Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Come Sunday night, country artists Triston Harper and Will Moseley will be singing Adele and songs that make you wanna dance on American Idol. (ABC Photo)

Hey, American Idol, can we talk about the themes for the Top 7 show coming up on Sunday?

I mean, I’m trying to envision the production meeting that led to these decisions.

Let’s start by evaluating the remaining Top 8 at that point.

Let’s see, we’ve got …

* Julia Gagnon, a female belter with incredible range;

* Emmy Russell, an intimate singer-songwriter with a delicate voice;

* McKenna Faith Breinholt, a smoky-voiced singer-songwriter;

* Kaibrienne, a raspy-voiced singer-songwriter who specializes in angst pop;

* Abi Carter, yet another female singer-songwriter with wild vocal ability;

* Jack Blocker, a male singer-songwriter with a folksy bent;

* Triston Harper, a male country singer talented beyond his 15 years;

* Will Moseley, a male country singer in the mold of a younger Chris Stapleton.

“Hmm, so what should we have them sing?

“How about songs that make you want to dance? With Ciara as a mentor?

“How about songs by Adele?

“Wow, sounds great. Let’s do it.”

Huh?

What?

Are you kidding me?

First off, let me say I think American Idol has done a generally wonderful job with Season 22.

I was doubtful the show could match the excitement of the Iam Tongi-fuled Season 21. It has.

Letting contestants sing originals. Getting voters involved early. Getting the top singers in front of fans repeatedly.

I mean, the quality gap between American Idol and The Voice has never been greater. In terms of production and format, The Voice can’t even see, let alone smell, American Idol’s dust.

But the themes for Sunday’s show are sorta baffling. Especially since it was obvious many weeks ago that the finals were going to be packed with country artists and singer-songwriters who are at their best toting a guitar or sitting behind a piano.

One thing is for certain. I don’t look at this cast and think “Footloose.”

And I’ve never been a fan of single artist themes. I mean, Adele has a rich catalogue. But someone is going to get to sing “Set Fire to the Rain” and the rest of the cast isn’t. Someone is going to get to sing “Someone Like You” and the rest of the cast isn’t.

So I’m hoping Idol adopts a liberal interpretation of “songs that make you want to dance.”

Sorta like they did on rock night, when three contestants sang Whitney Houston and Abi got to do her wonderful singer-songwriter bit behind piano.

And I’m counting on a fabulously talented Top 7 to serve up lots of heartfelt emotion during the Adele round. Because the cast is superb, simply superb, at doing that.

This Top 7 just delivered one of the most memorable nights of performances in Idol history.

As one Idol judge used to say, repeatedly, the remaining singers demonstrated that they’re “in it to win it.”

I’m hoping — really, really hoping — Sunday’s themes don’t stand in their way.