Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Uche just might give Laci Kaye Booth a run for her money on Season 17 of American Idol.

Idol aired its Top 40 / Final Judgment three-hour marathon show Sunday night.

And the music was very good on several occasions (though I sure which producers would have shown us more performance and spent less time on background, tears and chit-chat).

But the TV screen turned truly mesmerizing just twice — when Laci and Uche took the stage.

The former confirmed her star potential in Hollywood Week. The latter “arrived” during Monday night’s show.

Both make my list of Top 5 performances from Sunday’s show, which are as follows …

1. Uche, “Play That Funky Music” — Showing up shirtless and wearing some sort of fur jacket, Uche put on one heck of a funky show. Folks, this guy isn’t an amateur. He’s released music and he’s been performing for a while now. Regardless, this was a show-stopper of a performance. I mean, dang, dang, dang. Easily the best of the night.

2. Laci Kaye Booth, “Georgia On My Mind” — Idol found a budding star in Laci, and it’s clear the judges and producers know it. Katy talks about the total package. This girl is it thanks in part to her look, her style and her personality (loved her humble reaction to making the Top 20). But mostly because of those smoky vocals, and she showed more vocal firepower in this performance.

3. Madison VanDenburg, “Who’s Loving You” — Hate that Idol called her the next Kelly Clarkson. But I can understand the comparison. Just check out this remarkable vocal from a young lady who’s delivered every time we’ve seen her on the show. And just when you think you’ve seen all Maddy’s soulful tricks, she drops to her knees and delivers one more glory note!

4. Dimitrius Graham, “Latch” — This didn’t have the performance flair Uche delivered, the song didn’t call for it. But it was probably the best male vocal we heard on Monday’s show. Talk about displaying great vocal range, and control over that range, well, Dimitrius did it. And he flashed some stage presence too.

5. Ryan Hammond, “A Song for You” — Ryan’s boyfriend couldn’t make it to Hawaii for the performance, but Ryan dedicated it to him. It turned out to be my second favorite male vocal of the night. A wonderful combination of power, tone, control and passion. And the best yet we’ve seen from Ryan.

Now, take note, those were my five favorite among the performances I saw enough of to judge. That wasn’t the case, for instance, with Evelyn Cormier of Kate Barnette. I would have loved to have heard more of both of those songs.

I did take show favorites Alejandro Aranda and Laine Hardy into consideration. The latter put on a heck of a show. The former … well, I’m not as impressed as the Idol judges. I recall a Brooke White (Season 7) version of “Yellow” that I liked more than Alejandro’s.

As for Sunday’s eliminations, I can’t find too much to quibble about. I felt bad watching Myran Tran head home after one of her most controlled performances. And I certainly thought Nick Townsend and Emma Kleinburg sounded good enough to keep around. But, again, it’s tough to judge when you see such small snippets of so many of the performances.

Tonight, the Top 20 shows begin with the solo round. Then next week we’ll get to see the Top 20 in celebrity duets.

See also …
Idol’s Top 20: Who made it and who didn’t
Top 40 photo gallery
Top 70 photo gallery