American Idol- Top 5

We are getting down to the homestretch on the 24th season of American Idol. Monday night saw the Top 7 perform two songs and then there would be only five remaining. For some reason, comedian Nikki Glaser, who has some sort of special on Hulu to promote, was the guest judge and she showed up in a tiny and sparkly dress. Who was not present at the judges' table was Taylor Swift, the subject of Round 1, or California Governor Gavin Newsom, whose state's music was the focus of Round 2. That might have made for a more interesting panel. Next week though, we are told that Randy Jackson and Paul Abdul will be returning. That might be "a hot one, dog."

 

As for this week, the King and Queen of England were in America and they have been on Idol before, but did not show up at the Hollywood studio. Also their friend, Lionel Richie was apparently not invited to the State Dinner. 

 

1. Jordan McCullough- "Tim McGraw"

 

For this first round, Jordan reached back to the early reaches of T Swift's songbook, back when she was actually considered a country artist. I have to say, it was a bit disappointing that not many of the future Mrs. Kelce's songs that I actually know were chosen.

 

What else can be said about Jordan at this point though? He is very good vocally at whatever he attempts and always seems quite at ease on stage. He is not likely to ever make it to the Grand Ole Opry, but he did a credible job here.

 

2. Chris Tungseth- "exile"

 

Apparently, Taylor has also gone the Billie Ellish route and also has boring songs stylized in lowercase letters.

 

A couple of nights later, I do not remember much about this performance. Chris is not a horrible singer by any means, but just has seemed very bland for weeks and his ballads always sound the same. In my view, his voice is just not at the same level as most of the others.

 

3.  Hannah Harper- "Mean"

 

I sort of know this song. It is another pretty old one all things considered. For a while now, Hannah perhaps reminds long-time Idol fans of Season 7's Brooke White in some ways. Tonight, she played a banjo which possibly could be an Idol first.

 

The beginning of this performance seemed very strong from what I recall. Hannah has quite a clear and pure voice and this kind of country vibe is right up her alley. As I think she has done before though, towards the end of a performance, she sort of lost any sense of competitive intensity and it a felt a bit like she was just coasting to the finish of the song.

 

4. Brooks- "Love Story"

 

I definitely know this Taylor Swift song. I guess it is kind of a guilty pleasure. Brooks did not change the pronouns or the phrasing around which had him proclaiming himself a Princess a few times.

 

This could have been good considering that Brooks sounds like a less than perfect live female singer, much like Taylor herself. At some points, I thought it was decent but then at others, he seemed to mess up a bit on the lyrics or the entrance and it just did not feel like a smooth performance.

 

5. Daniel Stallworth- "Fearless"

 

This is a song I do not know. Perhaps that is a reason I cannot recall a lot of the musical details of it. I wish I would have been able to "live blog" this season where I write on here immediately after listening to a performance, but that just is not possible on Mondays. 

What I do remember though is that Daniel was once again impressive vocally and performance wise. He is quite good at putting his own R&B meets Gospel spin on just about everything. From the beginning of the night though, I knew the math of survival would not be in his favor.

 

6.  Keyla Richardson- "Lover"

 

Sort of the same thing is at play here. I do not know the song. That makes it harder to recall the cover performance.  Her young son was there being as supportive as always, but does not seem to be singing along with the lyrics. That might have been a good thing here.

 

What I recall is that Keyla sang it very well. There is no doubting the talent and effectiveness of her voice. It just so happens though that (much like the "Thee Divas" Idol Season 3), the three best voices this year may all be African-American. Keyla is the only female amongst them though which may or may not work to her benefit, but there was never going to be anyway they became the Top 3.

 

7. Braden Rumfeld- "cardigan"

 

Braden was really good at the taped Hawai'i show, but on the big Idol stage, he has had some missed opportunities and seemed ill at ease.

I have to say though, that Braden really impressed me this week. While I am not too familiar with the song, he gave what seemed like a genuine interpretation and fit it a lot of interesting vocal techniques, He also seemed leagues more confident than he has in the past, despite wearing a goofy sweater. I have to call it like I see it, and I thought that he really surpassed expectations.

 

Round 1 rankings:

 

7. Brooks

6. Chris Tungseth

5. Hannah Harper

4. Daniel Stallworth

3. Keyla Richardson

2. Jordan McCullough

1. Braden Rumfeld

 

Next, the Idol hopefuls all appeared in a propaganda ad by the official California tourism folks. The kids were shown having a ball and enjoying the sights of the Golden State. Nobody commented on the Gubernatorial election (which I will be doing on here this summer when "Race of the Day" returns)

 
In this ode to California, there was no visuals or mentions of smog, homelessness, sky high prices, ICE raids, or Kardashians.

 

8. Brooks- "She Will Be Loved"

If nothing else, Brooks got to sing some decent pop songs. I suppose he thought he could do the Adam Levine falsetto thing. Afterwards, I wonder if maybe "God Only Knows" by The Beach Boys would have been a better California selection for his particular voice, but he did go with a second song with "love" in the title in order to hype up his showmance with the erstwhile Idol Finalist Rae, while remaining seated on a stool once again throughout.

 

Vocally, I thought there were some decent moments. At other times, I questioned the melodic choices. Brooks does sort of seem to be just going through the motions with this whole Idol thing, but perhaps he feels he has already "won" in another way. As I have mentioned before, my parents really do not care for Brooks. I told my father I would include his line, "Brooks should be Done" on the blog. Get it? Only in America.

 

9. Jordan McCullough- "I Can't Make You Love Me"

 

This is a song that my mother always says she finds boring whenever anybody does it on Idol. I happen to think that a lot of contestants have sang this Bonnie Raitt number quite well over the years. (Is she from California?)

 

All things considered, this may have been the best vocal performance of the season. Jordan is just so skilled both in terms of his voice and his ability to communicate and emote. Right from the start on this one, I remarked that he sounded a lot like the late Luther Vandross. That might be the kind of career he would wish to have. I have been re-watching the episode over the weekend after I write my blog, so I will look forward to catching this performance again.

 

10. Daniel Stallworth- "Best Part"

Her is a newer song I do not know at all.  Daniel did very well on it though and had a very strong night overall. 

 

It began on piano and then he got up and sang it in a modern R&B style. It reminded me a lot of John Legend, for people who like that sort of stuff. That kind of music is not really my favorite, but Daniel has a ton of talent and has improved over the few weeks he has been singing on live television. If he was going down on Monday night, as I think he suspected, he would at least go down swinging.

 

11. Braden Rumfeld- "This Love"

 

Maroon 5 and their lead singer, mostly associated with rival franchise "The Voice" gets their second entry into the California sweepstakes. There are also a lot of songs with "love" in the title in both rounds.

 

I thought Braden had perhaps a bit more vocal gravitas in the first round, but this was still a good upbeat performance. His newly discovered confidence was apparent again and this sounded to use a cliche "fun" I guess. With the elimination of so many young white guys (or those that sing white guy music) this season, there is definitely a voting market still left for Braden.

12. Chris Tungseth- "What Was I Made For"

 

It occurred to me watching this how much Chris looks like the '80s wrestler, the later Big John Studd. Maybe that is why he is staying in the competition.  I obtained an autograph photo of him somehow when I was a child. 

 

Perhaps Chris should consider becomiing a professional wrestler whose shtick is "sensitive light rock singer" because his Idol performances are just not doing it for me. He never seems to have a Idol disaster like several contestants over the years have, but this plaintive.Barbie ballad was just boring. Then again, anything by Billie Elish is boring, including many of her political statements.

 

 13. Hannah Harper- "That's The Way Love Goes"

 

No, this was not the sultry Janet Jackson song from the early '90s. One can hardly imagine Hannah trying that  This was an old Merle Haggard country song that I did not know.

For this performance, Hannah stood there and sang it without a guitar or banjo. Going old school country is definitely in her interest in trying to corner a certain market. She is the only one left who can really be considered country and someone from that genre is pretty much guaranteed a spot in the Finale. This was a nice performance although a little boring to me personally.

 

14, Keyla Richardson- "I'd Rather Go Blind"

 

This particular song has been done on Idol a few times before (though notably not by Scott MacIntyre). I guess there was some sort of loophole that let Etta James be considered fair game for the California theme.

 

To nobody's surprise Keyla brought it, especially at the end, as she is known to do. This may have been her strongest performance. I immediately started debating in my head if this would be ranked first or second for the round. I was just hoping there was not going to be a shock situation where either Keyla or Jordan were eliminated.

Round 2 rankings (unlike the California Jungle primary elections, two would eventually leave, not advance to the next round) 

 

7. Chris Tungseth

6. Brooks

5. Hannah Harper

4. Braden Rumfeld

3. Daniel Stallworth

2. Jordan McCullough

1. Keyla Richardson

 

So looking back at the ranking list I jotted down in a notebook on Monday night, I did put Keyla narrowly first in that round. I am not sure if I will agree upon re-watch. Her performance was perhaps just more dramatic for television and she got to go last.

 

Now, in terms of the cumulative rankings, I had two-way ties that would need to be broken for both last and first.

 

7. Chris Tungseth

6. Brooks

 

5. Hannah Harper

4. Daniel Stallworth

3. Braden Rumfelt

2. Keyla Richardson

1. Jordan Stallworth

 

Who should have been eliminated: Chris Tungseth and Brooks

Who I predicted would be eliminated: Chris Tungseth and Daniel Stallworth

Who was eliminated: Daniel Stallworth and Brooks

 

In my view, my top 5 are all a good deal better than the two I had at the bottom, but I knew I would not get my wish.

Unfortunately, it was the end of the line for Jordan, as I expected. A bit of a bigger surprise was that Brooks got the boot. A whole lot of Idol fans (such as my parents) must be relieved at that. Perhaps his "being in love" left some of the estrogen army to abandon him after all.

 

Chris continues to survive though and I still have questions as to why. Would I be correct in saying that a large portion of American women, who might be on the more portly side just think he is hot? While he is somewhat boring when he sings, at least he has a good deal more personality in general than Brooks has exhibited in front of the cameras. That must count for something.

 

However, he is doing it, but Chris has gone a lot further than many expected. The next person to worry in regards to next week should probably be Braden, but it is also possible we are headed to a shock elimination of either Keyla or Jordan.  

 

My hunch right now is that Hannah might finish as the runner-up to the one of them that survives the longest. Then again, an all-female Final 2?  It has been well over a decade since that happened and back then, it was not without a good deal of producer manipulation.

 

The State of our Nation

There is so much sickness in our society. The Far Left, The Far Right, people with mental illness,  and those desperate for fame and attention. 

Over past decade plus, nobody has done more to stir this pot of sickness than Donald J.Trump. 

His life must continue to be protected, but why is anyone surprised?

American Idol- Top 7

Disney Night is always challenging enough for me. Usually, I am not that into the song selections and it can be hard to find enough to differentiate the vocals from one contestant to another as I do my rankings. 

 

This year, Idol threw in an unexpected twist for me. Is there anybody left in 2026 who ranks the performances for the internet besides myself? Probably not many. I have been doing this though since 2007. Back then, there used to only be solo performances on the competition night. Since they incorporated duets,trios, foursomes, what have you, I have been ranking those too, as long as everyone in the number sang a solo line. Last night (I am writing this very late on Tuesday night after having watched the show live on Monday with my Idol fan parents for the first time this season), the producers threw in a very bad group number in which all nine kids sang very little. What am I to do? Well, a sane person would have just ignored that and only ranked the solos. Clearly though, I am not a sane person. I had to rank them, and as I always do, in order to keep everything as fair as possible, I had to rank each "round": in the order in which each contestant sang first. So, by the time the group performance came about, sort of early in the show, only a few had done their solos, but I had to calculate all of this into judging both times they sang. Of course, in the case of any tiebreakers, I would put more emphasis on the solo. 

 

Anyways, let us get on with this. 

 

1. Daniel Stallworth- "A Whole New World"

 

This song actually went to the very top of the pop charts in 1993. That was the first time that ever happened for a Disney song and it would not happen again until a really horrible song went there a few years back. But we are not here to talk about Bruno.

 

Talking about Daniel, I continue to be impressed by his vocals.  This continued here. While the performance itself was fairly old fashioned, he showed off his voice and enunciation skills quite well.

 

2. Braden Rumfelt- "Remember Me"

 

Almost as soon as he began singing this "Coco" ballad, my mother, who was once a semi-professional singer, said, "he's off key."  I guess so. It is really hard for me to tell myself. None of the four judges, which included Jennifer Hudson this week (whom I thought was really good as a mentor) said anything along those lines though.

 

I think Braden has a nice voice but this felt boring and plodding and he continues to look like he lacks confidence. When he was done, I think he was expecting to get negative comments. For the past few weeks, I think Braden has been singing the wrong songs and again this time was wearing a really weird outfit.

 

3. Lucas Leon- "Life Is A Highway" 

 

Yes, every single year, some dude on ABC's Idol does this song from "Cars" on Disney Week. I remember when it first came out by Tom Cochrane and seeing it on MTV long before Raccall Flatts got their hands on it. I also remember, Mitt Romney used it in 2007 at his first Presidential launch event at the Henry Ford museum.

 

This week, Lucas played electric guitar and I thought was pretty good from an entertainment standpoint. He is comfortable on stage but once again had the bobble head thing going. The uptempo vocals suited him, but it was far from amazing.

 

4.. Hannah Harper- "Almost There"

I do not know the song nor the movie it spawned from and this whole thing just confused me. More than perhaps any other performance in Idol history, I do not know if it was legitimately good or bad. That basically means that I did not like it very much, but I was trying to be cognizant of what she was trying to accomplish for the desired audience.

 

Also, I was unsure why Hannah was wearing a long pink gown and gloves. I am sure it has to do with the movie, but it did not really seem necessary for the performance. She has a really good voice and I thought the whole thing started off impressively, but then it almost seemed like she was anxious for it all to end. I vastly preferred what she did on "Landslide" the prior week. That is the way Idol theme weeks often go though.

 

5. Group- "You've Got A Friend In Me"

 

Oh vey. Does this really need to happen? For one thing, every Disney Week, someone sings this and I usually dislike this. This week, they all sang it. I think they might have been looking at the words on a teleprompter. Nobody really seemed into it and nobody sounded memorable whatsoever except for some really subpar singing from a couple of them.. Still though, I have Idol OCD and hand to rank from worst to best as follows"

 

 9. Chris Tungseth

 8. Brooks

 7. Braden Rumfelt

 6. Keyla Richardson

 5. Kyndal

 4. Hannah Harper

 3. Lucas Leon

 2. Daniel Stallworth

 1.  Jordan McCullough

 

Now, since everyone has sang at least once, it is time to close out Round 1

 

9. Chris Tungseth (group)

8. Brooks (group)

7. Keyla Richardson (group)

6. Kyndal (group)

5 Braden Rumseld (solo)

4. Hannah Harper (solo)

3. Lucas Leon (solo)

2. Jordan McCullough (group)

1. Daniel Stallworth (solo)

 ____________________________________________________________________

6.  Chris Tungseth- "Let It Go"

 

Chris is from often frozen Minnesota, so perhaps the cold never really did bother him anyway. (He also sang "Cold As Ice" last week.)

 

I have to say, the very beginning of this performance sounded pretty decent. Perhaps Chris was on the comeback trail in my mind. Then, he hit the chorus and it was all downhill from there. It was not good whatsoever. Who is even voting for Chris at this point?

 

7. Keyla Richardson- "Circle Of Life" 

 

Back in 2004, Chicago's own J-Hud sang this on Disney Week and it truly was an American Idol "moment." I wish she would have sang it again this week, but instead Keyla took on the Elton John song.

 

While she delivered a competent vocal off the bat, I really did not think Keyla was doing anything special with it. Needless to say, it was not as good as Jennifer Hudson's confident rendition. Then, as Keyla always does, perhaps like a racehorse, she went into a higher gear at the end of the performance and left a stronger final impression.

 

8. Brooks- "The Climb"

 

Miley Cyrus has a much huskier voice than Brooks.  This was going to be an interesting one.

To be certain, I did not love this performance, but there were at least a couple of nice vocal moments from Brooks. It was less off-putting than some of his other performances on the Idol stage. He sat on a stool and played guitar the entire way through. Since the song is about a "climb", he should have at least stood up at the end.

 

Last week, my mother told me that she read on Facebook that Brooks is dating Rae, the contestant who was eliminated last week. I said no way. After all, there is very little that can be read on Facebook that is truly accurate.I said I was sure they were "just friends. " Lo and behold though, after the performance, Seacrest brought about Rae and she proceeded to "hard launch" her relationship with Brooks.Are these two Maryland singers really a couple? I have my doubts. She seems like she would be a lot for someone like Brooks to handle. I am cynical enough to detect a "showmance." Does having a girlfriend hurt Brooks now with young voters or will it help him if people are impressed enough to think he was able to successfully rizz up Rae (Google it Mom)  Perhaps though, "Brae" or "Rooks" or whatever they are being called by the senior citizens on Facebook will wind up married for 50 years. Good luck.

 

9. Jordan McCullough- "Colors Of The Wind" 

 

My first thought is that this ballad from "Pocohontas" (insert your own Elizabeth Warren insult here) is very boring but that Jordan will do a great job with it.

 

That is truly what happened. Technically speaking, it was closer to a masterclass. Jordan is just a great singer. While I doubt he will become a huge star, even if he wins, I can envision him being successful on Broadway.

 

Could Jordan actually win American Idol? Right now, he seems most deserving, but I am not sure. There is something about him and his performances that seem more suited for "The Voice" where the voting audience might lean a little more left. That is somewhat ironic for him as a church worship leader.

 

The first thing to consider about Jordan is that he his biracial, which as we all know, is basically considered African-American. That probably would not hurt him with the votes, but the extremely talented Daniel and Keyla are also black and there is simply a demographic numbers game there. The longer he does so well, the worse it is for Daniel sticking around much longer or for Keyla winning, as many people have her pegged as the frontrunner.

 

Jordan might be polarizing to the current Idol fanbase (of all races) though for another reason, which would be an unfortunate rationale for anyone to not vote for him.. Of course, this is all speculative on my part, but the more I see of him, especially when he is not singing, I think it is more likely that people will suspect that the colors of the wind for him may be rainbow. 

 

10. Kyndal- "Butterfly Fly Away"

I have not seen the Hannah Montana movie and do not know this song at all. I also cannot remember how it goes. We learned that Kyndal has only been married a few months.

 

For those who like Kyndal's quirky and at times raspy voice, I am sure they were impressed. It just is not the thing that I gravitate towards as a listener.

 

"Round 2" rankings:

 

9. Chris Tungseth (solo)

8. Braden Rumfelt (group)

7. Kyndal (solo)

6. Hannah Harper (group)

5. Brooks (solo)

4. Lucas Leon (group)

3. Daniel Stallworth (group)

2. Keyla Richardson (solo)

1. Jordan McCullough (solo)

 

Composite rankings:

 

9. Chris Tungseth

8. Kyndal

 

7. Brooks

6. Braden Rumfelt

5. Hannah Harper

4. Keyla Richardson

3. Lucas Leon

2. Daniel Stallworth

1. Jordan McCullough

 

This looks really weird to me because I do not think it seems right to have Lucas ranked ahead of Keyla. It just is a fluke of the show timing. Lucas did his reasonably above average solo first while Keyla went through the motions on her part of the group number and that skewed things. I also had a three way tie between Kyndal, Brooks, and Braden and went with the solos as the tiebreaker.

 

Who should have been eliminated:: Chris Tungseth and Kyndal

Who I predicted would be eliminated during the last commercial break: Chris Tungseth and Daniel Stallworth

 

Who was eliminated: Kyndal and Lucas Leon

 

Clearly, I was double surprised at the outcome although nothing is really too shocking this season. I do not know how Chris is managing to hang on, after having already outlasting Philmon and some others. I was worried the split black vote would be a problem for Daniel, but it is a good thing he made it at least one more week. There is simply no way that Jordan, Keyla, and Daniel will wind up as the Final Three even though they are probably the three strongest singers.

Kyndal, who apparently already had more of a previous music career going than perhaps any Idol contestant ever (not that I had heard of her) should have been eliminated on the merits.Maybe she will blame the fact that she wore shoes for the group number. There was a lot of shoe throwing by Jennifer Hudson also, and one went in Kyndal's direction. She should have put it on.

 

Lucas leaving this early is a bit of a surprise, considering the recent successes of teenage male country singers on Idol. Perhaps fans of John Foster were so despondent after his loss in last year's Finale that they are no longer even tuning in. Lucas probably had his best night too all things considered, but is now out.

 

The remaining seven contestants give off perhaps the "oldest" Idol vibe ever. I believe Brooks is the youngest left at 23. Besides for 24 year old Braden and 25 year old Hannah, a mother of three, the rest are between 27 to 29. That is definitely something to think about as it relates to this season. It says to me that very few teenagers or those even younger than that are voting this year.

American Idol- Top 9

I watched the show on Monday night and now it is Thursday night and I write about it. Let us see how good my memory is. Thankfully, I can just consult my rankings. This time, I had some surprises.

 

This week was the annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame episode. The very talented and legendary Pat Benatar, along with her husband and collaborator Neil Giraldo (who seemed to do most of the talking) were the mentors. At the end of the evening, the Bottom Two would be sent home and thus further away from a dream of one day being enshrined in Cleveland.

 

 

1. Chris Tungseth- "Cold As Ice"

 

In the year 2026, many feel the song title could be a political statement.  I do not really care too much for this particular Foreigner song.

 

Unfortunately, I just seem to be over Chris as a potential Idol standout. I think he was good early in the audition process but has reached about as far as he can go. He may be a big dude with long hair but he is nowhere in the vocal league of past Idol winner Caleb Johnson, especially on rock. Chris feels more "yacht rock" and I recall their being some bum notes or missed opportunities on Monday.

 

2. Rae- "MacArthur Park"

I have to think there were better songs that would have fit this category than this one for Rae. One could probably say the same thing for Carrie Underwood over twenty years ago, as she had one of her least raved about Idol performances that season.

Frankly, Rae might have sang it better than Carrie once did, but it is still a weird song to try to win people over with.As a performer, Rae seems to be sort of cabaret. Older viewers may like her but I have still struggled to see how the core Idol demographic might take to her.

 

3. Braden Rumfelt- "Superstition"

 

Braden missed a great opportunity to sing Journey. Some have noted that the tone of his voice is kind of similar to that of Steve Perry. I think he could have had a moment with an actual rock song, but his own personal tastes may lean more towards Stevie Wonder.

 

I thought this was good and probably the best Braden has been on the Hollywood studio stage, but others with actual trained ears may have noticed some parts where he went off pitch. 

 

4. Brooks- "These Days"

 

I do not know this Jackson Browne song but the artist may have been a good choice for Brooks. Frankly though, I did not like it very much. I think my mother is having an influence on how I view Brooks (and she did not even have him ranked last week.) 

 

He is getting overpraised in my view. All of his performances are just sounding the same and do not have anything in the way of dynamism. It is hard to put my finger on it exactly but something about his vocals on this song did not sit right with me. 

 

5. Daniel Stallworth- "Livin' On A Prayer"

 

Some Bon Jovi purists may not have improved, but I give Daniel very high marks for this cover. 

 

It was a bold song choice and I think he succeeded in turning into an R&B jam with elements of Gospel. It really suited him well. Is Daniel perhaps the least talked about contestant this season though?

 

6. Keyla Richardson- "Signed, Sealed, Delivered"

Her choice of a '90s song may have been surprising, but taking on Stevie Wonder was less so although it would have probably been even more predictable had she done a song by a female artist.

 

There is definitely a pattern for me with Keyla. I always think her performances are good at the start but the way she pulls out the vocal pyrotechnics in the final 30 seconds or so each time causes me to rank her one spot higher than I had first thought I would. The same thing happened here. The first minute or so was good, but nothing great, and then she shines at the end. Still though, I have to judge the entire thing.

 

7. Lucas Leon- "Bennie And The Jets"

 

In the clips of him rehearsing with the mentors, I thought this could have actual potential. I thought it was a good thing for Lucas to take on Elton John, instead of sticking too closely to country each time. This is not my favorite Elton John song however.

 

Performance wise, I thought it was somewhat lacking. Lucas played piano for the whole song, when he might have benefited more from "getting up" in the middle. Vocally, it was not horrible, but once again a bit underwhelming. Lucas knows how to play to the camera with his facial expressions, but while he was singing, his cranium was bouncing all around like a bobblehead doll.

 

8. Kyndal- "Piece Of My Heart"

 

This was a weird segment beyond her continuing shunning of shoewear, which might make her searched after on some corners of the internet, but I find weird.  There was some drama as to if she would sing this Janis Joplin song or "Message In A Bottle" by The Police. I thought I would probably prefer to hear "Piece Of My Heart" as an Idol viewers, but that the other song was more attuned to her quirky vocal images. The Benatars/Giraldos seemed to really want The Police and Kyndal seemed to indicate she was leaning heavily in that direction.

Seacrest brought her out to sing then cut to a commercial. When the show returned, she was not doing the song that was expected as Pat and Neil were shown somewhat awkwardly clapping along.  I though tit was alright vocally for the most part but far from great. Then, towards the end, Kyndal turned her back from the cameras and sang it directly to the band behind her. When it was over, she looked defeated. Later, we learned that she had lost her voice this week due to illness. I did not really detect that during the performance but merely than Kyndal might not be in a great space mentally with all that is going on.

 

9. Philmon Lee- "Hot Blooded"

 

Another temperature related mid Foreigner song that has been done in past Idol seasons.  

 

Philmon has been impressing me lately and I was rooting for him on this performance. I thought parts of it were really good vocally but that he was not at his complete best. It seemed like he might have veered off course during the last big note. Then, the judges and Seacrest made a big deal about messingl his well shellacked hair up and that just seemed pretty embarrassing for all involved.

 

10. Hannah Harper- "Landslide"

 

Thus far, we have really only heard Hannah sing Worship and County songs on stage. In theory, her attempting to sing Stevie Nicks might have made some sense. 

 

This greatly surpassed my expectations and was easily the best performance she has done. Hannah did not attempt to do anything crazy with her voice or veer from the original, but she sounded terrific and it came across as a sincere and connected interpretation and better than anything else we had heard from the contestants thus far. Would the final performer (whom I was struggling to think who was left) be able to top it?

 

11. Jordan McCullough-"Somebody To Love"

 

Doing this particular Queen song is probably not that much of a surprise. I predicted it for Jordan as soon as they said what band  he was covering. If I recall, Freddie Mercury once said he wrote this tune with Aretha Franklin in mind.

 

Week after week, Jordan delivers though. I could do an analogy to another person named Jordan who once wore red and black like this Jordan on Monday night but that might be taking it a bit too far. Vocally it was great though. I do not think Jordan is capable of singing many bad notes ever. If nothing else, he is set up to potentially be a big time Gospel artist.

 

Rankings:

 

11. Brooks

10. Chris Tungseth

 

9. Lucas Leon

8. Kyndal

7. Rae

6. Philmon Lee

5. Braden Rumfelt 

4. Keyla Richardson

3. Daniel Stallworth

2. Hannah Harper

1. Jordan McCullough

 

As for my predictions during the final commercial break, I was pretty conflicted.  Mostly, I was hoping that Daniel would not fall short, but believed that was a possibility. Ultimately, I just decided to hope that America was on the same page as me and went with a prediction of my bottom two Brooks and Chris Tungseth getting the boot.

 

Who was eliminated: Rae and Philmon Lee

 

America is often not on the same page as me in many regards. The contestants I had ranked 6 and 7 (insert already outdated Gen Z meme here) would be the ones to go. I was not very surprised about Rae. I had predicted she would be soon to go for a few weeks now. Idol is now down to three females and six guys. I think that has probably happened before in a Top 9. All of the remaining ladies are in their mid to very late 20s and are either married or parents.

 

This is feeling like an unorthodox season. I actually think Hannah or Jordan could win when I never would have thought that a couple of weeks ago. 

Last week, I wondered if Philmon was perhaps a dark horse to win.Alas, that is not to be. He picked the wrong time to have a middle of the pack performance, but it probably would not have mattered anyway. Chris Tungseth is taking votes that might have otherwise gone to Philmon, and on the vocal merits, that is unfortunate. I suppose it could have been a worse result though and next week (Disney Night again), I should probably expect one.

U.S. House Special Election

 New Jersey

 

11.  vacant upon resignation of Mikie Sherrill D

(won by Harris with 53% of the vote)

 

 Likely D

American Idol- Top 11

It has been a bit hard for me to find the time to set aside in order to do a full blog post on each episode. I watched a recording late on Monday night and am just now getting to do this entry now, So, my memory will be even less sharp as usual, but I still think I will recall many of the points I wanted to make, to back up my ratings, which I always make as I go along watching each performance round.

 

First, let us look back at what I had for the Top 14, which we were mysteriously told would not have the results announced until everything could be accurate. The California based show gave us the voting results a week later, which frankly is pretty good for that state. 

 

Rankings:

 

14. Kyndal

13. Jake Thistle- predicted to be eliminated

 

12. Julian Kalel

11. Chris Tungseth

10. Brooks

 9. Lucas Leon

 8. Jesse Findling- predicted to be eliminated

 7. Braden Rumfelt

 6. Hannah Harper

 5. Daniel Stallworth

 4. Rae

 3. Keyla Richardson

 2. Jordan McCullough

 1. Philmon Lee

 

Who was eliminated: Jake Thistle and Julian Kalel

 

I had a feeling it would be two guys since the gender imbalance was already so pronounce. I blogged that after the Songs of Faith Night, Jesus would be safe, but Jake and Jesse would not be, Indeed that proved to be the case with Jake, who I had ranked 13th, but I have to say I was pretty surprised at the other J name to go.

 

Julian was eliminated and the miracle of Passover saved Jesse (at least for now,) It was just a couple of weeks ago, when I thought Julian might be the overall frontrunner to win it all. I thought he had a subpar night though vocally and stylistically and I ranked him 12th. With that in mind, this was a reasonable fair result. I also neglected to mention that there was some sort of weird laughter heard on the television early in Julian's Coldplay performance. What was that all about? It sounded odd. So, the bottom line is that Julian being eliminated this early gives me pause as to just how much I might understand the political dynamics of this current season. Would it be crazy to say that Latino viewership of American Idol is lower than ever (perhaps with many deported or in detention centers) and thus the one Latino contestant could not even benefit from the ethnic vote? Yes, probably. Julian also came across as from a very privileged background. I wonder if other Idol followers were similarly surprised by the development.

 

Anyways, Monday night saw the remaining 12 kids sing songs from the '90s, after being given three options they were told were picked by the judges. (Who really knows?)  The "winning" judge who had the most songs selected would then get to save one of the Bottom Two. Typically, this has been a very close contest on Idol over the few seasons they have been doing it, but this year, Lionel Richie, easily the oldest judge, ran away with it. Is he having his very young girlfriend pick the songs? I would have preferred an '80s night to '90s myself, because I was born a decade too late.

 

1. Hannah Harper- "Heads Carolina Tails California"

 

She has never heard of Toni Braxton or "Un-break My Heart?" I find that pretty jarring, but she was given an option to sing a country song that apparently she actually performed as part of her audition process. I do not remember which judge picked it for her, but is that something they might have been aware of?

 

This was the first non-religious song Hannah has sung in the voting round. From what I recall, she sounded credible, but it was also a bit on the boring side. I do not think she is a threat to Carrie Underwood on the country charts anytime soon. Then again, I am not even sure if Carrie has been released new music anytime recently.

 

2. Jordan McCullough- "Always Be My Baby"

 

When Jordan was given the option of songs, he seemed shocked and amused that a Mariah Carey ballad was an option for him. Lo and behold though, that is the one he chose. I bet by the time he took the stage, he was aware that one time winner David Cook once sang this on Idol, putting his own spin on it, to great plaudits. For Jordan, this was chosen by Lionel Richie, whom David Cook also covered that season.

 

I continue to be impressed with Jordan vocally and as a performer. He sang this really well, and a lot of Idol viewers probably never knew or forgot all about Cook's version, so might have had the surprise factor. I still would be interested in seeing how Jordan does on very different kinds of songs, but for now he is playing the game strongly.

 

3. Daniel Stallworth- "It Ain't Over Til It's Over"

 

I guess he picked the right song. Another option was an uptempo *NSYNC number and that seemed like it could have been problematic for a solo artist. 

 

Daniel started off playing the piano and then got up to finish the Lenny Kravitz cover. I do like his old school R&B type voice and I thought he had a strong performance. Is he what Idol fans are looking for in 2026 though? It seems like he is trying to gradually present himself as "younger" and not as upright.

 

4. Lucas Leon- "It's Your Love"

 

With Jake and Julian both leaving at the top of the show, Lucas should probably realize that he very much stands to benefit as a guitar playing young guy who appeals to white folks. Their double elimination makes it far more likely he sticks around for a while.

 

Once again, Lucas gave an earnest and pleasant performance of a country song. This was a Tim McGraw and Faith Hill duet that I remember being pretty popular in the late '90s. Vocally though, I just do not feel that Lucas is truly at the top of his game. He does not really have the old school country thing that has worked out well for other teen country guys on Idol and he might not be old or mature enough to be considered a modern country standout.

 

5. Chris Tungseth- "I'll Be"

 

I thought this song was from the very early 2000s, but indeed it came out in 1998. I do know it was covered a ton back in the early days of Idol. 

As I said last week, I liked what Chris attempted to do with "Apologize" but I have pretty much lost interest in him as a contestant these days. Yes, he has talent, but his voice is apparently pretty thin and he is not that interesting vocally. Parts of this vocal on Monday just felt unsteady and not ready for prime time.

 

6. Philmon Lee- "Hard To Handle"

 

This is really going back to the very beginning of the '90s when the Black Crowes made a name for themselves with this. A lot of people may not realize it was originally an Otis Redding song in the '60s.

 

Very interesting song choice for Philmon indeed though. He started off changing the arrangement to be a slower, swampy sort of deal and it was kind of cool and then he pivoted more to the uptempo jam that is so well known. I really liked it. Philmon was a standout for me in the previous round and I thought he maintained his momentum. Philmon seems like kind of a low-key guy, but he could be a dark horse now.

 

7. Kyndal- "Iris"

 

I do not recall offhand what the other two song choices were, but I think I would have preferred them. Kyndal, who was actually alive for a couple of years or so in the 1990s seemed to not be familiar with them.

This Goo Goo Dolls song though was very well known, and while not horrible, has always been kind of bleh for me.  This week, I did not really vibe with Kyndal's arrangement or vocals. She definitely has talent and I liked it more than her frantic worship song, but her voice is just so stylized, Many people will love that about her, but it's just not my thing.

 

8. Brooks- "Linger" 

Idol Judges' 90s Night was pretty big for the Cranberries. It might as well have been Thanksgiving they were offered up so much. 

 

Maybe folks around my age will like Brooks take on it. I know my mother never likes his performances. From what I remember, he did not sound horrible by any means but I just am also no longer too impressed with his quirky tone.We have heard him for weeks now and are just sort of used to it. I will be somewhat surprised if he makes the Top Five.

 

9. Rae- "Love Will Lead You Back"

All these one named singers in a row...I keep asking myself who exactly is voting for Rae? Well, for one thing, while I do not think they are voting, I know now that my parents really like her. In some ways, Rae's Idol candidacy reminds me a bit of Haley Reinhart except she seems far more cognizant of the camera and playing up to it.

 

Rae said she did not know this song and had to learn it. For a singer of her style, I find that a bit surprising that she had never heard it before, but maybe these kids are just that young Vocally, she was impressive again and she has a ton of skill.I just do not see her fitting in today's music contemporary music world, but Rae is at least making a name for herself.

 

10. Braden Rumfelt- "All By Myself"

 

I really wish I remember what his other song options were. I think they might have been smarter options than attempting Celine Dion. 

Braden was so good in his "live" Hawai'i performance but took a step backward last week. This week, I actually thought he had a couple nice moments vocally but steered off course in others. He also just looks unsure of himself, This could be a case of a contestant picking songs he likes and thinks he can show off on but are not the right choices strategically.In looking at my rankings now, I am a bit surprised in retrospect that I have him ranked just ahead of someone, but that is how it must have sounded to me at the time.

 

11. Jesse Findling- "Wonderwall"

 

In theory, Jesse could also benefit from the other two J dudes going home, but he is a different kind of singer who appeals towards an older crowd. His biggest competition for votes at this point was probably Braden.

 

I give Jesse points for giving a good effort. As I have said before, he has kind of a Josh Groban thing going on with his voice and seems like an easy person to root for. However, I thought he had a very off night vocally. This was just not the kind of song he he should have sung.

 

12. Keyla Richardson- "Zombie"

 

Another Cranberries' tune to close out the night. I do not remember even thinking much about the Cranberries in the '90s. Did they have a Beverly Hills 90210 guest slot at the Peach Pit After Dark? Somehow I seem to remember that.

 

Interesting song choice for Keyla, who was once again given the pimp slot. Her young son was once again present and the camera focused on him often as he sang along to every word. In many ways, that is wholesome but it sort of disturbs me a bit. Why is Drew learning Cranberries' lyrics along with his mother? Should he not be doing schoolwork remotely while in California?

 

As for Keyla, it started off good and I was impressed with how she was able to infuse her soulful take on a dramatic song not many people would have expected her to sing. Then, just like in Hawai'i, she sort of went off (in a good way) vocally at the end and I had no choice but to move her up another spot in my rankings.

 

Rankings:

 

12. Jesse Findling

11. Kyndal

 

10. Chris Tungseth

 9.  Brooks

 8.  Lucas Leon

 7.  Hannah Harper

 6.  Rae

 5.  Braden Rumfelt

 4.  Philmon Lee 

 3.  Daniel Stallworth

 2.  Jordan McCullough

 1.  Keyla Richardson

 

Next would be the announcement of the Bottom Two and Lionel Richie saying Hello to the person he wanted to save and Goodbye to the other unlucky contestant. Per above, it should have been Jesse and Kyndal at the bottom, but in the commercial break, I predicted it would be Jesse Findling and Brooks in the Bottom Two, with Jesse getting cut.

Who was the Bottom Two: Jesse Findling and Rae

Who I predicted Lionel (or the people in his ear) would save: Rae

Who was saved: Rae

 

This was not too much of a surprise at the end. They were not about to cut another girl from the show, and Rae definitely had a better night than Jesse. It was the obvious choice. None of this bodes well for Rae though in the short-term. As I have been saying, I do not see female voters gravitating towards her.

 

Jesse did very well to get this far on American Idol. He was easily the best ever contestant with a noticeable stutter. Hopefully, he will go as far as he can musically and otherwise after this experience. Just look at the former stutterer Joe Biden and what he accomplished, but try to forget about that 2024 debate.

 

Good luck to Jesse who I thought would be leaving at the top of the show, but got an extra two hours to compete before he did, It was the end of the road for Jesse on TGIF nostalgia night with many former ABC sitcom actors sitting amongst the contestants. Alas though, no Uncle Jesse from "Full House" who might have grabbed a mic and started to sing if he were there.  

 

A Sitcom Theme Song Night might actually be interesting for Idol. 

 

I also would be remiss if I did not point out that "The Wonder Years" was never a TGIF show, but I guess nobody says no to Winnie Cooper. 

 

American Idol- Top 14

I watched the two hour recording of American Idol's first Live broadcast of the season late Monday night. Now, it is about 48 hours later and I will proceed to offer some observations. Since it is two days, instead of merely one, many of these thoughts may seem even more disjointed.

 

First of all, with the implosion of the planned Sunday night "The Bachelorette" season, why does ABC just not kick things old school and make Idol a two night event, with a Results Show? Does that cost more money than just airing re-runs of some other dumb show?

 

Anyways, the evening did start off with all 20 of the kids on the Hollywood studio stage for the first time, but soon enough, six of them would be cut and would not get a chance to sing again on national television. To start off the blog, let us begin by looking back at my rankings and predictions from the previous two episodes.

Group 1-

 

10. Makiyah- predicted to be eliminated

 9. Jake Thistle- predicted to be eliminated

 8. Kutter Bradley

 

 7. Daniel Stallworth

 6. Genevieve Hayward- predicted to be eliminated

 5. Jesse Finding

 4. Brooks

 3. Hannah Harper

 2. Kyndal

 1. Braden Rumfelt

 

Who was eliminated: Makiyah, Kutter Bradley, Genevieve Hayward

 

So, in this group we see that America actually got it right in two out of three, and I correctly predicted two of the three. The convergence was on Makiyah. Jake had more fans than perhaps I expected and not enough country folks for Kutter, who might have lost support after a strong night by Braden.

Group 2-

 

10. Ruby Rae- predicted to be eliminated

 9. Lucas Leon 

 8. Philmon Lee- predicted to be eliminated

 

 7. Rae- predicted to be eliminated

 6. Madison Moon

 5.  Abayomi

 4.  Julian Kalel

 3.  Chris Tungseth

 2.  Jordan McCullough

 1.  Keyla Richardson

 

Who was eliminated: Ruby Rae, Madison Moon, Abayomi

 

A bit more surprises here. Philmon survived but Madison did not, which did not incredibly surprise me. Abyaomi leaving feels like a bigger surprise. I think the African-American vote must have swung heavily towards Keyla and Jordan, leaving Abayomi in a bad place. Finally, I find it hard to understand who is super motivated to vote for Rae. Could it be Kristi Noem's husband out of envy? I did not think female Idol voters, of any age, would really vibe with her.

 
Rae survived but the similarly named Ruby Rae did not, although it is hard to say she was really on the same level at this point in her career as many of the others. Two heavily tattooed "rock chick" singers were both cut, even though I would have liked to have heard a little bit more from them. Also, two single name African-American female singers met the same fate. 

 

So, the Top 14 was now set, and it is a pretty talented group, even putting aside the mix of it being 10 white kids and four racial minorities. Usually, that does not quite happen that way. However, the biggest issue seems to be that the Finalists at this point are composed of 10 guys and just four girls. Idol sort of messed up there if they were issued in a more balanced casting. While the math might, I repeat might, mean that the next few eliminated contestants are males, I think this is clearly a sign that Idol is going to have a guy win this season. 

 

Moving on to the Monday performances, it was the second annual "Songs of Faith" evening. Last year, it aired on Easter Sunday. This year it aired as Holy Week was just getting underway. Passover is now in progress for those (like myself) of the Jewish faith, but most Idol watchers and of course most Americans are Christian. Over the past couple of seasons, Idol has pivoted hard in trying to appeal to a Christian, and especially Protestant base. While religious contestants, often from the South, and of all races, have always been part of Idol since the beginning, the show is focusing far more on Gospel and Worship songs being presented in the competition. Monday night saw a lot of those songs, but also a few "songs of faith" that were notably not religious in nature. There was also one, that has been done on the show many times before, that is most certainly an anti-religion song. More about all of this as we continue.

 

1. Keyla Richardson- "Jireh"

 

After "bringing down the house" in Hawai'i in the final spot the week before, Keyla, with a very sophisticated looking make-over and outfit, would be the first to sing for America. I do not know this song of course and am not sure if would be considered Gospel or Worship or if it might possibly even be categorized as both.

 

I remember Keyla singing it really well though. She brought the emotion, but perhaps the impact might have been a bit more muted after what we saw her do in her previous performance. This time, her young son was there again. He definitely knows every word to every song his mother sings and is quite ready to sing along on camera.

 

Also a note here that of the mere four ladies still left in the competition, all are at least 24 years old. Two of them, including Keyla are 29. Three of them are either parents and/or married. There is nothing resembling a teenage girl left in Season 24, although Brooks maybe sounds a bit like one.

 

2.  Jesse Findling- "Bless The Broken Road"

 

While nothing has of course been stated on the air, I am pretty sure that Jesse is Jewish. (Bit of a tongue twister there.) That makes things even more interesting on an evening that was very Christian themed. Like all the other contestants, he was out there pretending to sing back up as Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan sang a song called "Jesus Is Love."

 

On the more religiously inclusive Rascal Flatts cover, Jesse was good, in his less experienced Josh Groban sort of way. The backup singers maybe overwhelmed the sound of his voice in a couple of places. All things considered, it was probably the right kind of song for Jesse, but he really does not come across as a country artist to begin with and is clearly an underdog in this competition.

 

3. Lucas Leon- "Gratitude"

 

This is either a country song or a Christian Contemporary song, In either case, I did not know it. Once again, Lucas played guitar. He is good at what he does, I thought it was a stronger vocal than what was shown in Hawai'i, but he just seems somewhat lackluster in terms of showing off his voice, which on shortened Idol seasons like this, might be more necessary.

After he was done, Seacrest mentioned he had just missed his Prom, and put a crown on his head. There was no mention of the previous weekend's "No Kings" protests.

 

4. Daniel Stallworth- "Brighter Days"

 

This was definitely a Gospel sounding song. It seemed very much in Daniel's lane and I was impressed with his vocals. I really cannot remember how the song goes though.

 

Daniel is talented and seems like a good guy, but he does not have much of a personality in the show banter. One other male contestant is far more bland in that regard though.

 

5. Philmon Lee- "Simple Man"

To start with, I was a bit surprised that Philmon made it this far. While he was decent in Hawai'i, I also had him ranked eighth out of 10.  This Lynyrd Skynyrd song has previously been done a ton on Idol and other singing competitions and I am not exactly sure how it fits the theme or why Philmon chose to not try to appeal to the religious folks out there.

 

It may have been very smart though, because he did a really excellent job on this song. While longtime Idol watchers have heard "Simple Man" at least a few times before, Philmon sang the southern rock ballad flawlessly in my view. While it is not the kind of song that will have anybody proverbially "jumping up and down", I hope he won some new fans on Monday night.

 

6. Rae- "Up To The Mountain"

 

This is another song that has been done a few times on Idol in usually very emotional performances. As mentioned I was surprised that Rae, who clearly has a very good voice, got the votes to make it here.

 

This was quite a different vibe than her choreography heavy previous performance. Rae definitely sang the heck out of this ballad. She even pulled out some Mariah Carey like runs. Like Philmon, Rae exceeded my expectations.

 

7. Jake Thistle- "Have A Little Faith In Me"

 

I keep wanting to like Jake's performances, but they are falling short for me. This time, he played the piano and I do not think the song really worked all that well for him.I lost a little more faith in his chances of winning Idol, but I guess he has fans. Jake just seems more like he is gigging at a club than wowing people with his interpretations of a song in a way that makes people think he could be a future star.

 

In the auditions, he sounded like Bryan Adams and Seacrest told him on Monday he looks like Tom Cruise.I do not know if the religiously oriented would be big on a Scientologist Idol. 

 

8. Braden Rumfelt- "Hard Fought Hallelujah"

To be clear, I am no fashion maven, but I cannot ignore commenting on the outfit that they gave Braden to wear or that he agreed to wear. Why was a young dude dressed up like a lesbian? It was like some sort of pantsuit deal that I could almost imagine Hillary Clinton wearing. Jesse also had some very weird baggy slacks on during his performance. Is that the new thing?

Last round, Braden was perhaps the biggest positive surprise of the competition. This week, while you can definitely appreciate his voice in parts, I did not like the performance nearly as much. I think he might actually see himself as a worship type singer who loves songs like this, but I do not think it showed off his talent nearly as much as a totally different kind of song might. He also seems to still be battling nerves a bit.

 

9. Julian Kalel- "Fix You"

 

The night continued to take some interesting turns. Last week, I determined that Julian Kalel  might be the overall frontrunner to win the whole thing, but this week, he sort of faded into the crowd a bit.

 

 For one thing, I have never liked this Coldplay song. Perhaps he should get some points for not singing something religious, but that was an odd choice. It seems like he is all in on the "mental health" message and some folks may find this choice of a song to be a bit sacrilegious even. Vocally, I thought most of it was a bit boring and somewhat amateurish, although he had some nice moments at the end.Also, while throughout Idol history, kids often show up at the Finals with more professional makeup and looking all glammed up. Somehow, Julian, who I have no doubt has legions of female fans, looked a bit "rougher." I do not think the stubble is a wise choice for the stage at this point in his life, but what do I know?

 

10. Kyndal- "Nothing But The Blood Of Jesus"

 

Last week, I was quite impressed by Kyndal's quirky take on an emotional song I did not know. This week, I have to say, I really did not like her performance. She has a very distinct and nice voice but it did not work for me on this on. It sounded somewhat frantic and screamy to me. Clearly though, Kyndal, who has talked about having misspent part of her youth, is very much into her faith these days.

 

I have to at least examine the aspect of me perhaps just not being into Christian worship music. After all, I am Jewish, but am trying very hard to judge everything on the merits and needless to say, I have always had respect for Christians. These are polarized times though. For years, i was very actively politically aligned with Evangelicals. In the Trump era, the hypocrisy of those folks in their devotion to someone as thoroughly un-Christian as Donald Trump is hard for me to shake, but that should not affect how I would judge Kyndal on a singing show.

What I will hold against her is that she showed up on stage (once again) without shoes on. I have held that against Idol contestants for years and cannot help but deduct at least one point. I call it the Paul Kim Rule. 

 

11. Jordan McCullough- "I Can Only Imagine"

 

For a couple contestants now, I have stated that I just do not feel they are at their best doing Worship song. For Jordan, I will say the opposite. This is his sort of thing and he sang it really well.

 

As is the case with many of these songs I heard for the first time, I do not remember the melody of the tune or anything like that, but I definitely remember being very impressed with Jordan, who is a worship leader in his job, for the second time in a row. 

 

12. Brooks- "Imagine"

 

We go now to another song with "Imagine" in the title, but this one far more well known. I also know that my mother is likely to rank Brooks last on her list for as long as he is in the competition. I will say that Brooks, who in the audition "get to know you" pieces, seems like a very solid guy, is just boring as heck on stage. He does not really even try to pretend to have any interest in kibitzing with Seacrest or mugging for the camera.

 

Let me next stay that I appreciate Brooks tone and the way he sings. He has talent, even if I personally find it a bit boring. This particular performance was pleasant to the ears but not earth shattering. That is sort of the overall musical vibe to this John Lennon song though. I did not even initially get all the praise that the enormously talented David Archuleta got what he first sang it. (All these years later, I think Archuleta might be the most radically changed Idol finalist in terms of image, but I wish him the best.)

 

Now, about this song.. I wrote a lot about this back when Blake Lewis did on the "Idol Gives Back" night when a lot of the other kids were leaning into religion. This song is an ode to atheism (which is why Archie omitted a certain verse.) Maybe some people find that inspiring and in some ways Brooks looks like he might lean left (although I thought I also spotted him putting up praise hands on the couches while others sang) but a lot of Christians who were watching might have been outright offended by the song and the message and perhaps that can have an impact on his short term or long term success on the show. Also, Brooks' pants were way too big, unless he is trying to recreate Kriss Kross.

 

13. Hannah Harper- "At The Cross (Love Ran Red)"

This was the second week in a row, Hannah sang a song about the death of Christ.  At least she is consistent, and to my ears, it sounded more in her wheelhouse than what Kyndal did, but at this stage, they as part of the small amount of females left, are in direct competition.

 

Hannah has a very nice voice, and sang this well. I think this is the kind of music she could find success doing when Idol is over, which means that about 95 percent of American music fans will never hear from her again.

 

14. Chris Tungseth- "By Your Grace"

 

Last week, I liked how Chris sounded on "Apologize" and wanted to hear more from him. It is not too late to say though that I am sorry I did not like this nearly as much. It is not that he sounded bad, I just remember it being boring in a guy with a beard singing 70s soft rock sort of way.

This was not a soft rock song though but what definitely sounded like yet another worship song. With the song choice and his post song interview on stage, Chris definitely leaned heavily into his Christian identity.

We had been told throughout the night that "America was voting in real time" and that two would get get to get to the Top 12. The time for this announcement was running out though because we had to see for the second year in a row, Carrie Underwood go all out vocally to school everyone on the same religious song. This year, she was joined with three finalists from last season who probably have some free time these days.

 

 

Rankings:

 

14. Kyndal

13. Jake Thistle

 

12. Julian Kalel

11. Chris Tungseth

10. Brooks

 9. Lucas Leon

 8. Jesse Findling

 7. Braden Rumfelt

 6. Hannah Harper

 5. Daniel Stallworth

 4. Rae

 3. Keyla Richardson

 2. Jordan McCullough

 1. Philmon Lee

 

Perhaps, Philmon won the night for me by singing the one song out of 14 that I knew and at least somewhat liked.

 

Who was I predicting would be eliminated? Jesus would be safe but not Jake and Jesse.

I guess we will find out next week. I might not watch until next Tuesday night though because I will probably be checking out the NCAA Championship game while flipping over a bit to "The Voice" also.

We do not know yet because things got weird at this point in the broadcast. Nobody was eliminated. Not out of the goodness of Idol's heart, as they have done before, but because Seacrest said they had to "make sure the votes were accurate" or something along those lines that did not have much specificity.

I have always said that I think the live voting coast to coast during the show is a horrible idea (even more so on a Monday night) because of the disparity of time zones, etc, so on the surface, this might be a good idea, but I do not think they even said they were extending the voting time. It just all brought up a lot of questions.

For one thing, did Idol know (or even anticipate) that two females were about to be voted off leaving a 10-2 split gender split and are panicked to try to stop that somehow? I am predicting two white dudes, who are either not Christian or chose not to be vocal about it this week, to be cut, but I would also not be shocked if at least one female got the boot.

What are they trying to say though about the vote and needing to assure everything is accurate and thus delaying the acceptance of the results? It sounds exactly like what Trump is going to claim right after the midterms.

 

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.