Idol Chatter & Voice Views

So, you’ve lost track of who’s gone and who’s still around on American Idol.

Let’s see if I can help out.

From the Savannah show, tent girl Amy Brumfield and NBC dancer Brittany Kerr are gone. Young phenom David Leathers Jr. is still with us, along with the brother-sister team of Colton and Schyler Dixon. P.S.: Brittany is promising to post music next week since we didn’t get to hear her sing much on Idol. Go, Brittany!

From the Pittsburgh show, we’ve lost Sam Novacek, the gal with the planking sister. Young phenom Eben Frankewitz is still around, along with Baltimore’s Hallie Day and Heejun Han and his wry sense of humor.

From the Aspen show, we’ve lost Jenni Schick, the gal who kissed Steven Tyler because he was on her “I can kiss him and it’s not considered cheating list.” “Crazy cowboy” Richie Lawson somehow survived the shakiest of group performances.

From San Diego, the daughter of Jim Carrey got the boot, as did the contestant known as “Wolf.” But Aubree Dieckmeyer, the girl who wanted to be America’s Next Top Model, is in Vegas. So is single mom Ashley Robles.

From Galveston, Idol said goodbye to Ramiro Garcia, the guy who would never be able to talk because of birth defects, according to doctors. County lass Baylie Brown with the star’s name and the pretty smile is still around.

From Portland, we lost Brittany Zika, the young lady inspired by Sara Bareilles. But we still have Jessica Phillips, the gal whose fiance had the devastating stroke. And Lancaster’s Naomi Gillies, though you wouldn’t know it from watching the show.

Feel all caught up? If not, here’s a list of the 70 contestants still around. And I’d suggest we lobby Nigel Lythgoe to post videos of the group performances and final solo performances for every one.

Speaking of Nigel, he was on Twitter this morning, pimping tonight’s show, which he directed.

He suggested we keep our eyes and ears open for a performance of “I Guess It Doesn’t Matter” by Deandre Brackensick, Candice Glover and Jessica Sanchez — three contestants we haven’t met.

He also said we’ll see fine performances of “Sealed with a Kiss,” “I Only Have Eyes for You” and “The Night Has a Thousand Eyes.”

Oh, and he doesn’t agree with a lot of the judges’ cuts.

The contestants have been broken into groups of three or four and will be performing songs from the 1950s or 1960s. Follow along. I’ll grade each performance as it occurs.

Day One

Cari Quoyeser, Chase Likens, Colton Dixon, Skylar Laine:  This quartet is doing very well. Skylar has a distinctive voice. And I’ve listened to enough of Cari’s original music to know she’s quite talented. Colton is undoubtedly semifinals bound. Great opening to the show. Huh? They cut Cari? Gal has some very impressive original music. Check it out here.  The rest of the group advances. Grade: B

Gabi Carrubba, David Leathers Jr., Ariel Sprague, Jeremy Rosado:  Here comes a talented quartet singing Rockin’ Robin.  These gals are slaying this song.  We met Gabi in Savannah. But shame on Idol for keeping Ariel under wraps until last night.  Still think David looks like he belongs on America’s Most Talented Kids, but he’s pretty good.  All four advance. Grade: B+

Angie Zeiderman, Adam Brock, Erika Van Pelt, Shelby Tweten:  They’ll sing “Great Balls of Fire.”  Adam calls himself  white chocolate. Interesting performance. Shelby didn’t sound as good as the other three. Not sure Angie is Idol material, but she’s quite the performer, isn’t she.  Adam and Erika both have big voices. They all advance as well.  Grade: B-.

Brielle Von Hugel, Schyler Dixon, Molly Hunt:  They’ll perform “Why Do Fools Fall in Love?”  Their harmonies are really good.  But wish we had heard more of them singing alone. I’m not sure we heard Molly sing alone at all. Schyler sounded just OK.  Steven says Molly’s individual vocals were a little hurting — wouldn’t know, we didn’t hear her. The other two advance. Grade: B-

Also heading home, Wayne Wilson, Ashley Robles, Stephanie Renae, Aubree Dieckmeyer, Tenna Torres, Janelle Arthur.

Haley Johnson, Elise Testone, Eben Franckewitz, Reed Grimm:  Still not sold on Reed the singer.  He’s getting by on character, not vocals. Now we hear from Haley Johnson.  For the first time?  I think so. Why?  Only Idol knows. Not keen on the vocals from Eben. He’s young and cute, and will probably get by on that.  Not sure that was a great as the judges made it out to be.  But they all advance, predictably.  I would have jettisoned Reed and Eben.  Grade: C+

Richie Lawson, Jermaine Jones:  Looks like MIT gave the “crazy cowboy” the boot.  Heejun might have apologized, but he’s still cracking jokes about Richie. Jermaine actually opens the song sounding pretty well.  Richie, not so good.  The harmonies: Ouch!  I’d keep Jermaine, who sounded great, and kick Richie to the curb.  Instead, they both advance.  Grade: C

Hallie Day, Baylie Brown and Chelsea Sorrell advance. From the same group. Who knows?  But I wish we could hear more than a couple of notes from these ladies.  Hallie sounds like the real deal, but has been seldom seen.  Baylie looks the part, but we see her smiling more than singing.

Candice Glover, Deandre Brackensick, Jessica Sanchez:  Oh, no, this isn’t going well.  Jessica starts by oversinging. Not thrilled with Deandre’s opening vocal. But you know what, they seem to find their groove as the song goes along. Jessica just sang again and was great. Candice has a fine big voice. They turned what looked like it might be a train wreck into a strong performance. And all three of them are advancing, too.  Grade: B.

Day Two

Clayton Farhat, Scott Dangerfield, Adam Decker, Curtis Gray:  Hark, a Scott Dangerfield sighting. One of the group doesn’t think Elvis ever performed “Jailhouse Rock.”  Not sure about that performance. The best part was the end when they all came back together.  Good point by Jennifer.  That was full throttle from start to finish.  The judges keep everyone but Curtis.  That’s got to be tough, being the only member of a group not to advance.  Grade: C+

Caleb Johnson, Joshua Sanders, River St. James, Blaire Sieber:  They all advance in a performance we saw too little of to grade. But they all advance.

Shannon Magrane, Joshua Ledet, Curtis Finch, Amber Holcomb:  They sing “Blue Suede Shoes” in another performance cut too short. But you could tell Joshua was fantastic. Joshua and Shannon advance; Curtis and Amber don’t.  Hmm.  I don’t think we got to hear Amber sing a single note. No grade. Too small a snippet.

Jessica Phillips, Britnee Kellogg, Courtney Williams:  They all sing professionally, so they decided to skip practicing with the band. Wise move, gals. You can keep Courtney, very overdone. I’ve never been all the impressed with Jessica.  Britnee sounded the best to me.  Britnee advances.  Courtney does as well.  Jessica doesn’t.  Maybe they listened to the R-rated rap songs she’s done and thought they’d be an embarrassment to Idol.  Well, Jessica didn’t take that cut very well, did she?  Good luck on the pursuit of that record deal.  Grade: C.

Mathenee Treco, Wendy Taylor, Lauren Gray:  Whoa!  Fabulous opening Lauren Gray.  For the first time I hear what the judges hear in your voice.  Wendy Taylor has a big voice, too.  It’s the first time we’ve heard her.  I’m not a big fan of Mathenee. And the gals advance, but Mathenee doesn’t.  Grade: B

Heejun Han, Deneco Starr, Jairon Jackson, Phillip Phillips:  These guys look natural together.  Deneco and Phillip sound especially good.  And it’s good to hear Phillip sound so well when he’s not playing together.  A very, very solid performance. One of the best of the night.  And they all advance, naturally. Grade: B+

Creighton Fraker, Jen Hirsh, Nick Boddington, Aaron Marcellus:  Fantastic opening by this group. Not sold on Nick’s voice. I’m sold on Creighton.  And Jen. Overall, very well done. Especially the harmonies. And everyone but Nick advances.  All in all, though, one of the better performances.  Grade: B.

And now come more cuts.

* Gabi Carrubba gets cut, Ariel Sprague, David Leathers and Jeremy Rosado advance.

* Colton Dixon, Skylar Laine and Chase Likens make it through.

* Skylar Dixon gets cut; Brielle Von Hugel advances.

* Angie Zeiderman gets cut. So do Jairon Jackson, Candice Glover, Britnee Kellogg and Johnny Keyser.

* Hey, look at that. Naomi Gillies and Hollie Cavanagh advance.

* So do Baylie Brown, Chelsea Sorrell, Wendy Taylor, Hallie Day, Shannon Magrane, Deandre Brackensick, Reed Grimm, Heejun Han, Richie Lawson, Jermaine Jones, Latia Lee, Adam Brock, Erika Van Pelt, Shelby Tweten, Deneco Starr, Phillip Phillips, Lauren Gray, Jen Hirsh, Creighton Fraker, Shannon Magrane, Aaron Marcellus, Joshua Ledet, Eben Franckewitz, Elise Testone and Haley Johnson.