boyle

PV: Jake Hoot

Save: Hello Sunday

Wildcard: Shane Q

Elim: Damali

JOHN:

PV: Katie Kadan

PV: Marybeth Byrd

Save: Khalea Lynee

Wildcard: Will Breman

Elim: Alex Guthrie

WHAT I WANT:

1. Khalea Lynee

2. Marybeth Byrd

Save: Alex Guthrie

Don't worry, I already accept that this isn't happening.

WHAT I PREDICT:

1. Marybeth Byrd

2. Katie Kadan

Save: Khalea Lynee

Will is way too divisive to get PV, just judging off of comments I've seen about him, and it's unfortunate because a lot of the hate is misguided. Alex is the new guy and IMO the most forgettable member of Team Legend to the general audience. I like him, though!

Marybeth needs no explanation. As long as she doesn't aim too high by singing more Adele, she should be fine. Katie Kadan has a few detractors, but not enough to keep her from PV as long as she doesn't crash and burn in the playoffs. And I don't think she will. I think she'll do just fine. I don't like her at all, but ya know, it happens. I think that, provided that my predictions come true, John would save Khalea because (1) she's been on his team from the beginning, (2) she's older, (3) she's very versatile, (4) the season is lacking in her style, and (5) she isn't controversial.

I mean, also, (6) Khalea is one of the best singers on this whole season.

WHAT I WANT:

1. Cali Wilson

2. Gracee Shriver

Save: Ricky Braddy

WHAT I PREDICT:

1. Gracee Shriver

2. Ricky Duran

Save: Cali Wilson

I think it's interesting that Blake's only true country artist this year is a female steal. Speaking of Gracee, I checked Facebook for the first time in 2 years just to see what that population thought of some of the contestants. Viewers have really caught onto Gracee. Some of them are even calling her the next Chloe Kohanski, a stolen Knockout who goes on to win (which I think is taking it a bit too far, honestly). Fortunately, I like her too, although she isn't one of my snowflakes, and I don't usually like country. I'd probably like her more if she had more range, but maybe she'll grow into it. She sings really well in her range, even if it's limited. I also predict Ricky Duran going through because he has had generous momentum since his blind. I think he's losing some of it now, but I still think it'll be enough to get him to Top 12, especially if he does noticeably well. I think his steal depends on who performs the best during the playoffs, and I just predict that Cali will.

I don't dislike anyone on Blake's team, although I find Kat to be the most uninteresting out of his singers, and I think Ricky Duran is overrated. Neither one is terrible or anywhere close, though. This is a really strong team, which sucks in situations like these... because no matter what happens when America votes, I'm going to be pleased AND disappointed. Three good singers are going to go through, and two good singers are going home, no matter what.

WHAT I WANT:

1. Max Boyle

2. I guess Damali?

Save: I guess Hello Sunday?

(I really couldn't care less about who gets 2 and 3; I just want Max to win PV.)

WHAT WILL HAPPEN:

1. Jake Hoot

2. Shane Q

Save: Hello Sunday

(I don't see Max winning PV. I don't think Jake Hoot is horrible, but he is super generic to me, and I sense a snowflake killer. I strongly dislike Shane Q now, but I think he connects with this show's viewers because YouTube commenters actually thought "In Case You Didn't Know" was good. And Kelly loves Hello Sunday and tends not to save artists that she had to steal, so I doubt she'd save Max unless he was ridiculously superior to her original team members. Fortunately, I don't mind Hello Sunday too much right now.)

Y'all, this is a tough one. And this is going to be a really heartbreaking PV/Save. I'm not ready.