Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The Top 14 after the judges’ wild card picks Monday night on American Idol. (ABC Photo)

The Top 14 on American Idol return to the stage tonight, singing songs made famous by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees.

And get ready to vote when the show starts. Idol is touting live voting the next two nights, which could very well mean that you have to cast votes during the show and that results will be announced at the end of the night.

If that’s what happens, it’ll be a shame in a way, because it detracts from the importance of tonight’s performances. I prefer to hear everyone perform before voting.

Then again, Idol’s done a great job of getting these singers in front of us repeatedly over the last two weeks, so I’m sure fans have already developed favorites.

If you’re favorite happens to be one of last week’s wild card choices — Josh King, Che Chesterman, Desmond Roberts or Amanda Barise — your support will be especially important. In the past two seasons, the contestants saved by the judges have been the first eliminated in the following episodes.

Check back at 8 p.m. I’ll be posting live song by song grades throughout tonight’s show.

See also …
Ranking the Top 14 on American Idol
A look at who delivered last week’s most popular performances
Song by song grades from Monday’s show
Song by song grades from Sunday’s show

Filo, 23, Dublin, Calif., “With a Little Help from My Friends”: Mentor James Taylor told Filo to keep the ab libbing under control. Let’s see if he follows directions. Well, not really. It’s a rousing way to start the night. He showed off a big voice. He screamed a couple of times. The crowd loved it. Grade: B–

Mattie Pruitt, 16, Engleville, Tenn., “Piece of My Heart” by Janis Joplin: James Taylor was surprised to see a female singer so young performing this song. Love her look. Love her rasp. But she needed to dirty up that song a lot more. I could imagine former runner-up Crystal Bowersox singing that song and wringing the meaning out of it. Grade: C+

John Foster, 18, Addis, La., “Jailhouse Rock” by Elvis Presley: John’s on the rise. Check out the link above on last week’s most popular performance and you’ll find John in one of the top 2 spots both shows. That sure didn’t stop his momentum. The judges got it right. He seemed incredibly comfortable and changed it up enough vocally that it didn’t come off as an Elvis impersonation. Grade: A–

Desmond Roberts, 25, Corona, Calif., “Jesus Loves” by the Commodores: Desmond stayed behind the piano last week and delivered his best performance yet. He started there this week, got off and started delivering glory note after glory notes. Some landed. Some didn’t, at least to my ears. Lionel was impressed by Desmond’s range. Grade: C+

Jamal Roberts, 26, Meridian, Miss., “Shout” by the Isley Brothers: “Gotta keep hitting the gas,” Jamal said. “Can’t slow down now.” He sure didn’t. Heck, I was tired watching Jamal run around the stage. Not sure it was his best vocal, but it was a heck of a lot of fun to watch him work the stage and the audience. Grade: B+

Amanda Barise, 26, Manhatten, N.Y., “I Can’t Help It” by Michael Jackson: If Amanda goes home tonight, blame it on song choice. Everyone else has been delivering rock and roll favorites. She didn’t. She did keep her eyes open throughout, even during the scatting. The judges loved it. I was much more lukewarm about that one. Grade: C.

Canaan James Hill, 17, Dallas, Tx., “Mary, Don’t You Weep” by Aretha Franklin: Canaan said song choice was difficult for him this week. He needed to find a rock song he could “church up.” Well, he certainly churched up that song, delivering a great ending and reminding us again of how powerful his vocals are. Liked Carrie’s advice though. He needs to throw in some curve balls. Grade: B+

Josh King, 24, Charlotte, N.C., “”The Longest Time” by Billy Joel: My guess is that’s Josh’s last performance on Idol. At times, he sounded as good vocally as he has all season. But if you’re going to sing Billy Joel and you play piano, why not pick a Billy Joel song that allows you to either sit behind the piano or rock out. Grade: C+

Thunderstorm Artis, 29, Nashville, Tenn., “Fire and Rain” by James Taylor: Wow. That’s how you do it. Take a classic song. Honor it. And make it your own. He dug in vocally at times, delivered a magical ending. Lionel called it “masterful.” It sure was. Grade: A+

Gabby Samone, 22, Baltimore, Md., “Saving All My Love for You” by Whitney Houston: Wish Gabby had selected something less predictable. The judges were effusive in their praise. Luke called it one of the best performances he’s heard. Actually, I thought it was a minor step back for Gabby. Love her softer tone, but she got a little shouty a couple of times on that. At least I thought so. And she missed an opportunity to stun by singing the heck out of a real rock song. Grade: B

Breanna Nix, 25, Denton, Texas, “Open Arms” by Journey: Another solid performance from Breanna. No idea what the judges are talking about. She performed with emotion, nailed the big notes and brought it back down for a soft ending. She’s one of my absolute favorites and I thought she delivered one of the night’s best performances. Grade: B+

Kolbi Jordan, 26, Tulsa, Okla., “You’re All I Need to Get By”: Good thing the background singers were on hand to sing the song while Kolbi ab libbed. Look, she’s got a powerful voice. But I’m not loving all that ab libbing. The judges, however, thought that performance was amazing. Think I’m going to have to watch some of these over again. Grade: C+

Che Chestermam, 28, Essex, England, “It’s a Man’s World” by James Brown: Unlike Kolbi, at least he sang the song. Che said he had something to prove after needing a save last week. He delivered one of his better vocals. Still not sure it will be enough to get him past tonight’s elimination. Grade: B

Slater Nalley, 17, Atlanta, Ga., “Your Song” by Elton John: James Taylor provided some great advice, telling Slater to building the intensity near the end. The last 30-45 seconds of that performance is what made it special with the little changes he made to the song. He’s just 17, folks. His on-stage confidence is pretty remarkable. Grade: B+

And the results:

Advancing are
Canaan
Gabby
Mattie
Thunderstorm
Slater
Breanna
John
Filo
Kolbi
Josh
Jamal
Che

That means the elimination of:
Amanda and
Desmond

Yep, two of the wild card singers from last week headed home. Though, honestly, it wasn’t the two I expected.