Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Catie Turner advanced on American Idol Season 16 and she did it singing an original song. (ABC Photo),

Below, I’m going to answer that question to the best of my ability.

But first, some general reactions to Sunday’s Hollywood Week episode.

1. I can’t remember being that impressed with the level of talent in a Hollywood Week episode. Kudos to Idol for showing us that many different singers and keeping the focus, mostly, on the music. We opened with country singer Gabby Barrett of Pittsburgh showing us she can go soulful too. We ended with a wonderfully different vocal from Michael J. Woodard. And there were tons of highlights in between.

2. Idol also deserves credit for allowing these artists to sing originals during the solo round. Harper Grace, Maddie Poppe and Catie Turner all bet their Idol fate on songs they wrote. They all advanced, and certainly deserved to. Maddie, by the way, already released “Don’t Ever Let Your Children Grow Up.” It’s on her 2016 “Songs from the Basement” EP. And while Harper hasn’t released that fabulous song “Rest in Peace,” she has other original music available on Spotify.

3. Idol is clearly determined not to allow its first season on ABC seem like a Voice rehash. Sharp eyed viewers might have spotted former Voice contestant Elia Esparza in the room of contestants that got eliminated. That’s the first we’ve seen her on the show. There was also a Taylor John Williams sighting. The Season 7 finalist was shown talking to Amelia Hammer Harris; they’ve done shows together in L.A. We’ve yet to hear Taylor sing on Idol. And we haven’t seen Ricky Manning, a Top 20 contestant on Season 7, since Idol featured his original, “L.A. is Lonely,” during the audition episodes.

Now, who advanced and who didn’t:

Guys we saw advancing Sunday night: Ada Vox, Cade Foehner, Caleb Lee Hutchinson, Dennis Lorenzo, Garrett Jacobs, Jonny Brenns, Laine Hardy, Marcio Donaldson, Michael J. Woodard, Milo Sposato, Noah Davis, Ron Bultongez, Thaddeus Johnson, Trevor Holmes, Trevor McBane

Also advancing (based on spoiler sites): Brandon Diaz, Cody Martin, Dominique Posey, Ephraim Bugumba, Justin Ray, Les Greene, Ricky Manning, Samothias Sohmer, Stephen Quinn, Taylor John Williams, William Casanova.

Ladies we saw advancing: Britney Holmes, Catie Turner, Effie Passero, Harper Grace, Jurnee, Kay Kay Alexis, Lee Vasi, Maddie Poppe, Maddie Zahm, Mara Justine, Michelle Sussett, Shannon O’Hara

Also advancing (based on spoiler sites): Alyssa Raghu, Amalia Watty, Amelia Hamer Harris, Carly Moffa, Christina Jones, Julia Cole, Kaitlann Runnels, Kassy Levels, Kourtney Smith, Layla Spring, Victoria McQueen.

Cut on final round in Hollywood: Deonte Baker, Crystal Alicea, Brandon Edler, Genevieve Linkowski, Gabbii Jones, Elia Esparza (among many others)