Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Last week, we saw the final judgments on American Idol.

This week, we find out those judgments weren’t so final.

Marrialle Sellars gets pointers from Adam Lambert during an American Idol workshop. (FOX Photo)

In yet another twist, Idol is going to cut 10 contestants — five gals and five guys — before they ever sing a note.

We start with the ladies tonight during a two-hour episode that will also feature footage from an Idol boot camp hosted by new mentor Randy Jackson, assisted by former contestants Adam Lambert and Chris Daughtry.

Now, I admire what Chris has accomplished after placing fourth on Season 5. I still think Adam should have won Season 8.

But given an option of airing footage of a workshop or letting a couple more singers sing for America’s vote … well, I think Idol should have taken the latter option, especially after making such a big deal of its Top 31.

Thursday: “Congrats, you’ve made the Idol semifinals.”

Tuesday: “Oops, we’ve reconsidered.”

What the heck? I guess this week we get the final, final judgments in what is becoming the American Idol year of the gimmick.

And here we go, 10 minutes into the show, the singing begins. The judges will call up 10 singers.

Editor’s Note: For a photo gallery of Tuesday night’s performances, head here.

Majesty York

1. Majesty Rose, 21, Goldsboro, N.C.: She will sing “Happy” by Pharrell. And she plans to play guitar and move around too, she tells the Idol advisers. She starts the show and shows not a smidgen of nerves, which is a great sign. And she’s proving to be an excellent performer. Vocally, it was a solid performance from beginning to end. The question is whether folks will remember it two hours from now when the voting starts. It wasn’t exactly filled with vocal fireworks. But I like the fact that she started off with an upbeat, fun performance. Jennifer calls it “an amazing job.” She gets great reviews from Keith and Harry as well. Grade: B

Kristen O’Connor

2. Kristen O’Connor, 24 of Sebastian, Fla.: She’s selected “Turning Tables” by Adele. Wow, a little surprised she was picked to sing. Given her lack of screen time, I thought the singing nurse might be one of the five cut before she sang. Just a little concerned that she choose Adele. And the opening of the song isn’t particularly strong, or particularly memorable. Adele is a tough beast to tackle. The good news is that she salvaged the performance with the final 15 seconds or so, hitting a couple of very nice glory notes. Harry says she “did a nice job.” Keith compliments her on “a killer range,” but says it seems like she had some nerves going on. Jennifer thinks she has “one of the most special tones.” Really hoping she squeaks through because she has a star’s looks to go with a star’s voice. Grade: C

Briana Oakley

3. Briana Oakley, 17, Antioch, Calif.: Briana is the gal who is seeking redemption in her second season on Idol. She has chosen to sing Demi Lovato’s “Warrior.” The mentors are encouraging her to come out of her shell. Nice tone as she opens this song. She’s selected a song that’s really a nice match for her voice. And the performance is building as it goes on, a good sign. Unfortunately, she seemed to stray a little off pitch in the middle part of the performance. Otherwise, it was a solid showing. She did seem to come out of her shell. Keith says he loves “the clarity in her tone.” Jennifer thinks she looked a little scared at the start of the performance, but also says she has a “privileged voice.” I like the fact that they picked Briana because she delivered some killer vocals in prior rounds.Grade: C+

Jena Irene Asciutto

4. Jena Irene, 17, Farmington Hills, Mich.: Jena (pronounced Gina) has dropped her last name, Asciutto. Wow, Idol personalities still can’t get her name right. She’s going to sing “Paint It Black.” Love the song choice. Love the opening, too. And she ends with a killer glory note. There wasn’t a note wrong with that performance. Best of the night so far. Perhaps now, the Idol folks will remember her name. Jennifer calls her “one of my favorites” and compliments the “sultry” tone of her performance. Harry, I think, liked the intensity of the performance. Keith compliments her “cool balance of everything I liked in a performer.” Grade: A–

Bria Anai Johnson

5. Bria Anai, 16, Lithonia, Ga.: She wants to be remembered as “the girl with the lips.” Check out the lips tonight — red sparkles. Not working for me. But it’s the singing that counts. She’ll sing “Wrong Side of a Love Song.” She struggles with the opening a bit. Then she starts showing off that big voice. Interesting performance. She hit a couple of really great notes. She was certainly into the performance. But it all came across as just a little bit disjointed. Just a little too much. And Harry says it seems like she was shouting more than singing. I’d agree. Keith thinks she “overshot the runway.” Jennifer says she “has star written all over you.” Sorry, but that was my least favorite performance of the night. Grade: C–

Marrialle Sellars

6. Marrialle Sellars, 18, Indianapolis, Ind.: No way she wasn’t going to get selected to sing. Heck, we saw her audition twice. Marrialle says she likes to be different and stand out. She’ll sing Katy Perry’s “Roar.” She starts off kneeling by the crowd. No sign of nerves here. She’s a heck of a performer, throwing in all sorts of wrinkles into her performance. Unfortunately, the vocal just isn’t quite doing it for me. I’m not even sure she’s on key for the majority of this song. She lost a shoe somewhere along the way, by accident or on purpose. Either way she worked it into the performance. Apparently, it wasn’t on purpose. Keith compliments her on a “good save.” But Keith also says she’s better than that performance and says it was too karaoke. Jennifer suggested that she should have done the song on her guitar. Marrialle gets the weakest critiques of the night. The vocal just wasn’t there. Grade: D+

Jess Meuse

7. Jessica Meuse, 23, Slapout, Ala.: She’s going to be singing “Drink a Beer” by Luke Bryan. And I’m just thrilled to see a singer-songwriter get a chance to show up what she can do minus all the Hollywood drama. She’ll play guitar. Like the tone of her voice. She might be the closest we have to a country gal singing tonight, because I’m not sure Brandy Neelly is going to get a shot. And she showed nice control during the performance. But if you’re picking songs that showcase vocals … well, that one didn’t quite fit the bill. Jennifer says she could sense her nerves, and that’s certainly the case. Harry isn’t sure she settled into what the song meant. Keith loves the fact that she’s from Slapout, Ala. Grade: C

Emily Piriz

8. Emily Piriz, 18, Orlando, Fla.: Emily is going to reprise “Paris Ooh La La” even though Harry balked at someone so young singing the song during the auditions. Adam wants her to sing the song like a rock star, saying that’s the only way it really works. Well, she’s not showing the extreme case of nerves we’ve seen from some of the other contestants, and she’s having fun with the performance. But she was shooting for sultry, and I’m not quite sure she pulled it off. Harry is quizzing her on the lyrics. Keith clearly thinks she’s better than what she just showed. Jennifer says she did very well and turned in one of the night’s more comfortable performances. Here’s the deal, whether you liked the song choice or not, Emily delivered a pretty solid vocal on a night when those have been surprisingly sparse. Grade: B–

Emkay Nobilette

9. M.K. Nobilette, 20, San Francisco, Calif.: She’s going to sing John Legend’s “All of Me.” Randy’s advice: “You gotta give it your all and give your best performance.” Wow, what a mentor. Really nice tone displayed by M.K. or Emkay at the start of the song. Once again, there are a couple of spots where the vocal seems to be affected by her nerves. I really think it’s probably more difficult to sing a ballad in these circumstances than an upbeat song, and we’re seeing that tonight. That vocal wavered badly in a couple of spots. Not bad. Not great either. And I really wish Idol would decide whether she is going to go by M.K. or Emkay. She’s getting a great response from the crowd. Keith calls it the perfect song choice. Jennifer says she loved the performance. Harry likes the fact that she showed more confidence in this performance. Grade: B–

And now we get the results of the Ben Briley and Neco Starr showdown. Judges couldn’t decide which one to give the 15th spot for the guys, so they turned it over to fans. And the winner of the vote is Ben Briley. Not surprised. He got much more screen time.

But hold it, if they were the last picks for the top guys, I would imagine that means Ben won’t get to sing tomorrow night.

Malaya Watson

10. Malaya Watson, 16, Southfield, Mich.: She’s going to sing “Hard Times” by Ray Charles. She says it was one of the songs on the first album she bought and she fell in love with it. Malaya has a ton of personality, but I wasn’t even sure her Hollywood performance was deserving of the Top 15 girls. Well, she’s leaving it all on the stage. And showing off a really big voice. One of the biggest voices we’ve heard tonight. Well, she’s proving me wrong. That was one of the night’s better efforts, with a really nice ending. Jennifer calls her amazing and says she hopes to have her around “for a long time.” Harry calls the performance “to the wall energy.” Keith compliments Malaya on making glasses and braces look so cool. Keith called it a little over the top. Yeah, it was a bit manic. Grade: B–

This means Brandy Neelly, Austin Wolfe, Kenzie Hall, Andrina Brogden and Jillian Jensen don’t get a chance to sing. Wow, really disappointed not to get to hear Kenzie and Austin after their Hollywood Week performances.