The Next: Finale

Before the actual finale, they have to perform again. Overall, they were pretty underwhelming.

-Ashley-decent
-Ali-just Ok/kind of pitchy
-Krystle-pretty awful...it was kind of painful honestly
-Cori-very good and quite entertaining
-Jordan-awesome and I love that Robin Thicke song "Get You Alone"; he was easily my favorite. If that doesn't earn him a spot in the final 3, I don't know what will.

The last singer is announced, and I was totally right, it's Jordan! He joins Michael Ray and Iliana, who was announced at the beginning of the show.

Final performances:

Michael Ray
He was born to be a country singer, that's for sure. There's not much to say other than, he's good. He's very consistent and is just clearly awesome. Which for me is saying a lot because I hate country.

Iliana
Why on earth would you pick such an old-fashioned song? Everyone knows that most people connect to more fun, up-beat songs...a slow song like that is not going to win you a show like this...sorry. It doesn't matter how good you are.

Jordan Baird
This performance is not nearly as good as "Get You Alone". Not only is it too boring, but he didn't sing it that great.

The only shot Jordan has to win is if enough people liked his first performance, and being hot will help, too. I think Michael will probably win it. He was a very early favorite going back to the first city audition. He was also the highest vote-getter, which made him the first finalist, so I see him carrying it through to the end. And did I mention, he's hot?!

And the winner is: Michael Ray! I picked it...I'm awesome. Actually, it was pretty much a no-brainer.

The Next: Semi-Finals Round 2

The results from the vote of last week's semi-finals:

Moving on to the finals is Michael Ray, which means he doesn't need to perform until Thursday.

Jordan Baird
He sings a Tyler Hilton song, which is awesome! I was beginning to think no one knew who Tyler Hilton was...which is sad, because Tyler is awesome. He performed it very well. It's too bad his voice cracked a little on the last note. Otherwise it was really, really good.

Ashley Kimbrae
She sings Rihanna's "California King Bed". The low notes at the beginning were a little weak, but it got a little better. I didn't care for the overdone vibrato. I don't know that it was one of her best performances, but she ended it strong.

Ali Brustofski
She sings Bruno Mars's "The Way You Are". I liked the way she ended the song, I thought it was really good.

Krystle Cruz
She sings "Skyscraper" by Demi Lovato. I definitely think this was her best performance. She didn't overdo it, it was very subtle, yet powerful. Very nicely done Krystle.

Cori Yarckin
She sings "Everybody Talks" by Neon Trees. Very strange song choice for her, I think (even though I like the song). It started off very odd, but it did get better. I thought her weird acting during the song was just a bit much (sorry to disagree John Rich).

Iliana
She sings Maroon 5's "One More Night", which I love! She was great! One of my favorites of the night!

The Next: Semi-finals

The top vote-getter from tonight will move on to the finals.

Krystle Cruz (Nelly)
I'm still not a fan. The background music is drowning her out. She is totally out of breath at the end, and she's really just shouting the song. I'm glad the coaches knew that it wasn't very good.

Ali Brustofski (Gloria)
Unlike Krystle...great sing choice. She killed it!

Jordan Baird (Joe)
Nice song choice as well. He's a little flat at first, but he found his rhythm. He is just so good looking! Love him!

Ashley Kimbrae (Nelly)
She's the real deal. I hated the musical arrangement and background vocals...it was just so distracting. Once you got past the annoying "wide awake" track on constant repeat in the background, her performance was really good.

Iliana (Gloria)
What a great performance. I don't think she missed a note. I really liked it and her very much.

Michael Ray (John)
I forgot how hot this guy was! I hate country, but I love this guy! He is so talented! He sounds like he should be on the radio right now. John thinks he's the man to beat. Nelly thinks he's the --it. Haha

The 7th performance comes from the one singer who got voted back by the public. There were quite a few that I would have liked to see come back. The winner is:

Cori Yarckin (Gloria)
She rocked that song! It was a little too much like the original, but it was still really awesome!

The Next: Los Angeles

Los Angeles is the sixth and last audition city. So, next week will be the semi-finals. A seventh singer (from any city) as chosen by America, will be joining the six winners.

Angela Mukul--Gloria Estefan
She sings Lady Gaga's "You and I". She's not terrible, but I just don't buy her. She seems really fake. I don't see her as being a legitimate contender or ever having a career in the music industry.

Tilky Jones--John Rich
He's an ex-boybander from the group Take 5. Another ex-boybander is making the rounds of singing reality shows this season. He sings Andy Grammer's "Fine By Me". He's a good-looking guy and he's got a lot of talent. I love that he plays the guitar, too. I really like him! (I just hope he has a shot coming out of the #2 performing spot.)

Jeremy Crooks--Joe Jonas
He sings "DJ Got Us Falling In Love" by Usher. He's pretty good. He needs to work on his phrasing and not getting out of breath doing the dance moves.

Krystle Cruz--Nelly
She sings "Mama Knows Best" by Jessie J. She is definitely the most dynamic singer of the night...by far! She's got a lot of power. I don't know if she's the best singer, but she's the most confident and loudest of the night, so I think she's got the win in the bag...and it doesn't hurt that she's singing last.

The winner: Krystle

The Next: Dallas

Erica Perry--John Rich
She sings "Redneck Woman". I really like her voice. She sounds like she should be on the radio. Her voice is just really clean and pure.

Jordana--Joe Jonas
She sings Pink's "So What". Just judging by her video package, I was definitely not buying into her at all. Her performance was much better, though. She's definitely different than anyone we've seen so far in this competition.

Remington--Gloria Estefan
He sings Maroon 5's "Stutter". He's got a very unique sound, but I really like it!

Ashley Kimbrae--Nelly
She sings Jessie J's "Price Tag". She's good, but nothing outstanding. She's performing last, so she might win. There seems to be a theme that whoever performs third or fourth wins.

The winner: Ashley (see what I mean? The others weren't strong enough, so she was the last one the audience remembered.)

The Next: Chicago

Julian Bell--Joe Jonas
He sings John Mayer's "Waiting on the World to Change". It's so cool to see him singing something so unexpected. He does not look like he should have that voice, or be that good, and play guitar! I really like this guy.

Janelle Kroll-John Rich
John has some interesting advice for her, that she really doesn't want to hear: sing without any instruments. I think he's right. I'm not as big a fan of her as John is, though. She sings Janet Jackson's "Together Again". She sounded decent at first when it was a capella, but as soon as the music started, it was pretty awful. I think the song choice was a huge part of it. I liked her in the taped pieces, but on stage, I don't think it worked at all. I really think any other song would have been better. It just didn't sound right with that song.

Jabari--Nelly
He sings a great song: Bruno Mars's "Grenade". He has a really nice tone. The song got better the further he got. He really started singing with some passion and power. It was good, but not spectacular.

Iliana--Gloria Estefan
She is such a pretty girl. She sings Adele's "Set Fire to the Rain" (great choice). I got goosebumps as soon as she started singing. I think she's the most talented singer of the night, but she needs to be careful not to overdue it.

And the winner from Chicago is: Iliana

The Next: New York

A-Wall--John Rich
Straight out of Harlem, this guy had a brain tumor as a kid and has written songs that major artists have recorded. He sings Ne-yo's "Sexy Love". This guy is very talented. He has a great sound, but he definitely does not have a unique sound to his voice.

Baiyu--Nelly
She sings Fergie's "Big Girls Don't Cry". She has a very deep voice, which I usually don't like from girl singers, but she sounded really good. She took very good notes from Nelly and toned down the hand movements and over-the-top energy.

Frankie Z.--Joe Jonas
He used to perform in the boy band Wow and is also a dance instructor. He sings Jason Derulo's "In My Head". I love this guy! Great voice, great dancing. He's the complete package. Oh and did I mention, he's really cute, too!

Ali--Gloria Estefan
She sings Miley Cyrus's "When I Look At You". She is so cute! I love her voice, especially for this song. Wow!

I really thought Frankie had it in the bag, but Ali is going to give him a run for his money! I wish they could take both of them!

And the winner, and singer representing New York is: Ali!

The Next-Baltimore

Gloria Estefan-Shannon Ramsey
Shannon is a choir director who has opened for big-name R&B artists. She gets a make-over and completely chops off all her hair! And she looks amazing!

She sings: Kelly Clarkson's "Stronger"
She starts out really good, but as the song builds louder and higher, it doesn't sound so good. The end had quite a bit of screetching. Definitely don't think she's moving on. The judges, however, apparently didn't agree with me-they thought she was perfect.

John Rich-Jenny Leigh
She sings: Miranda Lambert's "Gun Powder and Lead"
She's really good, but sounds like any woman country singer on the radio today...nothing special or outstanding. Her performance was dynamic, so if the next 2 don't do something loud and upbeat, she will definitely win tonight.

Nelly-Chris Bivins
Nelly's teaching strategy for Chris: make him belt out his song while running on a treadmill.
He sings: Usher's "More"
I'm not impressed with him at all. I don't think he's very good at all. I'm really hoping they agree with me on this one. Haha John Rich said the dancing was way better than the singing and Joe agrees! I actually thought the dancing was pretty crappy too.

Joe Jonas-Jordan Baird
He's a church man, and a cutey! Go Jordan! He loves Gavin DeGraw...ok, could this guy be any more perfect? Joe's teaching strategy for Jordan: sing while playing basketball.

He sings: Gavin DeGraw's "I'm Not Over You"
He is super good!!! Love him! He has a really good vibe on stage, not to mention he's gorgeous! I really hope he wins the votes! The crowd is going nuts!

And the winner of Baltimore is: Jordan!!!! Way to go Baltimore, you chose well.

So far, 2 cities, 2 hot and talented guys...not too shabby.

The Next-Orlando

So, did anyone watch this new show called "The Next" on the CW? I thought I'd give it a try.

Here's the format:
There are 4 coaches--Joe Jonas, Gloria Estefan, John Rich, Nelly
The coaches work with an up and coming artist who already has a sizeable online and local following. Each city will face-off 4 singers, and the audience will vote on their favorite. The winner will go up against the winners from the other cities. The coaches get 72 hours to work with their singer before they perform live. Because they have such a small amount of time, the coaches enter the daily lives of their singers, and practice whenever, and wherever they can.

Tonight we see Orlando.

Joe Jonas-Tayler Buono
He met her parents, and he felt like it was a date. She loves him, wait, no...she's a fan. He wants her out of her comfort zone. Some of the things they do: He helps her babysit, she sings to him in the car.

She sings "Secrets" by OneRepublic

I like her kind of stripped down version of the song. She has a very different voice, but I like it. The more she sings, the more I like her. Great pick, Joe Jonas.

Gloria Estefan-Cori Yarckin
She makes Gloria mow her lawn and plant plants! She has performance anxiety, so Gloria tries to figure out where that fear comes from.

She sings "The Edge of Glory" by Lady Gaga

You would never know she has stage fright-she's killing it! Dance moves and all. She has a very strong voice, with some edge (get it?). Wow, that was really good!

John Rich-Michael Ray
He's cute! Haha they are shooting arrows into the water? And John Rich is wearing overalls...and a ball cap instead of his cowboy hat! He wakes him up and makes him sing, he walks in on him singing in the shower...and what does he do? He sits down on the toilet and plays the guitar...which freaks Michael out, and he ends up showing a little too much of himself! Michael actually looks pretty mad, and in a huff pulls the shower curtain, and it and the rod fall down! John takes that as his cue to get out of there. Ha!

He sings "Springsteen" by Eric Church

I don't care much for country music, but he is quite awesome. He sounds radio-ready.

Nelly-Itzy Rodriguez (interesting name)
I never thought Nelly would do a show like this. He's a pretty cool dude-he goes to work with her, and eats some roasted pig with her family He has her practice singing in the bathroom with a toothbrush inside her mouth, and also at her job.

She sings "Firework" by Katy Perry

She's good, but I don't know if she's better than the other 3.  But as the song goes on, she actually gets better.

This is going to be tough! The audience members vote on who they liked best, and only 1 will go to LA.

The votes are revealed and Michael is the winner! He is moving on to the semi finals!
I think I like this show :)