Crisis

From 20 to 14 First, I don’t like the wildcards. Just have the Top 14 vote getters advance to the next round. It is potentially unfair to the four contestants who may have advanced because of this aspect. Also, in the ABC seasons, the wildcard contestants have lasted two episodes at most regardless how they do. At this point, the voters have already decided who they like. It is highly unlikely we will see a Clay Aiken or Jena Irene type of contestant in the ABC seasons. Now for the contestants and their performances, I’ll split my commentary in three groups. The Top 10 (I won’t say too much about their performances because they were victory performances): Ava Maybee – Cuz I Love You I don’t know why she picks these big songs because she falls short or must sing through her nose to hit the big notes. With that said, this was her best thus far. Christian Guardino – Creep Once again, he focused on showing off the vocal gymnastics instead of trying to understand the song’s message. Oh, and him saying he belongs after saying how much he related to the song’s message emphasizes him not understanding the song at all. Lady K – Bust Your Windows Outside of the messes that were the key change and ending, this was a strong showing for her. LOL at Ryan pointing out the types of songs she’s sung thus far. Huntergirl – Vice This song isn’t exactly a happy one, but she made it sound that way. What I said about Jay being too cheery for You Know I’m No Good applies here as well. Dan Marshall – Stuck On You I take it there was outrage about him being among the Top 10. The ABC seasons have shown if they don’t completely crap the bed (see Cecil and Hanna last season), country contestants tend to do well with voters. Like his Hawaii showing, this was shaky and his nerves took over. Maybe he needs to stay away from ballads because they highlight his nerves. Leah Marlene – Wisher To The Well (Original) After showing she could interpret and sing a song straight, she went back to being the energetic girl she was during her Call Me performance. The song is interesting to say the least. Nicolina Bozzo – She Used To Be Mine Her best vocal up to date. In addition, she connected to the song very well. Noah Thompson – Cover Me Up Way to make him wait to learn his fate on his birthday. Everyone knew he was going through. Anyway, his performance was more of the same from him: competent but nothing to get excited over. Emyrson Flora – Love In The Dark She and Ava were the most unlikely Top 10 vote getters. Adele is hard to sing, but she did OK. However, there were parts where she strained to hit the notes. Fritz Hager – Golden While it was good to see him have fun and loosen up on stage more, he over sang this song. His upper register doesn’t sound very pleasant. The Wildcards: Allegra Miles – Tainted (Original) This is a performance I didn’t care for upon first watch. However, it grew on me after watching it a couple more times. Unlike Huntergirl’s original, this one caught my interest. She connected well (considering it’s an original, it would be concerning if she didn’t) and the song was lyrically fine. It was one of the better wildcard performances. Jay Copeland – Believer I’ve said this before, but Imagine Dragons songs aren’t good in singing competitions. They’re too much of arena anthems to work well. Jay’s performance was…something. I watched the episode on a stream with my headphones on and ripped them out and threw them on the table in disgust once he hit the chorus. I certainly felt pain in my ears. That gave me Jacob Lusk flashbacks. With this said, there was no way they were going to let one of their Platinum Ticket recipients leave if they had the opportunity to prevent it. Speaking of the PT, I think that’s one of Jay’s problems. I may be talking out of my butt here, but it appears he’s trying to justify that he was worthy of receiving the PT that he’s more focused on showing off his abilities rather than giving a genuine performance. It would be nice to see such a performance from him, but it may be too late at this point. Mike Parker – Bed On Fire In his previous performance, Mike lacked any kind of passion and it suffered somewhat as a result. Here, he brought the fire (no pun intended) a song of this nature needed. While I have complained about the key changes this season, Mike had one of the better ones. Based on his performance, I thought he earned a WC pick. With everything said, it seems like Luke is hellbent on making him a country singer if it’s the last thing he’ll do. Tristen Gressett – Are You Gonna Go My Way Flashback to Quentin rocking this performance, which then was overshadowed by his confrontation with Harry. If there’s a song one can go crazy on, it’s this one. However, although the energy was there, this was Tristen’s most restrained performance. Maybe it had to do with him holding a guitar. I haven’t been impressed with his vocals all season, and it was no different here. However, I cannot deny the guy isn’t entertaining to watch and that he brings something different to the table. The Eliminated: Cadence Baker – I’m Your Baby Tonight First, poor thing. The way her smile dropped after Ryan confusingly said she wasn’t in the Top 10 was both funny and sad. Now for her performance, this was another case of picking the wrong song. The attitude was there, and she appeared to give it her all, but this was not good. She didn’t have anywhere near the vocal ability to tackle this song. It was no surprise she was eliminated here. It’s too bad because she regressed after a solid showing in Hawaii. She has a lot of potential, but there are some things she needs to work on, namely her nerves and confidence, if she wants to continue to pursue this path. Finally (checks to see if she’s legal; she is so crisis averted), she sure was purdy – easily the prettiest girl this season – so I’ll miss her from a superficial standpoint. Cameron Whitcomb – If It Hadn’t Been For Love Cameron did not do this song justice. First, the arrangement was too smooth for my liking. Second, his voice completely lacked the grit and proper attitude. This song has a lot of character, yet Cameron’s rendition sucked all of it out. Now having said all of this, despite the poor ending, this was his best performance from a vocal standpoint. He was a polarizing contestant, and I can’t say I enjoyed his performances all that much, but one thing he wasn’t was boring. Elli Rowe – All I Want This was pleasant and one of the better performances from a pure vocal standpoint. However, the performance lacked a certain sadness the song required. Elli had the prettiest voice of the season, but I don’t think it’s suited for songs that require a heavy emotional impact. This is another case in which a contestant picked the wrong song. Oh, and the writing was on the wall for her after Lionel all but dismissed her afterwards, though he had a brainfart when he said it was up for the voters to decide. Jacob Moran – Rise Well, he tried to recreate his In My Blood performance with Rise. There was the even start followed by the gradual buildup before finally exploding towards the end. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as effective this time around. Even if he was able to execute everything perfectly, it still would’ve been drowned out by the band because they were too loud as usual. Jacob is a technically strong singer, but I believe it was a combination of his tone and not so strong performance the night before that hurt him the most. Katyrah Love – Through The Fire I will say Katyrah did a fine job with the song. She had a nice vibe and didn’t hit too many bad notes. The problem is as I’ve said before, Chaka is a vocal beast. The problem with singing her songs is it’s difficult to think about them without hearing that power she is known for. While Katyrah sang the song well enough, she didn’t come anywhere near the standard one thinks of when taking on Chaka. Also, the performance ended without any punctuation. Katyrah is someone else who fell victim to poor song choices, which is too bad because it appeared she had more to offer. Sage – Brown Eyed Lover It was good to see her sing something more contemporary, plus it doesn’t hurt that it’s Allen Stone. This was her best and most consistent performance of the season. She worked the stage well and she sounded nice for the most part. Unfortunately for her it was too little too late. Something told me she was toast after Ava made it to the Top 10. She was intriguing, but it wasn’t so much her song choices as it was her performances about them that did her in. Anyone who are fans of Allegra, Jay, Mike, and/or Tristen might as well enjoy them while they can because if this season is anything like the previous ones, they won’t be around for long.

OK, that's understandable. Having famous relatives doesn't always mean a contestant will have any advantage. There was some outcry during S8 when an offspring of one of the Osmonds auditioned. However, he was cut in Hollywood with little to no fanfare. The one who made it the farthest to my knowledge is Paris Bennett. She's the granddaughter of gospel legend Ann Nesby and she placed fifth in S5. That's right! OK, that's fair for someone to feel that way. That's understandable. At the same time, however, I think both the contestants and show use each other. It wouldn't surprise me if some of the contestants see how the winners have been treated and just want to make it far enough to get exposure without winning. Thank you. I'm not holding my breath, but I'll be pleasantly surprised if there are. I wouldn't say no to them performing in those costumes although I doubt they're allowed to keep them after the show. - I know what you mean. I thought about resurrecting it but got too busy with other stuff. The laugh was certainly better than when A.J. Gil laughed in the middle of his All Or Nothing performance. - That's a good thing. - It would be cool to see him do more of those out-of-the-box songs. I can't help it if he appears to me like that. - Good to see it caught your attention. - Nice to see appreciation for that comment.

Oh, OK. It sounds like she hasn't fully recovered. I wonder if there were any cries about nepotism regarding her like other contestants who had famous relatives in the music industry. It looks like she's trying to make a name for herself by not mentioning him and focusing on her mother. It was only a matter of time before we disagreed. I obviously didn't enjoy them, but that doesn't mean others can't. I'm just one person spewing my opinions after all.

Top 20 Before getting to the performances, I just want to say this: no episode outside of the season finales should be longer than two hours and even then, that’s pushing it. The one finale that could’ve been longer than two hours was the S15 one because it was supposedly the last season. I’m fortunate enough to live in the PST so I didn’t have to stay up too late. Since there’s so much to talk about, the commentary will be on the shorter side. The Contestants: Emyrson Flora – Tell Me You Love Me Demi is not an easy artist to cover, but Emeryson did a commendable job with the song. She didn’t try to emulate Demi by going too big and like her previous performance, she tried to connect to the song. If there is one criticism, the transition from the first verse to the chorus could’ve been smoother. While I thought she was better last week, Emyrson had another solid performance. Mike Parker – Chasing After You This was a performance of two halves. The first half lacked energy; he looked and sang like he was just going through the motions which for a song of this nature is not good. The second half picked up a bit as he put more power in the second chorus and moved on stage. He has a nice tone, but this was a step back from his previous performance. Tristen Gressett – Sacrifice I can’t help but think of Thriller when I hear this song. Michael Jackson’s influence is heavily featured here. As for Tristen, this was an odd song for him. While the energy was there, this isn’t the type of song someone can really perform on. Like last week, his vocals weren’t up to par, and it looked like he pushed his voice too hard. I wanted to hear what Luke wanted to say about his vocals before the audience booed him because I most likely would’ve agreed with him. Sage – Rhiannon She made a tactical error by not staying with the piano arrangement all the way. She sounded great when it was like that. The vocals fell apart when the full band kicked in. In addition, she added some unnecessary growls that detracted from the performance. This was a case of someone trying to do too much when simplicity would’ve worked. Jay Copeland – You Know I’m No Good Speaking of someone doing too much. First, the performance was too cheery for that song. There was no angst or self-loathing that song should’ve had. Second, like his previous performance, he tried to pack too many vocal attributes that the performance was not cohesive whatsoever. I’ll stop here because I definitely have more to say about him in his next performance. Nicolina Bozzo – Edge of Seventeen Here we have another performance that would’ve been better without the heavy rock part. Unlike Sage, however, it was minimal enough not to completely sink the performance. The beginning had poor breath control and made me wonder if something’s wrong with her. She picked it up the rest of the way and the rest wasn’t too bad. A solid performance despite my few nitpicks. Jacob Moran – Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing I appreciate the effort he put forth in trying to perform more. However, it’s clear he’s not a natural performer as he completely lacked the stage presence and charisma a song of that nature requires. In addition, his vocals suffered from him emphasizing the performance aspect more. There were parts where he sounded really shrill, particularly the ad-libbing. Here is another contestant who took a step back from his previous performance. Huntergirl – Heartbreak Down (Original) It’s difficult to assess originals in singing competitions because there’s nothing to compare them to. Also, an original must grab the attention of the audience in some form if it’s to garner interest. Did HG’s do so? I’m speaking for myself, but the answer is no. It sounded no different than what I hear on country radio (at least the few times female artists are played). However, that may not be a bad thing for her. As for her performance, I didn’t care for her tone at parts. Overall, this was a meh showing. Elli Rowe – Somewhere Only We Know I didn’t recognize the song at first when she started, and that can be dangerous. However, it became more familiar as she went along. Her voice sounded really nice in the verse, and she showed some decent power in the chorus. Unfortunately, the band was too loud and nearly drowned her out at parts. While I liked her better last week, this wasn’t too bad. Dan Marshall – Friends In Low Places First of all, I read somewhere he looks like Buzz Lightyear and now I can’t unsee that. Performance wise, this was miles above his previous performance. He looked far more comfortable on stage and his vocal wasn’t as shaky. There were a few funny moments like him laughing during the chorus and trying to encourage the audience to sing with him. With that said, he still isn’t vocally strong as some of the other contestants. Ava Maybee – Anyone The start of the second group starts with another Demi performance. This song is trickier to sing than Tell Me You Love Me mostly for the emotional vulnerability it requires. While Ava did a good job with the vulnerability, it wasn’t good vocally. She sounded like she was singing from her nose, and that made her tone unpleasant, especially when she went big. On a final note, was that Chad Smith sitting next to her mother? Does that make him her father or a family friend? Allegra Miles – Free Fallin’ Free Fallin’ is one of those songs that is deceptively difficult to sing because it goes from a soft verse to a belting chorus with no build up. It can catch anyone off-guard if he/she is not prepared for it. One of the smartest things Allegra did was gradually build up the verse so she could enter the chorus without facing that potential hiccup. With that said, I’m still not sold on her tone, and the beginning had some enunciation issues. However, it was better than her previous performance. Noah Thompson – Falling So, Harry Styles goes country? I didn’t care for his performance last week, but this one was solid. He had some nice vocal moments, particularly the held note in the middle. The one criticism I have of him is that he looks like he’s either on the verge of tears or constipated when he sings. He has the best voice of the country contestants (excluding Mike if he’s not considered country), but it’s more appreciated by not watching him. Leah Marlene – Heal I never heard of this song nor the artist, so I listened to the original before re-watching Leah’s rendition. Dare I say I prefer Leah’s version. This was an absolutely stunning vocal. She got the emotional connection down pat and didn’t hit many if any bum notes. This was a complete 180 from her previous showing, and it separates her from the other quirky contestants from the past. I don’t know how I’ll rank all of the performances, but I know Leah’s will easily be #1 this week. Christian Guardino – Imagine Ugh, this song again. Regardless of my feelings about it, the simplicity of the song and its message are what makes Imagine the song it is (opinions about the message is a different story). Christian, however, understood none of that. He attacked the song with the subtlety of a competitive eater at an all you can eat buffet. It was as if he could see how many runs and vocal tricks he can fit into the performance. The sad thing is he sounded nice in the parts he didn’t go overboard. Fritz Hager – when the party’s over I’m going to have a differing opinion on this performance. I liked him the previous week. However, I didn’t care for him this time around. There were parts where he sounded harsh and for a song that brings out heavy emotions, I didn’t get that from him. Overall, this performance wasn’t as good as his first one, and it’s one that was in the middle of the pack. Katyrah Love – Dream Katyrah is a joy to watch because of her confidence on stage. Vocally, she had her moments, especially with that long note in the middle. Again, she appeared to be a natural working the stage and brought some energy. With that said, I don’t think she was able to match the energy an artist like Bishop Briggs required, though it wasn’t from a lack of effort. Nonetheless, while not as strong as the previous week, Katyrah had a solid showing. Cameron Whitcomb – Changes So now he utilizes Bebe’s advice! So now Black Sabbath has made an appearance on Idol. It’s one of the better songs to sing. As for Cameron, well he was better than last week, but it was still all over the place vocally. Mostly it was his breath control being poor to moving around too much. In addition, he once again didn’t understand the song’s message or get the mood right. He needed to pick a song that allowed him to show his manic energy as an asset rather than a deterrent. Cadence Baker – Train Wreck Well, the song title is apt for this performance. I was going to say something about her enunciation at the beginning, but the original singer had some enunciation issues as well. This, however, doesn’t make up for the other problems the performance had, such as the shaky and off-pitch vocals and visible nerves. It looked like she was so focused on getting the emotion right her vocals suffered. It pains me to say it, but this is right there with Danielle’s Your Song as far as the worst showing thus far. Lady K – Love On The Brain The award for the biggest comeback goes to Lady K. After an underwhelming showing the previous week, she picked a song more suited for her although this isn’t one of my favorite Rihanna songs. The vocals were spot on for the most part, and there was a much better emotional connection. She had some moments when she went big, but she didn’t do too much. A solid performance to close the show with. Personal Rankings: 1. Leah 2. Lady K 3. Katyrah 4. Nicolina 5. Emyrson 6. Allegra 7. Noah 8. Elli 9. Mike 10. Tristen 11. Fritz 12. Huntergirl 13. Jacob 14. Sage 15. Dan 16. Christian 17. Jay 18. Ava 19. Cameron 20. Cadence Eliminated: Danielle Finn I thought she had the worst performance of both nights last week, so this elimination wasn’t a surprise. She picked the wrong song and more importantly, didn’t sing it well. As I mentioned last week, there were some things I heard that caught my interest; she just needs to develop and understand her voice more because there is potential. Scarlet Ayliz Speaking of picking the wrong song. I said her song choice could end her Idol chances, and that is exactly what happened. I don’t know how she really is vocally because that song does not showcase anyone’s vocals. I’m guessing the voters felt the same way. Maybe this will be a lesson learned for her. On a positive note, her outfit looked nice. Sir Blayke The guy wasn’t a bad singer and didn’t have a bad performance; in fact, I had him among the best performances that night. However, there were rumblings about him being forgettable, and that’s probably what happened to him. In the early rounds, being forgettable can be worse than being bad. Either way, best of luck to the three eliminees and take pride in being in the Top 23, beating out potentially thousands of hopefuls. I got this up earlier than expected. Thoughts on Monday’s episode coming soon.

That's good to know. I still would've gone through the thread even if I did. OK, that's fine. I'm happy to see this! Seeing someone who interests you quitting isn't no fun, even more so since it's so rare although this may be a common thing unless there are rule changes. I don't fault anyone for having favorites early although seeing fan threads created before the show airs makes me raise an eyebrow or two. I'm like let's see how they do before becoming fans, but if people want to do so, more power to them. One thing I forgot to mention is remember when I said I was thinking about moving to Las Vegas? Well, I did so this past November. The concert is mostly David Foster, but Katharine will be there to sing a few songs with him. I wasn't going to pass an opportunity to see her live again even in a limited capacity. Thank you, I hope I do.

We're advancing Feel Good Inc. to the finals.

If I don't hear from her by tomorrow morning, I'll advance something.

Is an extension possible? If not, I'll post my pick.

How much time is left? I just sent the PM.

I'll agree to advance Swampert.

There you are! For a while I thought I was going to be talking with myself through most of the season. From the looks of it, it's probably who we won't agree on. Saying who you liked from the audition won't be a spoiler. I'm talking about which songs the contestants will sing, the voting results (although with the coast-to-coast voting that shouldn't be much of a problem), and the themes if they haven't been mentioned on the show when it comes to spoilers. - - I wonder why about the "Hunter" part. Uh-oh, if it's any consolation, I like two of their songs (What Hurts The Most and Here Comes Goodbye). That song Huntergirl sang was not very good. So there are a couple of things we agree on thus far. My rankings will be based on a weekly basis. Someone who is at the bottom one week can be on top the following week depending on his/her performance. Everything sounds interesting, to say the least. I thought it would be something like the Golden Buzzer on America's Got Talent. Maybe I'll check it out after the season. - There's nothing wrong with that. - It really was. Maybe she would've sang the Fantasia song better, but I don't know if she would've matched the attitude. - Glad you found it amusing! Although I'm trying to watch the contestants objectively, I'm trying to make my commentary as fun and humorous as possible when I can. I can sympathize with the situation. That's one of the dangers of becoming fans of contestants too early. They could have strong auditions and Hollywood Rounds but flame out in the live shows. On the other hand, the opposite could happen. I mentioned this earlier, but one of the reasons I stopped watching the audition and Hollywood episodes is not to have a slanted bias towards them. It's difficult to talk about them objectively if there is bias towards or against them before the competition begins. With that said, from everything I've seen and heard about her, Kenedi is probably the biggest - or one of them at least - what if contestants in Idol history. There is a lot to talk about, plus I'm busy with life with a new job. I won't have any thoughts on this week's episodes posted until Wednesday evening at the earliest (I haven't even started my write-ups yet). I'll try to have everything up before Saturday evening (I'll be seeing Katharine and David that night).

"Ridin'" - Chamillionaire feat. Krayzie Bone "U and Dat" - E-40 feat. T-Pain and Kandi Girl "Feel Good Inc." - Gorillaz "Stickwitu" - Pussycat Dolls

Sceptile Blaziken Ludicolo Slakoth Slaking Sharpedo Camerupt Cacnea Groudon Deoxys

Probably one of the few times we'll agree this season. I didn't watch anything prior to Sunday's episode. Maybe I'll go back and watch some things after the season.

I have always preferred the original Dolly version and hoped someone would sing that rendition in singing competitions. Whitney's version is too dramatic and oversung, which dwarfed the song's original intent IMO.

Top 24 23: Part II The first group had Jimmie Allen. The second has Bebe Rexha. Outside of one, maybe two songs I'm not much of a fan of her music. However, I thought she was a good mentor. She may not have been as encouraging as Jimmie, (although she was encouraging in her own right), but she tried to give some advice to help the contestants improve their performances. Speaking of such... Cadence Baker – Something’s Got A Hold On Me Etta James is not an easy artist to cover. You have to really bring it if you want to tackle her, especially on a song such as Something’s Got A Hold On Me. Was Cadence up to the task? She started strong enough with the iconic beginning, but although she appeared to put in a lot of effort, I saw her running out of steam as the performance went on. The ending was rough; she wanted to end the strong on a song note but she lost control of her voice. This is a big song and while she put in a valiant effort, she didn’t quite live up to the challenge. On a positive note, for someone who was concerned about being in her head, she worked the stage well. Sir Blayke – Breakeven OK, I have an irrational love for Breakeven. It’s one of those songs that can tug at the heartstrings and make you feel something strong when done right. Sir Blayke (I don’t know whether to call him Sir or Blayke, this appears to be another inspired comic book character name) didn’t have the emotional impact I was expecting, but he did a fine job vocally which included a nice run towards the end of the first verse. The main criticism I have is that I wish he would’ve wailed more in the choruses, which are the most emotional parts of the song. The first one lacked power, and he held back in the second one. With that said, I’ll say his and Mike's performances are the most underrated performance of both nights, and I think he was underappreciated. Allegra Miles – Adore You For starters, that arrangement was interesting, and not in a good way. I wouldn’t have known she was singing Adore You if not for the verses. Speaking of her singing, admittedly I didn’t care for her enunciation in the beginning of the song, and her overall tone isn’t something that interested me. However, I think her voice is better suited for slower songs instead of up-tempo ones, or at the very least not on a song like Adore You. She did have some moments I liked, such as the beginning of the pre-chorus and the parts when she sang “the only thing I’ll ever do”. In addition, for someone who admits she is used to being behind an instrument, she did a great job working the stage and bringing just enough energy. Lady K – Before He Cheats I know this is a stage name, so I won't crack on it as I did the others. As for the performance, eh. This was nothing home to write about. For starters, she completely lacked the grit in her voice to pull off a song like this. Second, her stage presence and attitude didn’t match what the song required. It’s a song about a jaded woman getting revenge on her two-timing boyfriend. There should’ve been more anger and passion coming from her. The YouTube Video title says she took a Louisville Slugger to the song. I say she completely struck out swinging in this performance. The sad thing is, despite the lackluster performance, she picked the best song of the two she went back and forth on during her mentorship with Bebe. If she couldn’t have more grit and attitude than Carrie, there was no way she would’ve pulled off Fantasia. Ava Maybee – Tell Me Something Good What I said about Etta James applies to Chaka Khan, even more so. Chaka is one of those artists you either go big or go home when taking her on. In addition, Tell Me Something Good is a funk classic, so you better bring the stank when singing this song. Ava got the attitude down pat, and I enjoyed the ugly faces she was making (funk isn’t supposed to be pretty when done right; it’s called funk after all). However, the singing was not there. She started off with a shrieky “you ain’t got no kind of feeling inside”, and it didn’t get much better from there. I did like her on the first chorus and some of the notes she held in the last one, however. Despite the inconsistency, this was one of the more interesting performances of the episode. Noah Thompson – Blue Side of the Mountain I didn’t think it was possible to make Chris Stapleton sound boring, yet this guy managed to pull off the feat. This is the performance I had to watch the most because I always tuned out at some point. He completely lacked anything to draw attention to him. A lack of charisma can be overlooked with a great vocal performance; however, that wasn’t the case here. He’s like an even less charismatic Caleb Kennedy hopefully sans the controversies. All criticisms aside, he isn’t terrible vocally; there is some ability within him. He wasn’t the worst performer, but he was easily the least interesting. Now, something tells me he’ll be around for a while and a potential snowflake killer because he’s like the country artists before him who lasted a while. Leah Marlene – Call Me I’ve said this a few times in the past but Call Me is a song that has never been done well on Idol. For the record, I think Jessica Meuse did the best version. After watching Leah’s, I feel the same way, but Leah’s was certainly the most unique. The song lacked cohesion as she put way too many elements in it. They shouldn’t have gelled together, yet she somehow managed to make it work. The thing that impressed me the most was the big note towards the end because the quirky singer-songwriters normally don’t have that type of range. She may wear thin on me should she last a while but considered me interested for now. Cameron Whitcomb – Bad Moon Rising I was completely speechless seeing this the first time. I believe I had the same look on my face as Katy while watching this. This is the happiest version of a song about the impending apocalypse I’ve ever seen. It was like watching a combination of JPL and Taylor Hicks after downing 100 energy drinks. I have no idea what kind of voice he has because it was lost in all that manic movement. I just hope John Fogerty didn’t see this. This could’ve been better had he listened to Bebe’s suggestions. Speaking of which, the incredulous looks on her face after watching him not take any of her advice were absolutely hilarious. I could’ve sworn I saw smoke coming out of her ears watching this performance. It reminded me of how Lakisha Jones used to ignore the mentors' advice almost every week. Christian Guardino – Leave the Door Open When I heard Silk Sonic, I hoped for Smoking Out the Window. Anyway, Leave the Door Open should be a slow burn song that builds anticipation throughout. In addition, it should have had some elements of seduction. Christian's rendition, however, had none of these things. There was none of the finesse (no pun intended) a song of this nature should have. He completely rushed the song and appeared to be more focused on showing off his range. He was told he needed to work on his timing, yet he did not heed that advice. Going back to trying to show off his range, those falsetto notes at the end made my ears wince. Now all of this said, he doesn’t have a bad voice; he needs to learn how to interpret a song and pick his spots better. Katyrah Love – Blame It on The Boogie One of the smartest things done here was Bebe suggesting they lower the key. One, it put the song more in Katyrah’s range. Two, one can rarely go wrong lowering keys in dance songs. Three, I’m surprised this isn’t suggested more with Michael Jackson songs seeing he sung higher than most males. Performance wise, Katyrah did her thing. More than anyone this episode and perhaps this season thus far, she was the most natural on stage. Blame It on The Boogie is meant to be a good time song, and it looked like Katyrah did a great job engaging the crowd. Vocally, outside of maybe one note during the key change towards the end of the performance, she didn’t hit any bad ones. One of the better showings of the episode. Fritz Hager – Waves I take it this is the one who will cause the most concern this season. As for the performance, while he doesn’t have the voice Dean Lewis has, the commitment is there. I expected the performance to be just him playing the guitar with little or no band accompaniment, which would’ve taken away the song’s emotional impact. Nonetheless, the song built up as he went along, and although I thought his voice was on the verge of wiping out at times, he rode the wave all the way through (OK I’ll see myself out). The one criticism I have is the song seemed to end abruptly. I expected something more after the “it carries us away” part, but it just stopped. Outside of that tidbit, the performance was good and a solid way to end the episode. Personal Rankings: 1. Katyrah 2. Leah 3. Sir Blayke 4. Fritz 5. Cadence 6. Allegra 7. Ava 8. Christian 9. Noah 10. Cameron 11. Lady K Overall, I enjoyed the first night more. However, there appears to be some interesting talent this season and I'm looking forward to see more from everyone. Before I end this post... Kenedi Anderson – Human In the thread's first post, I mentioned I knew about one spoiler from the season. Well, obviously it was about Kenedi’s withdrawal. I’m talking about her separately since she’s no longer around. Let’s see, she’s young, pretty, and has a big voice. Yep, she had IDF It Girl written all over her. As for her performance, she certainly has an impressive instrument, and her performance was solid overall. However, it didn’t exactly have me jumping out of my seat. Her transition from the verse to the first chorus wasn’t the smoothest. Having said that, I think Jessica Meuse has the best version of Human on the show, but I would place Kenedi’s second, and it would've been between Fritz and Cadence if I included it in the episode's overall ranking. Now for an ignoramus’ opinion on her withdrawal. First, the transition from her performance to Ryan announcing her withdrawal from the competition was kind of weird. I guess since she had a performance, they had no way of editing it out. Anyway, I’m sure it’s disappointing for her fans she decided to leave for whatever reason. The official reason is that it’s for personal reasons. However, there’s speculation she landed a deal (which if true, good for her). Regardless, unless either she or someone close to her explains why she left, speculation is all that it is. It’s her life and I think she did what she felt was best for her. I could talk about it more, but for now here's the Cliff Notes version. About withdrawals, between Wyatt last season and now Kenedi, it must be laxer to leave the competition at any point. During the FOX seasons, they made it tough for contestants to withdraw after Mario Vasquez in S4. I guess Disney/ABC don’t feel the same way about it.

Me right now. All three had good performances, including Armadillo. It was a given Armadillo was going to be out. I expected Ringmaster to be the other one eliminated based on my now false theory, but she had a great performance although I have never been a fan of the that version of the song. I had a feeling Armadillo was Dog the Bounty Hunter, and the clues from last night confirmed it. However, I am kicking myself for not considering Jennifer Holliday as Miss Teddy.

OK, thanks for explaining. I thought it was something that whoever received it immediately goes straight to the voting rounds. It doesn't seem to be all that special looking at it. So I commented on two of them. I won't say anything about the third until I post my thoughts on that episode.

Top 24 23: Part I A few observations before getting into the performances: Right off the bat there are some differences from previous seasons. The major one is the semi-finals taking place in Hawaii instead of Hollywood. I believe this is only the third time the semifinals took place in another setting, the first being S12 when the semis were filmed in Vegas and the second S14 with them filmed in Detroit. Also, could Ryan say the full name of the place they were at more? I don’t think anyone heard it the first few times. Another difference is mentors in the semis. The first group had Jimmie Allen. Wait, no Bobby Bones to give his helpful advice to the hopefuls? This group will be much worse off without his sage wisdom. Anyway, back to Jimmie. I don’t think he provided much regarding helping the contestants with their performances; however, he appeared to be humble and provided some good motivation and encouragement. Speaking of humility, it looks like Idol finally showed some by not claiming him as one of their own. Now for the contestants: Jay Copeland - I Want You Back Things already aren’t getting off on the right foot. The song choice itself is not a good one because it’s difficult to sing it and not have it come off as karaoke. With that said, I liked the first verse with just the piano and finger-snapping because it showcased a smooth voice. However, it fell apart when the rest of the band came in mainly because he tried to do too much. His vocals suffered because he put too much emphasis on performing. The ending was not good either because he failed at the rising octaves and looked like he was pushing his voice too hard. He would have been better off keeping the whole performance like the first verse; at least it was something different and would have put a different spin on the song. Last thing, I heard something about him being a Platinum Ticket holder. That's new. I have a couple of questions. One, did that give him any extra perks? Two, were there any other PT earners? Elli Rowe - Everywhere First, I want to say Christie McVie is one of the most underappreciated artists there is. She is often overshadowed by the other FM members, Stevie and Lindsey in particular (although the latter is no longer with the group). As for Elli, stripping the song down with little band accompaniment was the smart thing to do. The arrangement really highlighted a sweet quality to her voice, and some of the liberties she took with the melody added some charm. Watching her performance, she reminded me of Maddie Poppe in terms of her presence and style. The one critique I have is I sensed some nerves coming from her. With all of this said, there is a chance of her being overlooked because I don’t think she came across as memorable as the others, which is one of the most dangerous things to be early in the season. Tristen Gressett - With A Little Help From My Friends When I saw this song choice, I immediately thought about Jovin and lamented that he didn’t get a chance to sing this on stage because I know he would have slayed this song in a good way. Back to Tristen, the guy needs to loosen up on stage more. All kidding aside, his stage presence was energetic without being completely manic. Besides, Joe Cocker himself used to flail all over the place performing this live in his heyday. Vocally, however, his voice wasn’t big enough for the song. If he were doing the Beatles version, this wouldn’t be a big issue. Since he did the Joe Cocker version, he fell way short in comparison. In addition, the emotional impact the song is known for was lacking. It didn’t help that the background singers drowned him out in the chorus. Nevertheless, this was entertaining and memorable which is good at this stage. Lastly, I want to see some ID; there’s no way he’s 17. Scarlet Ayliz - Levitating OK, Levitating is one of my favorite Dua Lipa songs. It’s one of those songs you can’t help but feel good and dance to whenever it comes on. Having said that, this song has zero business being in a singing competition. Love Again or even Don’t Start Now would’ve been better because at least those songs have some discernible melodies for singers to latch onto. There’s nowhere in the song where a singer can showcase his/her voice, and this was the case here. Further, the post-chorus is the most energetic part of the song and she could have salvaged the performance some if she nailed it. However, she left that part to the background singers and her improvising over it was not good. Finally, the ending was bad as her voice was all over the place. The only thing that could have made this worse is if she did the remix and tried to rap DaBaby’s verse. For the positives, she did great with the fast paced verse and her energy was good. At the end of the day, song choice is crucial, and Scarlet may have dug her Idol grave with this one. Sage - Jolene This one has an intriguing tone. There were some textures in her voice that immediately caught my attention. In addition, there was a nice laid-back vibe the performance portrayed. With that said, while the vibe was nice, it’s also the main criticism I have with the performance. Jolene is a song about a woman who is begging another woman who she feels she can’t compete against not to steal her man; thus, there should have been some sense of desperation or melancholy coming from Sage. However, she completely missed the mark in that regard. It didn’t have to be completely desperate, but there should have been some elements of it from the performance. Nonetheless, she may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but she’s someone who I wouldn’t mind hearing more from. Danielle Finn - Your Song Oh boy. First the positives: she has a nice mature tone to her voice for her age and it has the potential to be something special should she continue to work on it. Also, there were some parts where she had some nice moments. Unfortunately, they were few and between because most of the song was an off-pitch mess. It sounded like she had no idea what key to sing in because she was all over the place. The last “I hope you don’t mind” literally made me jump out of my seat, and it wasn't to give a standing ovation for vocal brilliance. When it comes down to it, this song was too big and mature for her. When sung right, Your Song can be an emotionally gripping performance. This performance was none of that and while it appeared she tried to interpret it, it came heavily at the expense of her vocals. Mike Parker - Best Shot While watching this, I don’t know if I buy him being a country singer. His voice seems more suited for R&B. With that said, this was a solid if not groundbreaking performance. It was more dynamic than the original and he did his best at conveying the meaning. In addition, he didn’t hit too many bad notes to my ears. Singing a mentor’s song is one thing; singing it with the mentor watching on has to be nerve inducing. Now, based solely on this performance, he may have a difficult time standing out from the rest of the pack. However, his voice and performance was one of the better ones. Emyrson Flora - Angels Like You I’ll start with the negative. She got off to a bit of a rough start with some poor enunciation in the beginning of the first verse. Also, it looked like she was trying too hard to interpret the song, but at least she tried and she did a much better job than Danielle. Besides, this is apparently a personal song for Miley so it would’ve been an injustice not to attempt to connect to it. Now, for the positive: outside of the part I mentioned, the rest of the vocal was strong. In addition, I liked the toned down arrangement compared to the original, plus I like her voice better than Miley’s (I always found Miley’s voice grating, but I digress). Lastly, she had a nice stage presence as it was easy to keep eyes on her. One of the better performances of the episode. Dan Marshall - Heaven I didn’t realize he looked at Luke during most of the performance until it was pointed out; now I can’t unsee that. Seeing he dedicated the performance to his girlfriend (and picked a good song to do so), it would’ve been better to focus on her (it doesn’t hurt she’s a looker). As for the performance, you could feel the nerves emanating from him, both looking and hearing him. It was like looking at someone who was dared to go on stage and had no idea what he had gotten himself into. I think Jimmie did Dan a disservice by telling him to ditch the guitar. I think that could’ve helped him be more comfortable on stage and his performance could’ve been better. Also, he looked hesitant at the idea of not performing with one. If someone is used to having an instrument, he/she should make the decision whether or not to use one. Anyway, I don’t know if he’s capable of more, but that wasn’t a strong showing. Jacob Moran - In My Blood First, ugh Shawn Mendes. Needless to say I’m not a fan of his. With that out of the way, In My Blood is his most tolerable song and I’ve always liked it when other people sing it. Jacob can now be added to that list. He had the most technically sound performance and the best pacing. It’s a song that can go from zero to one hundred in a heartbeat and can be deceptively difficult to build up. Jacob, however, did a great job with letting it simmer and then exploding at the right time. Now, with all of this said, his tone is polarizing and I don’t know how well it will fare with voters in the long run. Another concern is that based on this performance I don’t know how versatile his voice is. I think if he stays in this lane he should be fine. After all, the winner and runner-up last season didn’t venture from their comfort zones. Huntergirl - Banjo First, this has to be a stage name. Huntergirl sounds like a superhero name submitted in a comic book contest that didn’t make it past the first round. Second, yikes at the song; it’s bad even by country standards. Sees that it’s a Rascal Flatts song; oh, now everything makes sense. Now, I will say she appeared to be natural on stage and did a great job getting the crowd involved. Apparently, this is the first time she’s performed without a guitar on AI. From the looks of it, she’s someone who is comfortable without one, as opposed to Dan. It makes me wonder what she’s like with it. Despite my opinion of the song, it’s a song that’s more of a performance one than singing one, so while she did a great job performing the song, it didn’t do anything to showcase her voice. Regardless, I don’t think she’s going anywhere next week. Nicolina Bozzo - Elastic Heart My first thought when they said she’s singing an emotional Sia song: which one? Aren’t all of Sia’s songs like that? Maybe not Cheap Thrills, but the point stands. Elastic Heart is one of the better Sia songs, and while her songs are naturally dramatic, unfortunately I thought Nicolina tried to do too much with it. The singing, facial expressions, and body movement were over the top. Going back to her singing, while I did hear some beautiful vocal moments, I heard and read she’s this great powerhouse vocalist. Maybe it was the outdoor setting or the sound coming through the TV and later online videos, but she didn’t come across as one. Something tells me she’ll be around for a while, so maybe I’ll see in her what others do. As it is now, it looks like she’s shaping up to be my S20 Grace Kinstler. Personal Rankings: 1. Jacob 2. Emyrson 3. Elli 4. Mike 5. Huntergirl 6. Sage 7. Nicolina 8. Tristen 9. Jay 10. Scarlet 11. Dan 12. Danielle The second half of the Top 24 23 should be posted by Friday at the latest.

It really is. Two reasons why I do this: 1) The audition and Hollywood episodes no longer interest me. There are too many of them and they drag. I never thought I'd say this, but I kind of miss the bad/joke auditions. They may have worn out their course, but at least they broke up the monotony and brought some memorable moments. 2) I want to assess the contestants as objectively as possible on their performances. Not knowing anything about them prior to the voting rounds gives everyone an even playing field. It would be difficult to watch the contestants impartially if someone becomes a fan or non-fan of someone prior to when it starts to matter.

It looks like a lot of thought and effort was placed into this. I remember the Reality News Online site and used to enjoy reading David's commentary on why contestants placed where they did even if I disagreed with him sometimes. It appears this will be something similar to that. Regardless, I look forward to see how this works out. Agreed. I think likeability and relatability plays a major factor for all contestants regardless of gender, but it appears to be more so for females. A prime example of this working against someone is Crystal Bowersox. She was considered to be the best overall contestant of S9 if not the most consistent, yet she fell short of the title. One of the main reasons is because she didn't come across as the most embraceable contestant. She appeared aloof and guarded, plus her banter with the judges may have turned off some people. With that said, two contestants who contrasted this are Fantasia and Candice. Fantasia was extremely polarizing in both her personality and voice. However, she was one of the strongest contestants who had some great performances. Her first rendition of Summertime is in the short list of the best all-time Idol performances. As for Candice, I recall some people who weren't fans of her attitude and personality. However, as with Fantasia, she was very strong and consistent; in fact, she was considered to be head and shoulders above the rest of the field her season. In addition, she had what is often considered to be the best Idol performance with Love Song. One thing that may have helped them, however, is they were in seasons in which the male fields were fairly weak. The results may have been different if the opposite were true. Nonetheless, these are couple of examples of not being exactly the most relatable eventually coming out on top, but it goes a long way to have that relatability.

Semifinals - Part I Semifinals - Part II Top 20 20 to 14 14 to 11 11 to 10 10 to 7 Great American Idol Reunion 7 to 5 5 to 3 S20 Finale - Part I S20 Finale - Part II

It looks like it's that time again! Last season I had a thread where I gave my thoughts on the S19 contestants and the overall season in general. Something must've hit me in the head because I'm doing it again for S20. Like last season, I have not watched any episodes up until this point, ventured into any contestant fan threads, and did my best to avoid any spoilers; in fact, I've more or less stayed away from the Idol subforum during this time (with that said, I've gotten wind of one spoiler. I may address it or not should the opportunity presents itself). Also like last season, I ask for no spoilers to be posted in the thread (this means themes unless addressed on the show and song choices, among others). Last season, my opinions were pretty much immediate hot takes shortly after the performances and episodes. This year, I'll try to be more deliberate. This means I may watch the performances a few times before sharing my thoughts and therefore, they may not be up until a few days after the episodes have aired. I'm aiming to post my opinions before the following Sunday episode(s). With all of this said, I'm looking forward to the season and seeing who the contestants are and how they fare.

Armadillo absolutely did not fall on purpose! With that said, he recovered nicely. Speaking of Armadillo, he should be eliminated next week. The question is who will join him? Both Ringmaster and Miss Teddy are strong acts, but only one can make the finals. I would probably go with Miss Teddy because she is part of Team Cuddly, and Team Good already has Firefly. If my theory is correct, that leaves Ringmaster out as she is part of TG. Also, Ringmaster didn't pick a great song this past week. I never would've guessed Penn & Teller for Hydra, especially since Teller did most of the singing. Since he barely talks, it would be difficult to recognize his voice. With that said, I was secretly hoping it was Bert and Ernie; we had Kermit on the show after all. At least I'm starting to recognize some of the eliminated acts now.

Not really feeling this set. It's also the second year in a row my #1 didn't make it.