Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The American Idol Top 7 including, from left, Gabby Barrett, Cade Foehner, Jurnee, Caleb Lee Hutcinson, Maddie Poppe, Michael J. Woodard and Catie Turner. (ABC Photo)

I saw a TV ad for American Idol this morning reminding viewers that in just two weeks we’ll have a new American Idol.

Yep, even though the finals, featuring a Top 10, really just started last Sunday.

In its first season with Idol, ABC retained much of the show’s old flavor, especially from the auditions through Hollywood Week.

But it’s certainly put the voting rounds on a fast track, with seven contestants leaving the show in just the past two weeks.

Two more go home tonight, after the Top 7 tackle songs from the Prince catalog and a song from their birth year.

The song selections appear below. Check back later, and I’ll be providing song-by-song grades. And, once the show ends, I’ll post a photo gallery from all of tonight’s performances.

See also …
Ranking the Top 7 on American Idol
The American Idol Top 7 social media rankings
The songs: From intriguing to groan worthy
Photo gallery from Top 10 night
Idol renewed for Season 17

The Prince Catalog

Cade Foehner, “Jungle Love” — The best part of that was the drum solo and the guitar solo. Cade’s vocal? Well, this what Idol gets when they force Prince songs on singers who shouldn’t be singing Prince songs. Let’s just say this was not Cade’s best week on American Idol. Grade: C

Caleb Lee Hutchinson, “When Doves Cry” — Really nice performance by Caleb. I thought this would be a problem for him, but he turned it into a performance I wish we would have gotten to hear earlier tonight when there was more time left to vote. Never thought a country version of “When Doves Cry” could sound so fine. Grade: A–

Catie Turner, “Manic Monday” — Yikes. Look, Catie entered the night with a pair of intriguing song choices. On this one, she missed some of the lyrics in the first verse, then stumbled. The worst part, once she recovered she hit a wonky note, then sounded off key for the rest of the song. That was easily her weakest performance so far. Grade: D.

Gabby Barrett, “How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore” — And that’s why Gabby Barrett is and should be the front-runner on American Idol. Gabby sees herself as a country-soul singer, and she just showed off her soulful side on that song. Dang. Katy says Gabby’s ready to tour. No joking. That’s my new favorite performance of the night. Grade: A

Jurnee, “Kiss” — Jurnee sure has the pop star look down. Not sure those purple boots were a great idea, though. She seemed to have a little trouble moving around in them. As for the song choice and the vocal, it was a nice way to start the night, but probably not the best we’ll see. Grade: B–

Maddie Poppe, “Nothing Compares 2 U” — OK, now that’s a reworking of a Prince song that worked. Maddie sits at the piano and delivers a very, very nice version of the classic hit. Luke calls it mesmerizing. Here’s what it was: The best performance we saw from a contestant during the firt round of Sunday’s performances. Grade: A–

Michael J. Woodard, “I Would Die 4 U” — Look at Michael dance around the stage. That’s the most stage presence we’ve seen from him so far. Unfortunately, he’s mumbling his lyrics again. And the vocal left something to be desired. Grade: C

Birth Year Songs

Cade Foehner (1996), “Who Will Save Your Soul” by Jewel — Well, Cade gets high marks for originality for his version of the Jewel hit. But the song was barely recognizable by the time it reached its head-banging conclusion Pretty sure I would not download that version, but it will probably please Cade’s rock fan contingent. Grade: C+

Caleb Lee Hutchinson (1999), “Amazed” by Lonestar (1999) — Caleb gets the benefit of getting to sing his country song first. And he turns in a pretty solid version of “Amazed,” but, wow, is this song every overdone on these singing shows. For that reason, I think it’s difficult to make a huge impact with it. That said, it’s a solid performance on a night where there have been some missteps. Grade: B

Catie Turner (2000), “Oops! … I Did It Again” by Britney Spears — Well, that was sorta fun and odd at the same time. Thing is, I’m not sure what to make of the song choice. Are we supposed to buy into talented singer-songwriter Catie. Or Catie doing a song like this that is sure to rack up the YouTube views but is hard to take seriously. Honestly, I think this was a misstep. Grade: C–

Gabby Barrett (2000), “I Hope You Dance” by Lee Ann Womack — Gabby might have caught a break getting to sing the country song first with voting already under way. She does a very, very nice job with the song. Luke calls it one of the best vocals of the season. Katy says there’s only one Gabby. But there have been way too many versions of that song on singing shows. Grade: B+

Jurnee (1999), “Back At One” by Brian McKnight — Jurnee says this was her parents’ wedding song, so that’s one of the reasons behind the song choice. Jurnee’s got one of my favorite voices on the show, but I wasn’t a huge fan of that song choice or that vocal. As one of the contestants most likely to be in danger tonight, Jurnee needed to deliver a knockout blow tonight. I don’t think she did. I would have recommended a second upbeat song, something with ever bigger show-stopping potential than “Kiss.” Grade: B–

Maddie Poppe (1997), “If It Makes You Happy” by Sheryl Crow — Well, one brilliant performance out of two isn’t bad. Maddie started the night with her Prince cover, which was superb. So I had high hopes when she took the stage for this song. And Maddie sounded great on the chorus, just not so great on the verses where there were a number of pitch issues. But I gotta say, with the other performances we’ve heard tonight I think she’s Top 5 worthy. Grade: B–

Michael J. Woodard (1997), “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion — Interesting — and perhaps ill-advised — song choice. Michael’s vocal started out very weak, and while he hit a couple of decent glory notes over the course of the performance, the expectations with that song are so high .. I’m just not sure Michael was prepared to cover it. Grade: C

And it’s time for results.

Truly, regardless of who goes home tonight, everyone is a winner. Ryan announced earlier that the Top 7 will be going on a summer tour.

Advancing:

Caleb Hutchinson
Maddie Poppe
Cade Foehner
Gabby Barrett
Michael J. Woodard

Eliminated:

Jurnee
Catie Turner

Wow, that’s a shocker. I thought for sure Catie would make the finals.