#idol commentary

[telemarcs]

Girl joiks in the break room, I get very excited - doesn't joik on audition...

[idollteen-blog]

"O-oowada-kun, he... he murdered Naegi-kun!"

[heartsoulrocknroll]

HOLY FREAKING HECK!!!! OH MY!!! WHAT!!!! TRENT ACTUALLY DID IT!!! HE ACTUALLY WON!!!!!!

[heartsoulrocknroll]

American Idol Season 15 Top 3 Review

Themes: Hometown dedications (round one), Scot Borchetta's choice (round two), judges' choice (round three) Eliminated: Mackenzie Well, I saw this elimination coming from a mile away after how hard the judges were on Mack last week. It upset me a lot more than I thought it would to see him go home. He seems like a sweet guy, he has a really pretty voice, and he certainly deserved to finish third. I wish him all the best in his post-Idol endeavors. Mackenzie Bourg - "Hallelujah" - This song has been sung many a time on Idol since it was first done by Jason Castro in season 7, and because of that, I initially wasn't too excited that Mackenzie was going to sing it. However, when he opened his mouth and let that beautiful, delicate tone come out while maintaining accurate pitch for the majority of the performance, I couldn't be mad at him. I really enjoyed this, and although I'm sad Mack is going home a week too early, this was a good note for him to go out on. Grade: B+ Dalton Rapattoni - "Calling You" - I appreciate the fact that Dalton chose a relatively obscure song. He smiled on stage for the first time this season, and although it was weird to get used to, I enjoyed watching him perform without giving the camera angsty looks every five seconds. I also thought that this was a pretty solid vocal. There were still some iffy notes in there, but for the most part, it wasn't bad. Grade: B- Trent Harmon - "Tennessee Whiskey" - I loooved Trent's voice on this song. I love hearing him bring his soulful tone to country tunes like this. For once, I totally agreed with Harry. Trent knows exactly how to "arc his performances into something that really works on American Idol," and this performance was a perfect example of that, with the a capella section in the middle and the long, high note in the last chorus. Trent is an expert at making informed vocal choices and landing them perfectly at the same time. This was an excellent performance. Grade: A La'Porsha Renae - "Glory" - Good grieeeeef. La'Porsha one hundred percent nailed this vocal. This was the perfect song for her. And man, there's just something about the sound of La'Porsha's soaring voice with a drumline playing behind her, isn't there? This performance was beautiful from the subtle beginning to the powerful crescendo at the end. So good. Grade: A+ Dalton Rapattoni - "Dancing in the Dark" - There was something about this performance that I actually enjoyed. I think what I liked about it is that it was very reminiscent of the Dalton of the Hollywood rounds, who just got up on stage and did his thing and sang whatever song/genre he wanted to sing without being so in-his-head and worried about looking into the camera and everything else. Of course, this wasn't a fantastic vocal, but it had its moments. When he got to the line, "I wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face," and let a little bit of that growly tone come out, I was like, "Whoa, where has that been all season?" (But can we just lol at Harry's best line of the season for a sec: "Your ability to take a lyric and make it your own trumps any lack of vocal ability that you have." I was like daaaang son just FLAT OUT said what everyone with functioning eardrums was thinking. Woooooo loool classic.) Grade: B- La'Porsha Renae - "Stay with Me" - I'll be honest. This wasn't my favorite La'Porsha performance, and I think it's because of what Harry said. Her heart wasn't in this song at all, and that was reflected in her vocal, which, while still good, was not perfect. However, I think she did the best she could given her disconnection to the lyrics due to her history with an abusive relationship and given the fact that Scott persisted in his quest to make her sing this song even after she turned down the suggestion last week. I can completely understand her frustration with the whole situation. And while I'm at it, to those who are saying that La'Porsha shouldn't have said what she said in the post-performance interview or that she shouldn't have held back like she did during the performance, give me a freaking break. She was asked a direct question, and she gave an honest answer. She did the best she could to convincingly deliver a lyric that totally goes against who she is as a person and an artist. Go ahead, La'Porsha. Grade: B+ Trent Harmon - "Drink You Away" - Man, this arrangement was awful. I don't understand why it was so... fast? This could have been a great moment for Trent, because this song, while lyrically absurd, has a cool groove to it that really works well with Trent's voice (listen to the studio recording - it's great). However, the tempo was sped up to a pace that was almost frantic in parts and didn't give Trent time to dig in and sit down in the pocket of the song at all. Despite all that, Trent's vocal was really good. It just could have been so much groovier and I'm disappointed that it didn't work out like it could have. 90 second performances are the bane of my existence because they cause things like this. Grade: B+ Dalton Rapattoni - "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" - Dalton had two of his best performances of the live rounds earlier on in Thursday's show, but this was back to the same old same old. He sang the song in a key that was too low, and I don't know why, because I think he could have done it in the original key. Anyway, this vocal just got worse and worse as the song progressed. With THIS being his last impression, SURELY there is no way people will vote him into the finals. And if they do, I swear, I will riot. Grade: C- La'Porsha Renae - "Hello" - I don't understand why the judges chose this song for La'Porsha, and I am baffled by their attempt at an explanation. "We chose this song to force you into a corner and make sure you fail." ???? Idk. Regardless of why the judges chose the song, La'Porsha slayed it. She gave us an incredible display of vocal range - I loooved hearing her scoop way low on some of those notes in the opening verse. Her lower register is gorgeous. She also made a lot of little tweaks to the melody that worked really well and brought out the emotion of the song even more. Fantastic. Grade: A Trent Harmon - "Waiting Game" - Keith is officially the only person to do a competent job of choosing a song for a contestant on Thursday. I am so so so glad that Keith chose a song that is so beautiful - lyrically and melodically - and so perfect for Trent's voice. Trent's vocal here was absolutely perfect. Not a note was missed, his falsetto on the chorus was divine, and the sheer gorgeousness of the whole thing brought tears to my eyes. As far as I'm concerned, Trent sealed his victory with this performance. Grade: A+ Should Go Home Next Wednesday: Dalton Will Go Home Next Wednesday: Dalton It may be stupid and naive to believe that the people who are actually listening for good singing could outvote the 147,000 little girls that follow Dalton on Twitter and love his eyeliner and angsty looks, but I have a gut feeling that I'm actually going to get my long-awaited Trent/La'Porsha Showdown in American Idol's final finale. I just refuse to believe that Dalton could make the finals after performing at a level of terrible to average for almost the entirety of the live/voting rounds. It just can't happen. And if it does, I swear, I don't know how I'll be able to handle it. I want to have a strong, happy ending to Idol's final season. I don't want to look back on it with bitterness and negative memories years down the road. So people, please. I need you to vote for Trent if you like Trent and vote for La'Porsha if you like La'Porsha. Vote as many times as you can on all voting mediums available. Please. Don't let me down.

[heartsoulrocknroll]

American Idol Season 15 Top 4 Review

Themes: Classic rock (round one), songs by Sia (round two) Bottom Two: Dalton, Sonika Eliminated: Sonika I knew Sonika was going home this week, and I can't necessarily fault America for sending her home. Based on their overall bodies of work on the show and their apparently vocal ability, I still would have sent Dalton home first, but after one solid-but-not-amazing performance and one I-wish-that-hadn't-happened performance last week, I do understand why Sonika was eliminated. I was encouraged by Dalton landing in the bottom two, because, although he absolutely deserved to be there, I never thought his massive following of thirteen-year-old girls on twitter would let him down this early. Seeing him in the bottom two momentarily gave me hope that he would go home next week, but unfortunately, the way the judges constantly threw Mackenzie under the bus throughout the night and Dalton's tears that closed the show dashed those hopes real quick. Oh, and shout out to David Cook for a fantastic performance of his song "Heartbeat." EVERYONE GO DOWNLOAD DAVID'S MOST RECENT ALBUM DIGITAL VEIN. IT'S GREAT. (P.S. Why didn't I know that Dave got married to someone who isn't me?? Lool, I kid. ;D) La'Porsha Renae - "Wanted Dead or Alive" - I don't know where Scott Borchetta gets off saying that La'Porsha can't sing the line, "I'm a cowboy." Especially after hearing her sing this song with such power and conviction. I mean, heck freakin' yes, La'Porsha, you can be a cowboy!! I loved seeing La'Porsha step out of her usual box with this song and rock out a little bit. And for once, Harry did something good in his critique. I'm so glad that he pointed out how La'Porsha slowed down her vibrato to be in time with this song. That was crazy. I don't know how she does it. I do have to point out that she forgot her lyrics at one point and that she didn't quite hit the big note at the end, but other than those few little things, this was a fantastic performance. Grade: A- Mackenzie Bourg - "I Want You to Want Me" - Man, the judges really had it out for Mackenzie this week. And I don't exactly agree with them. I didn't mind Mackenzie's arrangement of this song, but I do wish that he would have stripped it down even more. He should have sung the song at this tempo with only his guitar. His voice just isn't strong enough for him to hold his own with the band playing so loudly behind him like this. From what I could tell, his vocal wasn't bad -- his quiet, delicate voice just got completely swallowed by the band. (Side note: Jennifer couldn't even be bothered to remember Stevie Van Zandt's name? Embarrassing.) Grade: B Trent Harmon - "Sharp Dressed Man" - HOLY. HECK. Trent singing ZZ Top was not something I knew I needed, but I needed eeeeevery bit of it. But like Stevie said, Trent took this song to the swamp and made it all his own until it had absolutely nothing to do with ZZ Top. The "oooo-oooo-oooos" in the beginning/middle and the slowed down first verse made this performance an actual life-changing experience. Even when Trent left the swamp and rocked out for a bit, I wasn't digging it any less. When he got to the line, "I don't worry 'cause my wallet's fat," and suddenly popped up into his crazy falsetto on "fat," I lost my freakin' mind. His pitch and tone were spot on throughout, and everything about this was insanity. You go ahead, soul man Trent. (Also, special thanks to Stevie for suggesting that Trent bring the swampiness to the beginning of the performance. Such a great idea.) Grade: A+ Dalton Rapattoni - "God Only Knows" - Being the Beach Boys superfan that I am, I'm naturally going to have a hard time hearing anyone but Carl Wilson sing this song. And when that person other than Carl Wilson is Dalton, I'm going to have an even harder time. Sure, Dalton hit his notes, but his vocal here was still not a sound I would ever willingly choose to hear. I watched this episode of Idol at 2 in the morning, and this bored me so much, I nearly fell asleep. Also, I think Harry's comment that, "It wasn't about being a strong vocal," as ridiculous as it was, was quite telling. It's time for Dalton to go home. Grade: B- La'Porsha Renae - "Elastic Heart" - Good freaking grief. I love love loved La'Porsha on this song. The first twenty to thirty seconds of this performance, during which we heard nothing but La'Porsha's gorgeous, soaring voice and the beating of those drums, took me to another place entirely. I had chills all over. And although I didn't want La'Porsha to leave the drum circle and have the rest of the band/background singers come in, her vocal was pretty dang perfect throughout, and I absolutely loved every bit of this performance. Grade: A Mackenzie Bourg - "Titanium" - When I first heard that Mackenzie was singing "Titanium," I was a bit skeptical. But this turned out to be a very pretty vocal, during which Mackenzie got back in his wheelhouse and was no longer being overcome by the band and everything else going on around him on stage. However, I would like to know what the heck is wrong with Harry and who is telling him to pick on Mackenzie. His critique here was absolutely one of the most asinine critiques I've ever heard. Mackenzie did not "make his whole performance about one note." He took Sia's advice and went for the note and hit it, sure. But if Harry had a hard time focusing on how nice Mackenzie sounded for the rest of the performance, that's his fault for choosing to only focus on the one note -- not Mackenzie's. Wow. Grade: B+ Trent Harmon - "Chandelier" - WHAT. IS. HAPPENING. IN. MY. LIFE. RIGHT. NOW. This vocal... It was just... Otherworldly. Incredible. Mind-blowing. HOW can a sound that beautiful come out of a human's mouth? This was THE definition of a perfect vocal. Every note was spot on, his tone was absolutely gorgeous on both the lower parts in the verses/bridge and the higher parts in the chorus, and the emotional connection was excellent. Everything about this performance was complete magic. Hands down the best performance of this season, and also one of the best things I've ever seen on Idol. Ri-freaking-diculous. All I'm waiting on now is Trent's confetti shower in two weeks. Grade: A+ Dalton Rapattoni - "Bird Set Free" - There's no way that whoever decided to give Dalton the pimp spot actually thought his performance was going to top Trent's. However, they did know that he was going to cry, I'm sure. So after seeing that Dalton was in the bottom 2, I guess the producers panicked and put him last so that the last thing America would remember from Thursday's show would be Dalton's tears.. ya know, to get him enough sympathy votes to beat Mackenzie. Anyway, enough of the conspiracy theories. Dalton must have related strongly to the lyrics of this song, because it has become abundantly clear as of late that he doesn't care if he sings off key. Ba-dum-tssss. I'm sorry, I'll stop being mean to Dalton now. In all seriousness, this was yet another subpar vocal from Dalton, and next week really should be his week to go home. Grade: C+ Should Go Home Next Week: Dalton Will Go Home Next Week: Mackenzie

[heartsoulrocknroll]

American Idol Season 15 Top 5 Review

Round One Theme: Songs Chosen by America (AKA songs possibly voted on by America but ultimately narrowed down to two or three options by the producers and Scott Borchetta?) 

Round Two Theme: I don’t actually know? Was there a theme for the second round? 

Bottom Two: Tristan, Sonika  Eliminated: Tristan 

I’m a bit annoyed about Sonika landing in the bottom two this week, but I’m not surprised. I am relieved that I no longer have to hear Tristan though. She was definitely the weakest of the remaining contestants and the correct person to go home this week. 

Also, shout out to Adam Lambert for being a beast and bringing us two fantastic vocal performances on “Mad World” and “Welcome to the Show.” So so so good to hear that voice on the Idol stage again. Love. him. 

Trent Harmon - “Counting Stars” - I really just want to forget that this ever happened, but I guess I have to discuss it briefly. The list of songs chosen by America must have been incredibly short after Scott and the producers got done with it, because there is no way that Trent had much say in his song choice for the first round. “Counting Stars” is not a singing song. It has virtually no melody on the verses. And sometimes the next line begins before the previous one has ended?? Nothing about it lends itself to actual singing, so Trent couldn’t really sing it, and consequently, there was nothing particularly good about his vocal here. And I mean, I guess he could have tried to change the song up, but I don’t really see what else he could have done with it. This whole thing was just incredibly unfortunate, and now that I have finished talking about it, I am actually going to forget that it happened. (For the record though, I would rather hear this fifty times than listen to any of Tristan’s performances again.) Grade: C

Dalton Rapattoni - “Numb” - Oh, man. Okay, so I actually think Dalton hit a greater percentage of his notes on this song than he did on “Eleanor Rigby” last week. But I know there are people in the world who will claim to have enjoyed this performance, and just the thought of someone actually enjoying this is absurd to me. I mean, come on. Whoooooo caaaaaares? That was all that was going through my mind during this performance. Ugh. Grade: C

La’Porsha Renae - “Ready for Love” - So obviously, the first thought that came to my mind when I heard “Ready for Love” was my boy Joshua Ledet and his fantastic performance of this song in season 11. However, for the two minutes that La’Porsha was on that stage singing this song, she held my attention 100% and kept my mind off of Joshua, which is no small feat. Her version of the song was excellent in its own way. I mean, holy heck. Her vocal here was so delicate and so restrained for the majority of the song, and I loooooved hearing that side of her voice. And she was soooo emotionally invested in the song, it almost brought tears to my eyes. Absolutely stellar. Grade: A

Mackenzie Bourg - “Wild World” - When I first heard this performance, people in my house were talking in the room next to me, and I was having a hard time fully hearing Mackenzie. So I posted on twitter that from what I could hear, I liked this performance. However, upon re-listen, I have realized that what I really liked about the performance was Mackenzie singing something upbeat… because I think we’ve only heard him sing slower songs or songs that he rearranged to perform at a slower-than-usual tempo. What I didn’t like about this performance was that there was a handful of iffy notes that made the vocal not quite as good as it sounded when I couldn’t fully hear on Thursday night. Grade: B- 

Tristan McIntosh - “Independence Day” - This was definitely the most in-tune performance Tristan has given on the show. She actually hit the majority of her notes in this song. However, no matter how many correct notes she hits, the tone of her voice will never be pleasant and I will never enjoy it until she learns how to produce sound differently so that whatever happens when she sings doesn’t happen anymore. Grade: C+

Sonika Vaid - “Let It Go” - Sonika is a conundrum for me. She was so good in the auditions and in Hollywood week, but since the live shows began, the only really great performance she has given has been “Bring Me to Life.” I want the girl who sang “Bring Me to Life” back. I want that fire, and I want that vocal perfection. Sonika gave a good, competent vocal on a very difficult song in “Let It Go,” but it didn’t excite me or make me feel like she has a legitimate chance to make it past fifth place at all. Grade: B

Dalton Rapattoni - “The Sound of Silence” - Here we go. This was a better vocal than Dalton has given in weeks. However, the vocal still wasn’t top-five-on-American-Idol level of good. And the judges droned on and on and on about how well Dalton connects emotionally to songs and how well he interprets lyrics and blah blah blah. I mean, really? Are the judges seeing/hearing the same performances that I’m seeing/hearing? Because all I see is a lot of rehearsed angst, staged emotion, and RIDICULOUSLY CHEESY hand gestures. And sitting down at the end? Please. Grade: C+

Mackenzie Bourg - “Billie Jean” - I think this is my favorite thing Mackenzie has done all season. I loved how he changed up the arrangement of “Billie Jean.” It wasn’t quite like David Cook’s version, so kudos to Mackenzie for coming up with something new and different even in a post-David Cook world. In addition to giving us a cool arrangement of this song, Mackenzie gave us a really nice vocal as well. (Side note: @ Jennifer, don’t you ever let me catch you trying to say that some version of “Billie Jean” other than David Cook’s was “the most special version we’ve heard on Idol.” Please. And thank you, Ryan Seacrest, for being the only person to mention David’s performance. Geez.) Grade: A- 

Trent Harmon - “Simple Man” - I am soooo glad that Trent came back strong with this performance after the disaster that happened in round one. I am also so glad that Trent chose a southern rock song that we wouldn’t necessarily expect from him and put his own soulful spin on it. This vocal was pretty spotless – and that high note in the middle of the performance? And that gritty sound in his voice toward the end? Come on, boy, saaaang. Grade: A- 

Sonika Vaid - “Clarity” - Oh, dear. Sonika punched her ticket back home with this performance. She’s been in the bottom three for weeks after giving solid vocals. So now that she has given us “Clarity” – during which she jumped around on stage so much that she was totally out of breath and totally unable to maintain control of her pitch – there is no way she’ll escape elimination. Grade: C

La’Porsha Renae - “No More Drama” - Once again, La’Porsha chose a song that is iconic on American Idol because of the amazing Joshua Ledet. But where La’Porsha was able to make me put Joshua’s performance of “Ready for Love” out of my mind for a bit, she was unable to do the same with “No More Drama.” Joshua’s performance was just otherworldy and so freaking intense that I felt like actually throwing up or smashing holes in my walls with a sledgehammer or something. And as emotional and genuine as La’Porsha’s “No More Drama” was, it didn’t get me the way I wanted it to get me, because the vocal was a bit imperfect in places – probably due to tears that she was trying to hold back. Don’t get me wrong – this was still a great performance. But knowing what La’Porsha is capable of vocally, I just wanted a little more. Grade: B+

Should Be Next Week’s Bottom Two: Dalton, Sonika (I hate to say it about Sonika… prior to tonight I probably would have said Dalton and Mackenzie… but I think Mackenzie earned his safety next week just by virtue of “Billie Jean,” and I’m afraid Sonika earned her spot in the bottom two next week just by virtue of “Clarity.” Sigh.) 

Should Go Home Next Week: Dalton 

Will Be Next Week’s Bottom Two: Mackenzie, Sonika 

Will Go Home Next Week: Sonika 

[heartsoulrocknroll]

American Idol Season 15 Top 6 Review

Theme: Most-Performed Songs on Idol

Bottom Three: Lee, Avalon, Sonika Eliminated: Lee, Avalon

Okay, first we need to have a serious conversation about this week’s theme. Could there have possibly been a worse theme? Most-performed songs on Idol? As if we are all dying to hear another mediocre cover of “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” or “I Have Nothing.” We aren't!!! I can’t even begin to understand the thought process that went into choosing this theme. Do the producers want to sacrifice this entire season to nostalgia or do they actually just hate all of us? Who knows?

Now, on to the bottom three. America, I’m disappointed again. This was absolutely not the correct bottom three. You got one out of three, but Sonika and Avalon in the bottom over Tristan? Dalton? Maybe even Mackenzie? Come on. You guys gotta do better.

I had a hard time deciding whether I thought Sonika or Avalon should be saved. Both are incredibly talented vocalists who should have filled out the top 4 with La'Porsha and Trent. I think Avalon’s performance on Thursday was much more interesting/exciting than Sonika’s, but Sonika’s may have been a bit more technically sound. Ultimately, at the end of the show, I found relief in the judges’ decision to keep Sonika, so I think they made the right choice.

(P.S. no more Lee!!!!!! Woooo hoooooo!!)

Trent and La'Porsha - “See You Again” - A duet from these two is all I’ve wanted since this season began, and despite the fact that I never would have chosen this song for them, they totally worked it out (is that a Randy Jacksonism? oh dear). They sounded fantastic individually and together. Great performance. Grade: A-

Avalon and Sonika - “Rise Up” - I’m a bit confused as to who decided to have Avalon and Sonika sing this song and why they decided it. Vocally, both ladies sounded absolutely lovely on this duet, but the boring nature of the song itself did them no favors. Grade: B+

Mackenzie and Dalton - “I Want It That Way” - By this point in the show, I was completely baffled about these songs that these contestants were being forced to sing for duets. The Backstreet Boys? For Mackenzie and Dalton? I’m just??? Why? And song choice/song assignment aside, this performance was completely confusing and just not good at all. Grade: C-

Lee and Tristan - “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” - HOW many times do we have to hear “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” on Idol? Add how overdone this song is to the fact that it was Lee and Tristan who were singing it, and I’m feeling a bit sick to my stomach. Both of their vocals on this song were absolutely atrocious. Pitch aaaaall over the place. Just a mess. Grade: D+

La'Porsha Renae - “Come Together” - LA'PORSHAAAAA !!!!!! Holy heck, y'all. This performance gave me eeeeeeverything I needed. From the rumbly, growly notes on “here come ol’ flat top” to that long run on “right now” toward the end of the performance to the last two notes where she went from low to high falsetto on “me-EEEEE” — y'all. That was some craziness right there. Stank. face. Grade: A

Mackenzie Bourg - “You Are So Beautiful” - Okay. So La'Porsha gave us “Come Together,” which has been done and done very well many times on Idol by Carly, Kris, Crystal, and Candice. But what she did to that song was so insane and exciting that I didn’t think too much about all of the previous versions. In Mackenzie’s case here, he just didn’t do enough vocally to make me temporarily forget about Jessica and Rayvon’s versions of “You Are So Beautiful.” This was a nice, pretty vocal by Mackenzie though, and it was certainly good enough to make him deserving of a spot in the top five. Grade: B

Trent Harmon - “Stand By Me” - I was skeptical about this song choice going into this performance, because vocally, “Stand By Me” isn’t an incredibly interesting song. However, I should have known better than to doubt Trent’s ability to infuse an infinite number of vocal ornamentations into this song in order to make this performance not only technically proficient but also dynamic and interesting. I loved all of the vocal choices he made here, and this turned out to be a really good moment for him. (Side note: How good did his hair look here? And just how freaking handsome is he?) Grade: A

Tristan McIntosh - “A Broken Wing” - Tristan’s voice has a really weird sound. It’s like she’s not quite singing through her nose, but she’s not placing the sound where it needs to be placed in order to sound… halfway pleasant? Anyway, she sounded better here than she usually does. However, the whole thing was still pretty average and the high notes at the end were a mess. Grade: C

Dalton Rapattoni - “Eleanor Rigby” - I swear, Dalton gets worse every week. His vocal here absolutely did not live up to the drama of the smoke and violins. Also, I’ve about had it with his manufactured looks of angst. The growl at the end didn’t please my ears either. And the fact that the judges acted like he redeemed himself after last week with this performance is ridiculous. This was just as bad as or worse than “Radioactive.” Grade: C

Avalon Young - “PYT” - I think perhaps that in order to excite the judges/producers/voters, Avalon probably needed something different than this song.. but regardless of that, I really liked this performance. I love the groove and coolness Avalon brings to a song, and her voice grooved so naturally with the melody of “PYT.” The fact that she was sent home after this is really devastating, but between her and Sonika, it would have been upsetting either way. Grade: B+

Lee Jean - “Let It Be” - I’ve been waiting for a while to use this joke, so here it is. Lee Jean… more like… Lee Yawn. Ba-dum-tssss. Grade: D+

Sonika Vaid - “I Have Nothing” - The fact that Sonika chose this song really bums me out, because she’s so much better than the pageant girl vibe that this gave her. Her vocal here was pretty sublime, but it wasn’t necessarily mind blowing enough to make us forget that she was singing one of the most overdone songs in Idol history. However, as I mentioned before, I do think saving her was probably the correct choice. Grade: B+

Should Be Next Week’s Bottom Two: Tristan, Dalton

Should Go Home Next Week: Tristan

Will Be Next Week’s Bottom Two: Tristan, Sonika

Will Go Home Next Week: Tristan (assuming the judges’ save thing is still going on next week)

[heartsoulrocknroll]

American Idol Season 15 Top 8 Review

Bottom Three: Gianna, Olivia, Avalon Eliminated: Gianna, Olivia Okay, America, we need to have a talk. I would like to know how on earth Avalon landed in the bottom three when she had a solid performance last week and is easily among the four best singers left in the competiton. It makes no sense. At least the judges/producers did the right thing with the "save." Keeping Avalon was the only logical option here. Olivia probably shouldn't have gone home before Lee and Tristan, but with this bottom 3 and with 2 people going home, she had to go. And I can't say that I will miss her. And obviously Gianna's elimination was long overdue. Moving on to my grades for this week's performances... Dalton Rapattoni - "Radioactive" - Oh no, Dalton... oh no, oh no, oh no. This song choice was completely uninspired, and his vocal couldn't have been more bland and boring. Grade: C Lee Jean - "Use Somebody" - Whoooooooooo cares? Grade: C- Sonika Vaid - "Since U Been Gone" - This performance started off a bit slow vocally, because I think the opening verse was too low for her. For the rest of the song, she was vocally solid, but there was nothing exciting about any of it. Sigh. Grade: B Mackenzie Bourg - "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" - This definitely seemed better in theory than it actually turned out to be. I really liked Mackenzie's arrangement of this song, but his vocal was just fine. Like Sonika, nothing about his vocal excited me. Very underwhelming. Grade: B La'Porsha Renae - "Halo" - Despite the fact that the staging of this performance was entirely too literal and dramatic with the bright lights and the huge wings on the screen behind La'Porsha, she sounded absolutely fantastic once again. Excellent vocal that flowed seamlessly from beginning to middle to end. Grade: A- Trent Harmon - "When a Man Loves a Woman" - Let me just get this out of the way first. Whoever is telling Trent to stop face pulling needs to shut up and let the dude sing. During this performance, you could see him trying to control his faces, and that is absolutely not what he needs to be focusing on. Besides, his faces are the outward manifestation of the emotion and vocal insanity he puts into a song, and I like them. So keep the faces Trent, and sing your lil heart out. Moving on -- the fact that Trent's obvious preoccupation with controlling his facial expressions didn't diminish the perfection of his pitch and tone is a testament to how fantastic he is as a singer. This vocal was absolutely beautiful. You better freakin' sang, Trent. Grade: A Tristan McIntosh - "Go Rest High Upon that Mountain" - This was no doubt the best thing Tristan has done since her audition. However, it was still average and underwhelming and not worthy of a spot in the top 8. And Keith and Jen's standing ovation was just too much. Grade: C+ Avalon Young - "Earned It" - Let me just start by saying that the fact that Avalon was in the bottom three while Tristan and Lee were safe is a complete and total joke. This performance was great. The beauty of her tone and the effortless sexiness she put into the vocal was so cool. As I said in the beginning of my review, saving her was the only logical choice. Grade: A- Olivia Rox - "Trouble" - I think Olivia was reaching a little too high by trying to take on P!nk. Not only was her vocal lacking here, but the entire performance came off as incredibly cheesy. Idk. Grade: C+ Gianna Isabella - "If I Ain't Got You" - From the look on Gianna's face after this performance, you could tell that she knew she was going home. I don't have much to say about this. It was bad as usual, and I'm just glad I never have to hear her sing again. Grade: D+ Should Be Next Week's Bottom Three: Lee, Tristan, Dalton Should Go Home Next Week: Lee, Tristan Will Be Next Week's Bottom Three: Lee, Tristan, Avalon (I fear Avalon will suffer the same fate as Rayvon after being "saved" this week... but we'll see.) Will Go Home Next Week: Lee, Tristan (it has to happen)