American Idol Finale Recap

After the elimination of Joshua last week, American Idol fans were treated to one of the best possible combinations for the finale. Both Jessica and Phillip where surely at least among the top two contestants for respective genders (Hollie and Colton would be the other halves of that equation). Both have been fan favorites from the beginning and thus it came as no surprise that the show was quite satisfying.

HERS”S HOW I RANK ROUND 1:

1. Jessica – Nailed the high notes and came out very strong.

2. Phillip - Slow and smooth, very cool with a projection of confidence.

HERS”S HOW I RANK ROUND 2:

1. Jessica  - Beautiful tone and fantastic vocals. It was nearly flawless.

2. Phillip - Good balance between the slow and upbeat. Pretty good job overall.

HERE’S HOW I RATE THE ORIGINAL SINGLES:

1. Phillip – Classic folk feel. It was simple and beautiful and a pretty fit for him.

2. Jessica - Slow start but strong on the chorus. The song itself could have been much better.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

While Jessica would have to be considered the favorite tonight, we cannot count Phillip out by any means. Ultimately, it will come down to two simple possible voting scenarios. First, if the voters looked at the three performances equally, Jessica undoubtedly won the first two rounds and thus will be this year’s winner. However, if voters decided to put more value on the performance of the original singles, Phillip will be the last one standing. Basically, it could go either way and will likely be a very slim margin.

American Idol Top 3 Recap

The top three performances had some ups and down and gave us an extremely tight level of competition. While there where several very good performances, none seemed to really stand out head and shoulders above the rest. It should be an interesting vote this week.

HERE’S HOW I RATE THE SONGS CHOSEN BY THE JUDGES:

1.  (Tie) Jessica and Phillip

3. Joshua

HERE’S HOW I RATE THE CONTENT CHOSEN SONGS:

1. Jessica 

2. Joshua

3. Phillip

HERE’S HOW I RATE THE SONGS CHOSEN BY JIMMY:

1. Phillip

2. Jessica

3. Joshua

OVERALL:

1. Jessica - Very solid overall with great tone and vocals. There where a few issues with song choices and lack of defining moments but she provided good performances all in all.

2. Phillip - Stepped up his game this week, especially in round one and three. His cool, funky, vibe is by far the most unique sound among the final three.

3. Joshua – He had the pipes and showed a ton of confidence but his over the top screaming and vibrato could be a killer.

Side Notes:

I was thoroughly disappointed with Jimmy’s song choices. This songs for Joshua and Jessica where destined for a train wreck and lack of vocal challenge respectively. The only one that worked was the song for Phillip. Conversely, the judges’ choices worked out to be a nice fit. Jessica took a huge risk going with “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” considering it was seemingly out of her comfort zone. The risk paid off as she aced it.

American Idol Top 4 Recap

Now nearing the top three every song can be critical. While there where a few standout performances last night, most left room for the competition to tighten up. It will be interesting to see what happens tonight.

HERE’S HOW I RATE THE FIRST PERFORMANCES:

1. Jessica

2. Joshua

3. Hollie

4. Phillip

HERE’S HOW I RATE THE SECOND PERFORMANCES:

1. Jessica 

2. Phillip

3. Joshua

4. Hollie 

DUET PERFORMANCES:

1. The Girls

2. The Guys 

OVERALL:

1. Jessica - Excellent, beautiful vocals with great tone. She oozed emotion and confidence in her performances.

2. Joshua – Good song choices but we continues to struggle with vibrato and screaming. Even so, possibly his best week.

3. Phillip - Had some difficulty with the first song and duet but nailed his last performance.

4. Hollie - She had some rough patches in both solo performances but still maintains pure vocals all the way.

Side Notes:

Jessica was head and shoulders above the rest, by a landslide in fact. While I’m afraid Hollie (perhaps my personal favorite) will be on her way out tonight, it could be a bit of a toss up between her and Phillip. Basically, it comes down to this: Will one very good performance by Phillip outweigh three decent showings by Hollie? If Jessica where to go home it would be a gigantic shock. It’s unlikely that Joshua will get ousted but we’ve seen crazier things happen.

American Idol Top 5 recap

The competition is getting tougher and it seems anything can happen. Every single contestant remaining has been in the bottom 3 at least once and I do believe the genres for the week helped everyone out a bit.

HERE’S HOW I RATE THE FIRST PERFORMANCES:

1. Hollie

2. Joshua

3. Phillip

4. Jessica

5. Skylar

HERE’S HOW I RATE THE SECOND PERFORMANCES:

1. Jessica + Hollie (tie)

3. Skylar 

4. Joshua

5. Phillip 

GROUP PERFORMANCES:

1. The Girls

2. The Guys 

OVERALL:

1. Hollie – She was entertaining, had amazing tone, stood out in the group performance and was nearly perfect in her second song.

2. Jessica - Her first song was pretty good but her second one blew me away – outstanding.

3. Joshua - He made some good song choices and was rather smooth and full of heart. However, he just couldn’t resist being into “screamo” mode.

4. Skylar - Good song choices and vocals but she was a bit off in parts.

5. Phillip - He had a cool, funky, mellow vibe but he didn’t stand out and struggled a bit with the second song.

Side Notes:

While Hollie has been in the hot seat a lot lately, she SHOULD be safe. Should of course being the operative word. Phillip has had a rough road of it lately and could be in danger. Although he may be the weakest of the remaining contestants, Joshua gets a lot of support from the judges and will likely stick around another week or more.

American Idol Top 6 Recap

I love Queen’s work but originally thought it might present a challenge for several of the contestants who aren’t exactly the rocker type. That being said they all did pretty well. In the second round most of the song choices where fairly predictable but well done. All in all, each week there seems to be a bit of a shakeup as to who is seemingly on top and who might be in danger.

HERE’S HOW I RATE THE FIRST PERFORMANCES:

1. Elise 

2. Skylar

3. Phillip

4. Jessica

5. Hollie

6. Joshua

HERE’S HOW I RATE THE SECOND PERFORMANCES:

1. Hollie 

2. Jessica  

3. Joshua 

4. Skylar 

5. Elise

6. Phillip 

OVERALL: 

1. Skylar – Good tone and decent vocals throughout, nicely done.

2. Jessica – Nice control on both songs even though the first was out of her wheel house. Stunning vocals on the second.

3. Elise – Queen was the perfect fit for her, well done. Cool second song – smooth and fun.

4. Hollie - Started out a bit week with the first song but was absolutely amazing (even better than the original) in her rendition of “The Climb.”

5. Phillip - Not the greatest vocals but fun and cool on the Queen track. Could have choose a better option from the various DMB songs out there.

6. Joshua – The first song wasn’t a good fit, it was just rather off. The second was much better.

Side Notes:

The very shocking elimination of Colton last week proves once again that anyone can go at any time. So, at this point, who knows what might happen.

American Idol Top 7 Recap (Take Two)

The 2010-today theme was pretty interesting considering it allowed for a lot of newer songs since up until then, most of the song options where from several years gone by. While I don’t think all the contestants took full advantage of this opportunity, I do believe this may have just been the most competitive week so far.

HERE’S HOW I RATE THE FIRST PERFORMANCES:

1. Hollie  

2. Jessica

3. Colton 

4. Phillip 

5. Joshua 

6. Elise 

7.  Skylar 

HERE’S HOW I RATE THE SECOND PERFORMANCES:

1. Hollie 

2. Phillip  

3. Jessica 

4. Joshua 

5. Skylar

6. Elise 

7.  Colton

OVERALL: 

1. Hollie - Her vocals where strong and she really started to look comfortable and confident. She showed that she deserves to be back in the race.

2. Phillip - Great song choice in round two, risky in round one. The smooth, catchy performance may have just paid off.

3. Jessica - A bit over the top in parts but she came out with fighting with so much power and vocal beauty.

4. Colton - Unique approach but not his best work. Still pretty solid nonetheless.

5. Joshua - Went a bit crazy reverting back to excessive screamy vocals and vibrator. All in all he was just OK.

6. Skylar - Fun and entertaining with some interesting song choices. Not bad but not great.

7. Elise – She had great tone and was quite sexy in the second song but just didn’t seem to have the same impact as the others.

The Bottom 3 “should” be Elise, Skylar and Joshua with Elise going home. But, after the shocking situation last week, it seems like anything goes.

Side Notes:

Last week was amazingly competitive and this week even took that to the next level. The voting will likely be extremely close and we could be in for a bit of a surprise. Literally everyone is vulnerable at this point. I would guess that Jessica’s fans will spring into action after last week’s ridiculous scare.

American Idol Top 7 Recap

The 2010-today theme was pretty interesting considering it allowed for a lot of newer songs since up until then, most of the song options where from several years gone by. While I don’t think all the contestants took full advantage of this opportunity, I do believe this may have just been the most competitive week so far.

Here’s how I rate the solo performances:

1. Elise – Perfect song choice. So cool and dead on.

2. Colton – Good song selection. His performance was intense and heartfelt. Very nice.

3. Joshua - I’m not a big fan but he impressed me this week. His best showing to date.

4. Jessica - Odd choice of song. Good vocals but not nearly her best.

5. Hollie – Interesting song. She put a cool spin on it nailing the last high note. Good job all in all.

6. Phillip - Unusual song. Slow start but got a little better as it went on. Just OK though.

7.  Skylar - Subtle yet powerful. Well done.

Here’s how I rate the duets:

1. Jessica, Hollie and Joshua - Good song match for their voices. Fun, energetic and pretty nice.

2. Skylar and Colton - The harmonized much better than last week but it was still lacking.

3. Elise and Phillip – Not bad. Good in the chours but off in other parts.

The Bottom 3 “should” be Skylar, Phillips and Hollie with Syklar going home. The voters made the right call last week but can be quite unpredictable so who knows what might happen.

Side Notes:

Elise seems to have been lacking support but based on her showing this week she should be just fine. Hollie, although probably the best pure vocalist of all the remaining contestants, has been in the same boat and it very much in danger again tonight. Joshua moved up a bit among the others, at least for this week. Personally, I think it’s a fluke. Colton continues to remain the most versatile of all the contestants. Even with a slip this week, Jessica likely remains the front-runner.

 

American Idol Top 9 Show Recap

After two weeks of voting surprises, with a really big one in Erika last week, perhaps we’ll see a correction in the voting this week if you will.

I originally missed Colton’s performance this week but went back and checked it out later. All in all, the contestants all did pretty well. But as usual, a few front runners continue to emerge while the rest of the pack if fading behind.

Here’s how I rate the performances:

 1. Jessica - Interesting twist on the original song. Slow start but well done. Her vocals where truly haunting.

2. Colton – Such a heartfelt performance. Once again he showed that he is a force to be reckoned with.

3. Phillip - Awesome song selection. So cool and catchy. Great job.

4. Elise - Great song choice. She’s one awesome rock chick. Very cool.

5. Hollie - She crushes the high notes every time. Very good as usual.

6. Heejun - Very deep for him. Great start but good overall.

7. Skylar - Fun and energetic, decent but not great by any means.

8. Joshua - Kind of plain. OK at first but once he hit the middle through the end it really fell apart.

9.  DeAndre – Way too much falsetto. His vocals where just all over the place.

Based on this week alone, the Bottom 3 “should” be Skylar, Joshua and DeAndre with DeAndre going home. But we have two consider two things. 1. The voters have been highly unpredictable so far. 2. At some point, votes should start to be based on a singer’s entire body of work rather than just a single show. If that happens the Bottom 3 should be the same as above with the exception of Heenjun replacing Skylar.

American Idol – 14 of the top 24 determined

More than half of the Top 24 of this year’s American Idol finalists have been selected with just 10 more to be determined tomorrow night.

Those in so far include:

1. Jen Hirsh
2. Creighton Fraker
3. Joshua Ledet
4. Haley Johnsen
5. Elise Testone
6. Reed Grimm
7. Erika Van Pelt
8. Baylie Brown
9. Chelsea Sorrell
10. Heejun Han
11. Jessica Sanchez
12. Phil Phillips
13. Colton Dixon
14. Brielle Von Hugel

Just 5 girls and 5 guys left to go.

I was pretty certain the field would include Baylie Brown and Phil Phillips from this group. Conversely, I see Creighton Fraker, Brielle Von Hugel and Heejun Han as slight surprises. As far as tomorrow goes, I expect to see Hallie Day among the final 10 to get in on this Thursday.