Tonight's the night! We finally find out who our Top 10 are!
I'm feeling pretty good for my absolute favorites, but I'm worried about a couple people. And I'm even more worried that Jenn and Jeneve, one or worse - both, will make it over much more deserving singers. The polls I've been seeing made it pretty clear that Manny will be going home. He was dead last in a lot of viewer polls I've seen. Thomas didn't fare too well after getting a harsh (but very truthful) critique from Harry. Somewhere in the middle, on the bubble, were Gianna, Avalon, Tristan, Lee, Jeneve, and Jenn. Mackenzie was the overwhelming favorite in all of the polls that I saw. Like seriously, it wasn't even close. So that makes me ecstatic! I'm just hoping all of those people voted.
They aren't wasting any time with the results, and here we go! Joining Dalton, Trent, La'Porsha, and Olivia are:
Tristan
Sonika
Gianna
Mackenzie
Avalon
Lee
That means that the 4 singers leaving are: Jeneve, Jenn, Manny, and Thomas
Can I get a HUGE "WOOHOO"!!!!!! Oh, my, gosh! I am incredibly, incredibly pleased with this! Jenn and Jeneve are gone! I thought I might get lucky and 1 would go home, but I never dreamt I would be so lucky for both of them to go! Mackenzie, Sonika, and Lee all made it, so that made me very happy. I like Tristan, Avalon, and Gianna so I'm not disappointed with them at all. All in all, I think this is a pretty great Top 10. La'Porsha is my least favorite, and I don't care for her much at all. The other 9, I'm very OK with. Shocking. What a great way to go into the final season!
Joining the panel to judge the first performances from the Top 10 is none other than Season 1 Winner, Kelly Clarkson! Love her!
Performance time!
Olivia - "Unconditionally" by Katy Perry
Is her microphone on? I can barely hear her. She had some nice moments, but for some reason this just kind of seemed all over the place to me. It was OK, but I was not super impressed with that.
My Score: C+
Gianna - "Listen" by Beyonce
I just can't get over how different she looks with straight hair!. She did not look comfortable singing this at all. Her face was pointing forward, but her eyes were looking off to the side, back and forth, very strangely. She sang loud, but she had some really, really off notes. Her last big note was good and on-pitch. I didn't feel much of a connection to the song. The nerves really got to her on that one, I think. Kelly hit the nail on the head that she was really thinking too much. You could tell that she was thinking about the next note and she lost the connection and emotion in the song. I agree with Harry that it sounded really rehearsed.
My Score: C-
Lee - "Skinny Love" by Bon Iver
I know this as a song by the artist named Birdy. It's a great song, but she does it a lot slower than this version. I love her version, but I'm liking this version as well. It was nice to see him do a little bit more of an upbeat song. He seemed really nervous and had some tiny pitch issues. I still really enjoyed his performance, though. He's such a good kid and he's just so likable. I would like to see him branch out a little bit. He knows what he does well, and like Keith likes to say, he stays in his "lane". That's great, and important, but he's becoming too predictable and isn't really showing us something new and exciting. If he can tweak some songs and give them a different spin, it could take him really far. Still love him though, I'm just getting a little worried for him at this point int he competition.
My Score: B+
Avalon - "Stitches" by Shawn Mendes
I love this song. this is a good one for her. The lower notes were a little off at the beginning. I really started to like it a lot at the chorus. The first few whispered, very low "needle and a thread"s were almost unintelligible. I really wanted to love this. It was good, but it wasn't her best. It semed so short and we didn't really get to hear the best parts of the song...it was kind of choppy.
My Score: B-
Dalton - "Hey There Delilah" by The Plain White T's
I LOVE that his family bet on Chris Daughtry. And I love that he approaches songs the way he does because of David Cook. So, this is an awesome song and I don't think it's ever been done on Idol. He could sing the phone book and I wouldn't care. I'm obsessed with him. He is just in a different league than everyone else in this competition. I really hope the voters stand by him and give him the credit he deserves. He's a true artist. He's a true performer. He's just great. I don't know if I would call this "electric barnyard" like Keith called it. Everyone else has looked terrified tonight, but not Dalton. I was worried about what Harry would say about this, but he was 100% in favor of it. He said he's flipped every single song he's done and so far he's batting 1000 - what an awesome compliment from one of the toughest critics. His song choices are not only very different, but they are so smart. He picks songs that people know and can relate to, and then he tweaks them and it feels kind of like we're hearing them for the first time. That's exactly what David Cook did, so it's very easy to see why Dalton is able to do the same thing. ♥♥♥♥♥
My Score: A
Tristan - "Nothin' Like You" by Dan + Shay
I don't know why she always picks songs that start out too low. Just like Gianna, she's having some major pitch issues. She also did the same thing as Gianna kind of looking out of the corner of her eyes. Her song choices are just strange. I can never feel a connection to the song from her. It always seems like she's forced to sing a song she doesn't really like that much. Which is actually not the case, since country is what she wants to sing. I don't know, it's always just a little off.
My Score: C
MacKenzie - "I See Fire" by Ed Sheeran
I love this song! Great choice, MacKenzie! Just like Dalton, he could sing the phone book and I wouldn't care. He just doesn't have a bad performance. He knows what he does well and he just knows how to perform. Beautiful!♥♥♥♥♥
My Score: A
La'Porsha - "Diamond" by Rihanna
OK, La'Porsha - great song choice! The runs were a bit out of control. As usual, she had a case of "the runs". But...there were things I really liked. The good song helped. If she could cut the runs by 50% I would have liked it a whole lot more. Yes, we know you can do vocal runs up and down and backwards and forwards and upside down. We get it. Can you do anything else? Of course everyone was going to scream themselves silly. J. Lo said she has control. I think it's the opposite. I think she goes out of control and she just can't help herself. There is no need to sing every note in the scale on every...single...word. Have some restraint, please. Please. LESS IS MORE.
My Score: A-
Sonika - "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence
I love this song! What a cool choice for her! Very unexpected! We're used to hearing her sing power ballads. This is power in a whole new direction and I love it! We got to see her really let loose. Amy Lee (Evanescence) has such an incredible voice and those high notes are no joke. She did an amazing job. Like, really amazing! That last note was killer! That's the Sonika I knew was in there somewhere! We've just been waiting for her to break loose. She totally brought the drama and it was incredible! Absolutely one of the best tonight, by far! Kelly is right, she is NEVER pitchy. And to follow what La'Porsha did was incredible. LOVED IT! Her best performance by far.
My Score: A+
Trent - "Like I Can" by Sam Smith
Great song choice. I feel like I say the same thing about Trent every week. I like some things he does and some things he does just drives me nuts. He did a little better with the forced over-singing. His falsetto sounded a little too shouty tonight. I don't know that I've ever heard him sing quite like that before. I liked his performance, but I definitely didn't love it. I agree with Kelly - I would like to hear him sing soft and tender more. It's like he only has 1 volume and intensity, and it's 100. It would be nice to have a little more balance.
My Score: B
Following all of this season's contestants, we were treated with an incredible, emotional performance by the one and only, first American Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson. She warned us that she might not be able to make it through without crying. She ended up having the entire building and everyone at home in tears!
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