American Idol Rankdown 2.0

[sublymonal]

  11. Trent Harmon

Average Score:

12.75

Rankings:

@Elliott - 2nd

@NGM - 5th

Public - 10th

@Alex95 - 12th

@*Chris - 12th

@Zoey - 17th

@1234567890 - 21st

@Solaris - 23rd

    

Quote

I ranked Trent fourth and it probably goes without saying that Trent is one of my favourite Idol contestants of all time. When Idol started it's final season, my hopes weren't high after we suffered through seasons 12-14, but I tried to cling to the hope that we'd get another Candice, Kree, Jena or Clark this go around and, when Trent performed a brief but beautiful cover of Sam Smith's "Lay Me Down" during Hollywood Week with mono and still killed it, I started to think he could be the one.

 

Going into the semi-finals, he and La'Porsha were neck-in-neck for me. And they stayed that way for weeks, the two of them delivering the clear best performances week after week. Trent served back to back excellence in the semi-finals with Chris Stapleton's "What Are You Listening To" and his duet with Season 6 winner Jordin Sparks to the BeeGees classic (and one of my parents' favourite songs) "To Love Somebody", earning himself a fast pass from the judges into the Top 10. While I wasn't a fan of the fast pass, I also didn't want to watch Trent or La'Porsha get robbed of a spot in the Top 10, so I was happy they advanced. We'll just ignore the other two fast passes

 

His first performance in the semi-finals was another Sam Smith cover ("Like I Can") and while it's not among my favourite of his performances on the show, it was still among the strongest of the night. This was also the night Kelly Clarkson performed and was a guest judge and basically declared La'Porsha the winner. I can't be certain, but I definitely think this lit a fire under Trent to prove that he also had what it took to win and watching his journey over the next few weeks definitely left me rooting for him.

 

The next night, Top 8 week, he tapped into that soulful R&B side that people had come to love and sang the hell out of Percy Sledge's "When A Man Loves A Woman". While I think Joshua holds the clear title for the best version on the show, I think Trent definitely deserved the praise he got from the judges for his version. At Top 6, he and La'Porsha stole the show again. For Trent's solo song, he served up another killer cover of Ben E. King's classic "Stand By Me" and then him and La'Porsha joined forces and proved their worth in gold with their cover of Charlie Puth and Wiz Khalifa's "See You Again". It remains, to this day, one of my favourite contestant duets we've had on the show, along with Allison and Adam's "Slow Ride" and Lee and Crystal's "Falling Slowly". At the final five was when Trent had his first off night. I loved America's choice of OneRepublic's "Counting Stars" for him because I do liken his voice to Ryan Tedder's, but this performance just didn't hit the mark. However, Trent redeemed himself in the second half of the show with his cover of Lynyrd Skynrd's "Simple Man", which was another perfect song choice for him.

 

The Top 4 show was when I felt like Trent said all bets are off and gave us one of the best one-two punches of performances in the show's history and he did it with only one of those songs being a ballad. His first performance, a swampy version of ZZ Top's "Sharp Dressed Man" show that Trent wasn't a one-trick pony. He could perform and command a crowd, something that was sorely lacking from Idol in recent years. He then finished the night with what can only be described as an immaculate version of Sia's "Chandelier". It was the first night where I felt like he clearly out performed La'Porsha and made us all question Kelly Clarkson's prediction only a few weeks prior. We all knew that whoever took the "last" Idol crown ought to be deserving, but Trent had just proved that he was also deserving.

 

Then Top 3 night happened and Trent, again, turned in two stellar performances with Parson James' "Waiting Game" and Chris Stapleton's "Tennessee Whiskey". His third performance, Justin Timberlake's "Drink You Away" was decent enough, considering Dalton turned in three performances that I would argue were all worse that it. Then, the next week, we all held our breathe as Ryan delivered the results and revealed that, thankfully, America had chosen the right Top 2 and given us the Trent and La'Porsha showdown we'd all been longing for. And a showdown it was. The two of them went back and forth, exchanging Idol singles. Trent's single "Falling" was written by Keith Urban and although Trent's wheelhouse was far broader than country, it definitely felt like it suited him well. He then sang Simply Red's "If You Don't Know Me By Now", a song well suited to his soulful tone, before singing a reprise of "Chandelier" that matched his original version note-for-note and, I think, sealed the deal on his win. It was hard to know what would happen, since La'Porsha seemed to dominate the conversation in the early part of the season, before Trent picked up steam and momentum in the weeks leading up to the finale but, ultimately, his momentum and streak of stellar performances was enough to crown him Idol's "last" winner during it's Fox era. I think it's a testament to how good Trent and La'Porsha are that, although everyone has their preference between the two of them, almost everyone agrees that they were a fantastic Top 2 to close out Idol's final season, even if the season itself was lacklustre.

 

Since Idol, Trent's has found some success in the country music scene. He released an album and several singles ("There's a Girl" and "You Got 'Em All") that charted and got plenty of radio play. Although some people complain that he went into country music, I wasn't surprised, given that he was signed to Big Machine. I also love his album, so I don't mind and think Trent was thrilled to work with big names like Chris Stapleton on his album. He also seems to be working his connections in Nashville, playing shows and writer's rounds with big names and writing songs for other artists. But none of that explains WHY I ranked Trent fourth or why he is one of my favourite contestants.

 

 

Before, during and since the show, Trent has been one of the kindest people Elliott and I have met from the show. When I wrote an article reviewing his album, he posted it on his twitter and messaged me to thank me. That summer, Elliott and I went to Nashville and met him at the Grand Ole Opry. When he met him, he immediately knew who I was, introduced us to his agent and chatted with us for a while. He also then gave us the tickets he had for the charity baseball game he was playing the next day with other musicians. He played several shows and did several signings that week and we went to all of them. I'm sure he was sick of us by the end of it, but he seemed genuinely grateful and so humbled that we would take the time to do that. We even met his mom at one of them and chatted with her for a while. We also made some friends that we still talk to. We haven't seen him for a while, but hopefully next time we are able to go to Nashville, he'll be playing a show and we can go see him again. He also messaged Elliott and I after our wedding to congratulate us which, again, is just one of the reasons I love him. I think he is one of Idol's best male contestants the show has ever seen (in the conversation with David Cook and Bo Bice) and his voice is so versatile, so I hope he continues to make and records music because from all the demos I've heard of his, he's got a lot more in him and he's so talented. Anyway, I probably went overboard, but I figure none of the rankers except my husband will so I had to say my peace.

   

On 8/31/2020 at 11:33 AM, Elliott said:

Perhaps a hot take, but I think Trent's the best male vocalist Idol's had.  Trent was an early favourite of mine in season fifteen, and my love for him never wavered. I enjoyed his two semi-final performances, and really dug his performance of Like I Can, which may be surprising since I'm generally not a fan of Sam Smith. Though I thought he did well with the Top 10 Redux/Top 8 Round 1 (whatever you refer to those shows as, jfc that format was garbage) performances, it was after his unfortunate of stumbling of Counting Stars that he just demolished the rest of the competition. Simple Man, Sharp Dressed Man and Chandelier in a row? Legends only. I also really enjoyed Tennessee Whiskey and Drink You Away (which I always found underrated, though I think it was hindered by the shortened performance time). Waiting Game was another top-tier performance, and then his (and La'Porsha's for that matter) showing in the finale was what the show needed to go out on.

 

My love for Trent has only grown post-Idol, as the result of getting to see him so many times for two CMA Fests in a row. The first year, he already knew who we were from interacting with us on social media, and his mom talked to us at one of his singings to thank us for all of the support, which was sweet. In the second year, we saw him far too many times (except not really) and each time, he was just the sweetest guy ever and talked to us about our engagement. After we got married, he even sent us a message on Twitter congratulating us for getting married.

 

Overall, Trent's easily become one of my all-time favourite Idol contestants, and I look forward to seeing his career grow in the future... particularly now that he's from Satan Borchetta.

  

On 8/30/2020 at 9:52 PM, NGM said:

Super talented, and what a great way to end the first run of Idol. He and La’Porsha pretty much carried S15 on their backs and where one of the most evenly matched F2s ever. They even delivered during finale which is where most people just bomb lol. Wish we got more post-show from him, but that goes to a lot of AI alumni.

  

On 8/26/2020 at 12:01 AM, Alex95 said:

You don't understand how painful it is for me to give Trent credit. He is a straight white dude who showed up on a late season of Idol, and just marched to victory with absolutely no competition. But for the first time since Kris Allen, this straight white guy did totally deserve it. Trent is extremely talented, had great song choices, and a likable personality. His competition was weak, so I really can't complain about his win at all, as much as I may like to. Trent really had no business being as good as he was. He had a lovely falsetto that elevated many of his performances, but he didn't solely rely on that. "Chandelier" is obviously a huge moment for him and an amazing performance, but I've always been partial to "Sharp Dressed Man" personally. Still, Trent during top five week is definitely up there amongst the most dominant nights in Idol history for a contestant. "Simple Man" is also one of my favorite performances of the season. It was an extremely risky song choice that I was petrified he would butcher, but Trent worked it out. La'Porsha was also a strong contestant so no matter where that final two went the winner would be deserving, but I was rooting for Trent and I was glad he won.

  

On 8/31/2020 at 9:45 PM, *Chris said:

TRENT HARMON

 

Trent Harmon, the winner of the 15th season of Idol, is one of my all-time favourite male contestant - he's probably up there in term of winner, as well. Not only is he one of my all-time favourite male contestant, I also love his voice - there's something so special when a male contestant can be seen as a power vocalist which he was able to show via different performances. And I would consider some of his performances as some of my all-time performance such as "Simple Man", "Sharp Dressed Man", "Chandelier" and "Waiting Game" - the majority of his performance also round-up my favourite performances of the 15th season. 

Now why is he at #12 if he is one of my all-time favourite? I made a deal regarding 3 contestants which forced me to have him outside of my Top 10.

  

On 8/31/2020 at 12:44 AM, 1234567890 said:

 

I really do like Trent Harmon but La'Porsha Renae was cut so a low ranking he gets. When you have @Alex95 singing his praises and he usually hates on the white males? You know you have a problem and a threat. Trent Harmon was amazing on the original farewell season of American Idol Season 15. I wanted La'Porsha and Trent to be the final 2 which I got I just wanted the outcome to be reversed. Trent had many great performances during his run but I think my favorite of his is "Waiting Game" by Parson James. He really solidified his winner status after La'Porsha had really steamrolled the competition in the beginning and he just kicked it into high gear towards the latter part of the competition. He was a great winner but did he ever release an album? If he did I never heard of it or picked it up.

 

  

On 8/28/2020 at 1:44 PM, Solaris said:

In the scope of Season 15, I enjoyed Trent. He was my second favourite contestant after La'Porscha, but I was severely annoyed when yet again a woman couldn't win when they rightfully won the season. That said, I am not surprised to see Trent get this far, he's had some vocal supporters. I personally just don't want to see him win, when we have so many amazing people in this Top 24. He had a couple of performances I really enjoyed including Chandelier, Sharp Dressed Man and Simple Man.

 

 

Edited September 25, 2020 by sublymonal

[Alex95]

That callout Victoria 

Though I also gave myself the self callout lol

[FrogLenzen]

[JC]

I'm very meh on Trent, most of my feelings are indifference. Congrats to his fans on getting him to #11 though! I am sad that we couldn't have a better male ratio for the top 10 though. It's still better than X Factor though.

[~Tom~]

Trent gone while Archie is still here?

 

[FrogLenzen]

11 minutes ago, sublymonal said:

On 8/31/2020 at 11:33 AM, Elliott said:

Perhaps a hot take, but I think Trent's the best male vocalist Idol's had.  

[Elliott]

Trent this low??

 

[Weedy_Speedy]

2 minutes ago, ~Tom~ said:

Trent gone while Archie is still here?

 

 

Basically.

 

I'm not as huge on Trent as other people are. I was all about La'Porsha and Dalton that season and he was obviously their main competition. He grew on me in hindsight (a lot like Haley did honestly) and I do think he deserved to make the finale. Still call folly on him winning over La'Porsha, but I suppose the strength of "Chandelier" (which is overrated) and Scott crashing the bus into La'Porsha was able to get him the win.

 

Hopefully he gets away from country music. He's better than just making him another interchangeable white country dude.

[Elliott]

My husband ranked him 4th!?

 

 

[Elliott]

—Me to this rankdown rn

[Solaris]

My comments already express my feelings in him, it's time for him to show up, but he's a solid contestant.

[sublymonal]

3 minutes ago, The Ghost of Weedy Speedy said:

I was all about Dalton

[Alex95]

Does Kevin know Dalton's mom too like Victoria because that's the only explanation.

[sublymonal]

4 minutes ago, Elliott said:

My husband ranked him 4th!?

I ranked him based on who I think needed to be ranked higher (Lee, Blake, and a third person). Also my vote counted for 1/17th of a vote.

[Weedy_Speedy]

2 minutes ago, sublymonal said:

 

Sorry?

 

Trent will outrank Dalton literally every time this game is done, so you'll get over it.

 

Just now, Alex95 said:

Does Kevin know Dalton's mom too like Victoria because that's the only explanation.

 

Surprisingly people have differing opinions and I liked him based on his journey on the show. I don't feel any need to explain myself for it.

[FrogLenzen]

4 minutes ago, sublymonal said:

Just re-watched Chandelier and the camera cuts to Dalton and Mackenzie at the end and I'm like loooooooooooooooooooooooool

 

[~Tom~]

1 minute ago, The Ghost of Weedy Speedy said:

 

Surprisingly people have differing opinions and I liked him based on his journey on the show. I don't feel any need to explain myself for it.

I still remember calling you liking him the second I saw his audition.  

[sublymonal]

3 minutes ago, FrogLenzen said:

Just re-watched Chandelier and the camera cuts to Dalton and Mackenzie at the end and I'm like loooooooooooooooooooooooool

 

 omg how have I never noticed this

 

[Elliott]

2 minutes ago, ~Tom~ said:

I still remember calling you liking him the second I saw his audition.  

To be fair, most of us liked him after his audition.

 

We just stopped liking him once it got to the live shows.

[Elliott]

21 minutes ago, ~Tom~ said:

Trent gone while Archie is still here?

 

That’s a funny way to spell Tamyra.

[sublymonal]

To be fair, I imagine there was a fight over Chandelier since it's her most well known song and Trent won some kind of coin-toss or rock paper scissors, so they were all bitter that he got to sing it and probably even more bitter than he absolutely obliterated it the way he did. Imagine if La'Porsha won that coin toss and sang it. Would we be talking about Trent as the winner?

Edited September 25, 2020 by sublymonal

[Alex95]

2 minutes ago, sublymonal said:

Would we be talking about Trent as the winner?

La'Porsha's a black woman so yes.

[Elliott]

On 9/3/2020 at 12:02 PM, sublymonal said:

24. Lee DeWyze

Rankings:

@Elliott - 1st

 

28 minutes ago, sublymonal said:

  11. Trent Harmon

Rankings:

@Elliott - 2nd

 

On 9/13/2020 at 12:37 PM, sublymonal said:

  17. Blake Lewis

Rankings:

@Elliott - 4th

[Weedy_Speedy]

4 minutes ago, ~Tom~ said:

I still remember calling you liking him the second I saw his audition.  

 

Basically. I always like/have a soft spot for the contestants that march to the beat of their own drum, and he was stylistically more interesting than a lot of contestants that came through Idol in the later years. I find a lot of his performances underrated but you know, IDF decided he'd be their punching bag for the season. Wasn't my first rodeo in regards to that by any means.

 

People can have their own opinions, a lot of you were super hardcore over Avalon for example but with the exception of "Excuse Me Miss" I just thought she was super amateurish. Great personality/deserved to advance past Tristan but that's all she gets from me.

[Elliott]

3 minutes ago, sublymonal said:

I imagine there was a fight over Chandelier since it's her most well known song and Trent won some kind of coin-toss or rock paper scissors,

In Sonika’s exit interview that week, she said nobody tried to claim the same Sia song as someone else.