The Buzz with CCX - Season 21 Episode 18

[ScarletDevilCCX]

Sam Adams Cold Snap was a given since I'm checking in on the Sox game on commercials. In addition to being Mother's Day, it's Disney Night, so we start with an incredibly stupid judge skit in which Luke and Mickey are fishing together and hook a magic lamp, out of which comes Ryan Seacrest in pajamas, eating a churro, and revealing he can't actually grant any wishes, so the judges wish for him to wear those pajamas on the show. We then open with Sara Bareilles singing "When You Wish Upon A Star", eventually being revealed to have the Top 5 as her backup. This year's Katy cosplay is Elastigirl, who as Katy notes is also a mother. Tonight's celebrity mentor is Sofia Carson.

 

Wé Ani leads off the competition portion with "Into The Unknown" from Frozen 2, joking with Sophia that it's not like Idina Menzel is big shoes to fill. Of course, for Wé, it isn't. Didn't I give her a 115 earlier this season? Because this might be her best yet. 120. Ryan says that after the break, Zachariah Smith takes us to the Pridelands with, I believe he said "the first song choice from the Lion King", which is patently untrue unless it means that more than one contestant is singing a song from The Lion King tonight. It wouldn't be the first time.

 

He's singing "I Just Can't Wait To Be King", so maybe what Ryan meant was a song from The Lion King that has never been sung on the show before? It's a bit kitschy but it's well sung. 84. I love the shirt though. Katy gives the "if Zachariah is your favorite you have to vote for him", which...haven't they had enough white country males? Unless this is a repeat of Season 11's Top 7 when they tried to push the issue on Colton vs. Phillip and ended up allegedly needing to save Jessica because Hollie legitimately outperformed her, and they're pushing Zachariah because they'd rather have him than Colin. Which, granted, Colin's the one that more directly fits the Scotty/Trent/Laine/Chayce/Noah mold. After the break, we've got Megan singing a song from Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, followed by Colin with...I forget.

 

Tomorrow will be a retrospective on the season and also a chance to catch up with "some of your favorite past finalists". From the whole first 20 seasons, or just from Seasons 16-20? Anyway, Colin's actually up before Megan, singing "Real Gone" from Cars. Hopefully that song title's prophetic. 37. Luke disagrees, saying that it's amazing how this was what he needed to finally get comfortable, and Lionel agrees and gives the "if you love this man you have to vote", so now I'm lost. They do remember that vote splitting doesn't work when they keep the voting open after the third-place finisher is eliminated, right? Megan's time with her mom is especially poignant as her father walked out on the family. Megan's singing "You Can't Stop the Girl". ...I have to say, this is both entirely in character and entirely out of character for Megan. It's in-character because the actual message of the song fits right in with her usual gospel, but out-of-character because she is dressing the part for a song from a movie that focuses on a villain, dressed in all black with lightning bolt earrings. 89.

 

We come back from commercial with Ryan talking to an ABC reality show contestant. Iam is singing "Lava" from the short film of the same name, because of course he's going to represent Hawai'i--the irony being that if I'm not mistaken this is the first time in the ABC era that we've gone through an entire Disney Night without a song from Moana. 100. Katy starts quoting her character, "your identity is your most important possession." Oh, right, hometown visits are coming up! ...Oh, wait, it really is a full Disney Night; the second set is also Disney songs. After the break, Wé will be singing a song from Hannah Montana. About time that Disney Channel Originals get representation!

 

It's not just past contestants coming back; former judge Keith Urban is going to be performing next week! We see Wé's time with her mother at Disney, which is very noticeably New Yawk. Oh, Wé's singing "The Climb"! I forgot that that was from the Hannah Montana Movie and not one of Miley's post-Hannah hits. 98. How the hell did she manage to wrest this song away from Megan anyway? Luke also comments on Wé's mother's accent. And yes, I specifically went back and started trying to get the accent over the e again because of the second sentence in this paragraph; glad I was able.

 

Before Zachariah's second performance, Halle Bailey, who plays Ariel in the new live-action The Little Mermaid, performs "Part of Your World". They do a good job making a mermaid out of her as I honestly can't tell where her dress ends and the floor starts; I'm actually convinced that she's standing inside a platform with the dress going over it. In addition to being a father himself, Zachariah has a severely autistic younger brother. Zachariah's singing "Life Is A Highway", also from Cars, except not really because Cars came out in 2006 and Tom Cochrane hit #1 in his native Canada with this song in 1991. 90. Do I vote for him? Last week I wanted him gone above any other, but there's no way both country males leave tonight and overall I'd rather have Zachariah than Colin. Idol Across America advertisement. I think I won't, because in theory, there still being two country males here means Megan's probably in trouble.

 

Colin's singing "Nobody Knows" from Pete's Dragon. He's doing a stripped-down arrangement, "like ramen noodles without the seasoning packet", but I'm not sure that's what he needs right now. 58.

 

Megan Danielle's second song is "Carried Me With You" from Onward. Back in her normal lane. 91.

 

Iam closes us out with a song from...Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2? Well, okay, sure. "Father and Son" by Cat Stevens. ...Oh. 83.

 

After an amazingly long commercial break, even given that they need to close the votes, they come back and immediately shit the bed by announcing that Colin Stough is in the Top 3. They follow that up with Megan Danielle, and finally, Iam Tongi.