Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Layla Spring reacts to performing with Sugarland on American Idol Season 13. (ABC Photo)

Night 1 of the American Idol semifinal round is in the books.

Night 2 will feature celebrity duets, and based on the set list below, we should be in for a night of great music.

Judging from the promo at the end of last night’s episode, it also appears we might get some results at the end of tonight’s episode.

If that’s the case, I’ll go on the record right now with this opinion: Regardless of what happens in the duets, Gabby Barrett, Cade Foehner and Catie Turner have already done enough on Idol to date to merit spots in the finals.

Oh, and I’d issue this word of caution to Idol producers, who seem hellbent on turning every good-looking guy on the show into a teenage heartthrob.

Pack the front row of the audience with fawning female fans at your own risk.

One of the biggest problems with Idol on FOX was the predictability of the outcome. You knew the cute white guy with the guitar was going to win, regardless of how much more talented the female cast members might be.

And if that happens often enough, it’s tough to take anything that transpires on the Idol stage very seriously, especially when the cute guy who won quickly fades into obscurity after the show.

Here’s a look at the performances we’ll see tonight. I’ll provide song by song grades after the show.

See also …
Song by song grades from Sunday’s show
Most popular performances from Sunday
Photo gallery from Sunday’s show

Catie Turner and Andy Grammer, “Good to Be Alive (Hallelujah)” — Catie might have been nervous, but she never looks like it once she hits the stage. Even better, I thought her vocal was more controlled tonight. There’s no way she will not advance to the finals. Oh, and she’s 613,000 page views and counting on last night’s performance. Grade: B

Cade Foehner and Bishop Briggs, “Never Tear Us Apart” by INXS — That’s a rock version of the well-known rock song, and Cade has his rock voice in full growl, didn’t he? At some point, I’m going to want to hear him slow it down and focus on delivering a more controlled vocal. But for now, I’d say he’s finals bound just like Catie. Grade: B+

Layla Spring and Sugarland, “Stuck Like Glue” — Layla is quite the little performer at age 16. The harmonies were very good between her and Jennifer Nettles. The rap breakdown in the middle of the song was a bit less convincing. Layla’s got a bit of quirkiness to her personality too. She reminds me just a touch of Kellie Picker from Season 5, and that worked out pretty well. Grade: B–

Dominique Posey and Aloe Blacc. “Wake Me Up” — Love the song choice, but that’s a tough order for Dominique — trying to hold his own after Aloe opens the song so brilliantly. For the most part, I think he did it. And I think he did a better job tonight than last. Will it be enough to advance? I’m not so sure. Grade: B–

Brandon Diaz and Luis Fonsi, “Despacito” — Brandon apparently surprised the judges with his ability to sing in Spanish. Hmm, they didn’t have a set list before the taping began? If I was Brandon, I would have let the long hair down. But then Luis showed up and took over the performance for long sections of the song. That’s a danger in these duets. I’m not sure Brandon did enough to advance. Grade: C

Kay Kay Alexis and Pat Monahan, “Drive By” by Train — For her first ever duet, I think it’s safe to say Kay Kay got a song out of her comfort zone and one that wasn’t perfectly suited to her voice. For a first duet, she did a decent job. Bu there was nothing in that performance that screamed: I must advance on American Idol. Grade: C

Trevor McBane and Bishop Briggs, “River” — Did anyone tell Bishop that the idea of these duets was to allow the Idol contestant to show what they can do? We were at the 1:16 mark before Trevor got a solo verse. And when they harmonized, Bishop’s voice cut through like a knife and Trevor’s disappeared. Trevor got to show off his rasp on a couple of occasions, but I’m not sure I’d want my Idol life to depend on that performance. Grade: C–

Michelle Sussett and Luis Fonsi, “I Can’t Make You Love Me” by Bonnie Raitt — I was pretty critical of Michelle’s vocal from Sunday’s show. She did much, much better tonight. The final note was sublime and her harmonies with Luis were spot on. She over embellishes at times, though. If she makes it through, she needs a mentor who provides much more pointed vocal instruction that Bobby Bones gave the contestants this week. Grade: B.

Jonny Brenns and Andy Grammer, “Back Home” — Jonny found the sweet spot in the last 30 seconds of the song, and especially on the song’s final line. But it took a while and a few missteps to reach that point. I’m not liking this duet format as much as I thought I would. Idol is putting amateurs on the stage with professionals. Naturally, they’re not shining bright in the comparison. Nor are they getting many opportunities to shine during each performance. Grade: C+

Dennis Lorenzo and Allen Stone, “Unaware” — Now that was a case of a contestant saying, ‘You’d better put me in the finals, dammit!” Dennis got chastised a tad for not showing off his vocal skills during the solo round. Not a problem during this duet. He unleashed a falsetto interlude that had Lionel Richie jumping from his chair. And with good reason. My favorite contestant vocal of the night so far. Grade: A

Michael Woodward and Pat Monahan, “Angel in Blue Jeans” by Train — Okay, granted, Michael’s exuberance is refreshing. But he seemed a bit too cheerful given the lyrics he was channeling here. There were also some odd vocal choices along the way, or else vocal stumbles, including the opening line he hummed. The judges seemed to love it though. Grade: C+

Gabby Barrett and Sugarland, “Stay” — For as young as she is, Gabby has a lot of experience performing and in the recording studio. It’s showing. She didn’t seem the least bit intimidated about sharing the stage with Jennifer Nettles and Sugarland once she got on stage and she took great advantage of her opportunities to shine during that duet. Something’s wrong with the judges if they don’t advance this young lady. Grade: A–

Based on the last two nights, my picks to advance would be …

No brainers: Gabby Barrett, Cade Foehner, Catie Turner, Dennis Lorenzo

Just making the cut: Layla Spring, Michael Woodard, Trevor McBane

Getting cut: Brandon Diaz, Michelle Sussett, Jonny Brenns, Kay Kay Alexis, Dominique

And the judges decisions:

Advancing: Gabby, Cade, Dennis, Michael, Michelle, Jonny and … Catie

Eliminated: Trevor, Brandon, Kay Kay, Lyla and Dominique