Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The good and the bad news entering tonight’s episode of American Idol.

The good: Adam Lambert returns to sing his new single, “Welcome to the Show.” And, yep, it’s already available on iTunes.

The good: Duets are officially ditched. Each member of the Top 6 will perform two solo songs tonight. Hooray! Though that means Idol is going to have to squeeze 13 performances between dozens and dozens of commercials.

The good: Of course, that will limit long-winded commentary from the judges. Which is good especially in Jennifer’s case since she’s been spouting so much nonsense in Idol’s farewell season.

The bad: The judges, apparently, will get to meddle with the outcome again. For the fourth straight week, they’ll have the final decision on who stays and who goes home. Why the hell should viewers even bother to vote?

Oh, but Ryan Seacrest just went on the record as saying this will be the final time the judges will have a save. It’s about time.

Time for some music …

1. Trent Harmon: Okay, apparently he’s safe and has made the Top 5. His first song is One Republic’s “Counting Stars.” Either we’ve got mike problems or Trent’s voice was going MIA on the opening. Trent’s trying to make this song his own. Not digging his version, even with the nice ending. Trent’s comment: “I don’t know what I’m doing half the time I’m doing up here.” Keith says it didn’t come together. Harry thinks he’s a lot better than that. Grade: C+

2. Dalton Rapattoni: His first song of the night is “Numb” by Linkin Park. No elaborate staging. Dalton’s playing guitar. And delivering a subpar vocal. I’ll tell you this, not a single coach on The Voice would turn around for this vocal. But that sensitive ending will probably win lots of votes from the young girls watching. Jennifer says Dalton took the “punch” out of the song. Harry thought Dalton “poured his guts” into those lyrics. Keith says he’s glad Dalton gets another song. Grade: C

3. La’Porsha Renae: Her first song will be “Ready For Love” by India Arie. Well, La’Porsha’s wardrobe this week sorta fits the song choice. Which, by the way, I’m not loving. What I do love is the fact that Idol can count on La’Porsha to deliver a win-worthy performance every time she steps on stage. Harry calls it “phenomenal.” Keith says he was “captivated by the moment.” Jennifer likes La’Porsha’s “earth mother vibe” and calls it a “complete performance in every way.” Grade: B

And the final contestant automatically safe is …

4. MacKenzie Bourg: He’ll sing “Wild World” by Cat Stevens. He’d better change up this song, because this vocal isn’t starting off very strong. And it really didn’t get much better. Another very mediocre performance on Idol. Keith says he’s like cake batter: It’s good even when not fully baked. Jennifer said she enjoyed every second of that performance. Harry liked the match of singer and song. Grade: C+

And, now, I suppose we’re going to get results in the middle of the show. Really not sure what Idol is doing tonight.

Anyway, Sonika Vaid and Tristan McIntosh are the bottom 2.

5. Tristan McIntosh: She’ll sing “Independence Day” by Martina McBride. Tristan is back behind the piano, where she excels. Decent opening. Now the tempo picks up and Tristan heads into the portion of the song that could be risky for her. Big belty songs haven’t been her forte. This time, she comes through it pretty well. Jennifer warns her not to flatline and deliver the same performance each week. Harry says it was an okay performance. Keith says she should have either stripped it down or belted the song. Grade: B–

6. Sonika Vaid: She’ll sing “Let It Go” by Demi Lovato. I think Sonika has the second best voice on this show. But she also lacks experience. After a so-so opening, Sonika indeed let’s it go, moving to the front of the stage and letting her voice soar along with the song. In my mind, that was the better of the two save-me performances. She hit a really great glory note near the end. Harry thought it was a really strong performance. Keith says it was beautiful and her performances are coming alive. Jennifer likes the fact that she’s a fighter. Grade: B

And now the judges get to weigh in and decide who to save. And the judges save Sonika. Wow, they made the correct decision. Sonika delivers the second best vocals on the show.

Round two

1. Dalton: Once Idol starts showing the correct clip package, we learns that Dalton suffers from bipolar disorder and that music helped him through a rough period in his childhood. Now he’s being asked to sing “Sound of Silence” by Simon and Garfunkel. A beautiful song. Once again, Dalton’s vocals aren’t up to the task. Not good. And sitting down at the end of the song didn’t make it any better unless that’s a mark of surrender in the face of better singers. Jennifer says it felt “really powerful.” Grade: C–

2. MacKenzie Bourg: Now we hear about MacKenzie’s medical struggles, which was a major part of his story on The Voice. The problem forced him to give up sports and turned him to music. He’ll sing “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson. And he’s stripping it down. Unfortunately, I’m left comparing this to the David Cook re-arrangement, which was far superior. Nice idea, MacKenzie. It didn’t quite work. Jennifer loved it though, and says it shows why MacKenzie is one of the show’s favorites. Harry loved it as well. So did Keith. Grade: B–

3. Trent Harmon: He’ll sing “Simple Man” by Lynyrd Skynyrd. He tells the story of he and a friend who made a guitar together. The friend died just before it arrived. Trent didn’t play it for a long time, then decided to use it to help pursue his dreams. Speaking of which, Trent’s doing a much better job with this song. That was the best non-La’Porsha vocal of the night so far. Harry says that was a great rendition of the song. Trent likes the way Trent played up the southern gospel aspect of the song. The song brought Jennifer to tears. Grade: B

4. Sonika Vaid: She’ll sing “Clarity” by Zedd. In her bio clip, Sonika admits she has trouble overcoming her nerves and shyness. I really wished Sonika would have decided to rock out on one of her songs tonight. Of course, perhaps that option wasn’t available. I’m not loving her voice on this, to be honest. And I’m a big fan of Sonika. Keith wants her to be raw and real. Jennifer didn’t like the song choice. Harry thought it was “pretty good.” Grade: C

5. La’Porsha Renae: She’ll sing “No More Drama” by Mary J. Blige. And she tells the story of her abusive relationship, saying she’s gone from feeling “below dirt” to feeling “10 feet tall.” Nice clip package, Idol. Now she’s singing a perfect song as a followup. You think, La’Porsha poured herself into that. Yeh, just a little, right. And she’s overcome with emotion at the end. Jennifer calls her an inspiration and thanks La’Porsha for “that moment.” Keith calls her “so inspiring.” Grade: A–