Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The first two songs performed on Monday night’s episode of The Voice were hits made famous by American Idols.

So I guess it’s only fair that one of tonight’s songs on Idol is a hit made famous by Miranda Lambert.

The Idol judges with Randy Jackson. (FOX Photo)

If the spoiler list I saw earlier today is correct, we’ll also hear some Radiohead, Kings of Leon, Ed Sheeran, Luke Bryan and Josh Turner before the night is over.

I’m just hoping the smiling Idol judges pictured above stay in their seats and focused on the task at hand, which would be judging.

As opposed to last week when Keith Urban and Harrick Connick Jr. — especially Harry — seemed determined to show they can be fun and crazy guys, just like the coaches on The Voice.

Except those romps among the audience all came off as orchestrated and, somewhere along the way, the judges lost their focus, giving free passes to absolutely horrible vocals by Malaya Watson and C.J. Harris while being hyper critical of some of the show’s better singers.

Fortunately, viewers at home needed little help picking out the weak links in the Top 8. And, so tonight, we proceed with a Top 7 and a brand new Idol theme — songs picked by each Idol’s competitors.

1. Caleb Johnson: First we get five fun facts. He loves tennis, snores loud, is afraid of the dark and spiders and loves cult films. He’s decided to sing “Family Tree” by Kings of Leon, a song suggested by Alex. Honestly, I’m not familiar with the song. But after a bit of a slow start, Caleb kicked into high gear and delivered a wonderful performance and a really nice vocal. I just hope a couple other contestants were taking notes and show that much energy and enthusiasm on stage. And Caleb gets rave reviews from the judges, who call it a great way to kick off the show. Oh, yeah, and I don’t think he’ll be hurt in the least by going first. Besides, he’ll be back for a group number later on. Grade: B+

2. Jess Meuse: Five fun facts about Jessica — she has eight tattoos, she got rejected from a school of music, she once got chased by a pony, she’s a fan of wolves and she believes in aliens. Jess is going to sing Miranda Lambert’s “Gunpowder and Lead,” selected by Sam Woolf. Dang, Jess, you have to cut loose on this song. Another solid vocal by Jess, and a really good song for her to perform. I mean, vocally, she was spot on through the entire song and delivered a really strong final line. But again, she did not act crazy, not the way the lyrics imply the singer should act. That song calls out for an almost possessed persona on stage, and Jess just won’t cut loose no matter what she’s singing. That’s the only drawback to another really nice vocal from her. The judges, overall, were not thrilled with the vocal or the performance. Could Jess be headed to the stools of danger for the first time? Grade: B–

3. Alex Preston and Sam Woolf: They’ll sing “Let It Go.” Hmm, second straight week they’ve gotten to perform together. OK, that was a pretty good duet. Not sure they quite captured the emotion of the song any more than Jess did. But Alex sounded fantastic. Sam didn’t sound as good. Jennifer says the girls probably loved it. Keith and Harry agree it was cute, but didn’t capture the mood of the original. Grade: B–

3. C.J. Harris: Five fun facts about C.J. He loves to grill, take pictures, do standup comedy and loves watching Spongebob. Oh, and he’s a neat freak forced to room with Dexter, who isn’t so neat. C.J. is singing “Gravity” by John Mayer, a song suggested by Caleb. C.J. just delivered his best vocal in weeks. The pitch problems weren’t nearly as evident. He clearly was feeling the song. He nailed a couple of impressive glory notes. Whether it’s enough to make up for weeks of weak performances, well … Keith thinks C.J. could have worked the arrangement in a way that would have generated more of a crescendo in the performance. Jennifer and Harry think it was his best yet. Grade: B

5. Dexter Roberts: Five fun facts — he loves crickets, strawberries, loves adrenaline, would love to skydive sometime and his first plane ride ever sucked, so he’s been scared of planes ever since. Oh, he loves rodeos, too. He’ll sing “Muckalee Creek Water” by Luke Bryan, a song suggested by C.J. Look at Dexter deliver some attitude. Hey, Jess, you watching? My only complaint is one David Cook pointed out last week — sometimes it’s difficult to make out what Dexter is singing. Jennifer calls it a good job, but encourages Dexter and the other artists to deliver something special every week. Harry says he didn’t stray far enough from the original arrangement. Grade: B–

6. Caleb Johnson and Jena Irene Asciutto: They’ll sing “Gimme Shelter.” Hmm. It looked like Caleb and Jena were pouring their heart and soul into the performance. Their vocals sounded great. Unfortunately, the sound mix in my living room wasn’t quite working for some reason. It didn’t sound like the band was in sync with them. At times, it sounded like they were playing a completely different song. Grade: B

7. Alex Preston: Fun facts about Alex — he likes to garden, he enjoys cooking, he likes freestyle skiing, he would like to be a doctor if not a singer, and he was once a linebacker, though he realized his future wasn’t in sports when all the other kids got bigger than him. Alex is performing “The A Team” by Ed Sheeran. Hey, Alex has the pant legs under control tonight. That might be a good sign. Well, maybe not. The fans on Idol apparently really liked it. I really didn’t enjoy the vocal. Jennifer called it a perfect song for Alex. Harry calls it his favorite performance of the night. Keith likes the fact that Alex has his own artistic signatures. I just wouldn’t care to hear his version of that song again. Alex’s unique tone works well on some songs for me — like “Every Breath You Take” a couple weeks ago. It didn’t work on that one. Grade: B–

8. Sam Woolf: Fun facts about Sam — he has an adventurous side and loves to climb things, he sucks at sports, he wrote his first song on piano though he doesn’t play piano, he pulls pranks on his grandparents, and he used to skateboard. He’ll sing “Sail Away,” selected by Jess Meuse. Sam seems like he’s trying to emote more tonight. Problem is, this isn’t a very good vocal. In fact, it’s probably the weakest of the night. The young girls are screaming, but will anyone really remember that tomorrow morning? One of the problems is that we’ve now reached the point where we’re down to a handful of contestants with distinct vocals. And Sam’s is the least distinct. Harry says he’s progressing, but needs to sing songs everyone knows. He also gets good reviews from Keith and Jennifer. Grade: C+

9. Jess Meuse, Dexter Roberts, C.J. Harris: The three singers from Alabama are calling themselves Alabama Power. They’ll sing “Compass” by Lady Antebellum. Vocally, Jess is the class of this trio. After a pretty nice start, that got a little ragged. At one point, I’m not sure the contestants knew what direction they were supposed to be looking in. Harry said “that wasn’t good” and the performance lacked a spark. Grade: C–

10. Jena Irene: Fun facts — she wrote her first song when her 6th-grade boyfriend broke up with her; she peed her pants at her first performance; she took ballet; she wouldn’t mind being a makeup artist; and she wants to get a tattoo when she turns 18. She’s going to sing “Creep” by Radiohead, suggested by Caleb. Jena is back at the piano. Damn, girl. Jena Irene is in a class all alone vocally on this show. That was fabulous from the first line. She hit a couple of fabulous prolonged notes. She drew us in with her emotion there at the end. She has a knack for performing. She has it all, folks. Harry calls her a “phenomenal talent.” Jennifer says she’ll be here for the long haul. And Harry calls it the best performance of the night by far. Grade: A