Idol Chatter & Voice Views

American Idol cuts its field from a Top 11 to a Top 7 tonight.

That’s the bad news, because some very talented singers are going to head home before they really get a chance to show fans what their capable of in this coronavirus shortened season.

The good news is that at least the remaining seven singers will get to perform twice apiece, delivering a song from the Disney catalog and a Mother’s Day tribute.

I’ll be providing song by song grades for each performance. Voting will once again take place overnight.

Disney songs

Arthur Gunn, “Kiss the Girl” — This is a great song choice for Arthur, and my favorite Arthur performance since the voting shows began. He sounded great, ennunciated and kept his eyes open, connecting with the audience. He’s finals bound. His performance from last week had 1 million views on YouTube; no one else had more than 375,000. Grade: A–

Just Sam, “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes” — Not surprised to see Just Sam advance either. She’s finals bound, though I wouldn’t classify either of her voting round performances so far as finals worthy. And she delivers a fine vocal, but there really wasn’t much spark to that performance. Grade: B–

Jonny West, “Almost There” — Nice performance from Jonny, who’s making a Disney song sound cool in spite of the animated graphics Idol is surrounding him with. Nice range. Nice ending. Nice connection. Very good. Finals worthy? Yep, but there’s another performance. Lionel dubs him “our casual assassin,” a good nickname. Grade: B+

Louis Knight Jr., “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” — In contrast, this is coming off as rather corny. And I’m not sure the song is a good vocal match for Louis. That didn’t work for me on any level. Glad Louis has another song to redeem himself. Grade: C–

Julia Gargano, “Beauty and the Beast” — Was something up with the sound mix on that number? Julia’s vocals seemed to be drowned out early in the song. That was not a particularly strong vocal, regardless. In fact, it’s probably her weakest so far. Again, Julia will have another song to redeem herself. Grade: C–

Francisco Martin, “You’ll Be in My Heart” — Francisco’s playing guitar, which gives this performance a little extra umph. But, oh, my, this episode is an example of why we needed more shows to sort out the contenders from the pretenders. That was not vocally spot on either. Grade: C

Dillon James, “Our Town” — Kudos to Dillon, who seemes to have picked a song that’s a good match for his voice. Yep, he’s going to deliver one of the best performances we’ve seem during the Disney round. Heartfelt, with a really tender ending. Grade: B

But, that Top 7 means the elimination of Sophia James, Grace Leer, Makayla Phillips and Jovin Webb.

Yep, just two gals remain from one of the most talented group of young female singers the show has ever rounded up. And the best male singer just went home.

MOTHER’S DAY DEDICATIONS

Arthur Gunn, “Hey, Ma” — Arthur is having a strong week. This song pick did a really good job of showing off the rasp in his voice. In just two weeks, Arthur looks so much more comfortable with these at-home performances. Katy liked his pick of a well-suited indie folk song. Grade: B+

Just Sam, “I Turn to You” — Given the backstory with Sam and her grandmom, I really expected more emotion from that performance. I’m beginning to think Just Sam is one of those performers who need a stage to sign, and the at-home performances have taken away that stage. She isn’t captivating with just voice, the way say, Fantansia, used to. Grade: B–

Jonny West, “Amazing Grace” — Another great vocal by Johnny. Really nice range on a really nice song choice. Right now, Johnny and Arthur are the members of the Season 18 Top 7 most worthy of a spot in the finals. But Katy, let’s stop talking about Alejandro! Enough already. Grade: A.

Julia Gargano, “Sweetest Devotion” — Now, that song gave Julia a chance to show off her special tone. There was some dramatic umph to that song too, which was nice on a night filled with ballads. That was much, much better than Julia’s first performance. Luke Bryan called it “bad ass.” Grade: B+

Louis Knight, “You’ve Got a Friend” — This is working a bit better for Louis … or was … yikes, that big note. Louis might want to slip back behind his keys. He just doesn’t look comfortable standing on his deck, singing alone without a crowd. Grade: C

Francisco Martin, “River” — A soulful and heartfelt performance from Francisco. That might have been my favorite performance from him so far. Really nice vocal. Lionel liked the confidence he showed. Remember, Francisco was struggling with nerves early in this year’s show. Grade: B+

Dillon James, “Hang On, Hang On” — Another solid performance by Dillon. But the two performances tonight offered contesstants a chance to show versatility, and Dillon’s seemed very similar. Lionel, however, thought it was his best performance yet. Grade: B

My assessment based on the voting shows so far.

Deserving of a spot in the finale: Arthur Gunn, Jonny West

The next three, based on this week’s performances: Julia Gargano, Dillon James, Francisco Martin

Rounding out the Top 7: Just Sam, Louis Knight Jr.

Five singers advance to next week’s competition. I wouldn’t be surprised to see another mid-show cut, like happened the last two years when the third-place finisher was eliminated while the final two kept on competing.

Disclaimer:
Producers, coaches, judges and hosts on American Idol and The Voice will pretend they are hosting a legitimate singing competition over the next few weeks. Having blogged about singing shows for more than a decade, I can assure you they are not.

You cannot go from a Top 20 to a winner in four weeks (American Idol) or a Top 17 to a winner in three weeks (The Voice) and call it a fair and legitimate singing competition.

So have fun watching. Vote if you want. Put very little stock in the results because they will mean virtually nothing.

Most of all, support the singers when their time on the show ends. They deserved a better showcase for their talent.