I was overall disappointed that I didn't like everyone, but that just comes with the territory of watching a singing competition, right? There were a few sprinkled in surprises, I didn't care much for the judges' commentary and this just proves my theory for the past, what, 7 years?? There was absolutely no need to extend performances into 2 hour blocks and have a 1 hour results show. If you asked me, FOX killed Idol by giving us way too much of it. You can argue against that, considering The Voice has been airing two cycles since 2012 but given the fact Idol had to compete with The X Factor and The Voice and also the judges just being stupid a lot of the time...American Idol could have stayed around forever.
What is it with the judges and emotions this week? It was almost as if whenever they had run out of something to criticize on, they would immediately jump to "it wasn't compelling enough". They were right sometimes, but other times I just wanted them to stop talking, honestly.
For now, I'm just going to combine the rankings with my recaps. It saves time and energy. That's pretty much code for I need an excuse if I don't decide to write paragraphs among paragraphs like I did for X Factor & The Voice. Also, I'm clearly biased so apologizes for not caring too much about your faves, but, sorrynotsorry.
12. EMILY BROOKE"I Am Invincible"
Well she shut my mouth up. Last time I said I thought she had a moment to steal the competition because while she was quite generic, she had a lovely voice and a beautiful tone. What the hell happened? This was one of the few parts of the night where I agreed with the judges. She was on key, but it's like she had no sense of pitch what's so ever. Everything just sounded like her throat was clogged so every time she held out her notes I wanted to walk away out of the room. It's a shame, too, because I feel like she could have really pulled this off on a better day (4/10).
11. JORDAN SASSER
"All By Myself"
Thanks so much, y'all, y'know? Cause I just wanna learn so much. I felt really indifferent when he decided to do this song. I wasn't sure if he was able to pull it off because he has such a breathy tone and the intimate moments of the song just didn't seem like they weren't going to work. I thought the beginning was a bit grotesque. His voice was just way too gritty for the beginning. I agree that it was a bit overindulgent towards the end and you lost the feeling because he looked as if he was just showing off to show off. I thought he needed to do it to cancel out how, like, not good the first half was but it was a lose/lose situation for him honestly. If he didn't do too much, the performance would have just been outright cringeworthy and if he did do too much, which he did, it was just...well, too much. Eh. And why did he cut his hair? He had really, really nice hair. I would kill for that head of hair he had. Is this America's Next Top Idol and they just decided he needed a makeover? His daughter was really cute in the audience though. Unfortunately, I enjoyed her more (5/10).
10. JENNA RENAE
"My Church"
"My Church"
Her voice is a little bit much for me. She has a just fine voice, don't get me wrong, I just think her tone is a little draining on my ears. It's like she had 6 different voices the whole song. She's fun and looks good on stage but I just don't really feel her. She's not my cup of tea (5/10).
09. GIANNA ISABELLA
"I Put A Spell On You"
Gianna seems like she's a really cool person and her voice isn't terrible. It's definitely not as strong as the judges would like us to believe. Let's just address the elephant in the room: she's here because of her mom. No matter how how good or bad this performance was, ...she's here because of her mom. There's absolutely no question about that considering we see her every six seconds. When I see Gianna perform, I think of a fourteen year old at a talent show who's voice is somewhat there but clearly not fully developed yet. She had her few moments, in this Nina Simone classic, but...I just wasn't really feeling it and it didn't make up for how meh the performance was (5.5/10).
08. THOMAS STRINGFELLOW"Creep"
Wouldn't it have been so funny if when the guy asked Thomas to tell us something interesting about himself, that he just said "my girlfriend broke up with me." Because sympathy to the little girls he's clearly there to attract. Ugh, I don't want to just say negative things about him but it's impossible to do when I only have negative thoughts. Look, he has a very unique and pretty voice. My problem is the breaks in his voice that he just has to compliment with one of those squeaks. It's fine once or twice but really, Thomas? After every break? Obviously the judges love him. And considering the fact that they're making the final decision, I'm probably going to have to get used to this (string)fellow. I suppose he isn't so bad, but (6/10).
07. STEPHANY NEGRETE
"Mama Knows Best"
Stephany can clearly sing and is powerful on stage. The only problem? Her voice isn't as strong as she thinks it is. I thought this was a very good performance of Mama Knows Best but the song is just supposed to be sung with an immense amount of power that Stephany just doesn't have.She seemed to be a little busy with trying to be a vocal acrobatic and not too concerned with just relaxing and letting the song run it's natural sassy course. Mama Knows Best is just that type of song where in order to feel it, you just have to let loose and be able to deliver at the top of your game. She had some very, very impressive vocal moments, though (7/10).
06. JAMES DAWSON VIII
"Love Lockdown"
"Love Lockdown"
Can the judges just not? J-Lo's comment was interesting because while there are songs out there that some contestants perform and they just go nowhere...this wasn't really one of those performances. Because "it didn't grab the audience" isn't really a valid critique when the audience was grooving. I usually can't stand the audience's boos, but they were spot on in this case. I really liked what he did with the performance. He looked like he was having a good time on stage and was connected pretty well with the audience. He's one of those contestants who just seems so in tune with the music. His little vocal tricks were really interesting because they were a little show-offy but they felt warranted. Plus, I mean, this is the time to show off everything you have to offer and he was great tonight. Okay, it wasn't that compelling but it was fun and it was very interesting and different (7/10).
05. JENEVE ROSE MITCHELL
"Angel"
"Angel"
I completely expected to hate this performance. It's Jeneve. And it's Arms of the Angel. This could have come off as way too corny but it was just corny enough to really deliver this performance. Her facial expressions are just so much but I was really impressed with this performance. How many unconventional instruments can she play? I got goosies too... (8/10).
04. MACKENZIE BOURG
"Say Something"
"Say Something"
THERE'S MY BOY. I love his voice. This song was absolutely perfect for him. He knows who he is as an artist and knows what works for him and, presumably, what doesn't. He kind of reminds me of Barry Allen/Grant Gustin. Him singing "Temperature" in the little video before was actually really great and I hope he does that next week. Anyways, I'm not going to stan for this little boy but I don't have much to say other than how good he sounded and how compelling it was to see how connected he was with the song. It's almost as if it was written for him. He gives me Alex Preston vibes, and that's an amazing compliment considering he was basically my winner through all of Season 13. YES, MACK, YES (8/10).
03. AVALON YOUNG"Love Yourself"
How y'all doin'? She's probably my favorite in the competition because she's just so simple. Her little interview was just awesome. No makeup. Baggy clothes. Basically, idgaf, IDFWU. I thought she sounded great like usual. The performance was also really fun because she just looks like she's there to have a good time and she's in it for the music. She most definitely has an edge in the competition because she knows who she is as an artist. Her vocals weren't as strong as I thought they were and I think Harry was right that she could have changed the ending of the song up a little bit because it got quite repetitive towards the end but the song was just really good for her. She sounded devine, looked great and is just the best, okay (8/10).
02. LA'PORSHA RENAE"Proud Mary"
YES MAMA. Her voice is just so strong that I feel weak as an individual. The fact that she was able to deliver the song that vocally strong, with that much attitude and energy was just a testament to why she should be in this competition. You know what's rare? Seeing a full figured girl running around the stage because she knows what a bad bitch she is and, girl, La'Porsha is the real deal. That growl came in just where we needed it to. And. Those. Runs? Honestly, I would quit if she was my competition but that's just me (8/10).
01. SONIKA VAID"Safe and Sound"
So as I was watching Sonika perform, a light bulb went off in my head. This girl can actually win this whole competition. Between her, La'Porsha and MacKenzie, they (from tonight's performances_ are the only three capable of delivering a compelling powerful ballad in the season (I'm just mentioning this because surprise vocally stunning ballads are just my thing) - at least if everyone who performed tonight decides to stay incredibly, incredibly average. Her voice is absolutely stunning. She has impeccable vocal control and was she transitioned into her head voice I got goosebumps. This was one of two times the whole night I got goosebumps. I was basically Keith this entire performance. Those last few notes just took me to that place I need to be. One problem? She's kind of boring. I want her to change things up a little, but I'm scared she'll just fall flat on her face so I'm just going to enjoy and praise her all I can (9/10).
This time around I'm not going to do predictions (until we get to the later stages) and I'm just going to say who I want to make it through...because I can. And I'll have more to rant about come results night. Which I hope are fun to read for you guys!
MY personal choices to go through (I think 5, right?):
-Sonika Vaid
-La'Porsha Renae
-Avalon Young
-MacKenzie Bourg
-James Dawson VIII
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