I have a responsibility as one of Haley's Jets (obviously that's not her fandom name but I don't know what it is and I love her so much so let's just go with Jets, okay? Okay.) to make sure her duets are at the top of my list. First of all, we're just going to take it back to season ten of American Idol so I can rant about how unfairly she was treated. Granted, I didn't start noticing her until after Pia Toscano left but when she sang Rolling In the Deep...man, it just made my heart melt. Two weeks later she started being chastised for what seemed like no particular reason. Favoritism at it's core -- that's when I first started noticing it on the show. They would constantly call Lauren Alaina cute and energetic or praise James Durbin for his overenthusiastic whaling but they criticized Haley Reinhart for...song choice? Because it didn't matter how well she sang "You and I" the fact that "people didn't know it" was a good enough reason to just mess with her (even though it was a Lady Gaga song, who was ruling the world back in the day, and it eventually peeked at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100). I bet Haley threw her shoes at her television set when she re-watched whatever they said about her. And then the next week, Randy criticized her for yelling during a passionate song and Steven had to swiftly get him and J-Lo in check (so did Haley but she wasn't able to go off on them like I'd like her to because let's not forget this show has predominately become the white entertainment show and the moment you talk back to a judge you're fucked -- see: Lillie McCloud, X Factor US 3 && Quentin Alexander, Idol 14). I can't even be too mad at the ridiculous Season 10 panel because it resulted in two of the most powerful performances in Idol HISTORY. I Who Have Nothing STILL gives me chills to this day. I re-watched that, Benny & the Jets, Rolling in the Deep and House of the Rising Sun right before this episode aired and I just...ergh. How she didn't win her season...it still gives me nightmares.
But we're on Season 15 now and Haley is back as a mentor for Kory and Adam, which kind of gave me a sour taste in my mouth because I've been vocal about how I'm not exactly in love with them on the show. How awesome would it have been to see Haley grooving on the stage to Benny and the Jets with Manny Torres? I actually really, really liked Kory & Haley together. Kory's weird little facial expressions and phrasing played really well off of Haley as well. I loved all of their Benny's. "All the Benny's!" I definitely became a fan of Kory's after I saw him perform this with her and their harmonies were beautiful. And, hey, whatever...say what you want they were having their own little groove session that I wanted to join in on. I really want him to be a wild card because this was pretty awesome (8.5/10). Why "Can't Help Falling in Love"? Why not...just not this. First off, MacKenzie already did this just last week (I think?). And to top it off, his rendition was absolutely stellar - why undercut it with this? They sounded just fine together, actually pretty well. My only issue was the overwhelming irony about how Adam is so clearly in love (if not a little hilariously obsessed) with with Haley (because she's gorgeous and perfect why wouldn't you be in love with Haley?????) and how annoyingly stiff he was. They weren't able to connect because he seemed so painfully uncomfortable the whole time. By the time he took her hand it looked like what he really wanted was to take a shit he's been holding in all day. Don't get me wrong, they sounded great, they just looked anything but. (7/10) HALEY WAS BACK ON IDOL, WHAT A BEAUTIFUL NIGHT EVEN IF NONE OF HER GUYS MADE IT THROUGH IT WASN'T HER FAULT SHE WAS FLAWLESS. Everyone, please listen to her gorgeous debut album in anticipation for her EP coming out sometime soon. I'll definitely try to get a review up for it when it's out, but please, this girl is too amazing to stay so unnoticed!
"Mom, what do I do." Trent Harmon really does have intense eyes, I didn't notice it until Jordin mentioned it. When he told her that he wanted the song to look like they were singing it to each other, it looked as if he was giving a really intense dramatic monologue. Wow. I'm never going to unsee those serious and dramatic eyes now. Jordin seemed like she was the only one who really gave any good technical advice to her contestant, at least when it came to their voice. Everyone said a lot about how to give a good "performance" but nothing really technical that actually made them less annoying (because trust me, there are a lot of annoying ones this season). So I praise Jordin for telling him to back off on the vibrato. Does everyone say vibrato like that or have I been saying it wrong (not stressing the I) this whole time? They sounded amazing together. From the moment Trent stepped on it felt like a vocal that came right out of an Awards show. Their connection to the lyrics made it feel like it was an original duet between the two. It was beautiful! (9/10) The only things was him being shorter than her so it made him look like he was staring at her boobs half of the time. Bruh, Manny Torres is ridiculously short. That, or Jordin is ridiculously tall. 5'10" for a girl is pretty tall, so I guess it's the latter? I remember whenever her and Ryan stood together he looked like he was on his knees compared to her. Jordin is such a fabulous mentor. You could tell the minute she told him to speak the words to her. From experience, I know how much more difficult it is to sell a song when you're just saying the lyrics and not singing them but Jordin really pulled it out of him. "Oh, you're alone? You didn't? I don't believe you." Well, okay girl! CLAP BACK. Manny would actually be such a fantastic R&B singer, this song fit him like a glove. From the type of stage presence he has to his phrasing and the way he pronounces his lyrics. This song was perfect for him inside and out. The reason Jordin really worked as a mentor was how much she pulled out of Manny and Trent to help them genuinely improve from their solo performances. (8/10) Also, when Manny and Jordin held hands, that actually looked genuine as opposed to Haley and Adam. Because Adam didn't look like he was holding her hand, he looked like he was holding in the most aggressive gas he ever felt was going to explode out of his butt.
Kellie Pickler hit everything on the nose about Amelia. Amelia was pretty bad during her solo without her violin with her. Like, really bad. But whenever she has her violin with her, her performances just seem to uplift themselves. It's very interesting to see how much more comfortable she looks, not just playing the violin, but when she's simply holding the violin in her hands. I'm with Kellie, I really wanted to see that confidence when she was just simply singing. And, Kellie, girl. I know why you're here. To mentor. They gave Kellie the two weakest contestants and...I mean, she did what she could. When all was said and done, Amelia showed much improvement from her solo performance but she clearly just wasn't ready to be on the show. Amelia would win a high school talent show hands down but she's just........so awkward on stage. Her inexperience shows. She's basically like what Hollie Cavanagh was during the first few weeks of her season on Idol. For what it's worth, I really enjoyed the performance compared to everything else she's done (6.5/10). Kellie summed every thing up the second she opened her mouth to talk to Tristan. "Your audition made us cry." Audition. Her story. That's it. That's the literal only reason she's still here. So apparently I spoke to soon when I reviewed her the night before and shaded her for singing a Carrie Underwood song. I guess she wants to be a country artist? I personally think that's amazing, because she's popping out of that box that says because you're black you're automatically supposed to sing pop or soul or R&B. That being said, she's not that good at country, either. She has the same exact problem as Amelia, except she can't hide behind a violin to make her seem less awkward on stage. Tristan. Looked. So. Scared. The ironic thing is, I don't think she was actually that nervous. I just think that her nervous look is her go to expression. Think about it, the past two songs she has done were up-tempo and fun numbers but (forgetting about her extremely basic vocal capability) she looked like she wanted to barf the whole time. I think it was a step up from her solo performance but it still wasn't, you know, good (5/10). How the holy hell did Tristan get past Kori, CJ and Shelby into the next round? Can anybody give me some info on this?! The favoritism is out of this world this season.
Was David Cook chewing on gum during his performance with CJ? I don't know if this song did CJ any favors. It seemed to be perfectly in David's range, but it seemed pretty low for CJ at the beginning of the song. He looked comfortable, which is something you can't say for most of the contestants on the show the season, but vocally I don't think there was enough power. Especially with that last note, it sounded like a whisper. A careless, careless whisper. That's pretty sad, considering I actually like CJ (6/10). I spoke too soon when I shaded Olivia and nicknamed her "Olivia doesn't Rock". She is vocally out of this world. She has the problem that most of the contestants have (because apparently this season is a reboot of American Juniors, anyone remember that show?). That problem is inexperience. She just looks so stuff and so uncomfortable on stage that it takes away a lot of what she has going for her. Even in rehearsal I cringed watching her and David together. BUT I'LL BE DAMNED IF I DIDN'T LAUGH AT DAVID'S FACE WHEN OLIVIA HIT THE CEILING WITH THAT FALSETTO NOTE, HAHAHAHAH. Same, David. SAME. Her transition into it was sloppy as ever but it actually sounded pretty good? A little much, yes, but it wouldn't have been terrible if she did it during the actual performance. I'm glad she didn't, though. They fixed all of those little awkward spots during the performance. I think she needs to really, really stop smiling because THIS GIRL CAN ABSOLUTELY SING HER ASS OFF. It's just that literally everything else she does is extremely annoying (7.5/10). Also, her last note was gorgeous but maybe they shouldn't have put it at the end of the song. 
I never knew how much I liked Chris Daughtry until tonight. He's so cool and he's so funny and it was great to see him jump up and down like a maniac when his two duet partners got through. I think they both got through for different reasons, though, and those reasons may not necessarily have been their performances tonight.... Take Lee for example. His voice is absolutely beautiful, he's very talented, his personality is out of this world, I love him as a person. He seems very down to earth. This performance did not fit him like a glove. I wonder if he's only good at singing Ed Sheeran songs and everything else just falls flat? The performance wasn't terrible but the key seemed way to high for Lee because in the middle it seemed like he was absolutely reaching for those notes (6/10). Does anyone have a fresh glass of coca-cola for J-Lo to take a sip of? Because her thirst for this Dalton fellow is absolutely off the chain, girl. It is off the CHAIN. Okay, anyways onto the actual performance. Dalton sounded just fine, the reinvention of the song fit perfectly with his style. I just think the actual song wasn't right for Dalton. Also did someone give him a Mountain Dew before the performance? He was hopping around like a Mexican jumping bean. Remember when The Situation and Ronnie were having a fight on Jersey Shore when they were in Italy and The Situation got so heated he just started jumping around and accidentally gave himself a concussion by slamming his head into the concrete wall? This is what this performance kind of reminded me of. He sounded fine, though, just won't go down as one of my favorites of his. I say that because obviously this show is going to try and milk this little white boy the gets these girls (J-Lo) swooning (7.5/10). I LIKE DALTON THOUGH, HE'S COOL.
I also never knew how funny and weird Constantine was tonight. All I remember about him in season four is the way he would stare deeply into the camera and how his band, like, trashed their garage when he told them he was leaving them to be on Idol. Was it worth it, though? Because if you have to advertise your song on the show you were on ten years ago that have about 1/6th of it's audience still watching th...but I'm not gonna talk about Constantine like that. Jenn and Constantine were strangely the perfect match and not (just) because of their hair. Their voices strangely sounded wildly great together. The funkiness of the performance was great. I agree with Harry that it's one of those songs that don't need to be "epic" because it's a very simple song that can get away with being simple. While I thought they overdid some parts, I thought they did a fantastic job over all (8/10). So why did the judges eliminate Shelbie? I'd love for them to give some insight into how they make their decisions because they're pretty terrible at making them. The fact that Jeneve and Tristan made it past much more talented people in their group is actually a bit of a testament to why the show is going into the sinker. It's why X Factor went into the sinker so early. They are trying to put their emphasis on the younger generation. While the young generation in general is very, very gifted...that doesn't give the judges an excuse to just grant passes to mediocrity because they think it's cute. There's no Jessica Sanchez or Hollie Cavanagh or Amber Holcomb or Angie Miller this season. Dalton, MacKenzie and Sonika are the only outstanding younger participants this season, in my opinion. And that's saying something considering they basically filled all the spots up with people under the age of 21. Back to Shelbie. This is one of the songs that actually has to be powerful and Shelbie has such a commanding stage presence and looks like such a veteran when she's on stage. I hope she's a wild card because this was pretty excellent (9/10).To sum everything up: YAY Manny, Jenn, Dalton, Olivia, Trent! NO, BITCH TRISTAN. REALLY? ARE YOU INSANE? AW Shelbie, CJ, Kory. IDC Lee, Amelia & Adam.
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