Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The Top 10 take the stage Sunday for Disney Night on American Idol.

But the night’s only going to have a happy ending for three of those singers, because the other three will be eliminated at the end of the evening.

The night’s first order of business will be revealing the winner of the 10th spot in the Top 10 — the top vote-getter from Idol’s Comeback Special.

Ten Top 20 contestants from Season 18 competed for that spot two weeks ago. The winner should be Makayla Phillips. The more likely winner will be Alex Gunn, Season 18’s runner-up. Or Louis Knight, who finished Top 7 last spring.

I’ll be doling out song by song grades throughout the show, so check back for those.

See also …
Ranking the Top 9 on American Idol
Song by song grades for the Top 12 (with videos)
Song by song grades for the Comeback Special (with videos)

And the Comeback Special winner is … oh, big surprise … Arthur Gunn. The runner-up from Season 18.

Just what Season 19 needed, another male singer-songwriter. Who in Idol land thought if would be a good idea to let last year’s runner-up compete this year.

Maybe he’ll win. Maybe this gimmick will blow up in Idol’s face. Maybe people will tune out because of it.

If so, it’s exactly what the show deserves!

Caleb Kennedy, “Real Gone” from Cars — Caleb says he’s going to be more of a performer this week. I thought he promised not to wear the hat down over his eyes. Well, so much for that. Wow, Caleb’s getting a lot of help from backing vocalists on this, isn’t he? I’m not a fan of Caleb’s. I don’t think he belonged in the Top 24, let alone the Top 10. But he sounded pretty good on that last verse. Grade: C+

Willie Spence, “Circle of Life” from The Lion King –- The sound mix was horrible at the start of this, drowning out Willie’s considerable voice. Fortunately, it got better. I’m not thrilled with all the background vocals so far tonight. I want to hear what the potential Idols can do. Not what they can do with a choir behind them. Decent performance and nice ending for Willie. Grade: B

Deshawn Goncalves, “When You Wish Upon a Star” from Pinocchio –- Between the pink jacket and the arrangement, this is coming off a little cruise ship cheesy. That said, I think Deshawn vocals are underappreciated on a show where the judges are constantly raving over Willie Spence’s vocal magic. That was every big as good of a vocal. Grade: B

Casey Bishop, “When She Loved Me” from Toy Story 2 — Casey’s Idol’s Season 19 rocker chick. But this marks her second straight ballad. I see what John Stamos means about sweet spots in her voice. She’s hit a couple of pitch problems, but I’m more impressed with this vocal than her performance of “Over the Rainbow.” Nice job. Grade: B+

Chayce Beckham, “Baby Mine” from Dumbo –- Hold, it, this is a Disney song? Never would have known it from that version from Clark. Loved his raspy vocals on it. Like John Stamos said, he makes everything he sings sound like a Chayce Beckham song. He delivered a couple of nice vocal moments too. Grade: A–

Alyssa Wray, “A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes” from Cinderella –- Alyssa certainly looks like a Disney princess tonight. Loved the first verse. Not so thrilled with the long humming interlude. But then Alyssa brought the performance home by show off those big vocals of hers. The glory note sounded a bit shouty, but nice job overall. Grade: B.

Arthur Gunn, “Remember Me” from Coco –- Arthur’s doing just what Chayce Beckham did, putting his own stamp on a Disney song. And it’s working. He promised a more hopeful version of the song, and he’s delivering. I really like this arrangement, and it’s the first time the background singers have seemed like an addition rather than a crutch for the artist. Really nice. Grade: A–

Cassandra Coleman, “Go the Distance” from Hercules — Cassandra says she relates this song to her Idol experience as someone who has struggled with her confidence and is convincing herself she’s where she belongs. Cassandra has an absolutely lovely voice, but I’m not likely the match of tha voice and this song. Grade: B–

Hunter Metts, “You’ll Be In My Heart” from Tarzan — Hunter says this is his mom’s favorite song. We’re seeing some fine male singer-songwriter performances tonight. Hunter’s delivering another. I’m not sure this is as good as “Falling Slowly,” though, even with the lyric flub that night. No lyric flub this time. Grade: B+

Grace Kinstler, “Into the Unknown” from Frozen II — Grace is relating her song choice to her Idol experience too. Interesting that the pimp spot was long coveted on Idol. But on a live show, it doesn’t allow a lot of time for a voting surge. Grace continues to impress me with her versatility. And she’s certainly delivering the night’s big vocal. Not in love with the song, but wow, what vocal firepower. Grade: A–

And, now, it’s time for results.

Advancing to the Top 7 on American Idol:

* Chayce Beckham
* Casey Bishop
* Willie Spence
* Hunter Metts
* Caleb Kennedy
* Grace Kinstler
* Arthur Gunn

That means the elimination of:

* Deshawn Goncalves
* Cassandra Coleman
* Alyssa Wray