Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Katy Perry kissed a boy, but he didn’t advance on American Idol’s Season 16 premiere. (ABC Photo)

Perhaps, but ABC’s revived American Idol seemed an awful lot like FOX’s old-era American Idol.

Contestants who overcame a difficult past?

Check.

Ron Bultongez’s family fled civil war in the Congo. Dennis Lorenzo’s dad was murdered on the streets of Philly.

Contestants who have overcome adversity in their quest for a music career?

Check.

Harper Grace had the guts to let the show air part of a horrendous rendition of the national anthem from when she was 11.

Then she got the last laugh by earning, truly earning a golden ticket to Hollywood.

Contestants willing to trash talk producers and cameramen?

Check.

Koby from Colorado covered that quite nicely. “I guess they want mediocre singers,” she hissed after all three Idol judges turned thumbs down on her vocal “talent.”

Not that a new Idol that mimics the old Idol is a bad thing, mind you.

Heck, I might even find myself rooting for a couple of these contestants.

After night one, that would likely be Catie Turner, who had the audacity to sing an original song at age 17; Maddie Poppe, another singer-songwriter type with a unique voice, or Alyssa Raghu, who might have delivered opening night’s best vocal.

If you saw the show, you don’t need a play-by-play recap. So I’ll touch on some highlights, then embed videos in case you want to watch any of the performances again from the nine singers who met who are Hollywood-bound.

For photos from Sunday’s show, head here.

Catie Turner, 17, of Langhorne, Pa.: Catie says “my mom and I have been Idol obsessed forever.” After she auditioned with her original song, “21st Century Machine,” the judges seemed obsessed with Catie. Judge Katy Perry even called her a spectacular songwriter.

As an aside, I love this young lady’s sense of humor. When I posted a get-to-know Catie blog about a week ago, she tweeted her thanks along with a photo of her pet dog. I think the dog was supposed to be smiling. But I swear, the dog looked like he/she might bite if I wrote anything bad about Catie. So far, I’m safe.

Oh, and “21st Century Machine” was one of the songs Catie included on a debut EP. You can check out the full version of it and a couple of other originals here.

Ron Bultongez, 22, Plano, Texas: If the Idol winner was decided by a touching background story, you could give the crown to Ron right now. But his version of Jame Bay’s “Let It Go” didn’t win over the judges, at least not initially. Then Lionel Richie changed his mind, giving Ron a shot at Hollywood. This young man has already released music.

Maddie Poppe, 20, Clarksville, Iowa: We only got a brief introduction to Maddie, who auditioned with “The Rainbow Connection.” But she released an EP in 2016, got praise from Lionel for her story-teller voice and you can learn a bit more about her here.

Harper Grace, 16, McKinney, Texas: You had to be cheering on Harper after Idol aired that anthem footage from when she was 11. I might never sing again. She stood before the Idol superstar judges, sang a very nice original (“Yard Sale”?), then impressed again with a cover (“Young, Dumb and Broke”). I say, “Hooray, for Harper!”

Layla Spring, 16, of Lebanon, Ken.: Her secret wepaon was a cute-as-a-button 7-year-old sister named Dyxie. Not that Layla really needed a secret weapon. She got a unanimous yes from the Idol judges after her impressive performance of “Who’s Loving You.”

Noah Davis, 18, of Royal, Ark.: The “wig” kid sang “Stay” by Rihanna and advanced to Hollywood with three yeses. By the way, Katy says “wig” means a vocal so great it blows one’s wig off. OK, then. Also, Noah performed the same song in the finals of the 2017 national FFA Talent Show. And won!

Alyssa Raghu, 16, of Orlando, Fla.: Her real last name is Raghunandan, shortened to Raghu (Raa-G-OO) for stage purposes. (Spelling challenged bloggers thank you, Alyssa.) She sang “Almost is Never Enough” by Ariana Grande and wowed the judges to the point where Katy predicted she’d be in the Top 10.

Zach D’Onofrio, 17, of Wesley Chapel, Fla.: He has a massive sock collection and delivers a pair for each of the judges — skeletons for Lionel (because he’s killer), cats for Katy and roosters for Luke Bryan. Then he surprises the judges with his deep, Sinatra-like singing voice on “The Way You Look Tonight.”

Dennis Lorenzo, 26, Philadelphia, Pa.: Dennis said he started down the wrong path until his grandparents bought him a guitar at age 16. He shows up in the audition room with a guitar bearing a hole, then dazzled the judges with his performance of Allen Stone’s “Unaware.” Probably the best male vocal of the night. And, yep, he already has music out.