Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Ryan Seacrest hosting remotely on American Idol’s Top 11 show Sunday night. (ABC Photo)

Guess what?

American Idol does remember who won Season 17.

Alejandro Aranda’s name has been mentioned so often on Season 18, I was beginning to wonder.

Anyway, I mention this because Laine Hardy will make a guest appearance Sunday night on American Idol’s third at-home episode.

He’ll sing “Life is a Highway” and talk about his experience since the show.

The song choice is interesting since Laine released his first post-show singlesreleased his first post-show singles — “Ground I Grew Up On” and “Let There Be Country” — last month.

Of course, Sunday’s show will also include the Top 7 reveal. You’ll recall that 11 artists performed last Sunday, including Makayla Phillips, who was saved by the judges.

Other remaining contestants include Just Sam, Julia Gargano, Louis Knight, Sophia James, Francisco Martin, Jonny West, Arthur Gunn, Jovin Webb, Dillon James and Grace Leer.

Each member of the Top 7 will perform two songs Sunday, one from the Disney songbook and one a dedication to the mother figure in their life.

The at-home fun starts at 8 p.m. I’ll be providing song by song grades for the performances.

Disclaimer:
Producers, coaches, judges and hosts on American Idol and The Voice will pretend they are hosting a legitimate singing competition over the next few weeks. Having blogged about singing shows for more than a decade, I can assure you they are not.

You cannot go from a Top 20 to a winner in four weeks (American Idol) or a Top 17 to a winner in three weeks (The Voice) and call it a fair and legitimate singing competition.

So have fun watching. Vote if you want. Put very little stock in the results because they will mean virtually nothing.

Most of all, support the singers when their time on the show ends. They deserved a better showcase for their talent.