American Idol- Top 10

Idol season takes dedication when they are giving us four to five hours a week for a short period of time. I do not even know how I would handle it if the Bulls or Blackhawks were in the playoffs right now. Maybe one year soon, I will figure that out.

 

I watched Monday night's episode of American Idol somewhat late at night, while also trying to catch coverage of the Canadian election. How many people can claim that? I doubt Olivier Bergeron was watching either. Now, about 24 hours later, I am going to once again attempt to share what I remembered.

 

This was an evening of strong singing by a talented group of contestants, although one with a couple weak links. It was also a night of many cross necklaces, which is definitely a huge aesthetic theme this year. Many tears were shed by the contestants. Also, very notably there were five American Idols in the building. One at the judges table in Carrie Underwood (who wore the same dress she wore when she was crowned 20 years ago), and was briefly joined by some of her competitors from the 2004 season, whom she likely has not seen in years. Guest mentor Fantasia was also there. Apparently, Jelly Roll will only show up on occasion.. Recent winners, both out of California, Chayce Beckham and Abi Carter got a little time to talk onstage. Then, there was the 2025 Idol, whomever he or she may wind up to be.

 

Since all these contestants sang live on Sunday, it is a given that all of the rehearsal footage with Fantasia was shot earlier in the week and that they were working on two performances all along. That means, we will probably never see what Amanda Barise and Desmond Roberts had planned. For this round, the remaining 12 would sing "Idol moments" which meant either a song that someone had done on the Idol stage, whether as part of the official competition or not, or something a former Idol became associated with in their post reality tv competition career.

 

1. Slater Nally- "Angel From Montgomery"

 

I think I remember the older Idols from the Fox days far better. I had to think of a moment as to whom Megan Danielle was.  On Monday, Slater sang a song she had done on Idol a couple of years back. He also wore a cowboy hat (black in contrast to the lighter one favored by John Foster) for the first time. I actually think that sort of outfit looks less authentic on Slater. He seems like a kid from the suburbs more than anything.

 

Regardless, this was a very credible performance of a country ballad. Slater always has a grit to his voice that many people will love. He continues to be consistent and will likely be around until the Finale.

 

2. Che- "Dancing On My Own"

 

Che noted emotionally that his fiancee and three children just had to depart to return home to England. I assume that Tom Homan or Stephen Miller played no part in that. He will get to see them whenever he is eliminated.

I thought this was another solid vocal from Che. It fit with his somewhat smooth, soulful style. Clearly though, he does not have the biggest vocal range this season.

 

3. Thunderstorm Artis- "House Of The Rising Sun"

Yet, another song involving a weather component for Thunder. That seemed appropriate. 

T-storm has been consistently good throughout this competition but last night was the first time I could see him possibly winning. I still think that is somewhat of a longshot but this was a very impressive performance. It is clear how much experience he has on stage and he seems committed to trying to make each song somewhat unique to his voice.

 

4. Kolbi Jordan- "Over The Rainbow"

 

After a Thunderstorm sometimes comes a rainbow. We had already heard Slater perform this song, in a somewhat original way back in Hawai'i, but Kolbi said she was paying homage to Katharine McPhee's version, which I saw live back in the day on the Idols Pop Tart Tour. (Kat had been ill recently at the time and there was some drama over whether she would show up in Rosemont, Illinois.)

 

Kolbi's version of this Wizard of Oz classic was different though than the one sung by the future Mrs. David Foster. This particular song has never really been anything that did much for me, but Kolbi's version was perhaps the best one I have heard. She has such amazing control over her voice and managed not to go overboard on this song. From what I recall, some of her subtle vocal nuances were stellar. As Randy Jackson would say, "we have another one who is in this to win it!"

 

5. Filo- "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going"

 

The very first song ever performed in an Idol voting round back, from back in the Season 1 semifinals made another appearance. My research confirms this song has been done close to 10 times in Idol history, but never by a male voice, with the exceptions of comedian Normund Gentle and drag queen Ada Vox. I note that he did not include the line "best man I ever knew."  Filo said this song selection was in tribute to the post-Idol movie performance that won Jennifer Hudson an Oscar.

Fantasia, who beat Hudson in 2004, was smart to tell Filo to not get too crazy with it. It is good he did not try to be Jennifer Hudson or Jennifer Holliday and thus it was really very good, at least for what the song is in the context of a reality competition show. He has a killer voice and is a natural performer. The judges love Filo, people in the audience seem to love to chant his name, and his mother is perpetually in tears of pride. How far this season might Filo go? This week, Filo's pastor or priest was amongst the family cheering him on. That seemed like an Idol first. 

 

6. Mattie Pruitt- "Because Of You"

 

This emotional Kelly Clarkson song is powerful and I think extremely hard to sing, considering all the words in it. Nobody can really sing it like Kelly and at least one past Idol hopeful has been tripped up by it. This was an extremely tall task for young Mattie.

 

When she began, I thought she was easily at her best in this competition. Then, there was a point where she seemed to mess up a bit and I was back to thinking that her voice just is not comparable to what others are bringing to the stage this year. Maybe she could have done an easier Kelly Clarkson song.

 

7. Canaan James Hill- "Goodness of God"

 

This was a song that a defeated contestant sang as part of their celebrity duet last year on the Finale. Idol tells us it has already become an "iconic moment" and perhaps it has online among Gospel fans.

 

 I think the question is settled. Just as Donald Trump will never stop claiming he won the 2020 election, Canaan is never not going to sing a religious song as part of his run on American Idol. CJH will take that dedication as far as it might take him and then prepare to be that sort of singer after the show. I guess that choice can be respected, but it is starting to make him a bit boring. As always, at least since he got over his allergies, he sounded very good. This was probably more of a restrained performance than others he has recently done.

 

8. Gabby Samone- "A Song For You"

 

Gabby said she was three years old when Fantasia won the Idol. That would have made her the same age as Tasia's daughter back then. Gabby also claimed to remember it and how it inspired her as a black girl. I am a bit skeptical she would have actually remembered it in such a way back then. 

In any event, Gabby is just so, so good. This was an interesting song choice, done years ago by Eliot Yamin on Idol, but perhaps not super well-known. It is also not really a song where someone belts out big notes. Gabby completely demonstrated her skills by the intimacy and phrasing she put into this. I will really look forward to hearing what she might do next in this competition.

 

9. Josh King- "All By Myself"

 

Almost everyone on Monday had been so great to this point, I thought perhaps Josh should just thank everyone and head to home. It almost seems unfair to make him have to follow these peers. Josh has to know that at some level, but I think he might have been doing some serious campaigning last night during the entire package. He claimed to be a fairly lonely guy who has become great friends with his fellow competitors and he fears as Kelly Clarkson sang (and perhaps he could have covered) that his life would suck without them, whenever he gets voted off.

 

This was the first time in the voting round that Josh played piano. I suppose it was also his strongest overall vocal, at least for most of it, but still, he is nowhere near the same level of anyone else, even Mattie I guess. As he concluded this sad song, Josh also was in tears. Will he tug at America's heartstrings or will voters find it manipulative?

 

10. Breanna Nix- "Tell Your Heart To Beat Again"

 

I had been thinking that Breanna has been getting very comfortable with the Idol experience, but maybe there is more going on. She is physically shaking after her performances. She pulled out the "being bullied online" card also. Apparently though, she is not being bullied by secular leftists but by her purported fellow Evangelical Christians who are upset at her for not doing what Canaan is doing and only singing religious songs. These folks seem to have gotten pissed off that she put on black nailpolish and sang Freddy Mercury last week, while also wearing pants!

 

Perhaps, I did not know how closely associated Breanna was with the religious side of this business. The whole thing about complaining about Idol haters feels a but put on by the producers, but that is another discussion. However, she chose to sing by Danny Gokey, whom during his 2009 run was extremely polarizing. Gokey, (who even I as a conservative thought was sorta unintentionally creepy) received TONS of misguided online hate back then, but by left-wing fans of Adam Lambert (and others) and not from religious Christians. Since leaving Idol, Gokey has made a name for himself as a Christian singer, and when I came across his social media a while back, I noted that he is definitely a huge fan of the current POTUS, who has practically written the book about being a jerk online.

 

I believe it was during her mentoring session with Breanna that Fantasia talked about how everything she ever sings is dedicated to Jesus. Fantasia also gave a very religious themed performance on the Idol stage last night. I completely and totally respect Fantasia's religious convictions, but cannot ever really forget that years after winning Idol, as a financially secure millionaire celebrity, she had an abortion after breaking up with the married man who impregnated her.

 

Anyways, from what I remember from this performance, Breanna sang it extremely well, but it did not have as much of an impact on me as the other songs she has done. I can perhaps blame that on Danny Gokey.

 

11. John Foster- "I Told You So"

No guitar for the first time for John on this song, which was performed as a guest duet by Carrie Underwood and Randy Travis.  The cowboy hat was of course on though, but then again, Fantasia was wearing one during her mentoring sessions also. Fantasia compered him to a "Ken doll" and I guess I can sort of see her point.

 

What else can be said about John? He is extremely consistent vocally and does country music like a true pro. He seems incredibly packaged as an Idol contestant, perhaps overly so, but his polite southern manners likely has won him a ton of fans. I am not a fan of this particular kind of music, but I thought this performance was better and less hokey than the semi-Elvis impersonation the night before. It also included the old Idol standard of the young male singer being presented as "flirting" with the glamorous pop star Idol female judge as he sang directly to her.

 

12. Jamal Roberts- "Heal"

 

From what I recall, quirky Leah Marlene sang this very late in the competition during her fairly recent season, and it got a lot of praise because it seemed so out of the box for her and she sang very well on what felt like a worship song. I wonder how exactly Jamal got the idea to sing this. Was he really watching the show back then?

 

Jamal has consistently great vocally since his first audition. A lot of what he has been doing on stage though has felt a bit formulaic. This was at least a bit different, as he sang sitting down for most of it and did not include all the physical moves he has been doing on stage. His voice sounded great once again and I like that it was a bit more restrained. It just happens to be that a couple of the ladies tonight had a bigger immediate impact with their vocal performances.

 

Rankings:

 

12. Josh King

11. Mattie Pruitt

 

10. Che

 9. Canaan James Hill

 8. Slater Nally

 7. John Foster

 6. Breanna Nix

 5. Thunderstorm Artis

 4. Filo

 3. Jamal Roberts

 2. Kolbi Jordan

 1. Gabby Samone

 

My bottom two came as absolutely no surprise. Even they though were not horrible on this very good night of Idol performances.

 

Two of the wildcard picks were voted off on Sunday and I figured the remaining two were most likely to go on Monday also

Who should have been eliminated: Josh King and Mattie Pruitt

Who I predicted would be eliminated: Josh King and Che

 

Who was eliminated: Che and Filo

 

Well, if the popularity of Mattie is questionable enough, I am basically at a loss to understand the staying power of Josh. I mean he cried and all, but still. My mother thinks it might even be rigged.

 

I predicted Che would go and was correct. Based on the evening, he deserved better, although I had him ranked a bit lower on Monday, because so many of the others I thought were bunched closely together.

 

Filo leaving was somewhat surprising. I thought he might have another week perhaps. Based on having him ranked fourth, I must have even been more impressed last night than I currently recall. I suppose he just did not have the fanbase going into the voting. 

Idol has had a lot of double eliminations before, especially in recent years, and I would wager this was the first time that two single named singers both got the boot.  I also think it is very possible the first time, outside of a Finale, where both eliminated contestants were guys.

 

Now, we have a Top 10. Che is from England and I believe Filo was either born in Egypt or is a first generation American. In what is an "America First" era for some, the remaining 10 were all born in the USA. Six are male and four are female, which is perhaps not that unusual at this stage. What seems culturally unique though is that the remaining finalists are five white kids and five black kids. I am pretty sure these are the largest amount of African-Americans ever in an Idol Top 10. 

The good news of course is that these black singers all deserve to be there, but there continues to be a risk that a few of them may get voted off in succession, perhaps losing out to the two white singers who are not on the same level.