Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Wednesday night, the American Idol judges completed half of what they call their most difficult job.

That would be deciding who advances to the semifinals and who heads home after advancing this deep into the competition.

Last night, we learned the identity of seven gals who made the cut: Adanna Duru, Jax, Loren Lott, Lovey James, Maddie Walker, Shannon Berthiaume and Tyanna Jones.

That leaves just five spots to fill. Among the contestants we’ve become familiar with who are vying for those spots: Shi Scott, Joey Cook, Emily Brooke, Maddy Hudson (who has pretty much gone MIA since the audition round), Piper Jones and Alexis Gomez. At least one of them won’t make the cut.

Last night, we learned the identity of five guys who made the cut: Adam Ezegelian, Clark Beckham, Daniel Seavey (somehow), Michael Simeon and Rayvon Owen.

Among the familiar faces waiting to learn their fate: former Voice contestant Mark Andrew, Hollywood Anderson, Trevor Douglas, Savion Wright, Riley Bria, Quentin Alexander and Qaasim Middleton. If Qaasim is still around. Idol hasn’t exactly done a great job of letting us know who advanced to the House of Blues round and who didn’t.

Hollywood Anderson: His final performance in Las Vegas wasn’t all that impressive. And Hollywood doesn’t quite make it to the semifinals.

Joey Cook: She’s back playing the ukulele, and she sounds really good singing “Sweet Pea” with that unique voice of hers. I would put her through, but she was occasionally shaky in Hollywood. And, yep, Joey makes the semifinals.

Katherine Winston: Here’s another young lady I’d put through based on the original material I’ve heard from her. She sang “Rhiannon” at the House of Blues. Not sure that was strong enough to do the trick. Nice choice, judges. Katherine advances.

Maddy Hudson: Once upon a time, the judges said she could win Idol. But we’ve seen precious little of her since then. She sang “Diamonds” in Vegas, and the snippet we heard wasn’t special. Maddy says it’s not her time right now, but her time will come.

Quentin Alexander: He sang a little-known song at the House of Blues, but sounded just fine and breezes into the semifinals. He’s the sixth guy to move forward.

Alexis Gomez: The country gal added some Spanish lyrics to “Better Dig Two. It’ll be interesting to see what the judges do. And Alexis moves forward.

Savion Wright: He made it to this point in the competition last year and was turned away. He sang John Mayer’s “I Don’t Trust Myself.” It wasn’t his best performance, but he moves forward, and goes a little crazy over the news.

Mark Andrew: Here’s the guy from the Voice. He’s 29 and in his last year of eligibility for Idol. He sang “Take Me to Church” at the House of Blues. That performance wasn’t his best, but he should advance. And he’s in the semifinals.

Trevor Douglas: Hold it, he sang “Burning Love” by Elvis for the House of Blues round. Give the guy this, he has no fear once he hits the stage. He’s through as well.

Emily Brooke: She sang “Stupid Boy” at the House of Blues. Yikes. That wasn’t a great vocal. And Emily does not advance.

Nick Fradiani: He’s another guy in his last year of Idol eligibility. He sang “Drops of Jupiter” — very well — at the House of Blues. Count another guy who’s semifinals bound.

Sarina Joi-Crowe: She’s singing “Big White Room,” and she’s singing it very well. She’s also an Idol vet, having tried out at least three times previously. And she moves forward. Well deserved.

Qaasim Middleton: OK, he certainly cut loose with the energy on the House of Blues stage. And he moves forward. I might have passed on Qaasim.

So next, Idol takes Riley Bria and Ricky Dale Hendricks into the judgment room at the same time. One of the young country singers will advance, one will head home. Ricky Dale sang ‘Don’t Close Your Eyes” at House of Blues. Riley sounded a bit better, however. And Riley advances.

Jelly Joseph and Shi Scott: Jelly belted it out on the House of Blues stage. Then again, so did Shi. Only one will advance. And Shi advances.