American Idol- Top 3

The show aired on Monday. I watched it on Tuesday and now here on Wednesday, I am here to say that I did not really find the episode all that entertaining. Maybe it was just the overloading of back to back Disney Nights with songs I really do not vibe with. Maybe it was the fact that Gabby Samone is no longer on the show. Maybe the kids just seemed to be somewhat physically and emotionally tired. I am sure they are working hard. They had to learn and perform four songs over the previous week, while also starting to prepare for the Finale. There were no disasters musically, but it all felt a little bit disjointed and overly corny at times. This has been a very strong season, but as often happens when the show gets to its final rounds, very few actually seem "hungry" for the belt.

This was supposed to be some sort of Disney "heroes and villains" theme, but I do not see how that applied. I also do not understand why out of the five contestants, they had the same person sing first and last in each round but then mixed up the others in the middle. They also interspersed the video packages between the rounds with one being another mentoring session with Lin-Manuel Miranda and the other being the contestants having a wholesome and sappy time at Disneyland with their families. Even though it was taped before it was known which of the Top 7 would become the Top 5, they had to speak to the cameras as if they already made it. That must make it even tougher for Gabby and Mattie Pruitt to think back about what they said to a producer on camera in what would become deleted footage.

 

Looking at this Final Five though, it sticks out that there are three contestants who are parents and they (now) have a combined six children between them. This is very unprecedented. Looking back, I am pretty sure that only Fantasia and Noah Thompson won Idol when they were already parents. Both of them were still teenagers at the time and single. The parents this season are in their 20s and two of them have had their spouses front and center since the auditions. We do not exactly know the relationship status of the third parent. In addition to the three parents, there are also two teenage southern boys, who appear to come from affluent families, and who most likely have not fathered any babies. They both have younger sisters though who have been very visible. All of this makes for a very family friendly and Disney friendly Idol homestretch. It all seems very stylistically different than "The Voice" where most of the finalists seem to look very much as if they come from "blue state America." I would not be able to name any of them. It is enough work to focus on Idol.

 

1. Slater Nally- "You've Got A Friend In Me"

 

I would ban this song from Idol. Every year, during the Disney portion of the competition, some dude has to sing this Randy Newman "Toy Story" monstrosity. On Monday, Slater had his hair all done up and was wearing some sort of goofy looking tuxedo and singing into an old-fashioned microphone for whatever reason.

 

This is a long way from the ballcap and jeans wearing gritty southern rock guitar player. This was the first time he did not play a guitar on the Idol stage and I think that might be a good thing, but this felt all sorts of corny. Apparently though, he sang this recently, while wearing a weird outfit, at some sort of High School performance. I really do not feel Slater is as "country" as might have been advertised. 

2. John Foster- "The Bare Necessities"

 

Oh great, another cringy song. When I was just a bit younger than John, I had a part time job working in a toy story of sorts that sold Disney music and this song used to play all the time over the speakers.

 

For what John is trying to do, he did well. His core audience are somewhat older ladies like my mother who really likes John and told me she would want to "adopt" him. Those are the exact same words she used to describe Laine Hardy, another Bayou teenager a few years ago. He would up getting arrested for something after wining Idol and we do not hear much from him anymore. In his audition, John said he was in college had ambitions of going to medical school and becoming an oncologist. Something tells me that he is probably not going back to school anytime soon.

 

Needless to say, this performance was very corny for me but John knows how to work a camera. It would have fit in very well as some sort of John Denver-ish 1970s variety show appearance, complete with the Muppets singing along.

 

 3. Thundesrstorm Artis- "A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes"

 

Upon hearing the song choice, I was not excited. However, I have to give Thundestorm credit.  He sang this very well. It was a slow, almost lullaby like ballad, but his voice had a Nat King Cole quality to it. Unlike the first two performances, at least he was able to infuse some life into it and come across as a worthy vocal and not just playing dress-up and singing (although John basically wears the same thing every performance.)

 

4. Breanna Nix- "This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)"

 

Ok, this is not exactly a Disney song, but I guess it qualifies since it was in a Disney movie. I wish more contestants would have tried to stretch the rules like that.

 

Breanna sounded decent but something felt off about her performance. She just seemed a little worn out and unsure. The thought occurred to me, especially as she seemed to be sitting on the couches at the times when her male competitors were standing up.... might she be pregnant?  Breanna responded to Carrie Underwod that the song "has a lot of words." It does seem like the judges are a bit more critical of her at times than they are on the others.

 

5. Jamal Roberts- "Ain't No Mountain High Enough"

 

This old Motown tune was in "Remember The Titans", a High School football movie that itself is probably not really thought of as being Disney. What could be a better choice for a soulful gym teacher?

 

I thought Jamal sang it very well. He definitely demonstrated the most vocal "tricks" out of anybody in this first round (poor Gabby) but it seemed like he could have done even more with the song. He did not directly sing the very memorable chorus, instead leaving it to the background singers, while he just did a bunch of vocal runs. He even mostly stood in one place. Back a few weeks ago, he was running all over the stage. Carrie made note of how he did not move around much either. Is Jamal, like the others, just tired? He also seems to be interacting a lot less verbally. He might not have a huge personality but he seems to be holding back more and mostly just sways back and forth while clutching the microphone during the judges' comments, while the other contestants try to interact with a panel a bit more, (or in some cases, such as Thunderstorm, a lot more.)

 

Round 1 Rankings... too bland for my tastes all around

 

5. Slater Nally

4. John Foster

3. Breanna Nix

2. Thunderstorm Artis

1. Jamal Roberts

 

1. Slater Nally- "Born To Be Wild"

 

Now, Slater was back with his electric guitar and at least trying to do something more "current" seeming, even though this song is close to 60 years old. Carrie, the wife of a hockey player, knew it was from a "Mighty Ducks" movie. Maybe John, who likes the movie "Cars" should have done "Life Is A Highway."

 

I liked this performance better than his first one but it still felt kind of restrained and "safe."

 

2. Thunderstorm Artis- "Find Yourself"

 

I do not know this song at all. Apparently, it is from "Cars." This was the second ballad of the night for T-Storm, who seems to do a lot of ballads. He might have benefited by being a bit more "fun" on stage.

 

From, what I remember though, he sang it well. This performance was heavy on the guitar playing though and he seemed to want people to pay attention to how well he was able to handle the instrument. It was maybe too much of a coffee shop sort of vibe than something for a huge stage. It seemed like Thunderstorm almost got very emotional when Luke Bryant started talking about the relationship the contestant had with his late father.

 

3. John Foster- "Rainbow Connection"

 

The song title alone seemed like more of a Thundestorm pick. Seriously though, in the last round, I was picturing John serenading a bunch of Muppets, and here we were, with him singing Kermit's song. I guess a guest appearance was either out of Idol's budget or Kermit realized that in Louisiana, they probably eat a lot of frogs.

 

What else can I say? John sang it well. Lin-Manuel had wanted him to try to sing it not so much like Willie Nelson and I guess John accomplished that but he still seems to be more of a tribute artist than an original musician. That has definitely not hurt the Idol victory chances of past contestants though such as Scotty McCreery. It seems like Carrie might be pulling to a John victory. Back in the auditions, she and Luke Bryant had cautioned him to try to be more original vocally and Luke stated he almost said "no" to a golden ticket for John. He has definitely come a long way in terms of perception, as he is now on the edge of ultimate victory, although his voice is probably the same as it was.

 

4. Breanna Nix- "You'll Be In My Heart"

 

Breanna dedicated this Tarzan song to her husband, whom handed off the kid to someone else in the audience while the cameras were on him for this. He was also mic'ed up in the crowd.

In this round, Breanna seemed more relaxed and likely had a somewhat better vocal performance for it. It just was not as impactful as what we have seen from other contestants, including Breanna herself, this season.

 

5. Jamal Roberts- "Beauty And The Beast"

 

Jamal stated in the video package that he did not know why he picked this song, which seems pretty odd. This is kind of a boring ballad, but Jamal is so talented vocally, he is able to make a listener appreciate his skills. Once again though, as was the case for everyone this evening, it just seemed sort of "safe." With Gabby and a couple others gone, Jamal (along with Breanna) have the best overall voices but this was kind of him coasting and then getting a lot of praise for that.

 

Frankly. he could have had a moment with "Circle Of Life."

 

Round Two Rankings:

 

5. John Foster

4, Slater Nally

3. Breanna Nix

2. Thunderstorm Artis

1. Jamal Roberts

 

 Combined rankings- just have to break a tie between 5 and 4

 

5. John Foster

4. Slater Nally

 

3. Breanna Nix

2. Thunderstorm Artis

1. Jamal Roberts

Who should have been eliminated: John Foster and Slater Nally

 

I managed to go over 24 hours without hearing any spoilers as to who was eliminated. So, my predictions were genuine. However, when I spoke on the phone to my mother, who wanted me to watch the show so we could discuss later, she did not seem at all upset, so that was perhaps my cue that her boy John went through.

 

As I had been saying, I thought Thunderstorm, who might be splitting some African-American voters with Jamal, and even more Evangelical voters with Breanna, might have run out of time. 

Then, I thought that the country music vote split between John and Slater would finally lead to one of them being cut. I have been saying from the start that I thought Slater might win the whole thing. Both Sunday and Monday though, I thought Slater came across as having "sold out" a bit, in contrast to John, who some might think "sold out" from the very beginning. John has been more consistently himself though and to those who decided he was "the one" early one, that is all that matters, more than the singing and the music. 

It is tough to say for sure, but even if I had watched live and not gotten indirect cues from my mother, I think I would have-

Predicted to be eliminated: Slater Nally and Thunderstorm Artis

 

Who was eliminated: Slater Nally and Thunderstorm Artis

 

While I thought Slater was perhaps the frontrunner to win, I did also have Breanna, John, and Jamal as going to the Final Four from the beginning. Now, one of those three will win American Idol next Sunday. Before that, they will make "homecoming trips" to Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, red states all, although I think Jamal's town probably voted heavily for Kamala Harris.

Frankly, Thunderstorm and especially Slater may be better off not winning Idol and being under the thumb, at least for a short time, of that whole team. They seem to be songwriters deep down who want to do their own thing, while the other three are probably more malleable.

I can envision fans making the case for why either Breanna or Jamal will win. I will be surprised if I do not watch the show next week and think that one of them definitely deserved to win. They are better and more versatile singers.

However with Slater now out of the way, I will be pretty surprised if John does not win. I think Breanna will come in second, but that will wind up being secondary. For the present-day American Idol, young, cowboy hat wearing John is just a great "candidate." Young girls will like his jawline and their mothers and grandmothers will appreciate his 'aw shucks" persona and southern politeness (ie, "Miss Carrie, Mr. Luke", etc.)

It might be easy to forget that a few weeks ago, in an unguarded moment, it was John of all people who got caught reacting with a profanity on stage and having to be bleeped. Maybe that won him some votes too. It probably showed a more genuine side than the carefully crafted tv personality and Idol strategy,