Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The American Idol Top 14 took the stage Sunday night with a spot in the Top 10 on the line.

Monday night, the seven top vote-getters from tonight’s show automatically advance.

Then the Idol judges will pick the final three members of the Season 16 Top 10. But only after everyone has performed again.

On Sunday’s show, some top-runners stumbled while others — ready Madison VanDenburg and Laci Kaye Booth — proved why they absolutely must be part of that Top 10.

Vote, vote, vote. Remember, you can vote via text, the Idol app and on the Idol website until 9 a.m. eastern time (adjusting accordingly for your time zone).

Laine Hardy, “That’s Alright Mama” by Elvis Presley — What we’re seeing is Laine’s confidence on stage, which has grown markedly since last year. Not sure this is a song that’s going to showcase his vocal ability. In fact, he took out lots of time for a guitar solo. Bottom line: Nice performance, satisfactory vocal. Laine’s heading to the Top 14. Luke wants to see him cut loose a little more on stage; Katy loved it. Grade: B

Evelyn Cormier, “The Middle” by Jimmy Eats World — Like the fact that Evelyn is going upbeat tonight after back-to-back ballads in the Top 20 shows. Hey, and she’s showing a bit of stage presence, though it might be affecting her vocal a bit. She sounds a bit out of breath. Again, nice performance, okay vocal. Luke loved the leg kick. Katy praised the song choice as a crowd pleaser. Grade: B–

Alyssa Raghu, “She Used to Be Mine” by Sara Bareilles — Absolutely love this song and this song choice. It’s great for Alyssa, who’s been bouncing all over the stage in the early rounds to prove to Idol judges that she’s up her performance game. She proved that. This puts the showcase back on her vocals. The vocal wasn’t perfect, but it came across as Alyssa’s most heartfelt so far in Season 17. Grade: B

Eddie Island, “Benny and the Jets” by Elton John — Eddie’s wearing a jacket that matches his quirky personality. But on a night that’s already featured three better vocal performances, I’m not sure that’s going to get him into the Top 10. This is a remarkably talented Top 14. Grade: C–

Riley Thompson, “Suds in a Bucket” by Sara Evans — Fun performance by the youngest member of the Season 17 cast. Riley will benefit because she’s got the traditional country lane all to herself, especially since Laine and Laci have been straying from country song choices. I would have preferred another ballad to remind us of how great a voice Riley has. Grade: B–

Wade Cota, “Trouble” by Ray LaMontagne — Wade’s showing off his gruff vocals on this. His advantage is a signature sound, but I’m not certain this song is the right showcase for it with a spot in the Top 10 on the line. Wade upped the drama in the last 30 seconds or so, but we needed a full performance that delivered more of that. Grade: B–

Dimitrius Graham, “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran — Check out Dimitrius’s long green robe. I’d say he’s upped his style game for this performance. He’s showing off his range with this version of “Perfect,” but it also started out a little sleepy. Fortunately, Dimitrius delivered a big second half of that song, delivering a vocal that got all three judges to their feet. Grade: B+

Madison VanDenburg, “Fallin'” by Alicia Keys — Madison returns to the keys for this performance. Really nice opening to her vocal. She gets background singers. Madison needs to be in the Top 10. She’s just that good vocally. She’s another contestant flashing a bit more style tonight. Dang. Best vocal of the night to this point in the show. Excellent job, Madison V. Luke says she just made a statement. Indeed, she did. Grade: A

Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon. “We All Fall in Love Sometimes” by Elton John — Not thrilled with this song choice. It continues a steady stream of ballads by Jeremiah. That said, he delivered a technically impressive, heartfelt performance. One the judges loved a bit more than I did. Lionel Richie called his voice and range amazing. The performance reduces Katy to tears. Grade: B–

Uche, “Finesse” by Bruno Mars — uche says his dance moves stem from yearly visit to Nigeria when he was growing up. The opening on this was a mess vocally, and it honestly never got much better. There was a nice shriek in there. But Uche remains a heck of a performer, and his performance style was front and center during that raucous romp. Vocally, I would have given that a D. Grade: C+

Alejandro Aranda, “One Dance” by Drake — We’ve most often seen Alejandro with his guitar. This time he’s behind his keyboard. I’m having trouble understanding his lyrics. This is “cool vibe” Alejandro, but not a vocally superior or emotionally moving performance. Alejandro can afford a risk; he’s Top 10 bound. But that wasn’t a performance that would win us over if it was the first time we were meeting him. Grade: C+

Ashley Hess, “Fix You” by Coldplay — Ashley sits behind her piano and gets the show back on track with a really nice, emotional performance. That was also a nice song choice in terms of showing off her vocal versatility. And did you see Ashley wipe away a tear at the end. She reveals that the song was the first she heard after her grandfather died. Katy calls her a true singer-songwriter. Grade: B

Laci Kaye Booth, “I Miss You” by Blink 182 — As Ryan noted, this is a rather surprising song choice from a young lady who said her wish every birthday was to be on American Idol. Whatever Laci sings, she’s got two huge factors going for her: a unique sound and a heck of a lot of star appeal. Katy calls her the definition of Idol. At this point, she’s my pick to win. That was another really nice vocal. Grade: A–

Walker Burroughs, “Climb Every Mountain” from Sound of Music — Idol has Walker closing the show, so they must expect something special. He needs it to get off the bumble and make the Top 10. Not sure what the live sound mix is like, but I’m getting too much reverb. Nice job by Walker, but I’m not sure he nailed some of those notes leading up to the ending as cleanly as he would have liked. Grade: B–