American Idol- Top 3

It feels like more of a chore to blog about this season of American Idol, but we are almost at the end. It is not that I do not find the season or show interesting, it is just that Monday night is a bad time slot for me to write about the episode that night. So, I have to do it later, and things get delayed. There seems to be so many other things to follow between news/politics and sports. For instance, the Chicago Cubs are on what feels like an historic hot streak lately and I need to enjoy that for as long as it lasts. 

 

This week, I watched a recording of American Idol late Monday night and am here now on Thursday evening to offer some disjointed observations. This may not have ever happened before with as many as five singers competing, but I actually had the exact same rankings this week for both rounds. Thus, I will just present them at the end.

 

To start off the evening, original Idol judge Paula Abdul was welcomed back to the judges' table, and her fellow original judge Randy Jackson was presented giving mentorship and advice to the remaining hopefuls. I am certain a lot of viewers were concerned about the physical appearance of "The Dog" which seems to have changed even since his recent stint as sidekick on the ridiculously corny Fox show "Name That Tune", (which I think I would do very well on.) Hopefully, Randy is doing ok.

 

There were also appearances by some of the professionals from ABC's "Dancing With The Stars" which my parents (dancers themselves) have watched religiously.since the first season. Thankfully, there was not a crossover "Bachelor/Bachelorette" tie-in for Idol. Perhaps next season, they can bring out John Quinones who will incorporate "What Would You Do" into the Idol competition.

 

1. Keyla Richardson- "River Deep, Mountain High"

 

Let us see how well I can remember everything that happened on Monday. My first thought was this was the song that produced the surprise boot for Pia Toscano once upon a time on Idol. 

 

For some reason, I think Keyla has on a few occasions began her performances sounding a little bit off kilter vocally. Then, she gets it together and very frequently shows off in a majorly impressive way at the end. I was not crazy about the way this song started Then, when the dancers came out and the tempo picked up, she was certainly more than credible and entertaining as usual.

 

2. Chris Tungseth- "Northern Attitude" 

 

Chris is from Minnesota after all  This was not a song I knew but he has continued to survive this season, perhaps due to votes from the South.

 

From what I recall, I thought Chris sounded a little bit better and more connected to the music than he has recently. It must have still been a bit boring though if I cannot recall much more. I think I remember that he seemed a little distracted by the dancers around him. Who knows how much time they had to rehearse with that production>

 

3. Braden Rumfelt- "Lose Control"

 

I do not think they mentioned what the criteria was for the song selections for this round. Braden took on a relatively new and well-known song by Teddy Swims.  With Randy Jackson, a former bassist for Journey, as the mentor, perhaps Braden could have done something by Journey. I do think his voice has a bit of a Steve Perry like quality to it, but he has not really leaned into that.

 

This was overall really good in my view. Like the week before, he seems to have gained confidence on stage and I think he has a very impressive voice,

 

4. Hannah Harper- "Fever"

Seacrest teased this performance by saying Hannah had a fever and I thought that meant she was under the weather and they were trying to gin up some sympathy for her. Instead, it was an announcement of a truly surprising song choice for the Evangelical bluegrass artist.

One on hand, I have to salute Hannah for trying to do something a bit different in order to show range. On the other hand, I wondered if her voting fanbase would be confused or disapprove of a sultry Peggy Lee jazz standard. Vocally, I thought Hannah just barely managed to pull it off. She seemed to go for it with her voice and has the skill to mold the song to her particular tone, but body language wise, the vibe was that she just was not entirely comfortable.

 

5. Jordan McCullough- "Footprints In The Sand"

 

I think this song was done several years ago on Idol but I do not know it well.  

 

That is probably a benefit for Jordan though, because upon watching, one just associates it with him, and this dude can just sing anything,. I really barely remember him in the auditions, I did not think she was going to amount to being a major contender this season, but he is just so good at what he does, that he seems to have reached "other league" status. As I have made the comparison before, he reminds me of someone from NBC's "The Voice." He is probably not going to be any sort of pop star in the years ahead, but as far as a reality tv show singing contestant, he is putting on a clinic and could be days away from the title.

 

The next round was really interesting. The Final Five would sing duets with some of the Finalists from a generation ago. No, not Chris Daughtry or Katharine McPhee from the 2006 season (and Rest In Peace, Mandisa) but a bunch of the others from what was a very popular season, back when Idol was far more of a cultural phenomenon in America.  I took my parents to see that season's "Pop Tarts Tour" in Rosemont, Illinois for their wedding Anniversary that year, and it was a very good show. I even ranked the performances on this blog. 

 

All of the returning alumni have definitely aged, and some better than others. None of them are exactly big names in music at this point,and most of them for the most part never really were (unlike Daughtry for a period of time.) It was good to see them back though. These past contestants, who range in age between 37 and 49, really brought their A games to the stage. That might have come from years of experience and seasoning or perhaps the realization that this may be the last chance they ever get to sing on network television.

 

Last year's winner, Jamal Roberts also came back to sing his new song and hand out some flowers. That meant there would be four Idols in the building, representing 2005 with judge Carrie Underwood, 2006 with Taylor Hicks, last year's winner, and the person about to be crowned next Monday. 

 

As a matter of personal privilege, I will point out that I wish we had the President we had in 2006 again, although that year definitely brought in a "blue wave" in the midterms, which may very well repeat itself this year also. I was far more upset about that then than I will be now. Of course I have to note that nothing as ever been quite right in our country or our politics since Democrats won control of Congress in 2006. 

 

Unlike last week, the contestants all sang in the same order for this round as they did earlier in the evening. 

 

6. Keyla Richardson- "Living For The City"

 

They did not show Randy Jackson in the pre-song segments for all of these contestants this round, but they showed him with Keyla who expressed disbelief that she did not know this Stevie Wonder song. He may have had a point, but it also came across as an unfavorable edit for her.

 

 Keyla got to sing with the Season 5 winner Taylor Hicks, who was not viewed as the best singer his season, but was the most entertaining and enjoyed a large contingent of middle aged women in the "Soul Patrol." Keyla could use their votes here as well. This was a good performance all around and Keyla, who has sung a lot of ballads, went uptempo for the second time on the evening. Still though, she seemed to defer a bit to Taylor who went all out for the cameras and outshone the current hopeful a bit. There would be a lot of talk amongst the judges on Monday about the "ugly face" or "stank face" and Taylor certainly had that going. He can still perform, which may be why much of the rest of the evening was about Taylor trying to get on "Dancing With the Stars" and interviewing for a lot with the producer right there. He pretty much has to be guaranteed for that show now. Can be become the first ever Idol winner to also take a Mirror Ball trophy? If the Soul Patrol activates, anything might be possible.

 

7.  Chris Tungseth- "The Thunder Rolls"

I grasped at this point that the duets were being done to songs that the elder Idols had done back in the day.  Way back then, I did not think Bucky Covington was that good of a singer, but he sounded pretty good this week. Paula Abdul apparently forgot that Bucky had a twin brother. I would have expected her to remember that, maybe.. I did. His name was Rocky I think,.

 

Anyways, Bucky probably brought out a good performance from Chris, who seemed enthused to do something country. I just do not like this song though and do not think that either of the long-haired bearded gentlemen on stage are or were anything close to the best of their seasons.

 

8. Braden Rumfelt- "The Show Must Go On"

 

I do not recall seeing much of Paris Bennett since her season (or in person on stage at the summer tour)  when she was only 17. I think I remember reading that she had a child young. Paris (who like Chris represented Minnesota on Idol, but thankfully was not paired with him) still looks youthful and sounded great. This was a memorable take on a Queen song when she did it the first time and I liked this duet.

 

Unlike Keyla and Chris, Braden tried not to let the older, more experienced performer take over the duet, but still Paris probably outsang him, even thought I though this kind of dramatic rock ballad also works very well for Braden's voice.

 

9. Hannah Harper- "A Broken Wing"

 

Kellie Pickler caused quite a stir during her season by virtue of her appearance and extremely good comedic timing. She was not at all considered a great singer and was thought of as a very good actress and that helped her go further than she probably should have. For a while, she did have a career in country music and I think might have done a television sitcom even (which would have been perfect for her.) I also believe she once competed on "Dancing With The Stars." Recent years have seemed to be tougher on Kellie, after her husband took his life. She definitely looks a good deal different than she did 20 years ago but I thought sounded a good deal better this week than she did back then.

 

Of course, this round was really about Hannah though and her desire to get votes. Hannah was more than credible on this country duet but did not exactly have a "moment."

 

10. Jordan McCullough- "A Song For You"

 

Jordan is a worship leader who is quite adept at taking his performances "to church." He did the same here as his duet partner, Elliot Yamin on his Donny Hathaway reprisal "took it to synagogue."

 

Elliot, who finished third in his season, just ahead of a visibly shocked Chris Daughtry when that particular elimination was announced, sounded great on Monday. Jordan was even better and I think was the only current Idol to outsing the returning Idol.  All the adjectives that could be used to describe Jordan have seemingly already been deployed by me. I am sure there will be more next week.

 

Rankings for both rounds and overall:

 

5. Chris Tungseth

4, Hannah Harper

 

3,.Keyla Richardson

2. Braden Rumfelt

1. Jordan McCullough

 

Who should have been eliminated: Chris Tungseth and Hannah Harper

Who I predicted would be eliminated: Chris Tungseth and Keyla Richardson

Who was eliminated:  Chris Tungseth and Braden Rumfelt

 

All credit must be given to my mother who told me a few days before the episode aired that Jordan, Keyla, and Hannah would be the Top 3. I definitely thought that was possible, but am still considering the reality of the racial breakdown of the vote and how Keyla and Jordan are both competing for African-Americans. After all, so much is in the news these days about the Congressional redistricting and the political effect of diluting the black vote.

 

Best of luck to Chris, who seems to be a very a nice guy. It was his time to go. This week, I did think Braden was a bit better than Keyla, but I cannot be mad to any degree about her making it to the Finale over him. As mentioned, Hannah probably should have been eliminated but I did not think that would happen. I suspect that neither Chris nor Braden were surprised to reach the end of the road.

 

One can look at electoral map and note that blue state Minnesota and purple state North Carolina were sent home. The red states of Missouri, Florida, and Tennessee remain and will see hometown visits from their representatives. (All three of those states are going to be among those that will be having mid-decade Congressional redistricting this year, a disturbing trend started by Donald Trump's Republicans, and joined in turn by Democrats in a race to the bottom, but this is not the right venue to vent about that now...)

 

The three hour show next Monday night will feature three talented contestants, who are all quite a bit different vocally. Personally, I expect to enjoy Jordan and Keyla more than Hannah, but I hope all three do very well.

 

My hunch is that Keyla will finish third, unless perhaps Idol voters take more to her story or being a teacher and a parent (just like last year's winner Jamal) to the detriment of Jordan.. Otherwise, I think the Final Two come down to Hannah and Jordan, and Keyla's base of voters will swing to give Jordan the W.

 

We must keep in mind that in all previous 23 seasons of American Idol, there has never been an all African-American Final Two, and I do not think that streak is likely to be broken this year, even if it should be.