Idol Chatter & Voice Views

And we have a Top 14 on American Idol. With live voting set to begin next Sunday night.

Idol presented 10 more celebrity duets Monday night, on the heels of the first 10 Monday. Those saw Laci Kaye Booth, Ashley Hess, Laine Hardy, Uche, Walker Burroughs, Madison VanDenburg and Riley Thompson advance.

The lucky seven Monday included Wade Cota, Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon, Dimitrius Graham, Eddie Island, Alyssa Raghu, Evelyn Cormier and Alejandro Aranda.

Among the cruelest cuts Monday was Logan Johnson, who I thought delivered one of the night’s best performances. But he’s very similar in style to Dimitrius and Jeremiah, so I understand what the Idol judges were thinking.

Oh, and gotta say, I wasn’t thrilled with the way Idol seemed to go out of its way to set up dream duets for Alejandro Aranda and Evelyn Cormier.

That move seemed to scream: We’re playing favorites with these two.

Wade Cota and LovelytheBand, “Broken” by Lovely the Band — If Wade hadn’t nailed down a spot in the Top 14 in the minds of the judges before taKing the stage, this performance should have done it. He clearly connected with the song, yet had a bit of fun on stage. But it’s those deep, gruff vocals that makes Wade stand out on the show. Neat ending too.

Alejandro Aranda and Ben Harper, “There Will be a Light” by Ben Harper — Alejandro gets to sing with one of his idols too. Like several other members of the Top 20, Alejandro said he’s never performed a duet before. Alejando shows off his great range, and the harmonies here were really fantastic. Smart arrangement allowed Alejandro to show off by opening and closing the song. Really nice.

Dimitrius Graham and Lukas Graham, “Love Someone” by Lukas Graham — The Grahams boy band suggestion was just a joke, but gotta say, these two guys sounded great together. Dimitrius reminded us all over again why he’s one of the best male singers on the show. Pretty nice range, huh? And Lionel made a great point, Dimitrius also exercised nice control over his vocal.

Ryan Hammond and Cynthia Erivo, “Hold on I’m Comin’” by Sam and Dave — Solid vocal by Ryan, and it was nice to see him go upbeat after a steady stream of ballads. The ending, tossing the vocal back and forth, was especially powerful. As for the wardrobe, Ryan isn’t exactly the king of style. And tonight, I found myself wishing the security guard that provided Wade with the coat he wore had a pair of pants Ryan could borrow.

Alyssa Raghu with Julia Michaels, “Issues” by Julia Michaels — This was a great reminder of Alyssa’s vocal ability. The last couple of her performances had been more about proving her improved stage presence to the judges. Not sure Alyssa matched the ache in her duet partner’s vocal, but that was a solid performance, worthy of the Top 14.

Evelyn Cormier and Chris Isaak, “Wicked Game” by Chris Isaak — Not sure it’s fair to have Evelyn repeat her audition song with the original artist of Wicked Game, but that’s what Idol is serving up. Curious Chris isn’t singing with anyone else. Evelyn’s unique vocal tone sets her apart. And it’s probably the reason she’s going to advance tonight. Solid performance, but the judges liked it more than I did.

Jeremiah Harmon and Cynthia Erivo, “Time after Time” by Cyndi Lauper — This song has been done to death on singing shows. Sometimes in very imaginative ways. That might be why this fell a little flat for me. There was a solo interlude from Jeremiah about midway through the song and that glory note at the end to remind us what a great vocalist he is, something he’s proven over and over.

Eddie Island with Lukas Graham, “7 Years” by Lukas Graham — Eddie’s a jokester who shows up for rehearsal with a stuffed dog and says he’s been doing celebrity duets alone in his shower for years. I was a little worried when Eddie skipped onto the stage that he wouldn’t tap into the emotion of the song. He did, at least partly. When the performance ended, I still felt like Eddie was on the bubble in terms of advancing or not.

Logan Johnson and Julia Michaels, “What a Time” by Julia Michaels & Niall Horan — Logan has a nice tone and nice range, but this was a really talented Top 20 on American Idol. And there wasn’t a lot of power in his vocals tonight. The arrangement didn’t do him any favors. We were well into the song before he got a chance to sing a solo part. In other words, an appropriate cut.

Raquel Trinidad and LovelytheBand, “Tiny Dancer” by Elton John — That advice to let her vocal runs run free, not good. Way too many frills in this vocal from Raquel from the word go. At some point, the focus needs to be on the lyrics and the story the song is telling, not on vocal acrobatics. Raquel didn’t sing a single line without a run in it. Not a fan of this performance.