American Idol- Top 3

 On Sunday Night, per the ABC Idol Mothers' Day tradition, it was Disney Night. This year, the contestants sang two Disney songs each, instead of the usual sappy dedication in Round Two, although the video packager of the contestants and their mothers still aired. Frankly, they took a whole lot of leeway, especially in the second round in regards to what qualified as a Disney song. It seems like every year, I find this episode very boring to start, but then by the end, it still winds up being fairly entertaining.

After flying to Walt Disney World in Florida, a location which seemed a bigger deal in politics a year ago, when Ron DeSantis was still thought to have a chance, the kids were mentored by Kane Brown. I know very little about this heavily tattooed country singer and he seemed to have less productive advice than some of the other recent mentors.

I am recapping this some 48 hours after watching the show live, and will try to remember my thoughts as best as possible. I will note that I basically predicted what would be the Finale Three about three weeks ago.

1. Abi Carter- "Part Of Your World"

This song from "The Little Mermaid" certainly fits the category and I set myself in for what could be a tedious evening. Abi is a great singer though and approached the assignment just as she should have to appeal to all the Disney fans out here. She has already proven her vocal versatility and here, she very much presented as a pitch perfect Idina Menzel/Leah Michelle type of singer. Sure enough, Menzel (or whatever John Travolta might call her) showed up later on during the show for some sort of presentation.

2. Triston Harper- "Almost There"

I have to be honest, I barely remember this. I know it was a ballad and Triston sounded decent enough but I just feel like I have heard what he can do week after week already. If I am not mistaken, the song sort of sounded like "You've Got A Friend In Me" which typically gets dragged out during Disney Night.

3. Emmy Russell- "The Climb"

I guess this qualifies as a Disney song because it was part of the Hannah Montana movie. While Emmy was looking very nice during the episode, it almost seems like she looks too old and too mature to sing this song, which is typically done on singing shows by teenagers or below. As usual, I appreciate the tone of her voice, but feel she made a mistake by performing while seated at the piano. She should have at least gotten up at the end. It is hard to represent "climbing" when you are sitting.

4. Jack Blocker- "Nobody's Fool"

This is another song I do not know. Based on the way he was dressed like Woody from Toy Story, I would have bet on a song from that movie. What I would really would have liked was if Jack sang "Nobody's Fool", the 80s song from Cinderella. However, that is not a Disney song, despite the name of the band. I have to say though that Jack sang it really, really well. He gives major Kris Allen 2009 vibes. Jack also seems to be immensely confident at all moments he is on camera. He now seems to enjoy the opportunity to move around on stage and is performing sans guitar. There are pros and cons to that in regards to Idol voters but he was definitely setting himself up to make it to next week.

5. Will Moseley- "The Ballad Of The Lonesome Cowboy"

Will picked a song that was boring as all heck. For the entire season, he has seemed to coast based on the strength of his voice and low-key charm. Something was way off here though. While it was not dwelled upon by the judges, Will seemed to forget some lyrics on at least two occasions. The main problem was that it was just boring and seemed very ordinary vocally.

Round 1 rankings:

5. Will Moseley

4. Triston Harper

3. Emmy Russell

2. Jackl Blocker

1. Abi Carter

6. Emmy Russell- "Carried Me With You"

As would be expected, they are switching up the performance order for this round. I think Idol wants Emmy voted off. I wonder if her mother, the daughter of Loretta Lynn, was also ever a singer. The mother seems a lot more self-assured on camera than Emmy does. I do not remember a ton about this performance. I know that Emmy did not play an instrument and demonstrated that she could walk around stage and reach out to audience members while still singing. The fact that I cannot remember much more means she neither was horrible or spectacular.

7. Triston Harper- "Life Is A Highway"

I remember the original version of this song being played on MTV back in the early 90s before Rascall Flatts remade it and it was put in a Disney movie about cars. I also I am pretty sure that Mitt Romney had this song play after his first Presidential campaign announcement at the Henry Ford museum in 2007. In regards to this performance, Triston was able to do something more uptempo. He remembered all the words, but I sense his voice is starting to get a bit strained at this point in the competition.

8. Abi Carter- "The Chain"

Abi goes in a different direction this round by covering Fleetwood Mac. I do not know much about the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, but I think they put a bunch of old songs in those movies, and thus this qualifies as "Disney." Much like Jack, Abi seems extremely confident on stage, but also manages to not come across as a diva. She is playing a very smart game at this point of the season. Vocally, it is hard to find anything to criticize.

9. Jack Blocker- "Space Oddity"

I forgot how this David Bowie cult classic from the 70s qualifies as Disney, but it was another bold song choice for Jack. Personally, I have never really gotten the appeal of this song, but Jack definitely pleased his fans by singing it well. He seems to be very good at understanding the capabilities of his voice and using it accordingly. Have his adoring fans nicknamed him "Alpha Blocker?"

10. Will Moseley- "Born To Be Wild"

All the old folks know this song. I guess I might be considered one of them now. There is quite a technicality involved though for this oldie to be classified as a Disney song. Vocally, Will was better and less boring than the first round, but something still seemed to be missing. I thought he was so good last week, especially on "Rolling In The Deep", but something just seemed off with Will this week, like he was going through the motions. Maybe having his mother sitting to the side of the stage had him nervous. It was an alright performance but one cannot say he took any vocal or performance risks like Adam Lambert once did with this song on the Idol stage.

Round 2 rankings:

5. Triston Harper

4. Will Moseley

3. Emmy Russell

2. Jack Blocker

1, Abi Carter

For the overall rankings, I noticed that both rounds were almost identical, expect for the need to break a tie for last place. If I am being honest with myself, I might have taken the history of the entire season into account subconsciously.

5. Triston Harper

4, Will Moseley

3. Emmy Russell

2. Jack Blocker 

1. Abi Carter

Who should have been eliminated: Triston Harper and Will Moseley

This was for Sunday night only. I had to call it like I heard it, but I was very surprised to think that Emmy would better on the night than Will, especially considering Emmy was not even that great.

Who I predicted would be eliminated: Triston Harper and Emmy Russell

I feel like I had a good idea of who would be in the Top 5 two weeks earlier and wound up being correct. (Though Julia and McKenna were more worthy and I will not even bring up people like Jayna and Odell) At the same time, I also thought that Abi, Jack, and Will would be the last three standing. Was it possible though that Will had an off night to the extent that a window could be open for Triston to knock him off? Nah.

 

Who was eliminated: Triston Harper and Emmy Russell

 

So, it happened as I expected. People vote based on their favorites going into the night and what they do that night really does not matter. I think it is a strong Final 3. For a variety of reasons, Triston and Emmy would not have been as ready for the Finale,and thus will not get the chance to butcher a Bon Jovi song. I can already see Will singing about being a cowboy (once again) and being "Wanted Dead Or Alive". I can envision Abi doing a piano ballad version of Livin' On A Prayer." I am less certain what Jack might do but I remember being incredibly impressed by LaKisha Jones' take on "This Ain't A Love Song" back in 2007. Maybe Jack could try "Never Say Goodbye." Since they are all going to have hometown visits, maybe there will be a trio performance of "Who Says You Can't Go Home."

So indeed, Jack is off to Texas, Will to Georgia, and Abi to the desert region of California. For all my talk last week about red states and blue states, and the fact that all three Finale singers are white this year, we should remember that the winner last year was a Pacific Islander dude from the very blue state of Hawai'i.' Two years before, a singer from a less glamorous part of California won, so there is hope for blue state Abi. Historically though, it helps to be from the South. Of course, Will's Georgia was a blue state most recently at the Presidential level, but current polls are showing that might be tough to pull off again. Speaking of Georgia, if Abi wins, it will be the biggest triumph for a Carter since 1976. She likely will easily carry Democrat Idol fans in 2024. Maybe it is too bad that American Idol is no longer sponsored by Ford.

 

Many Idol fans seem to think that Abi has this in the bag. I would agree with many of them that she has the best voice of the three, but it will still be a feat if she wins. A female has not won a non-Covid season of Idol since 2018, when Maddie Poppe beat out her then secret boyfriend. If you really want to take the gender thing into consideration, a lady has not won Idol against a male with a legitimate fan base since Jordin Sparks did so 17 years ago. Seriously.

 

If I really had to guess right now, I would say that Will win win and Jack will be second. However, it may very well be that Jack will win and Will will finish second. There will be a cut at some point in next Sunday's show, where a split vote could potentially benefit Abi, and then there will be sort of an anti-climatic instant runoff of sorts between the Final 2.

At this point, I think Abi and Jack will split votes and Will will have the lions share of the country vote, allowing him to advance. Then, either Abi fans or Jack fans may choose the other one against Will, but my sense is that the Idol fanbase is country enough for it not to matter. Remember that I was calling an eventual win for Will back at the first performance episode.