Idol Chatter & Voice Views

You’d think given the challenge of writing a love song would have been a snap for Platinum Hit’s resident lovebirds.

It wasn’t.

Johnny Marnell’s streak of writing a winning hook, then helping turn it into a winning song ended at two weeks.

And Jes Hudak wrote a song about Johnny and nearly got eliminated from the competition.

Instead, Melissa Rapp, a 32-year-old from Honolulu, got the boot. Melissa specialized in … well, I’m not sure what genre was her forte. She seemed to contribute so little over the first five weeks of the show, it’s a miracle she lasted as long as she did.

And then seven songwriters remained, including Scotty Granger, creative director for Jordin Sparks; and former Idol contestant Jackie Tohn, who managed to avoid the hot seat after being on the verge of elimination two straight weeks.

Instead, that fate fell to Jes and Melissa. You had to feel for Jes. She’d written a personal song only to have it labeled “amateurish” by head judge Kara DioGuardi.

In her defense, she was sick for most of this week’s song-writing session. And got precious little help from Melissa, who probably helped seal her own fate by getting lippy with Kara.

Among the week five highlights:

• Sonyae Elise wrote another winning hook and turned “Love Me to Life” into the winning song with the help of Scotty and Brian Judah. Guest judge Ryan Tedder pronounced the song good enough to pitch to an A-list artist. Sonyae’s reward: She can’t be eliminated next week. The girl’s on a roll.
• Speaking of being on a roll, that’s four straight winning songs for Scotty Granger, whom Sonyae dubbed her “melody master.” Whoever he teams up with, Scotty seems to find a way to make it work.
• Nick Nittoli and Jackie Tohn wound up on the same team, and both lived to write another song. Oh, Nick complained that every thought that pops into Jackie’s head “winds up coming out her mouth.” And he probably blamed her for the fact that his winning hook didn’t produce a winning song. As for Jackie, she was strangely silent about working with Nick. At least on camera.

If I had to pick the strongest contestants, the list would still include Sonyae, Nick, Scotty and Johnny, which means I don’t expect Jackie to hang on much longer.

Next week, it appears our remaining songwriters will be performing on a street corner.

Which prompted Sonyae to proclaim that she’s glad to have the assurance that she’ll be around for at least another week.

Editor’s Note: Platinum Hit airs 10 p.m. Mondays on Bravo.