Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Kaibrienne (KB) Richins and Alyssa Raghu await the results of a sing-off on American Idol. (ABC Photo)

In two nights, American Idol just went from 143 contestants to a Top 24.

And Sunday night, fan voting begins at half of that Top 24 performs in Hawaii with Tori Kelly as a guest mentor and judge.

Know what? I didn’t miss the duet / group round in Hollywood Week one little bit.

And if this format preserves another week of full performances and fan voting, I’ll all for it.

Here’s a recap of Monday’s show. The full list of the Top 24 is here.

Editor’s Note: Idol Chatter will be blogging live on Sunday and Monday night with song by song grades posted as the Idol hopefuls perform.

Country guys: American Idol introduced us to lots of talented male country singers during the audition episodes. Most of them were ignored the last two nights. But Idol can’t go wrong with likeable young Triston Harper and Will Moseley. I can envision both of them going deep into the competition.

A sing-off? Really?: I can’t fathom how the judges, for a single moment, thought Kaibrienne (KB) Richins might not deserve a spot in the Top 24. Not after that emotional performance on the first day of Hollywood. And not with that special cry in her voice. Alyssa Raghu, meanwhile, has taken down the post criticizing Idol for the editing of her audition.

International flavor: Idol’s Top 56 featured five singers who had competed on singing shows in other countrys. Jordan Anthony and Mackenzie Sol advanced. Michael Rice, Scarlett Lee and Ziggy did not make the Top 24.

The platinums: All three advanced. Odell Bunton Jr. was the best of the three in this round. The judges were right; Julia overdid it a bit. And Abi had bronchitis. But, folks, have you heard the debut single she released Friday. Called “It’s All Love,” it’s incredibly addictive.

No denying: Nya. Ajii. Roman Collins. Jayna Elise. What did they all have in common? Fearless performances. Something tells me they won’t be the least bit intimidated by Idol’s big stage.

Mystery girls: Elleigh Marie Francom made the Top 24. We didn’t see a second of her singing in Hollywood. We didn’t see much of Kennedy Reid, just a snippet in which she sounded very good on Day 1. And I can’t wait to see a full, uninterrupted performance from Hailey Mia, who made the finals on The Voice a couple of years back.

Favorites of the night:

1. Odell Bunton Jr., “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”: He dedicated the performance to his late sister, who’s birthday was on the day of his performance. He showed off a great tone, lots of passion and a great ability to work the crowd.

2. Will Moseley, “Ain’t No Sunshine” — This guy is simply blessed with a great, deep country voice. We might be watching the Season 22 champ when he performs.

3. Roman Collins, “Come Together”: He’s a charismatic performer who started slow and built to a crazy take-us-to-church ending to his performance, collapsing to the floor as he finished. Oh, and he delivered a very good vocal too. Katy called it the best performance of the night.

4. Mia Matthews, “You Ain’t Woman Enough” — She sounded absolutely great on the Loretta Lynn song. It was her best performance of the competition so far. And I liked her playful little jump at the end of the song.

5. Jennifer Jeffries, “Northern Attitude” — Katy Perry calls her Idol’s “diamond in the rough.” The diamond is that wonderful singer-songwriter sound. And, remember, she performed originals the first two rounds.

Odell Bunton Jr. getting the news that he made the Top 24 from the American Idol judges. (ABC Photo)