Friday, March 25, 2016

American Idol: Season 15 - Top 4 Perform

Hello American Idol friends!  We're getting closer and closer to the end here.  David Cook, Katharine McPhee returned and gave us some great performances.  I apologize for not calling out Lambert last week, he was good too!  It's tough to write these things these days as I know I've mentioned a few times.  Here are my real time thoughts as per usual this season:

Recap

Classic Rock Performances
  1. LaPorsha Renae - "Wanted Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi - Hello 14 hour dreads Batman (sorry, just got back from that new movie.  Which also felt like 14 hours coincidentally.)! She finally tamed down that hair for once.  She was rocking it until she forgot those lyrics.  But, this definitely is not her category.  Last note was a little off its mark too.   I'm sure she'll nail the 2nd song. 
  2. MacKenzie Bourg - "I Want You to Want Me" by Cheap Trick - Nice arrangement and good advice from Stevie "Silvio Dante" Van Zant to change things up a bit.  Still like this dude and think he's a contender.  Judges were pretty brutal about it.  If I had to rate the 2 performances so far, I'd put them on par with each other.  Neither were phenomenal but were serviceable.   
  3. Trent Harmon - "Sharp Dressed Man" by ZZ top - Trent did his thing out there.  That was a n awesome rendition!  Loved both versions of the song, but the opening jazzy version was fantastic.  And I think it's easy to say he won this round even without knowing who #4 is.  These 3 should be the top 3. 
  4. Dalton Rapattoni - "God Only Knows" by The Beach Boys - Get this man to broadway!  Like 1950s broadway!  I like the dude, but it's night and day with who is left.  Nice emotion, but maybe it was a little TOO dramatic.  


Sia Music Performances

  1. La Porsha - "Elastic Heart" - Better than the first performance.  Not her best, but still really good.  JLo said the same thing as she did last week as she's already a fully established performer there's nothing really to critique.  There could be a downside to potentially peaking too early when you see something like Trent coming into his own more and more each week.  I still don't see a finale without her, but I'm not calling a winner yet! 
  2. MacKenzie - "Titanium" - Really nice version.   I guess one problem with MacKenzie is that he really only has one gear that he relies on for all versions of his songs.  He has loads of talent, but I'm thinking a MacKenzie concert might be a pretty chill event to go to.  
  3. Trent - "Chandelier" - We have a competition folks!  Trent totally wins the night.  That was incredible.  Was it me or did La Porsha look scared after that performance?  This was the one performance of the night where I put the laptop down and just listened and watched.  That's the biggest compliment this blogger can give. 
  4. Dalton - "Bird Set Free" -   Love the lyric "I don't care if I sing off key."   He really took this song to heart and cried on camera.  That's gotta count for something.  I still think he's the weakest of the bunch, but fans/voters will eat that up.  There's something to be said for putting your emotions on display for the world to see.


Eliminations

My Bottom 2 picks and the actual Bottom 2 - Dalton and Sonika

Eliminated (and my elimination pick) - Sonika Vaid - It was only a matter of time!  Farewell Sonika!  

My Bottom 2 Picks: La Porsha, MacKenzie

Elimination Pick:  Mackenzie Bourg - I feel like next week will be one of those surprise weeks.  Trent really stepped up his game and Dalton has the fan vote after his performances.   So by default that puts La Porsha (off night for her) and Mackenzie in the bottom.  It really wouldn't surprise me if it's not MacKenzie going home either.  Anything can happen. 

So that's all I have for this week.  2 more recaps and then we all go on with our lives without Idol!  I keep mentioning it, but it's been tough to swing this recap this year so I apologize for my brevity in thoughts and less analysis than usual.  But, just sticking it through to the end is an accomplishment for me!  Hope to see you in the comments.  Hope you enjoyed my rambling and I'll see you next week! 

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

don't get how makenzie made it so far & don't get all the hype with Trent?

Mike V. said...

Mackenzie is your typical male with a guitar heartthrob for the ladies that gets a ton of votes every year (and more often than not in the 2nd half of idol's reign, even wins). I thought he has shown some artistry over the other contestants with his ability to, pardon borrowing jlo expression, "Mackenzie" a song. But, this week just seemed one too many with him changing a tune to the similar style he's comfortable with.

Trent- I always knew he has a crazy good voice and knew he'd be a threat to stay in the competition for awhile. But I'm not sure I considered him winning until this week. Something about his performances just clicked from his stage presence, his stylistic choices with the arrangements and his perfect performances. He basically had 2 idol moments this week with his 2 songs.

I just assumed La Porsha had this in the bag (with voting being fair of course). Now I'm rethinking.

Unknown said...

This season is a big disappointment...very mediocre finalists....contestants like La Porsha will be forgotten in a few years. Some of the best voices and most commercial voices have been voted out. Very sad....

Mike V. said...

If you want to go that far I'd say the show has been a disappointment since season 5. But it has managed to still entertain here and there even though it hasn't produced superstars as often in the later years. I really had no expectations to find a "bookend" to Kelly Clarkson this season as they tried to promote it.

Unknown said...

Very fair comment. Thank you!