Idol Chatter & Voice Views

American Idol’s Top 5 includes (from left) Laine Hardy, Alejandro Aranda, Wade Cota, Madison VanDenburg and Laci Kaye Booth. (ABC Photo)

American Idol hasn’t announced the theme(s) for this week’s semifinals.

But I’ll go ahead and rank the contestants anyway. I’m pretty sure the rankings wouldn’t change, regardless of the theme.

Speaking of which, doesn’t it seem a bit odd that two of this year’s top contestants — Laine Hardy and Laci Kaye Booth — are country-leaning artists, but the 2019 song choices have included so few country songs.

I’m not sure whether Idol is trying to set itself apart from its country heavy rival The Voice or not.

But it strikes me as odd, given the success country singers enjoyed on the show during its time on FOX and Caleb Lee Hutchinson’s second-place finish in Season 16 with a very country-heavy repertoire of songs.

Until I hear otherwise, I’ll assume Sunday will work the same way as Top 5 night did a year ago, when two singers went home and three advanced to the season finale.

And, this week, the judges won’t be able to save anyone.

1. Laine Hardy (1): Chalk up two more solid, self-assured performances from the young man from Louisiana, who talks about being shy behind camera, but seldom looks it on stage. Katy Perry handed him some valuable advice though: Push harder. He’s the front-runner, and he’s been the front-runner for a while. But my guess is that Alejandro isn’t far behind.

2. Laci Kaye Booth (2): Yep, she needed the save last week. And, nope, last week wasn’t her best. But I still think her star appeal and smoky vocals are the show’s biggest find in Season 17. (Remember, Idol discovered Laine in Season 16). Bobby Bones summed up Laci’s biggest problem quite nicely, saying she still seems happy to just be on the stage rather than commanding that stage.

3. Madison VanDenburg (3): I was thrilled to see Madison voted through last week because it’s clear Idol voters are leaning heavily toward the male performers in Season 17. Vocally, I think she’s been the most consistent and impressive of the Top 5. Last week wasn’t her strongest either, but it was nice to see her break out the electric guitar as another reminder that she’s not a Kelly Clarkson clone.

4. Alejandro Aranda (5): His music isn’t my cup of tea, but don’t county Alejandro out. I just check the YouTube performances from Sunday’s show. Alejandro’s original from the show stopper round has been viewed 520,000 times. That’s 200,000 more than any other performance from Top 6 night. And his Jefferson Airplane cover comes in third with 201,000 views. He’s a probable finalist.

5. Wade Cota (6): Post-Top 6 show, the judges admitted they thought Wade might be the contestant in need of a save Sunday night. But he picked two songs well suited to his gruff vocals and his “Through the Valley” cover was one of my favorite Wade performances this season. The flipside: Among last week’s 12 performances, his rank 10th and 12th in terms of views on YouTube.