Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Members of the Top 8 on American Idol include, from left, Alejandro Aranda, Laine Hardy, Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon, Madison VanDenburg, Alyssa Raghu, Walker Burroughs, Laci Kaye Booth, Wade Cota. (ABC Photo)

Each member of the Top 8 on American Idol will perform twice Sunday night.

And those performances are likely to be quite different, and not just because one is a solo and one is a duet.

The Top 8 theme will call for solo songs from the Queen catalog and classic movie duets.

Here are the Idol Chatter rankings heading into Top 8 night. Yep, there’s been a change at the top. And I’ve embedded video from the two-hour special Idol aired Monday for those who might have missed it.

1. Laine Hardy (3): The young man from Louisiana has rattled off three very fine, self-assured performances in a row. And he has Idol judges talking about him winning Season 17. That never hurts.

2. Madison VanDenburg (2): For the second straight week, Madison turned in the most impressive vocal on performance night. And, judging from what we’ve heard so far, I’m pretty sure she can handle anything in the Queen songbook.

3. Laci Kaye Booth (1): I’m beginning to wonder if Laci believes in herself as much as the judges believe in her. That voice is magic. But we need a bit more magic from Laci’s performances if she’s going to make the finals.

4. Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon (4): Another solid vocal from Jeremiah on Top 8 night, but another ballad too. Will he be the singer to try “Bohemian Rhapsody?” If so, he might make his biggest impression yet.

5. Alejandro Aranda (5): Another early front-runner who’s going to have to deliver some surprises to prove he belongs in the finals. Disney Night wasn’t his best. He’s not even shaping up as the YouTube leader after Top 8 night.

6. Alyssa Raghu (8): She was the only saved contestant from Top 14 week who survived Top 10 week. So you have to figure she knows Top 8 night will be a case of deliver or go home. My guess is that we still haven’t seen her best.

7. Wade Cota (9): If there’s a male rocker among the Season 17 cast, Wade’s it. So on Queen night, he should find something more meaty to sink that gruff vocal of his into than Sunday’s Toy Story ditty.

8. Walker Burroughs (8): Walker’s a fine singer, but I’m not sure I understand the appeal. Is it, as Katy implies, the Harry Potter factor? Idol eliminated a better vocalist (Dimitrius Graham) and a better performer (Uche) on Top 10 night.

See also …
Top 8 theme doesn’t seem fair, but we can hope for magic
Song by song grades for the Top 10
Photo gallery of the Top 10