American Idol- Top 5

I watched Sunday night's episode live, and now, I am writing the recap about 26 hours later. This may be fairly short because I do not have a ton of energy to recall every detail. However, I have to say that this was one of the most impressive showings by the contestants, from top to bottom, in some time. All seven of the Finalists did very well, especially in the second round, when all were especially on point. The rules are that two had to be eliminated though. I very much believe that five of the seven are clearly the best at this point. Nonetheless, two out of those five are now unfortunately gone.

The first round was "songs that make you want to dance" and the mentor was Ciara, whom I know best as Mrs. Russell Wilson.

1. Jack Blocker- "Long Tall Sally"

Just what exactly is this song about? It was a very interesting choice for Jack to pick a Little Richard song from the '50s and basically do it in the style of Chuck Berry, complete with electric guitar histrionics. It was not horrible by any means vocally, but towards the end it felt sort of stupid in corny sort of way. Jack clearly has a ton of fans, but I get the sense that he has a bit of an ego as well. This is not to say that he is coming across badly on television.

2. Julia Gagnon- "Roam"

I was mostly looking forward to hear her sing Adele later in the show. Yet another older, once popular song that has never been done on Idol before. Still, I think Julia could have probably picked something for the dance category that would have worked out better. In the beginning portion of the performance, it sounded like she was maybe singing in a different key than the band. It got better as it went on though.

3. Abi Carter- "My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up)"

This is a really long song title and not a tune I would readily associate with dancing. Abi continues to impress. Clearly, this is not her best genre of music, but she has proven that can sing just about anything and can work the stage with confidence. It might have been a little shouty, but this seems like it would be a very difficult song to sing live and Abi more than pulled it off.

4. McKenna Faith Breinholt- "E.T."

I have always disliked this Katy Perry song, especially once when she performed it on Idol a long time ago with Kanye West. Funny that Ye never gets mentioned anymore. All things considered, I appreciated the way that McKenna changed it around a bit to fit her voice. I think she is better at ballads though. If she wanted to do an uptempo Katy Perry song, there were better options, such as "Teenage Dream." She and Katy were wearing very similar garbage bags as dresses though. Katy's was pretty inappropriate for Triston Harper and many other minors who may have been watching.

5. Will Moseley- "Gimme Three Steps"

When they said he would be doing Skynyrd, I expected "Sweet Home Alabama." I have never heard this song before and did not have high expectations. I have to say though that Will rose to the occasion. He sounded great and looked like a seasoned pro on stage. If Lynyrd Skynyrd were on the market for a new lead singer, he would pretty much be perfect for it.

6. Emmy Russell- "Shut Up And Dance"

I figured this would be somewhat of a difficult theme for her. She alternates between country and singer/songwriter coffee shop type of singer. From what I recall, she was able to sound alright with her quiet tone on this song, but perhaps just alright.

7. Triston Harper- "T.R.O.U.B.L.E."

Would he be in trouble with the voters?  It is sort of remarkable to realize that Triston is six years younger than the next remaining youngest contestant. Some of his competitors are even a decade older than him. This is working to his favor with the voting public, whether fairly or not. From what I recall on this country sound, Triston always has a nice voice, although some of that gets lost when he has to sing a lot of words in quick succession and he definitely loves awkwardly shaking around on stage.

Round 1 rankings:

7. Triston Harper

6. Jack Blocker

5. Emmy Russell

4. Julia Gagnon

3. McKenna Faith Breinholt

2. Abi Carter

1. Will Moseley

This was a pretty good round, but I was expecting bigger moments from the Adele songs.

 

Good timing with Sunday literally being Adele's 36th birthday. It is a bit hard to believe that she burst onto the scene 17 years ago, with her album "19."

8. McKenna Faith Breinholt- "Make You Feel My Love"

Adele did not write this song. Bob Dylan did and this ballad has been covered by a myriad of artists. We saw McKenna playing guitar for the first time in the competition rounds. She also sounded very controlled and pleasant. It was a near perfect vocal although there were not really any big notes or anything very exciting. It would be clear that other contestants would be swinging for the fences later on.

9. Jack Blocker- "One And Only"

For this round, Jack did not play guitar. I have to say that I was extremely impressed by how good this was. I thought he was a bit too goofy on the Little Richard song, but this was something he completely nailed vocally and emotionally. If the competition were not so stiff this year, he would probably have even more buzz,but I think Jack is very likely to make the three person Finale.

10. Will Moseley- "Rolling In The Deep"

I was surprised he was singing this song. I thought maybe I wanted to hear Julia try it but I loved what Will did with it. This round started off excellent and one has been better than the next since. This is probably Adele's "signature song" and probably something that an Idol contestant would typically be warned against trying to do. This was especially impressive for a male voice to do a version of "Rolling In The Deep." Will delivered a very good southern rock interpretation. The judges liked it of course, but I was surprised they were not more effusive.  He is going to be in the Finale also. I will be looking forward to watching this episode again when I get the chance, hopefully before next Sunday.

 

11. Julia Gagnon- "Set Fire To The Rain"

Back in Hawai'i, Julia got sort of mixed reviews on "Rumour Has It" by Adele (though I liked it). I figured she would not mess this opportunity although maybe she missed a chance to sing "Someone Like You." On this song, it started off a bit on the slow side, but she built up to a pretty impressive crescendo. As the kids might say, she ate this song up.  Julia can belt like a true diva. However, in this Idol era, that seems to not be the main thing people are looking for.

12. Emmy Russell- "Water Under The Bridge"

I think this was the one Adele song I was not familiar with. Frankly, any mention of water these days freaks me out a bit after the flood that hit my home over three weeks ago now. What else do I remember about this? I thought Emmy sounded really good, but still, she is not at the level vocally of the four that preceded her in the Adele round and what I was expecting from one who was still to come. 

13. Triston Harper- "Easy On Me"

For Triston, I was not exactly expecting him to be great, but I will give credit where it is due and say he succeeded on this ballad. His voice stands out more when he sings slowly, although the performance and personality factor are lessened. To be sure, I think there are better voices he is up against, at least at the age of 15, he did very well for himself here. Looking back over my rankings for this round though, I did have him below Emmy, so there must have been a valid reason for that. Again though, everyone was really good in this round.

14. Abi Carter- "Hello"

I got on the Abi bandwagon back when she sang "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and have pretty much been on it since. Back at the piano again, Abi delivered what was once again a bit of a vocal masterclass on a huge Adele hit from a few years back. She definitely seems on track to deserve a spot in the Finale and I hope she makes it. We will see what happens next week, but there is no doubt she is the most "fully realized" of the two remaining ladies.

Round 2 rankings:

7. Triston Harper-

6. Emmy Russell

5. McKenna Faith Breinholt

4. Jack Blocker

3. Will Moseley

2. Julia Gagnon

1. Abi Carter

For the final rankings, I would average the two rankings together and I had no ties to break this week.

7. Triston Harper

6. Emmy Russell

 

5. Jack Blocker

4. McKenna Faith Breinholt

3. Julia Gagnon

2. Will Moseley

1. Abi Carter

 

Who should have been eliminated: Triston Harper and Emmy Russell

All due respect to them, this should have been an easy decision for America. The other five are just better. I can envision all of those five having at least some sort of post-Idol career. Usually, it does not work out that way though.

Who I predicted would be eliminated: Triston Harper and McKenna Faith Breinholt

After last week's "save", I was pretty resigned to McKenna unfairly being eliminated. I think her song choices this week may not have done her any favors. I was very conflicted on who the other person would be. I feared it could be Julia, but I took a gamble and figured the "country vote" would be split enough to perhaps spell the end for Triston.

Who was eliminated: McKenna Faith Breinholt and Julia Gagnon

Well, my worst fears were realized, but I think it would have been worse if Abi was a shock elimination. The Finale is just two weeks away and I can hear McKenna and Julia then. 

As mentioned, I think it will come down to Will, Jack, and Abi. The latter will probably deserve to win, but it will be one of the guys.

For now though, we have to realize that the Idol voting demographic is such that both Triston and Emmy outlasted two better singers (not to mention some others who should have been there after them)

American Idol is a show that rewards country music. If this is indicative of the U.S. electorate, Republicans will have a good year also. I would have loved that several years ago, but do not exactly feel the same way now.

Will and Triston are both very country and Emmy is the granddaughter of Loretta Lynn.She may not always sound country herself when she sings, but she sure does when she talks. Being a "nepo baby" has helped her go far this season. Jack is not country, but is from Texas and has been dressing like some sort of hipster cowboy lately. He has his own lane that will be made up heavily of non-country fans.

So, for the final five, we have singers from Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and Texas.Very SEC heavy. (At least Georgia is considered a swing state in federal elections.) Plus, Abi from California. I will note that she seems to come from a religious conservative background. Can the blue states save her next Sunday on Disney Night? Are right-wingers still boycotting Disney?