Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The Top 10 take the stage tonight at the finals begin for American Idol Season 15.

And as the countdown begins toward the crowning of the final Idol, the original Idol will return to lend a hand.

Kelly Clarkson won’t only perform on tonight’s show; she’ll also serve as a guest judge.

Here’s betting she won’t get the goosies. Here’s betting she’ll prove a pretty adept judge of talent.

Oh, and don’t be surprised if she gushes over La’Porsha Renae. A couple weeks ago, Kelly tweeted that La’Porsha should win Season 15.

Sounds like we might find out who else made the Top 10 right away, which would be a great way to handle it.

Advancing to the Top 10 along with Dalton Rapattoni, La’Porsha Renae, Olivia Rox and Trent Harmon are …

1. Tristan McIntosh
2. Sonika Vaid
3. Gianna Isabella
4. MacKenzie Bourg
5. Avalon Young
6. Lee Jean

That means Jenn Blosil, Jeneve Rose Mitchell, Manny Torres and Thomas Stringfellow head home on American Idol.

And now Kelly, calling herself “slightly knocked up,” joins Harry, Jennifer and Keith at the judging table.

Now, down to the performances …

Olivia Rox: After that opening, I expected her to sing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” Insteady, she’ll tackle “Unconditionally” by Katy Perry. The former might ha ve sounded better, because that opening verse was very weak vocally. You could barely hear Olivia. She seems to be really struggling vocally. Either that or the Idol sound mix is messed up. Keith calls it the perfect song choice. Jennifer calls it “so beautiful.” Kelly also compliments the performance. Harry says he loved it. OK, the judges liked that much more than I did. Grade: C+

Gianna Isabella: The teen confesses to having a crush on Scotty McCreery back in Season 10. She’ll sing “Listen” by Beyonce. Gianna shows off her big voice again, and she delivered a nice ending. In between, she strayed off pitch. And didn’t seem very emotionally connected in what came across as another pageant-tpe performance. Jennifer Lopez called that pretty shaky. Kelly tells her to just let go and not focus so much on being technically perfect. Harry says it felt too rehearsed. Grade: C–

Lee Jean: He’ll sing “Skinny Love.” Let’s hope the performances get stronger tonight. Because he’s struggling mightily early in this cover. I think it’s a case of his nerves showing through. He does seem to find his footing a little more as the song goes on, but that was another lackluster effort. Kelly calls him so talented and likes the fact that his music is “easy and chill.” Harry says he needs to concentrate on pitch. Translation: That was pitchy. Keith says he needs to pick a song that shows vulnerability and emotion. Jennifer encourages him to do the same. She wants his performances to be more impactful. Grade: C.

Avalon Young: She’ll sing “Sitches.” And for the first time tonight, a singer got through the first verse without showing a severe case of nerves or pitch problems. Not sure I love Avalon’s voice on this song though. Interesting. Certainly the best so far. Harry likes her “cool vibe” but says the performance fell flat for him. Keith actually says he thought she was too nervous in the opening. Jennifer didn’t think it was the right song for her. Kelly Clarkson says Avalon is captivating and makes her love whatever she sings. Grade: C+

Dalton Rapattoni: He points to Chris Daughtry and David Cook as the Idols who have inspired him. He said he especially liked what David did in terms of changing up arrangements of songs. Dalton is going to sing “Hey, There Delilah.” And he’s picked up the song’s tempo. He’s also delivering easily the best performance of the night. Still not sure Dalton has the best voice on the show. But he turned in a high-energy, confident performance. Jennifer likes his heart. Keith likes the fact that he switched up the arrangement. Kelly enjoys the comfort he shows on stage. Harry likes the job he’s done flipping arrangements. Grade: A–

Tristan McIntosh: She says Jessica Sanchez was her inspiration. And she wants to prove she’s not too young to win. She’s going to sing “Nothin’ Like You.” And the vocal is shaky from the word go. Tristan’s a lovely girl with a good voice, she just needed more experience before she stepped onto a stage this big. Jennifer didn’t think it was her strongest performance. Kelly wants her to sing a song that brings out her emotion. Harry notes that Tristan tried to command the stage and lost control of the vocals in the process. Keith says she needs to watch her pitch. Translation: That wasn’t good. Grade: C–

MacKenzie Bourg: He’s sing “I See Fire.” And he starts a cappella. Nice opening, MacKenzie. Not sure it’s turning into his best vocal. But he’s miles ahead of the younger contestants in terms of artistry. That was also a heartfelt performance. Kelly likes the fact that MacKenzie already knows who he is as an artist. She says it’s the first time her unborn son has kicked all night. Keith liked the way he pulled people into the performance. MacKenzie gets well-deserved high marks form all the judges. Grade: B

La’Porsha Renae: She’ll sing “Diamonds” by Rihanna. Like the look much better than the Tina Turner get-up for her last solo performance. I don’t think there’s any doubt she’s the most gifted vocalist in Season 10. It isn’t even a contest. And she’s going to serve up another wonderful reminder of that on this song. That has three of the four judges on their feet. And, of course, we get the weekly shot of La’Porsha’s baby. The audience response brings tears to La’Porsha’s eyes. Kelly says if La’Porsha doesn’t win she “doesn’t understand.” Jennifer praises her control. Keith calls the performance “beautiful.” Grade: A+

Sonika Vaid: She’s going to tackle “Bring Me to Life.” Love the outfit. Love the voice, though following La’Porsha to the stage is no small task. To Sonika’s credit, she’s not attempting another big belty ballad. She’s showing more command of the stage and more reckless abandon than we’ve seen from her. Not to mention a heck of a closing glory note. Keith calls it a killer song choice and loved the drama. Jennifer calls her “dangerous” because she has such an amazing voice. Kelly says Sonika is never pitchy. Harry thought it was great too. Grade: A

Trent Harmon: He says Idol made him want to be a singer. He’s singing “Like I Can” by Sam Smith. You can tell already, Trent is going to deliver another solid performance. So if we could fast forward to a Top 6 of Avalon, Sonika, La’Porsha, MacKenzie, Trent and Dalton, this could be special. Let’s just hope that’s the Top 6. All that said, Trent made some choices in arrangement there that didn’t work quite as well as they could have. Jennifer calls his voice “so unique.” Kelly encourages Trent to use more falsetto. Harry calls his performance “fantastic.” Grade: B–