Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The Top 10 on American Idol includes, front row (from left) Madison VanDenburg, Laine Hardy, Walker Burroughs, Alyssa Raghu, Laci Kaye Booth; back row, (from left( Wade Cota, Uche, Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon, Alejandro Aranda and Dimitrius Graham. (ABC Photo)

The Top 10 became a Top 8 Sunday on American Idol.

And that Top 8 doesn’t include Uche or Dimitrius Graham.

It does include Alyssa Raghu, Madison VanDenburg and Laci Kaye Booth, the only three female singers on the show.

And it includes Laine Hardy, Alejandro Aranda, Walker Burroughs, Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon and Wade Cota.

The judges have one save per season and could have saved Dimitrius or Uche.

But they decided to hold on to that save, no a bad decision considering that Uche and Dimitrius had landed near the bottom in the fan voting for the second straight week.

Here are song by song grades for tonight’s performances:

Uche, “Eye to Eye” from A Goofy Movie — I’d like to see Uche hang around because he comes on stage with so much energy and performance style. But this is another case where his vocal isn’t matching the performance. In fact, it’s pretty much all over the place. So we have a great performance and a subpar vocal, at least for this Top 10. Grade: C

Laci Kaye Booth, “I See the Light” from Tangled — I’d really like to see Laci go up-tempo one of these weeks. But we’ll have to wait another week for that. Not sure this song is the best match for that sultry rasp of hers. Really nice ending, but that wasn’t one of Laci’s best performances. Lionel, however, says Laci is “on a roll” and she gets great feedback. This young lady does belong in the Top 8. Grade: B

Alejandro Aranda, “Remember Me” from Coco — Alejandro is doing his own arrangement of this song. Alejandro gets a nice reaction from the audience. Kudos to him for taking a risk by changing up a song, a Disney song no less. But again, his vocal isn’t winning me over. The best part for me, was when he momentarily came out of his falsetto. But he has the judges on their feet. Lionel says he embodies “true artistry.” Grade: B–

Alyssa Raghu, “Colors of the Wind” from Pocahontas — Alyssa is showing off nice power and range, but that vocal got away from her a couple of times. She helped her case with a really nice ending that brought the judges to their feet. “Beauty and grace,” proclaims Katy, who saved Alyssa from elimination last week. Grade: B

Wade Cota, “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” from Toy Story — I’m beginning to regret this Disney theme night. This is a fun, but decidely lightweight performance by Wade. Vocally, he tried to do as much as he could with the song, delivering a nice big note toward the end. But he, too, gets great feedback from the judges. Katy says he’s “coming out of his shell.” Grade: B–

Dimitrius Grahm, “You’ll be My Heart” from Tarzan — Dimitrius has to be one of the most nervous contestants tonight after needing a save last week. Dimitrius showed great range and delivered an impressive glory note at the end of that performance. I would have swapped some of those frills for a bit more of an emotional connection, but his performance earns a hug from Katy. Let’s see it that’s enough to propel him into the Top 8. Grade: B

Walker Burroughs, “When She Loved Me” from Toy Story 2 — He said he didn’t think he’d play piano in rehearsals. So, of course, the performance starts with Walker on piano. Walker is turning in a decent vocal, but I’m wondering if the piano is allowing him to connect as well as he would otherwise. The judges stand. Katy said it “was so impressive.” Hmm. I don’t quite get Walker’s appeal. Grade: C

Confession time: I might have watched one Disney movie in the past decade, so these songs just aren’t making much of an impression on me. And because of the theme, this show is too ballad heavy.

Maddie Poppe and Caleb Lee Hutchinson take the stage next. Of course, they weren’t only the Top 2 from Season 16, they’re also girlfriend and boyfriend.

Nice of Idol to invite them back. Wish The Voice would take note and start doing the same.

They performed “A Whole New World” from Aladdin.

Madison VanDenburg, “How Far I’ll Go” from Moana — Okay, three lines in, I can tell you Madison is going to deliver tonight’s best vocal so far tonight. Wow, listen to her voice soar. It helps that she’s singing something upbeat on a night filled with ballads. Damn. Check out that ending note. Wow. Thank you for bringing the show to life, Madison V. Grade: A

Laine Hardy, “Oo-De-Lally” from Robin Hood — Like this song choice by Laine. And he explains that it’s a song his dad loves. Laine keeps taking time out in his performances for guitar solos to show that he’s a musician as well as a singer. And he delivers a nice ending with that winning smile of his. That was a winning performance, one of the most fun performances of the night. He’s a sure bet for the Top 8. Grade: A–

Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon, “Candle on the Water” from Pete’s Dragon — Jeremiah gets to sing last, which is usually an advantage. But on a show with live voting? I don’t like this song choice as much as the last two, but I expect Jeremiah to deliver a fine vocal. He doesn’t disappoint. It wasn’t his best vocal, but he pulled through with the big note at the end. I expect him to hang around. Grade: B