Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The American Idol Top 12 of (front row, from right) Slater Nalley, Breanna Nix, Thunderstorm Artis, Mattie Pruitt, Gabby Samone, Canaan James Hill; (back row from left) Jamal Roberts, Che Chesterman, Josh King, Kolbi Jordan, Filo and John Foster (ABC Photo)

The American Idol Top 12 take the stage tonight with former champ Fantasia serving as guest mentor.

They’ll be performing songs based on iconic Idol moments.

Does that mean Kolbi Jordan or Gabby Samone will sit center stage and try to wring passion out of “Summertime” like Fantasia did so splendidly more than 20 years ago?

I hope not. I’d prefer to see this group create their own Idol moments rather than emulating ones from the past. We’ll find out tonight just how this theme will play out.

Meanwhile, what’s up with the Idol coaches. They seemed to want bigger and bigger and louder and louder performances this season.

Could they please spend an episode reminding the cast to sing with more emotion and less volume, more passion and less frills?

Anyway, vote, vote, vote once the show starts at 8 p.m. Two singers will head home at the end of this evening’s show.

I’ll be posting song by song grades. But for the first time this season, I won’t be posting until after the show ends. So please check back for those.

See also …
Song by song grades for the Top 14
Photo gallery of the Top 14
A look back at 2 iconic Idol moments
Ranking the Top 14 on American Idol

Slater Nalley, 17, Atlanta, Ga., “Angel from Montgomery” (Megan Danielle): Slater closed last night’s show, then came back to open tonight and did both in fine fashion. Placing a cowboy hat atop his head, he picked a song well-suited to his deep vocals. Really nice ending too. Solid way to start the night. Grade: B+

Che Chestermam, 28, Essex, England,: “Dancing on My Own” (Colin Stough): Che said his goal with this song choice was to seem more current. Not sure it worked because I thought this was one of his weaker recent vocals and one that could land him in trouble at the end of the night. Grade: C+

Thunderstorm Artis, 29, Nashville, Tenn., “House of the Rising Sun” (Haley Reinhart): This song? Again? That would be my reaction if just about anyone but Thunderstorm was singing it. With Thunderstorm, yiou know you’re going to get an impassioned and impecable vocal. This guy is just making it look too easy. And he places the guitar by his side to take a stroll out into the crowd. I don’t think he’s done that before. Grade: A

Kolbi Jordan, 26, Tulsa, Okla.. “Over the Rainbow” (Katherine McPhee): Did you hear how strong and lovely Kolbi’s voice sounded on that opening? Heck, on the first 45 seconds of the song? I’d love to hear her do an entire song like that. But she couldn’t stick to the script, instead inserting all sorts of vocal acrobatics at the 1-minute mark. To her credit, she came back down for a soft landing. Cut half the frills in the middle of the performance and I would have liked that a lot better. Grade: B–

Filo, 23, Dublin, Calif., “And I’m Telling You” (Jennifer Hudson): Oh, wow, the potential for Filo to oversing this song is through the roof. Well, if you like vocal acrobatics, you probably loved Filo on that. I don’t, and I certainly didn’t. The big ending would have been so, so much more effective if about 75 percent of the frills that proceeded it had been stripped from the performance. The judges, predictably in Season 23, loved it. Grade: C

Mattie Pruitt, 16, Engleville, Tenn., “Because of You” (Kelly Clarkson): What makes Mattie special is that distinctive tone in her voice, and she used it to good effect for most of this performance. But she also picked a Kelly Clarkson song, which means lots of big notes. And Mattie shouldn’t let herself be drawn into a belting match with this talented cast. I did like her emotional commitment to this performance. Grade: B–

Canaan James Hill, 17, Dallas, Tx., “Goodness of God” by Cece Winans and Roman Collins:
Look, this guy is just blessed with an incredible voice. There was a point at the 45-second mark, while he was still singing softly, that was just brilliant. He got off the stool he was sitting on and eventually took Idol to church, but it did it very tastefully. Grade: A–

Gabby Samone, 22, Baltimore, Md., “A Song for You” (Elliott Yamin): Loved the minimalistic arrangement of this song, because it put Gabby’s voice front and center. And it reminded us that she has a voice just as strong, just as fine as the best male vocalists on the show. That might have been my favorite Gabby performance yet. She didn’t dance around. She didn’t interact with the crowd. She just delivered one heck of a vocal. Grade: A–

Josh King, 24, Charlotte, N.C., “All By Myself” (Pia Toscano): This is what I thought Josh should have done last night when he chose an upbeat Billy Joel song instead of playing piano man. The vocal seemed a bit timid at the start, he can’t belt like Celine Dion, of course, but his emotional connection to the song was certainly admirable. That was one of his stronger Idol performances. Grade: B–

Breanna Nix, 25, Denton, Texas. “Tell Your Heart to Beat Again” (Danny Gokey): Love the emotional connection the Idols are displaying to what they’re performing tonight. That was certainly a heartfelt vocal from Brenna. Not sure it was among her vocals, but I sure loved that soft ending and the way she set it up. I’m expecting another big glory note, and she ends on emotion instead. Solid job. Grade: B

John Foster, 18, Addis, La., “I Told You So” by Randy Travis and Carrie Underwood:
John sang a great original song back on Top 14 night and has seemed headed toward Idol front-runner status ever since. This was another solid performance, featuring a country vocal Idol fans are going to love. And John makes it all look so darn easy. This guy could make the finals, and I didn’t think I’d be writing that a month ago. Grade: B+

Jamal Roberts, 26, Meridian, Miss., “Heal” (Leah Marlene): Look at that, Jamal gets to close the show. Hope that doesn’t hurt him in terms of voting. It sure shouldn’t, based on this vocal. Again, the soft arrangement works to his advantage, letting his superlative vocals stand out even more than they usually do. And, as usual, he’s singing with undeniable passion. My only complaint about that performance is that he seemed to be setting up a final line that never came. Grade: A–

And Idol fans have advanced to the Top 10: John Foster, Josh King (a bit of a surprise), Jamal Roberts, Mattie Pruitt, Thunderstorm Artis, Slater Nalley, Gabby Samone, Canaan James Hill, Kolbi …

That leaves us with Breanna Nix, Filo and Che as the last three with Ryan. Breanna better not be going hold in favor of Filo. Nope, Breanna makes the Top 10.

That means the elimination of Che. And of Filo, the first platinum ticket recipient to head home this season.

Hold it, didn’t Carrie tell him “just keep doing that and you’re not gonna be going nowhere” earlier tonight. Get a clue, Idol judges. I read the feedback on my Facebook pages and Idol fans are quickly growing tired of loud, overdone vocals that are more sauce than substance.