Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The American Idol Top 7 with Luke Bryan. (ABC Photo)

I’ve never been a fan of single artist theme nights on American Idol.

But if you’re going to have one, I can’t think of an artist better to cover than Taylor Swift.

She’s had country hits. She’s had pop hits. She’s a singer-songwriter supreme. So if that’s you’re style, you’re in luck.

That is, if you can pull it off.

We’ll find out which members of American Idol’s Top 7 can pull it off tonight as two more artists head home at the end of the evening.

That will leave us with a Top 5 and just two weeks of Idol left in Season 24.

I’ll be providing song by song grades throughout the evening, so feel free to follow along.

See also …
Ranking the Top 7 on American Idol
Song by song grades for the Top 9 on American Idol
Last week’s most popular Idol performances

Jordan McCullough, 27, Murfreesboro, Tenn., “Tim McGraw”: Lionel Richie compliments Jordan for putting the barbeque sauce on “Tim McGraw.” Here’s the thing, I’m not sure that’s a song the barbeque sauce works on. In fact, that was Jordan’s weakest performance in weeks. Of course, Jordan’s weakest is as good as lots of singers’ best. Jordan admits he wasn’t familiar with the song before he decided to sing it. I was surprised that’s the Taylor song he chose to sing. Grade: B

Chris Tungseth, 27, Fergus Falls, Minn., “Exile”: Chris got the message. Lots of Taylor songs are more about emotion and story-telling than belting, this one included. I actually thought his tender vocals worked very well on this song. The only problem was, I kept thinking about Taylor’s amazing vocal on the same song. Luke Bryan loved the way Chris locked in on that performance. Grade: B+

Hannah Harper, 25, Willow Springs, Missouri, “Mean”: Why? Why? Why? With all the great ballads Taylor has released, Hannah sings “Mean?” It could have worked, had Hannah had lots more fun with it. Which would have required 100 percent more attitude and spiteful happiness as she performed the song. She didn’t deliver that, so we’re left with a fine vocal that fell way short of creating an Idol moment on a theme that should have been a fastball down the middle of the plate for Hannah.. Grade: C+

Brooks Rosser, 22, Bel Air, Md., “Love Story”: Look at that, Brooks found a Taylor Swift that his voice sounded great on. The judges are trying to get him to relax more. They’re pushing him to perform with a bit more gusto. Odd timing, in my mind. And, hey, judges, you’re the ones who decided Brooks was ready, cutting lots of singers that were better performers in the process. This, actually, was my favorite Brooks performance in weeks because it was a very smart song choice on Brooks’ part. And I liked the idea of singing a small portion a cappella to remind us how special his voice is. Grade B

Daniel Stallworth, 27, Moss Point, Mississippi, “Fearless”: Kudos to Daniel for his stage presence and the enthusiasm he delivered on that performane. I figured the theme might be a challenge for Daniel, and that wound up being the case. Let’s just say that isn’t a version of “Fearless” I’ll be listening to again. Don’t judge Daniel on that performance alone. He’s a heck of a singer and performer. Grade: B–

Keyla Richardson, 29, Pensacola, Fla., “Lover”: The coaches are giving Keyla rave reviews for that performance. I’m wondering where the hell Idol’s vocal coaches were this week? Taylor’s music is about story-telling and emotion, not belting and big notes. Keyla belted and delivered big notes, and it didn’t work for me. She skipped the emotion. That said, here’s betting she stuns in round two. Grade: C+

Braden Rumfelt, 22, Murphy, N.C., “Cardigan”: Give the Taylor Swift round to Braden. He understood, delivering a wonderful combination of vocals and emotional and sincerity. That was easily one of my favorite Braden performances. Braden said he didn’t know the song prior to getting the Taylor Swift assignment. Lionel loved his conviction to that performance. Grade: A–