Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Hey, Idol voters, give yourselves a pat on the back.

You did a fabulous job of selecting a top 10 from the Tuesday and Wednesday night performances.

I rated each selection with a thumbs up or a thumbs down.

I gave a grand total of two thumbs down; and one went to Idol for not giving Chase Likens more screen time.

As for the judges selections … well, let’s just say I wasn’t as thrilled.

Erika Van Pelt sure deserved her spot.

But Creighton Fraker had earned a chance to sing again after being impressive throughout the competition.

And there were about four girls sitting on the stools who I would  rather have heard from a second time than Brielle Von Hugel.

Oh, well, the dust has settled, we’ve got a final 13, and here are some early assessments:

Stock rising:   Joshua Ledet and Elise Testone.  Both were brilliant in their show-capping performance this week.  But I wasn’t certain they’d be voted into the top five.  I suspected as least one would need a wild card berth.  I was mistaken.  Which meant America recognized substance over style.

The early favorites:   Phillip Phillips, Colton Dixon and Joshua Ledet.  The latter only because he’s the best pure singer of the trio; the former two because they’re fine singers and musicians.  Folks, there is not going to be a female winner in Season 11 and there might never be until the rules allowing unlimited voting change.  Did you hear the screaming when some of these guys stepped on stage?

Thank you voters:  Hollie Cavanagh got virtually no screen time.  But she’s got a big voice in that little body and, somehow, managed to slip into the finals.  I couldn’t be happier because she appears to have improved ten-fold over a year ago.

Thank you voters #2:  When Jermaine Jones and Eben Franckewitz were standing on stage with one spot on the line, I felt sure cuteness would prevail.  It didn’t.  And it should not have given the way those two performed on Wednesday.

Glad she was rescued:   Erika Van Pelt.   I really didn’t understand what the judges saw in Erika until she poured heart and soul into “Edge of Glory” in the wild card round.  That probably ranked among the best four or five performances from any of the three nights.   Great selection, judges.

Not so glad he was rescued:   I’m not convinced either of Deandre Brackensick’s vocals was  finals worthy.  And, great, now we’ve got another guy for girls to scream over in the finals.

 Shame on Idol:   Chase wasn’t the only one short-changed on Idol this season.  We didn’t get to see nearly enough of Chelsea Sorrell and Haley Johnsen either.   I’m certain both are better than they showed Wednesday night, but voters only had that single performance to judge them on.

Best assessment from Jimmy Iovine:   I wasn’t thrilled that we got to hear Jimmy’s honest assessments of the singers AFTER the voting took place, but he said what needed to be said about Heejun Han, and what will probably need to be repeated again and again.  “This is not American Comedian,” said Jimmy.  “This is American Idol.”

Female finalists:  Jessica Sanchez, Skylar Laine, Shannon Magrane, Elise Testone, Erika Van Pelt, Hollie Cavanagh.

Male finalists: Jeremy Rosado, Deandre Brackensick, Heejun Han, Joshua Ledet, Phillip Phillips, Colton Dixon, Jermaine Jones.

For the wild card grades blog, go here.

And to catch up on some of the semifinals from last year, check out this blog.

I’ll be back tomorrow with photos from Idol’s top 13 party, which is probably going on right now.