Disclaimer: All these opinions are clearly subjective and also based on solely watching the Showcase Round of the season.
Hey y'all, sorry for the lack of posts. I'm a college student so life can get a bit hectic sometimes. In fact I should be reading a play right now but here I am about to rank the top 24 of Idol 15. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Uh, yeah, so here we go:
24. JENEVE ROSE MITCHELL
Yikes... BUT OKAY WHO COULD FORGET THE CELLO GIRL?! Unfortunately, the cello is what got her through. I didn't particularly love her voice. She wasn't AWFUL but she wasn't very good, also. It felt extremely theatrical in the annoying way. There was a point in the performance when Keith was grinning and then absolutely just switched to what looked like disgust. Same, Keith. Same. Jeneve is alright for right now but I don't see her making it much farther in the competition. Especially with that false-etto. Yes. False. (4/10)
23. THOMAS STRINGFELLOW
HAHAHAHAHAHA. Okay, so I'm sure it was just a coincidence but how funny, and convenient, is it that before he performed he announced his girlfriend broke up with him? The biggest performance of his life, for the biggest audience and his girlfriend breaks up with him. I'm not saying that him being broken up with is funny, it's not at all, but in show's like this it's token to have a cute little white boy. Here he is. And his girlfriend just broke up with so all these little girls are going to just swoon, right? His voice just isn't my style. He is so squeaky. It's almost as if he refuses to just not squeak after each note and it's a little annoying. But he looks like he's having a good time so, girl, do you. (5/10)
22. STEPHANY NEGRETE
Wha, she's so pretty. Okay, for some reason I really liked her performance. Yes, her voice is nothing special and she looks like she is struggling around in those heels but she just looks so uncoordinated that it will be fun watching her trying to do it every week. There's nothing particularly new and innovative about her voice. She's just pretty good. But that was an iconic gif when she pulled the jacket off. You better stunt, baby. Okay, in all seriousness she just didn't stack up to everyone else. (6/10)
21. JORDAN SASSER
I remember his audition because his wife, or whoever, was just dramatically crying about how she felt so inferior to him. I may just be a bitch but I thought it was really funny. Both of them were pretty good so I don't see why they couldn't have just sent them through to Hollywood, honestly. He sang "Love Runs Out" and it was pretty good. The beginning was extremely shaky, he was just so breathy and he didn't sound like he was going to get through the song but the second he hit the chorus everything came together, pretty much. He had a great stage presence the whole time, even when he didn't sound as great so it was fun. Although he's singing All By Myself for the Top 24 solo song, so, let's see how that goes... (6.5/10)
20. GIANNA ISABELLA
One of the few auditions that I really remember. In this case it wasn't because of her voice but because of her mom being Brenda. K. Starr. I mean, she didn't have a bad voice, I just don't know if she had the capacity to be memorable if it wasn't for her mom. I'd love for her to prove me wrong, though. It was cute seeing her sing "I Still Believe," her mother's single, but it was also a little...girl, we get it. Her voice sounded pretty good, though, so let's see what happens. (6.5/10)
19. JENNA RENAE
Oh, yay, country. Okay I thought her voice was a little gruff and annoying but she has a great stage presence and knows how to work the crowd. She was like running a marathon on stage, I was shocked how it was as if she wasn't out of breath at all. The song, "Flat on the Floor," was decent for her voice but...eh. (6/10)
18. SHELBIE Z
Strong voice. Not much control. I like seeing her stunt on stage like the baddest bitch. She's no Trina, but that was a good PERFORMANCE she gave and an eh VOCAL. (6.5/10)
17. ADAM LASHER
I'm not sure how I feel about him. I love a nice reggae beat but I just think it didn't really work for the song. It sounded a little weird to me. His voice isn't bad, however, so I don't know. "Not really sure how to feel about it," in the words of Rihanna. (6.5/10)
16. KORY WHEELER
Okay. I preferred the original. A lot. (6.5/10)
15. EMILY BROOKE
She has such a beautiful little voice. She would absolutely flourish on The Voice, but hey, we have her here. As I've said many time on The Voice 9 reviews, a lot of these country girls just ring together for me. They sound the same to me and I just don't really care for the genre as a whole. That being said "they sound the same" isn't particularly a bad thing because they all sound pretty good and can really sing. She just feels generic. She has A LOT of potential, though. I could see her having an "Alone" moment, like Carrie Underwood did where she completely shocks everyone and slays the game, drops the mic and wins the whole thing. For now...(6.5/10)
14. TRISTAN MCINTOSH
HEY. Listen, this little girl's edges are laid like world peace. She is so beautiful. That's about it, really. It says something when the reason your audition has millions of views was because of the story and not really the quality of the entertainment. Listen, I'm not trying to be rude but I really think her voice is painfully average and she doesn't really just stack up against some of the stronger contenders. That being said, she has a lot of potential and she could just make a complete 360 in my mind. (7/10)
13. DALTON RAPATTONI
Pretty good. Idk (7/10)
12. CJ JOHNSON
His grit was perfect for "Parachute". He is a real natural up there and looked to be exactly in his element. (7/10)
11. SONIKA VAID
This girl gives me such a Pia Toscano vibe. So much is happening with her hands and not enough is happening with her face. Her body is just a little awkward on stage and she seems a bit robotic, to me. That being said, she can REALLY sing and I'm a sucker for a girl who can sing the heck out of a power ballad and that's what she did when she took on "I Surrender". Basically, great voice. Meh stage presence. We'll see how far that can take this season's Hollie Cavanagh & Pia Toscano. Pollie? (7/10)
10. OLIVIA ROX
Olivia doesn't rock. I just had to say that, she's not that bad. Well, I mean, the pink streaks in her hair are cute. *crickets* Listen, she has a place in the market but she's just a little boring to me. It doesn't really look like she's having a lot of fun she literally looks like she's smiling through the pain. She has a good voice, with some really outstanding moments, but, eh. I could take her or leave her. (7.5/10)
09. AMELIA EISENHAUER
Yo, it's Abby from Scandal! I thought she did a really good job with "New York State of Mind." It sounded like they cleaned up her voice in the studio, or something, before they aired the show. If not, her voice was really, really good and I thought it was so cool how she brought the violin up. It was cool because we'd never really seen it before. And unlike Jeneve, she could get by on just her singing and not just her "act". (7.5/10)
08. JAMES VIII
He's actually really good for this show. His presence gives me Bo Bice and his stage presence gives me Sam Woolfe. Just a natural preformer. Once again, it was the little things he did that made the performance great. His vocals were outstanding, I think he has such a control over his voice that he could pretty much do everything. The performance (Change the World) made think of how great his voice could sound with soul, blues, jazz, country and rock music and that's a wonderful variety to have. And he played the fuck out of that guitar, ma'am, yes he did. (8/10)
07. TRENT HARMON
He has something about him that's really current. Not just that he does all these neat little vocal tricks that aren't just him belting or doing these necessary runs. He also genuinely looks like he's just having the time of his life on that stage and that is a much better viewing experience for us as the audience. On top of all of that, he has a really, really strong voice. (8/10) "Thank y'all so much" at the end pushed him up to a 7.5, just so you know.
06. LEE JEAN
I LOVE HIM. He has such a nice strong voice. He's also black, and tehe, we don't get many of those so let's hold on to him considering he's actually really talented. His voice is just..........I don't know. I wanna say smooth as butter, but I've said that already. But basically, it's smooth as butter. I'd like to see him maybe push out of his comfort zone a little. My favorite part was him shushing the audience. Like, no girl, you can't hear how good I am. Shush. J-LO didn't like it that much, though. IDC it was funny. (8/10) "My stomach hurts."
05. LA'PORSHA RENAE
MY QUEEN. Okay, so, I didn't pay any real attention to the Hollywood rounds because I just had better stuff to do but I saw a video of her singing and she sounded DEVINE. Harry said it best, she has the vocal power to completely tear a song apart but she restrains herself from doing so and finds it more important to convey the message of the song. Right before she begun singing "House of the Rising Sun," she even told the band to "help [her] tell this story." Little things like that I really admire. AND YES MA'AM, THAT FRO IS GIVING ME LIFE. She is a force of nature up on that stage. She strutted around like it was ABSOLUTELY nobody's business. And that growl gave me every ounce of life I needed. I thought she overused it a little but that didn't take away from the power of the song and the impact of that fabulous performance. I said "GIRL YOU BETTER SING THAT RUN" at the end, I cringed in the best way possible. And she's black. And a woman. Idol needs more of those! (8.5/10)
04. AVALON YOUNG
HOW Y'ALL DOIN'? HOW YOU REALLY DOIN'? From the moment she said this she won me over. This girl is amazing. She has so much rhythm, I just loved her getting lost in the song and allowing the music to guide everything she did on stage. Her voice is also amazing. The song showed off her vocals, her personality and her stage presence. I thought it was great and I am so excited to see what she brings come tonight. (8.5/10)
03. MACKENZIE BOURG
His voice is smooth as butter. Upon seeing he performed Can't Help Falling in Love for the Showcase round, I was a little skeptical. There have just been so many ballad covers in the past few years: Jena Irene (who is the queen of covering this song, okay), Haley Reinhart & Christina Grimmie. There was just something about his voice that made it different. His smooth transition into his falsetto for the bridge then his upper register was just flawless. His voice is gorgeous and he's fits the description of half of the winners of the show so I think he has a good shot. Ugh, and that peace sign at the end and "love you guys"...GO MACK. (9/10)
02. JENN BLOSIL
Hey Joey Cook, missed you, boo (: This is probably going to be this season's wildcard. She clearly has a very, very unique voice. She also looks so creative so I think she will really be unpredictable in the best way possible. I kind of got lost in how beautiful her voice was as she hit her upper register. Unlike Thomas, her squeaks really worked in this performance. I also was so happy for her when she finished the song and looked so proud of herself. It was definitely earned. (9/10)
01. MANNY TORRES
I knew this probably would destroy my soul in the best way possible when I saw he was singing "Master Blaster". His unique tone was perfect for the unique sound of the song, which is one of my favorites. The best part? I stopped writing halfway through because I was so busy grooving to the song. He was up there dancing to his own party up there and it was kind of beautiful to watch. He was FEELING that groove and it made it my absolute favorite performance of the whole Showcase. Now you see what good vocals and stage presence means? Manny Torres (9/10). Y'all haters better stop disliking his shit on YouTube, that's all I know.
NOTES:
-Aside from two or three, these just look like awkward high school photos. Hopefully next week I'm not too lazy and search for screencaps of their performances. Thanks, Buddy TV!
-I loved the fact that during the auditions they only put through seriously contenders and left the joke acts at the producer's table for some comic relief.
-SO MANY THE VOICE REJECTS. Okay, maybe just two. But Gianna got booted from X Factor Season 3, if I'm not mistaken.
-Some of these are really lazy, sorry. Ugh...yeah, sorry.
-For those of you who read my HAHN/HTF reviews, those are coming back, I promise! I hope to catch up with both shows with some super reviews in the next week or so.
-I'm also going to do my best to review some new music. ANTI, Formation, Nine Track Mind, This is Acting are all on my to-do list!
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