Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Ryan Seacrest promises us drama tonight as Hollywood Week comes to a close on American Idol.

He also promises us tears.

Of course, there will be tears. The singing shows — and that includes The Voice — don’t seem happy if they don’t induce a few tears.

Unsure of how the format tonight is going to work, I’m going to try live blogging and offering an opinion on who should advance and who shouldn’t. We’ll see how that goes.

Gaby Barrett, 17, Pittsburgh: Gaby looks like a star and, though country is her preferred genre, she’s turning in one heck of a soulful performance. And showing off lots of power too. She deserves to advance. Grade: B+

Marcio Donaldson, 28, Compton, Calif.: What we heard was excellent and spot on. And with his back-story, I’m pretty sure Idol will send him through. He deserves to advance.

Effie Passero: She tackles a Heart classic and shows tons of vocal firepower. She might not look like your typical American Idol, but that voice is undeniable. She’s got great original music too. She deserves to advance.

Amelia Hammer Harris: American Idol should have limited the talk and let us hear more of the performance. Incomplete.

Cade Foehner: One of the show’s rockers, Cade cuts loose and does a great job. He has the judges on their feet. And rightfully so. Grade: A– He deserves to advance.

Harper Grace, 16, McKinney, Texas: She’s singing an original, “Rest in Peace.” Yep, she also sang an original in the audition round. This is really impressive. And she picked off an original that also showed off some vocal chops. Dang. Grade: A–. She has to advance.

Noah Davis, 18, Royal, Ark.: He’s doing Kelly Clarkson’s “Piece by Piece.” Pretty good, but I’m not sure it’s going to be good enough given the talent we’ve seen tonight. Grade: C+

Catie Turner, 17 Langhorne, Pa.: She sings an original called “Pity.” I love anyone with the confidence to sing an original. This isn’t quite as good as her audition original, but it’s still clever enough to merit advancing. She’s got so much personality. Right now, I’m predicting Catie makes this year’s finals. Grade: B.

Dennis Lorenzo, 26, Philadelphia: He’s singing “Home” by Daughtry. He had a bit of a weak start, but found his stride on the chorus.

Brandon Elder: He’s singing “Home” too. Love the rasp in his voice. But those two performances were woven together in such a way that they’re impossible to grade. I think Brandon did a bit better though.

Maddie Poppe, 20: She’s singing an original called “Don’t Let Your Children Grow Up.” She’s impressive too. And I’m pretty sure she’s already released this song. She should definitely advance. Grade: B

Michelle Sussett: We haven’t seen her since the auditions, when she danced with the judges. She says she lost her voice and couldn’t rehearse. She seems to be having no problem now. Check out those dance moves. Don’t know if she perfectly nailed that high note, but that was fun. Grade: B

Ron Bultongez, 21, Plano, Texas: He’s the guy from the Congo with the touching back story. He’s singing “Home” by Phillip Phillips. Dang. That’s the best vocal we’ve heard from Ron yet. To this point, I’ve been wondering if he could deliver vocals that matched his back story. He just answered that question. Grade: B+

Jonny Brenns, 18, St. Augustine, Fla.: He was brilliant during the opening night of Hollywood Week. Love the song choice. The vocal wasn’t quite as good this time around. But I’d advance him based on what he did on day 1. Grade: C

Crystal Alicea, 20, Winter Haven, Fla: She’s singing Adele’s “Set Fire to the Rain.” This isn’t turning out nearly as well as her earlier performances. Still think she and her “Don’t Touch” colleagues should form a girl group. They have tons of star power. Grade: C-

Deonte Baker, 26, Chicago, Ill.: He says the judges will forget everyone else when they hear him. Sorry, Deonte, but this performance a bit too over the top for my taste. He does, however, show very nice range. Grade: C+-

Jurnee, 18, Denover, Co.: This gal has a really nice pop vibe, but we didn’t hear enough of her performance for me to really offer a judgment.

Trevor Holmes: He sings Phillip Phillips’ “Home” too. Again, we don’t hear enough for a thorough evaluation of how he did.

Maddie Zahm, 19, Boise Idaho: The snippet we saw, was soulful and powerful. Combine a vocal like that and her back story, and I’m guessing she’ll advance. Grade: B

Shannon O’Hara, 17, Mooresville, N.C.: She has some initial mic issues. Once those are fixed, she delivers a heartfelt vocal. And she has a really nice tone to her voice, doesn’t she? Grade: B

Genevieve Linkowski, 19, Goodrich, N.C.: She’s doing Kesha’s “Praying.” And this is pretty shouty, actually. She does, however, deliver a very nice ending. Genevieve is one in a family of 10 children. Grade: C

Garrett Jacobs, 18, Bossier City, La.: He’s singing “Wicked Game.” We haven’t seen much of Garrett since the audition round. When Garrett introduced himself, Katy said it sounded like his voice was gone. He still turned in a pretty good performance. Grade: B–

Britney Holmes, 28, Fisco, Texas: She’s singing “Dive.” She was the second-chance auditioner who made the show. Dang, Britney is turning in one of the night’s most impressive vocals. Heartfelt and vocally impressive. Grade: A–

Gabbii Jones, 20, St. Louis, Missouri: She’s singing “Praying” by Kesha too. That was too over the top. And a bit pitchy. But, don’t forget, she and her “Don’t Touch” teammates were very impressive on group night.

Thaddeus Johnson, 25, Oklahoma City, Ok.: He’s singing “Rise” by Katy Perry. Go, Thaddeus. That opening was brilliant. Thaddeus is reaching out and grabbing an invite to the next round. Talk about a powerful performance. Damn. Grade: A.

Kay Kay Alexis, 18, Nahsua, N.H.: She tackles set fire to the rain to. Sorry, they showed such a small snippet, I can’t judge that.

Laine Hardy, 17, Livingston, La.: He’s one of the first we’ve heard do country tonight. Now his voice sounds shot. That was a little rough. Grade: C.

Caleb Lee Hutchinson, 18: This guy failed to turn a chair on The Voice. He’s come back much stronger on Idol. He’s just got a great country voice. And he showed off some range there at the end. Very nice. Grade: B+

Michael J. Woodard, 20, Philadelphia: Idol continues to ignore the fact that Michael won “Majors and Minors” back in 2012 at age 14. He’s advancing. He’s completely in control on stage, and he’s delivering a wonderfully different vocal. He has the coaches on their feet. Katy tries to throw a chair. Grade: A–

See also:
Who advanced and who didn’t
Photo gallery of the American Idol guys
Photo gallery of the American Idol ladies