Idol Chatter & Voice Views

American Idol’s remaining Hollywood contestants paired off for duets in Sunday’s pre-taped episode.

Below, I’ve provided song by song grades for the duets Idol aired.

My favorite vocals of the night: Guys — Jay Copeland, Tristen Gressett and Kevin Gullage; Gals — Leah Marlene, Allegra Miles, Morgan Gruber and Nicolina Bozzo.

Leah Marlene and Fritz Hager, “Locked Out of Heaven” by Bruno Mars: This was a nice match by the Idol judges because both have unique vocal tones. Leah was one of the night’s standouts and sounded brilliant from her opening line. Grade: A–

Jordan Chase and Kenedi Anderson, “Lean On Me” by Lee Withers: Well, my stream skipped in the middle of this performance. From what I heard, Jordan performed with way too many frills. Kenedi did too, but showed off the big voice that earned her a platinum ticket. Grade: C+

Allegra Miles and Taylor Fagans, “Locked Out of Heaven” by Bruno Mars: Wow, I’d forgotten what a fabulous tone former Voice standout Allegra has. Unfortunately, as a duet, Allegra and Taylor didn’t mesh that well. Allegra advanced; Taylor didn’t. Grade: C+

HunterGirl and Cole Ritter, “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac: There was a brief a cappella part where this worked really well. Other moments, it didn’t, though HunterGirl showed flashes of the vocal power that made her a platinum ticket recipient. Grade: B–

Sam Moss and Haley Slaton, “Dancing on My Own” by Calum Scott: Yep, Idol paired up the two moms-to-be. Haley was eight months pregnant at Hollywood Week; Sam was four months into her pregnancy. This performance was solid, but not very flashy and that is likely why Haley failed to advance. Sam showed great range on one line. Grade: B

Jay Copeland and Morgan Gruber, “Shallow” by Lady Gage: Absolutely two of my favorite voices on the show. And they sounded great together. Easily one of the best performances of the night. They also delivered it with emotion. Grade: A

Olivia Faye and Noah Thompson, “July” by Noah Cyrus: They switched songs midway through rehearsals and hit a couple of clunkers during the performance. But both displayed really nice country tones, especially Noah. Grade: B–

Cameron Whitcomb and Tristan Gressett, “Have You Ever Seen the Rain”: Love Tristan’s voice, love his flair for performance and the way he puts his own spin on a song. He belongs in the Top 12 or Top 10 of however many Idol lets into the finals this year. I’m not as enamored with Cameron’s vocals. Grade: B+

Kevin Gullage and Yoli Mayor, “Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better”: Another professional level performance from Kevin, and Yoli held up her end too. You can tell both are experienced performers. Grade: A

Scarlet Ayliz and Douglas Mills Jr., “Rewrite the Stars” from The Greatest Showman: After much drama, they took the stage and sounded very good, even if Douglas still struggled with the song’s lyrics. Scarlet might be one of Season 20’s best female pop singers. Grade: B

Cadence Baker and Cole Hallman, “How Sweet It Is to Be Loved by You”: They deserve credit for trying to make the song their own. But that duet didn’t work for me. Cadence advanced; Cole headed home. Grade: C

Christian Guardino and Nicolina Bozzo, “The Prayer”: They sounded great together, singing with emotion and power. Nicolina has been brilliant in every round and is quickly becoming a Season 21 favorite, platinum ticket or not. Grade: A

Kelsie Dolin and Betty Maxwell, “Just Give Me a Reason” by Pink: Hey, Betty sounded really, really good on this. Especially on those opening lines. She carried the performance. Kelsie sounded pretty good too, but it should be clear that she’s going to struggle with the competition aspect of the show if she advances much farther. Grade: B