Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The American Idol Top 8 of Emmy Russell, WIll Moseley, McKenna Faith Breinholt, Kaibrienne, Julie Gagnon, Abi Carter, Jack Blocker and Tristan Harper (ABC Photo)

The Top 8 take the stage tonight for American Idol’s Judges Song Contest.

For those who don’t recall, here’s how it will work.

Each of the show’s three judges — Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie — will recommend one song for each of the contestants to sing.

Then the contestants will chose to perform one of those three recommended songs.

As the night proceeds, the show will keep track of which judge has his or her suggestions picked most often.

Call it a friendly little side competition between Katy, Luke and Lionel.

As for the real competition, only one singer will go home tonight.

That’s because at the end of the show, the judges will get to save one contestant who would otherwise be eliminated.

That will not be an easy decision about a Top 8 this talented.

Voting will be live again, via the Idol app, the Idol website and texting, with the usual maximum of 10 votes per method per contestant.

And I’ll be live blogging again, providing song by song grades as the show progresses.

Idol is also planning a tribute to Mandisa, the former Idol contestant and Grammy winner who was found dead in her Tennessee home at age 47 earlier this month.

See also …
Song by song grades for the Top 10
Kayko still smiling, even after surprising elimination
Just Sam finally gets her American Idol moment
Scotty McCreery soars on the charts after Idol performance

Will Moseley, 23, of Hazelhurst, Ga., “Folsom Prison Blues” by Johnny Cash: Will says he’s going to put his own little spin on it and calls it his favorite cover song on the show so far. Oh, yeah, this is gonna be good. Great job by Will. He put his own stamp on the song. He had fun, even running the oval behind the judges while playing guitar. And he sounded great. That capped a great week for Will and might have been his best performance to date. Lionel suggested that song. And said that Will “killed it.” In the best way possible, he means. Grade: A

Kabrienne, 20, Henefer, Utah, “Traitor” by Olivia Rodrigo: Wow, this night of Idol is off to a blazing start. Kaibrienne said this was an easy pick among the three suggested songs because she turned to the song after a middle school heartbreak. And that was evident from the moment she opened her mouth. I’ve said it before. Kaibrienne is the princess of angst and she absolutely nailed that song. You could feel how committed she was to the performance. And she delivered a powerful ending. Katy picked the song and called the performance “amazing, heartfelt” and noted that Kaibrienne “looked like a star.” Grade: A

Emmy Russell and Jack Blocker, “Hello” by Lionel Richie: That was a little sleepy and it felt like Jack and Emmy were trying to do a little too much vocally. Emmy barely opened her eyes while singing. I wish they had sang a bit more in harmony. When they did, they sounded wonderful. Grade: C+

McKenna Breinholt, 25, of Gilbert, Ariz., “Everywhere I Go” by Lissie: Another heartfelt performance, and the commitment to these songs is making tonight’s Idol far superior to Sunday’s show. McKenna said she cried the first time she heard this song. She dedicated the performance to her birth family and her birth mother. She’s in fine voice again, but this isn’t working quite as well as the first two solo performances. McKenna’s does sound especially lovely on the chorus. But, McKenna, please open those eyes. Help fans feel the emotion you’re feeling. We’re too far into Idol for singers to keep performing with their eyes closed for most of the performance. Grade: B+

Jack Blocker, 25, Dallas, Texas, “Always on My Mine” by Willie Nelson: Jack calls Willie his favorite artist. And Jack’s going to be performing without his guitar, which makes him a bit nervous. Wow, great opening by Jack. Wow, great performance by Jack. Having the background music so soft helped his voice cut through like never before. That was easily my favorite Jack Blocker vocal during his run on the show. He made tasteful changes to make the cover his own. And the performances brings the judges to their feet. Luke called it amazing. Katy, by the way, picked the song. Grade: A

Will Moseley and Triston Harper, “What Makes You Country” by Luke Bryan: Fun performance by the two guys who are likely to square off in the finals. Great to see Will working the stage tonight the way Triston has been. And, gotta say, Will’s voice is the one that cut through. Grade: B

Abi Carter, 21, Indio, Calif., “Bring Me to Life by Evanescence: Oh, my! This is the Abi who typically sits behind her piano and dazzles us with her vocals? She just turned into a rock star. Katy proclaimed that she kicked down all four walls of the box she thought Abi was in. She proclaimed it the best performance of the night, and she’s not wrong. Not only was Abi connected to the song, she took time to interact with the crowd without missing a beat vocally. And she let us in by keeping her eyes open! Hooray! That’s a performance I’ll be watching again. By the way, Luke picked the song. Grade: A+

Julia Gagnon, 21, Cumberland, Maine, “Over the Rainbow” by Judy Garland: This song has done wonders for some Idol contestants in the past, Katherine McPhee among them. Not sure it’s going to work as well for Julia, who is typically at her best when she’s blowing our socks off with her powerful vocals. Solid performance, and I really loved the reminder of her great range at the end. But that didn’t quite measure up to the performances we’ve heard so far tonight. Luke called the performance beautiful. He selected the song. Grade: B

McKenna Faith Breinholt, Julia Gagnon, Abi Carter and Kabrienne, “Wide Awake” by Katy Perry: Idol has rounded up some incredible female talent this year. Not sure putting those four in a group performance and having each sing a couple of lines created as magical a moment as it could have if they had broken down into duets like the other contestants did. I’d love to hear a duet by McKenna and Kaibrienne. And Abi and Julia could raise the roof with their vocal firepower.Grade: B–

Triston Harper, 15, McIntosh, Alabama, “Sand in My Boots” by Morgan Wallen: Triston relates to this song because he wanted his girlfriend to go to Hawaii with him on Idol but she was unable to. So he took some sand back in his boots to her in Alabama. Triston says he listens to this song every day. It’s a great story from Triston. And it’s a great song. But I’m wondering if Triston’s voice is up to par this week. He’s just not sounding as on-point vocally as he usually does. That said, the spoken word interlude was a nice touch, and he really dialed up the passion at the end. Lionel made the song choice. Grade: B

Emmy Russell, 24, Nashville, Tenn., “Coal Miner’s Daughter” by Loretta Lynn: Oh, my, Idol is tugging on heartstrings tonight. Emmy is making the song her own. She’s something’s struggled in her grandmother’s shadow. Tonight, she’s celebrating it. And perhaps breaking some bounds by transforming the song into an Emmy Russell ballad. That changes she made to the song were touching. The ending heart-wrenching. Wow, voters have a tough job sorting through this tonight. Oh, and Katy picked the song, meaning she wins the Judges Song Contest for the second straight year. Grade: A+

Advancing to the Top 7 are:

Julia Gagnon, Emmy Russell, Will Moseley, Jack Blocker, Triston Harper, Abi Carter.

That leaves Kaibrienne and McKenna Faith Breinholt in jeopardy. Wow, wow, wow. Anyone who follows these singers on social media would know these two have grown extremely close on Idol. Now they’re stuck standing together on stage, knowing one is going home and one is advancing to the Top 7. Must be an absolutely heart-wrenching moment for them. I noticed how they were hand in hand as Ryan began announcing results.

And Katy is mulling her decision and consulting with the other judges.

She saves … McKenna.

That means Kaibrienne heads home. Wow, after that performance tonight?