The Buzz with CCX - Season 22 Episode 16

[ScarletDevilCCX]

I was going to do the intro in Spanish, but I've forgotten the key code for the upside-down exclamation point and I refuse to compromise. ...Of course, I've also forgotten how to conjugate verbs into anything other than present tense and I'd need a past tense...oh, no, wait, even though I already had one margarita at dinner (tacos, of course), I'll probably be having another during the show so present participle would be fine (which I do remember). So anyway, happy Cinco de Mayo! ...Oh, and the use of future tense two sentences ago is because unlike most nights where I'm struggling to get things going right at 8, I'm writing this with forty minutes left until show time.

 

Two songs per contestant tonight, plus two performances by Meghan Trainor. First up, we have "Songs that Make You Want to Dance", followed by the music of Adele. Ciara is the mentor for the first half, and Jack is leading off with Little Richard's "Long Tall Sally". ...In fairness, this theme bites. Song choice was horrendous and it resulted in a 37. Julia's up second singing "Roam" by the B-52s. Well, we've upgraded from 1950s to 1980s, at least. Julia's outfit seems more 70s though. 48. Are we going to get a whole theme's worth of suck?

 

Kenny Kane Brown will be the mentor for Disney Week. Up third is Abi, who says she's not a dancer. But she's continuing to show her own '00s emo street cred with Fall Out Boy's "My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)", because of course she is. We've finally got the pop punk female I've been waiting for for years, and it took until Top 8 for her to actually show it. Katy seems to be on the same wavelength as me, wondering why Abi saved that for so long. And the judges also noticed that she lassoed in a rogue mic pack. Oh, right, last week's Evanescence song was chosen for her by the judges, and it showed her a new side of what she's capable of. So for that, she gets to once again easily break the century. 110. McKenna Faith Breinholt is up fourth, and because she was saved, she's showing her gratitude with another Katy Perry song, "E.T."--she found a video of herself at age 11 dancing to that song. ...I overreacted after the slow start. McKenna showed Abi up again, after the surprise in the quartet last week. So let's reign it all in. 25 for Jack, 36 for Julia, 98 for Abi, and 102 for McKenna. Yes, we're still breaking the century, though not as hyperbolically as we were before.

 

The judges have their own margaritas, and it's clear Ryan's isn't just a prop because he just forgot we aren't already at the Top 5. Will's up fifth doing "Gimme Three Steps" by Lynyrd Skynyrd, and after a rough start and an amazing second set, we've finally got something that's just okay. 76. Up sixth is Emmy Russell who took the theme name very literally with Walk the Moon's 2014 hit "Shut Up and Dance". Wow, that song's 10 years old already? Well, it was bigger a year later at any rate. She's slowing it down and sitting at the piano. Did she forget the words though? 72. She got nervous, she was originally going to get up and walk around but changed her mind.

 

Triston closes out the first round with Travis Tritt's "Trouble". It's good; 83. I use the Meghan Trainor performance to take a bathroom break.

 

McKenna leads off the second round with "To Make You Feel My Love"--originally a Bob Dylan (actually, Billy Joel's version came out first but Dylan wrote it and did his own version not long after) song, but yes, it counts as an Adele song. It's very stripped-down. 85. Jack's up second with "One and Only", and it's...okay. 55.

 

Will Moseley is up third with "Rolling in the Deep", but he's reimagined it into a Kings of Leon song. ...It kind of works? 87. Julia did an Adele song back at Aulani, and now she's doing another: "Set Fire to the Rain". ...And, yes. This is her range. 104. Is that enough to get my vote after her poor first round? I'm not sure. I know Jack should be leaving, but I've already chosen to give Will support as well and I don't want to be in a situation where I'd be voting for six out of seven if Triston and Emmy do well in round two.

 

Emmy's up fifth with "Water Under the Bridge." Not one of Adele's better songs imo. Emmy's sounding good, but she's still too stagnant on stage. I can kind of see that Katy's probably thinking the same thing; she seems like she's waiting for something. 74. I read the judges wrong; they thought she was great. Triston's up sixth with a country version of "Easy on Me". I wasn't even sure if I knew this song until he hit the chorus. 79. ...I guess that's good enough. And Abi will be finishing it out with "Hello", of course.

 

Abi's back at the piano. Let's not forget that she was not only a Platinum Ticket winner, but also managed to get the anchor spot in an audition episode without a sob story. That's not easy, and it's usually a sign that they have a ton of faith in you as a singer (iirc Season 17 3rd place finisher Madison Vandenburg also got that honor). 91. I guess that means she still won the night as a whole?

 

The first member of the Top 5 is Abi Carter! Best possible start. And then it goes the complete opposite direction with Jack Blocker making it. Triston is third, and fourth is Will Moseley. Emmy Russell is the last one in. ...damn this really is Country Idol, isn't it. Jack isn't really country, but he's still plenty Texas, and he's the second-least country remaining.