Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Ready for the return of David Cook, Chris Daughtry and Constantine Maroulis?

How about Jordin Sparks, Haley Reinhart and Kellie Pickler?

They’ll all be back on the Idol stage tonight, performing duets with the 12 performers we watched last night.

And when the singing ends, the Idol judges — not the viewers at home — will pick seven contestants to advance and send the other five home.

That should be interesting because last night’s performances weren’t quite as good as the night before.

Trent Harmon and Dalton Rapattoni stood out enough that their spots in the Top 14 should be secure. Shelbie Z. turned in another high-octane performance. And Olivia Rox certainly ended the night with lots of energy.

Beyond that, we’ll find out whether the judges prefer experience or youth, because last night’s dozen includes three of the youngest singers left in Season 15 (Lee Jean, Tristan McIntosh and Amelia Eisenhauer) and three of the oldest (Adam Lasher, C.J. Johnson and Kory Wheeler).

As usual, I’ll be grading each performance as it occurs. And keep in mind that the grade is for the Season 15 contestant and no reflection on the “star” Idol from the past with whom they are singing.

Amelia Eisenhower and Kellie Pickler

They will sing “Suds in the Bucket,” a song Kellie sang on Idol. Amelia plans to play fiddle during the performance. Amelia credits Kellie for making her more comfortable, and Amelia indeed seems comfortable during this performance. Amelia and Kellie sound very good together. The teen didn’t get to sing many solo lines, but she gets solid reviews from the judges, all of whom liked the fun spirit in the performance. Still not sure of Amelia’s vocal prowess. Grade: B–

Kory Wheeler and Haley Reinhart

Kory is one of the contestants who probably needs a knockout performance tonight to hang around for another week. He and Haley will sing “Bennie and the Jets.” Remember, it was her duets with Casey Abrams that helped make Haley’s time on Idol so special back in Season 10. Kory also auditioned with this song. OK, love the way Haley sounds. Not so sure these two sound that great together. Keith thought Kory matched up really well during that performance. Harry Connick calls the performance “really terrific.” Grade: B–

Lee Jean and Chris Daughtry

They’ll perform Daughtry’s “Home,” and Chris is trying to get Lee to loosen up during rehearsals. Chris opens out and sounds fantastic, of course. Lee joins in and sounds better than he did during rehearsals. Chris lets Lee take over on the first line of the chorus, and Lee’s voice doesn’t hold up very well. Poor Lee is following a subpar performance last night with another tonight. Perhaps it’s nerves. He did very well in the early rounds. Now the judges are going to lie. Jennifer says she’s speechless. Harry calls it “really really strong.” Grade: C

David Cook and C.J. Johnson

David was a master of reworking songs on Idol — perhaps the best ever. He and C.J. will sing Collective Soul’s “The World I Know,” one of the songs David did on the show. C.J. opens, and doesn’t sound very strong on the first couple of lines. David sounds excellent, of course. I think he’s also very under-rated as a singer. C.J. got stronger as the song went on, but he didn’t get many solo lines after that opening. Harry says their voices blended well together and calls it a “nice job.” Jennifer says the song came off as “mellow” compared to the first three of the night, which is a fair statement. Grade: C+

Manny Torres and Jordin Sparks

Manny will play the role of Chris Brown as they sing Jordin’s hit duet, “No Air.” Wasn’t sure about that opening, but Manny is actually doing a good job on this. Of course, he has the benefit that he’s singing a song that was actually written as a duet and provides him more chances to shine than some of the earlier ones. I actually think that might have been the best contestant performance of the night so far. Jennifer says it couldn’t have been better. Harry loved Manny’s charisma on stage. Grade: B+

Jenn Blosil and Constantine Maroulis

They will sing “My Funny Valentine,” a song Constantine did on Idol. Jenn fell flat last night, so she’s another contestant looking for a comeback. She gets to open. Not loving it, honestly. OK, this is officially a train wreck. Lots of noise adding up to something I don’t want to be subjected to again. Jennifer calls it the embodiment of the perfect duet. Harry says the song turned into a shouting match. He didn’t like it. Neither did I. Keith “freaking” loved it. Huh? Grade: D+

Tristan McIntosh and Kellie Pickler

Kellie says Tristan’s audition made her and her husband cry. That would have been when her military mom showed up at her Idol audition. They’ll sing “Best Days of Your Life.” They open singing together, and Kellie’s voice certainly drowned out Tristan’s. Tristan has tons of potential, but I’m not sure she’s ready for a competition like this. Harry calls it “pretty good” but says he saw some inexperience in her performance. Keith says it was shaky pitch wise. Grade: C

Olivia Rox and David Cook

They will sing David’s hit “Light On.” Of the youngsters on Idol, Olivia seems one of the most ready in terms of stage presence and comfort on stage. Dang, David sounds great. Olivia starts very strong too. That turned into one of the night’s best duets so far. Very good, though it seemed to slip away from Olivia just a bit at times. But there’s no doubt, she’s got a big voice. And she gets great feedback from the judges. Harry says she performs like someone who knows what she’s doing on stage. Grade: B+

Adam Lasher and Haley Reinhart

They’ll sing “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” the song that’s become something of a signature for Haley thanks for an Extra gum commercial. Speaking of sounding special — dang, Haley. Not sure this song is going to do Adam any favors, though. I mean, Haley had so many special moments in that 90-second performance, Adam sorta paled in comparison. Jennifer says it’s hard to go wrong with that song. Harry thought it was “really sweet.” Keith wanted Adam to loosen up more and “let it go.” Grade: C

Dalton Rapattoni and Chris Daughtry

Dalton says the first Daughtry album was the first CD he owned. They’re going to tackle Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground.” Dalton is certainly rocking right along with Chris. Hey, another nice performance by Dalton, who’s having a very strong week on Idol. Harry says the performance was solid, but gives the credit to the band. Keith thought it was “incredible.” Jennifer says she loves Dalton. Grade: B+

Trent Harmon and Jordin Sparks

They’re going to sing the Bee Gees “To Love Somebody.” Jordin performed the song on Season 6. Jordin starts the song on stage alone. Then she’s joined by Trent. Wish he would control his facial expressions a little more. But there’s no doubting the sincerity in what he’s singing. Check out the way he’s looking at Jordin as he’s performing this song. That’s the sort of cutting loose Keith hoped to get from Adam Lasher on his duet with Haley. Trent’s also having a very, very strong week. Keith called the performance “very cool.” Jennifer called it a great showcase for Trent. Harry says it was a great job. Grade: A–

Shelbie Z. and Constantine Maroulis

Oh, my — Shelbie and Constantine are going to condense “Bohemian Rhapsody” into a 90-second duet. Not sure how this is going to work. Great opening by Constantine. Shelbie sounds very good, too. OK, they’re making it work. Shelbie looks perfectly at home on stage with Constantine. Very nice way to end the show. Shelbie’s having a good week on Idol, too. Jennifer says she felt like she lost Shelbie in that. Not sure what she meant. Harry and Keith didn’t like it either. Not sure what the heck they were listening to. I liked it much better than they did. Grade: B+

Time for the verdict from the judges. Not sure I’m going to like some of these outcomes based on what I’m hearing from the judges.

Advancing to the Top 14 …

* Lee Jean. Hmm, he wasn’t strong in either performance this week.
* Olivia Rox. Of the youngsters, I think she’s most ready to shine on the Idol stage.
* Jenn Blosil. Huh? She should count herself as lucky. Those were two very shaky vocals.
* Dalton Rapattoni. Well deserved, though I still think he’s a rigner given his relationship with Simon Fuller.
* Manny Torres. He turned in a very nice duet. Not as thrilled with his solo performance.
* Tristan McIntosh. Not surprised. But not sure she deserved it either given some of the others still standing there.
* Trent Harmon: No way he could be left behind. He was one of the best both nights this week.

That means Shelbie Z., Adam Lasher, Kory Wheeler, C.J. Johnson and Amelia Eisenhauer are eliminated.

Sorry, I think Shelbie Z and C.J. got robbed because of Idol’s love of youth.