American Idol Top 20- Group B

I watched a recording of the Monday night episode fairly late and would not have had time to live-blog it. That will probably be the case for the rest of the season if the shows are on Monday night. So now, about 24 hours later, I will be consulting my rankings of the contestants and will try to offer some comments based on memory.

 

1. Philmon Lee- "Don't Stop Believin'"

 

It was an interesting choice for Philmon, whom I believe has a father who was once prominent in the country music industry, to sing an '80s Journey classic instead of a country song. It was sure to get the Disney Resort crowd in Hawai'i pumped up though and perhaps appeal to voters at home of a certain age. I thought there were a bunch of cool song choices in the Monday episode, meant to appeal to folks my age or even a good deal older.

 

Of course, it is tough to break this song down to the allotted time. For the most part, I thought Philmon sounded pretty good. He has a nice range, but also came across a bit nervous and somewhat tentative.  There are probably many singers in America who could have sung this particular song as well.

 

2. Rae- "Respect"

 

One of the many one named contestants in this 24th season of Idol went even further back into pop music history to take on Aretha Franklin. Rae is definitely a bit "extra" in her persona but she has a powerful voice and clearly is no stranger to the stage. I wonder if she has ever been a "dancer" in addition to being a singer.

 

The vocals were good but nothing earth-shattering. She seems to have been cast to play a character of sorts and will be divisive. Idol's voting fanbase is overwhelmingly female and I do not think a lot of them are going to identify or perhaps even like Rae all that much.

 

3. Lucas Leon- "Just To See You Smile"

 

In many ways, the teenage guitar playing country singer from Tennessee should be considered an automatic front-runner and I get the sense he already realizes that.  He picked a country song by Tim McGraw that I do not know.

 

There was nothing noticeably bad about Lucas's vocals, but it was obvious he was not putting in the performance work the first two contestants on the evening had done. Maybe he felt he did not need to do that at this point in the competition and he would get through regardless. That may be the case, but there would still be one other young guitar playing country dude who would be appearing later in the show whom Lucas might have to be concerned about splitting votes with.

 

4. Jordan McCullough- "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"

 

Until this point of the competition, Jordan had not made much of an impact in my mind, but I was really pleasantly surprised by this performance. Taking on this nearly 40 year old U2 hit was a bold choice and I am pretty sure this song (nor many from U2's catalogue) have ever been covered on Idol.

 

As the cliche goes, Jordan "made it his own", but leaning into making it sort of a gospel number was both very shrewd and also obvious. It has always been essentially a gospel song and I believe Bono has said as much. The judges seemed surprised by what Jordan did and the contestant, whom I believe might be a worship leader did not openly say he was trying to have a :"religious moment" but that is indeed what U2 has always been somewhat about. Nobody should have been too surprised by that. All things considered, I thought Jordan sounded very good and definitely won a lot of people over. The performance felt a bit more like "The Voice"  than recent Idol, although I say that as someone who gets pretty bored usually trying to watch that show.

 

5. Abayomi- "Mama Knows Best"

 

This was a much more modern song choice from the 16 year old Idol hopeful. I think Abayomi has a lot of talent but will probably be even better in a few years. She definitely seems to love the stage and camera though and seems to be having a lot of fun (as did her mother, grandmother, and younger sister.)

 

Vocally, it was pretty good, if not a bit rough around the edges at times. She brought sort of an old school jazz vibe to the whole thing which might appeal to many but a lot of younger kids who could be her target audience might not get it. I will give Abayomi credit for not trying to just go out there and sound like Beyonce.

 

6. Madison Moon- "Since U Been Gone"

 

This contestant seems to be in the same "rock chick" lane as Genevieve Hayward who performed on last week's show.  I think Madison has a very impressive voice and I like the song choice (even as well know original Idol Kelly Clarkson is currently part of another show's panel.)

 

This is probably a hard song to sing and on a couple of occasions it sounded like Madison missed hitting a couple of notes perfectly, but all in all, I remember it being a strong vocal. Is she what Idol voters are looking for though in 2026? Did anyone else catch she sort of has both sun and moon in her name?

 

7. Chris Tungseth- "Apologize"

 

This contestant has a blue collar background and looks like a viking, which is appropriate for him being from Minnesota.  I think people were expecting him to be a country singer, but he has sort of a different vibe that is hard to completely nail down, but that sort of element might make him a fan favorite. There really has not been anyone like him on Idol before that I can recall.

 

Vocally, this was a bit understated, as the nearly 20 year old song is, but I liked what he did with it and how he sounded. Like Philmon, he also came across as a bit nervous, but I would be interested in hearing what he would sound like on additional songs.

 

8. Ruby Rae- "Drag Me Down"

 

For one thing, Ruby picked what is probably One Direction's lone cool song. She is another 16 year old and seemed perhaps not quite at the same level as the others. That is not to say she sounded bad. I thought she sounded pretty good, but not great.

 

It is interesting that there is both a Rae and a Ruby Rae in this group. She might have been better off just going by Ruby. I think the similar names and the way people vote these days are going to confuse some people and put both ladies at risk and frankly I think that was Idol's master plan all along. The judges basically made it seem like this would be Ruby's one "live" performance.

 

9. Julian Kalel- "Tourniquet"

 

I have to start off by mentioning that his last name is the same as Superman's first name right? I looked it up and Kal-El means "Voice of G-d" in Hebrew. I guess that is one way to claim to be the next American Idol.

Frankly, Julian is very much a contender to win this season I think. He is from the border town of El Paso, Texas and definitely is of a Latino background, but his family also appears to be very wealthy. There was some backstory that I cannot quite understand about how he made it to Hollywood last season, on an audition that never aired, but dropped out due to mental health reasons. Now though, he is apparently ready to compete and everything about him seems to suggest he knows exactly how to play the game. He comes across and talks like someone who might have been a child actor, but if that is the case, it has not been mentioned. Julian will apparently continue to make a lot of generic references to mental health awareness though.

 

That seemed to be the gist of this song, which is another country one I do not know. Vocally, it was really good, but far from perfect. At this stage in the competition, Julian might have become friends with Lucas Leon, but with both being young guitar playing, cross-wearing, male singers from upper class backgrounds who sing country music, they are definitely in competition with each other. My hunch is that Julian might last longer, especially if he can pair the Latino vote with Evangelical support.

 

10. Keyla Richardson- "With A Little Help From My Friends"

I already knew from the Idol promotional spots that Keyla was going to have the judges, especially Lionel Richie going crazy in praise of what she did.  I was not totally surprised to go into the show expecting the 29 year old single mother and music teacher to do very well. She has been impressive thus far. I was perhaps a bit surprised (and maybe a bit relieved) that her precocious young son,who has been by her side every step of the way singing along with every lyric stayed at home in Florida to go to school.

If Keyla going to win American Idol? Probably not, although I also said that about the African-American music teacher and parent who wound up winning last season. She is very good though and probably set a world record for the number of crosses on her outfit during the performance. That is very much a part of the modern American Idol aesthetic though and a bit of a contrast to her very casual appearance while rehearsing for the cameras with Keke Palmer and Brad Paisley.

 

This is a song I have never really liked, ever since "The Wonder Years" and it has been done a ton on Idol. It works though if someone wants to show off vocally and do riffs and holleration. Keyla is extremely good at that. I was still planning to put her right behind Jordan in my rankings until the end until she of course proverbially  "took it to church" and her final fury of vocal firepower could not be denied. As expected, Lionel (and the others) loved it and she got all sorts of praise. She definitely has some Fantasia in her.  Could such a strong performance from Keyla put the much younger Abayomi, the only other African-American female performer of the night at risk?

 

Rankings:

 

10. Ruby Rae

 9. Lucas Leon 

 8. Philmon Lee 

 

 7. Rae

 6. Madison Moon

 5.  Abayomi

 4.  Julian Kalel

 3.  Chris Tungseth

 2.  Jordan McCullough

 1.  Keyla Richardson

 

As for predictions, I am pretty sure that young Ruby Rae will not make the Top 14, which will have become the Top 12 by the time Idol's Songs of Faith spectacular is over next Monday. The other two are much harder to predict. It could go in many directions. I think Philmon is the next most obvious bet. 

 

On the merits, Lucas should be cut, mostly because the other kids all looked like they had to work harder and indeed, if a lot of people planning to power vote for Lucas were instead won over by Julian, than it could be a problem for another teenage alliteration named singer.  That probably will not happen though. I will go with Rae joining the other Rae being dimmed while Moon stays afloat. We shall see and I will blog about Tuesday or maybe Wednesday.