Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The American Idols tackle another brand new theme tonight.

At least one of the songs the Top 5 will perform has been suggested by viewers.

Grumpy Cat made a cameo appearance on American Idol last week. (FOX Photo)

And, having glanced at the spoiler list, I’ve gotta say viewers did a pretty good job.

We’re in for a night of mostly current music, though one contestant will be belting out a couple of rock classics (I bet you can guess who).

In terms of a guest star, we get Jason Mraz mentoring the Idols. Couldn’t they bring back Grumpy Cat instead?

In terms of plot twists, the big one this week will be whether Jess Meuse can avoid an elimination that appears inevitable.

I still think she’s one of the show’s top three singers (along with Jena and Caleb). But she has landed in the bottom two in back-to-back weeks.

And she landed there last week despite two solid performances, one of which closed the show.

1. Alex Preston: His first song of the night is “Sweater Weather” by The Neighbourhood. This is a nice fit for his voice, but I’m not sure it’s a great singing show song. Decent performance from Alex. He said in the opening he was afraid to switch it up too much for fear of being criticized, and he delivered a pretty straightforward cover. He handled the rapid-fire lyric part really well. Keith says he would have liked to see Alex let his vocals soar a bit more. Jennifer says he pulled it off pretty well, but she too wanted more dynamics in the vocal. Thing is, that song isn’t really made for that. Harry calls it a strong opening to the show. I’d call it decent, not great. Grade: B–

2. Caleb Johnson: This was bound to happen, Caleb singing an Aerosmith song. And Aerosmith songs have worked very well for Idol contestants in the past. Caleb opens with a rasp. What’s he trying to do? Imitate Steven Tyler. Just sing, Caleb. We’re getting more emotion from Caleb than we usually do. And he held a big glory note forever in the middle of that performance. But his vocals also wavered badly in the early part of the performance, and that almost never happens with Caleb. Still, he seems to have made a connection with the fans. Jennifer says he sang it “beautifully” and she says she liked the way he turned it into a ballad. Harry wants him to preach to the audience rather than the camera. Keith wants him to put feeling in front of skill in his performance. Here’s the bottom line: That was far from Caleb’s best vocal. Grade: C+

Jena Irene, Sam Woolf, Alex Preston: They’re singing “Best Days of My Life.” Decent performance from the Idol trio. Their harmonies sounded very good, actually. Jena provided the performance spark. Not to mention the best vocals. Grade: B

3. Jess Meuse: As I said in the intro, Jess desperately needs a big night. And she’ll kick if off with a song that should bring out some emotion — “Human” by Christina Perri. That’s another song that might not be perfect for a singing show from the aspect of dramatics. Jess seemed a bit flat on the verses, but her vocals soared nicely on the chorus. Harry compliments her on being focused on the meaning of the song and for improving every week. Keith says it was a very good song choice for her. Jennifer compliments her on putting more emotion into that performance. I’d agree with Harry, not my favorite Jess performance. But I’d rate it as the best we’ve heard so far tonight. Grade: B

4. Sam Woolf: Idol’s “cute guy” is going to tackle Ed Sheeran’s “Sing.” Very interesting song choice. There’s nothing in what Sam has done so far in Season 13 to indicate that he can pull this off. Sam says he’s going to get “funky.” Sam started off pretty well. But he just isn’t up to pulling off a song like that in terms of performance or energy yet. Sam also skipped the high notes that mark the Ed Sheeran version. Harry speaks the truth: Sam’s vocal was so laid back at some points he was short of funky — in fact “he was defusing the funk.” Jennifer says that’s the most laid-back she’s seen Sam on stage. Keith doesn’t say much, which speaks volumes. Bottom line: Worst of the night so far. Grade: C

5. Jena Irene: Jason says Jena sparkles like a toothpaste commercial. Jena is going to perform “My Body” by Young the Giant. She starts the performance in the audience and strolls across the center stage. Jason was right. This gal sparkles. This was one of the song choices I was excited about, and Jena is pulling it off with easily the best performance of the night. She owned the stage. She did her best to get the crowd involved. She looked comfortable throughout. And she delivered a great vocal. Way to go girl. Easily the best of the night so far. Jennifer says Jena is coming together as a performer. Harry compliments her for moving with the beat and having fun on stage. He says it felt like a performance. Keith calls it killer. I call it the first finals-worthy performance we’ve seen tonight. Grade: A

Caleb Johnson, Jess Meuse: They’re singing “Beast of Burden.” My favorite part was when they tossed the “never” back and forth at the end of the song. Overall, they sounded pretty good together. Keith calls the performance “really cool.” Grade: B

6. Alex Preston: For round two, he’ll sing “Say Something.” Something’s off with the sound. I wasn’t sure this would work as a solo, but Idol brought in a background singer for the chorus, and Alex just delivered one of his best vocals. I could have done without some of the facial expressions, but vocally that was absolutely spot on. Harry likes the fact that he fought the emotion of the song and didn’t give in to it. Harry calls it “the performance of the night.” Keith calls it the “perfect marriage” of song and artist. Jennifer loved it, too. Very, very nice job by Alex that wipes out anything that went wrong in round one. Grade: A

7. Jena Irene: She returns to the stage quickly with “Valerie” by Amy Winehouse. I liked the round one song choice for Jena better than this selection. She’s still doing a nice job of working the stage. And delivering a strong vocal. This song just doesn’t have the youthful vibe that brings out the best in Jena’s repertoire. Still, is there any question that she can sing rings around some of the remaining contestants? If nothing else, the song gave her another chance to demonstrate that. Keith says her vocals are “killer.” Jennifer says that wasn’t her best one, because the song wasn’t a great fit. Harry compliments her on a nice job. It was nice. Just not special. Grade: B

8. Sam Woolf: His second song is “How to Save a Life” by The Fray, which is a whole lot better fit for Sam than the Ed Sheeran song from earlier. It’s just pretty clear to me that, of the remaining contestants, Sam is the weak link from a performance standpoint. He’s off to a rough start on this song. But he pulls it together as best he can and delivers a nice ending. Harry says there were pitch issues and the entire performance seemed to be at the same dramatic level, though he too appreciated the ending. Grade: B–

9. Jess Meuse: Love, love, love this song choice — “Summertime Sadness” by Lana Del Rey. Look, it’s Jess without her guitar, decked out in a red dress, looking lovely. This song is a really nice match for the plaintive tone in her voice. Harry calls it a perfect marriage of voice and song. Keith wants her to emotionally lean into the song and emote just a bit more. Jennifer wants her to summon up a little more performance-wise as well. I, sadly, agree with them to a certain extent. I thought it was a fine vocal, but I also think Jess missed a chance for a moment that she badly, badly needed. I wanted just a little more cry in that performance. That said, she still deserves another week on her vocal abilities alone. She can just miss a moment and still be better than some of the remaining contestants. Grade: B+

10. Caleb Johnson: He gets to rock this time, singing “Still of the Night” by Whitesnake to close out the night. Yep, Caleb is in full rock mode, belting out the lyrics, delivering the big notes and stalking the stage. He’s got both Jennifer and Keith on their feet rocking along with him. Well, that was certainly a high energy way to end the night, wasn’t it? That’s Caleb in his natural element. Didn’t like it quite as much as a couple of the night’s earlier performances, but the crowd is going crazy. Keith calls it “awesome.” Jennifer says he brought down the house. Harry says “you can’t sing that song any better than that.” And I’d say Caleb just punched his ticket for the Top 4. Grade: A–

All in all, a pretty solid night for the Idols. I’ll be posting a recap and photos soon.