Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The Top 12 on American Idol, including front row, from left, Kayko, Emmy Russell, Kaibrienne, Jack Blocker, Julia Gagnon, Mia Matthews; back row, from left, Will Moseley, McKenna Breinholt, Jayna Elise, Jayna Elise, Triston Harper, Abi Carter and Roman Collins. (ABC Photo)

On tap for tonight’s American Idol, number one Billboard hits.

And for the occasion, the Idol hopefuls will be mentored by Meghan Trainor.

Sunday night, the Top 14 performed and Nya and Jordan Anthony were eliminated.

Voting will be live again tonight, meaning you have to support your favorites while the show airs.

That means voting via text message, the Idol app or the American Idol website.

Idol Chatter will be providing song by song grades throughout tonight’s show.

See also …
Song by song grades for the Top 14
David Archuleta returns with a very personal new single

Abi Carter, 21, Indio, Calif.. “All Too Well” by Taylor Swift — Abi ended last night’s show with a brilliant performance. She opens tonight’s. Her voice is just so pleasing. That big note was a tad sharp, but it will be criminal if she’s not part of the Top 10. She’s just such a good singer / performer. Grade: B+

Will Moseley, 23, of Hazelhurst, Ga., “Starting Over” by Chris Stapleton — This song and singer are a natural fit. And Will sounds great naturally. Another solid, pro performance from Will. Lionel called it amazing. Will forgot to smile during the song, per Meghan’s advice. But the comments from the judges elicited that smile. He’s another singer Top 10 bound. Grade: B+

Jayna Elise, 22, Washington, D.C., “Diamonds” by Rihanna — Jayne will need to shine bright like a diamond because two saved contestants went home last night and she’s one of the two remaining. Tons of vocal firepower, but she’s another singer who’s not quite matching last night’s performance. I think Jayna has a reason to be worried. Luke called it a solid pro performance. Lionel praised her stage presence. Grade: B

Mia Matthews, 18, Centre, Ala., “Over You” by Miranda Lambert: Not sure about this song choice. It doesn’t seem as natural a fit for Mia’s voice as most of the ones she’s done. Nice ending, but that was a bit of a misfire. I still think she’ll make the Top 10 with no problem. Luke and Lionel both love how much growth Mia has shown. Luke says she’s a budding star. Katy wants just a bit more from Mia. Grade: C+.

Roman Collins, 24, Long Beach, Calif., “Roar” by Katy Perry: Roman intends to do his own slowed down version of Katy’s hit. Meghan calls his version “brave.” Oh, and Roman’s at piano tonight. This is almost a spoken version of the song. Okay, he starts singing for the chorus, then leaves the piano and winds up in a bit of a frenzy. Didn’t really work for me, but it was different. And the crowd loved it, apparently. Lionel called his roaring amazing. Katy called it amazing and said she might need to try that version out on her next tour. Grade: B–

Jack Blocker, 25, Dallas, Texas, “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd: Interesting version of this, turning it into more of a singer-songwriter jam. And it’s working pretty well for me. That backing band could be a tad softer. Jack goes pretty much a cappella for a nice ending. I thought that was one of his better performances. Luke called it really really cool. Lionel loves his unique sound. Grade: B

Emmy Russell, 24, Nashville, Tenn., “Lose You to Love Me” by Selena Gomez: Emmy seemed to be struggling a bit during rehearsal. A great thing about Idol Season 22, there are so many distinctive voices. Emmy is another. Her vocals seem so delicate. But that performance seemed like a bit too flat. Katy liked that fact that it seemed like Kacey Musgraves doing Selena Gomez. Grade: C+

Triston Harper, 15, McIntosh, Alabama, “Beautiful Crazy” by Luke Combs: Triston is dedicating this song to his girlfriend. The cowboy hat and guitar are both back. Triston went from turning in a fun performance last night to a heartfelt performance tonight. He’s heading to the Top 10. With ease. His vocal was especially impressive near the end. The judges, understandably, still seem fixated on his “Heartbreak Hotel” performance from last night and want to see more like that. Grade: B

Julia Gagnon, 21, Cumberland, Maine, “Something in Orange”: Go Julia. Tonight has been short on Idol moments. Julia is delivering one. That was a flat out powerful vocal and performance. Extremely well done. Lionel declares Julia is back in the game. Katy loved the dynamics. I loved the emotion. Easily the best performance of the night so far. Grade: A

Kaibrienne (KB Richins), 20, Henefer, Utah, “Wrecking Ball” by Miley Cyrus: First off, Kaibrienne, thanks for not singing “The Climb.” When they said you were singing, Miley, I’m like, ‘Oh, no, I hate the too often done song.’ Second, this young lady is brilliant at delivering emotion. That started just a bit shaky. But the second half, featuring the ache in Kaibrienne’s voice, was pure magic. The crowd loved it too. And so did the judges. One of my favorite Kaibrienne performances. Grade: A–

McKenna Breinholt, 25, of Gilbert, Ariz., “Cardigan” by Taylor Swift: McKenna is still clearly ill. It really affected her vocals last night, and is doing so again. She just isn’t at full voice. Hopefully, she makes the Top 10 and comes back at full strength next week. She still delivered a nice performance and ending. Katy called it her favorite McKenna performance. Luke called it “so pro, so next level.” Grade: B–

Kayko, 23, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., “Somebody That You Used to Know” by Gotye: Kayko is already calling this his riskiest performance yet. He storms on stage and starts swinging the mic stand around. Halfway through the song, he starts jumping around and working the crowd. His vocal suffers as a result. The crowd doesn’t really seem to care. Lionel proclaimed it “wow, wow, wow.” The judges even rushed the stage to greet him. That would get a C for vocals, but Kayko scores a fun bonus. Grade: B+

And it’s time for results!

Advancing to the Top 10: McKenna, Will, Kayko, Kaibrienne, Mia, Jack, Emmy, Triston, Julia.

That means the elimination of Roman Collins and Jayna Elise.

All four contestants saved by the judges last week have now been eliminated.