Wednesday, April 08, 2015

American Idol: Season 14 - Top 8 Perform, 7 Move On

Hello Idol fans!  It was Billboard night and what better way to celebrate than bringing on Florida Georgia Line to help celebrate!  UGH.  I don't know if I have ever been able to go on a rant about how much I despise them.  And I don't think I really have to, because their talentless selves were pretty much on display all night!

As for the contestants?  It was a mixed bag of a night.  But it's pretty clear who are the frontrunners vs. the middle of the pack vs. the weakest links at this point.  I typed each contest recap up basically in real time, so I wasn't aware of what was coming next or who would inevitably be sent packing.  (trying to be efficient in my time!)  Let's dive into the discussion.

  1. Jax - "Poker Face" - Pretty interesting rendition of the tune.  I think the judges were expecting a little more just like we at home were.  But she still is one of the top contenders this season, and I think she'll be fine. 
  2. Nick - "Teenage Dream" - Okay, so I'm apparently totally off on this guy.  I really don't get the appeal.  But, he is the token man of light skin that plays a wooden box with strings this season (aka WGWG. then again, Clark can fill that role and is much better and more versatile). So, I guess that means he's going to go on a bit of a run regardless of what I say here.  There are worse contestants and he can carry a tune.  I just don't think he has a great presence up there.  
  3. Quentin - "Latch" - Never liked the song.  But Quentin sang it really well and commanded the stage.   Harry mentioned pitch issues, but I didn't pick up on them.  I should state the disclaimer that all of my idol watching experiences these days include screaming kids in surround sound! 
  4. Joey - "Wrecking Ball" - She avoided the crabby hands!  I'll be honest, I didn't pick up on that before and I can still make fun of Carrie Underwood's mannerisms on stage.  Very emotional performance.  She is totally a different artist than I expected from the first time we saw her. Judges spoke of not enough dynamics.  Probably true, but I still think there's something about her that stands out.  I still think she's safe this week. 
  5. Clark - "Make it Rain" - Dude is just awesome.  I'm no Jason Derulo fan, but the people that got him as a mentor certainly benefitted more than getting the joke known as Florida Georgia Line.  Nice little guitar solo which he could afford to take a few seconds to do because the vocal is just dead on fantastic.  Still the one to beat.  All the judges can do is nitpick on some really technical stuff to make him even better.  All good advice though! 
  6. Tyanna - "Stay" - She definitely can get inside a lyric with her personal motivations.  Powerful voice and conviction for 16.  On a good day, she's right up there with the top contestants.  
  7. Rayvon - "Set Fire to the Rain" - The guy has a good voice, but I just don't think he's on the same tier as the others.  
  8. Qaasim - "Hey Ya" - Still not that great.  Still an energetic performer.  But there's no impressive vocal.  At this point, Rayvon and Qaasim should be in the bottom 2 in comparison to everyone else.  
Eliminations

Rayvon and Qaasim fought for the fan save.   Qaasim goes home!  I really don't think Rayvon deserves to be saved twice, but between those 2 yet again, he deserves to stay!

This week:

Bottom 2: Rayvon,  Quentin  

Elimination pick: Rayvon - 3rd time's the charm! 

That's all I have this week.  Hope you enjoyed my brief ramblings yet again and I'll see you next week! 


7 comments:

Leslie said...

I'm glad Qassim is finally gone! Yes, he was a great performer, but as a singer, not so much. I'm with you on the Nick thing. I sure don't see what they see. He does weird things with his eyes and mouth that are just distracting! lol Clark has been my favorite guy all along. The other guys can go away. From week to week my favorite girl changes. I can't settle on the one that should be in the finals.

Bella Bliss said...

I actually thoroughly enjoyed Nick this week. He sounded like he could easily be on the radio and he showed off some great stage presence. Middle of the pack for me, for once. Clark and Tyanna definitely stood out the most. Clark delivered as always, and Tyanna delivered imo one of the best performances of the season. Jax and Joey were disappointing and I actually felt them slip a little bit this week. I don't see Joey lasting too long unfortunately. :/ Quentin was a blast to watch this week and his vocals are definitely getting stronger. He deserves to stay until Top 4 at least. Rayvon needs to go, and he definitely will go.

All in all, I actually think this is the one of the most diverse, likable, and talented Top 7 groups we've had. Everyone has had at least a few really solid performances, and I can see at least 4 of them having a shot at winning.

Power Rankings as of this week:

1. Clark Beckham (I don't see how this won't happen anyway. His emotional audience connection is increasing and he has never had a bad performance.)
2. Quentin Alexander (haters gonna hate. This is probably an overstatement on how far he'll really make it, but I'm a big fan. I love his vibe, and he really has a lot of potential to do something great.)
3. Tyanna Jones (really was great this week, back in it. I'm just hoping she can keep it up now. Has the chops... but does she have the gravy? lololol screw off Harry)
4. Jax Cole (I have her slipping and going back up consistently... she needs to figure out who she is. Probably has the most likely chance of all the girls.)
5. Joey Cook (It pains me to put her this low, but she really hasn't been as great lately, and I think America is starting to tire of her. A contestant as polarizing as her never wins.)
6. Nick Fradiani (Ugh. He's like that one jock you know at your high school. You know what I mean? Like, the popular guy who's super handsome, fit, and talented, gets all the girls, etc. You really want to hate him, but when you get to know him he's like the sweetest person ever; impossible to hate. However, he tends to use that to his advantage as it SEEMS to me to coast along. He has great potential, and the confidence. Can he make a winning performance to keep him in for a while? Not seeing it as much at this point.)
7. Rayvon Owen (Yeah, this is really a no-brainer. I don't think Twitter will save him three times in a row, and he's definitely the weakest link. No presence, no creativity, just a buttery-sweet voice. If his performance last week couldn't keep him safe, what does that say about any of his future performances?)

Bella Bliss said...

Also not gonna lie, I voted to save Qaasim yesterday. I enjoy entertainment with okay vocals over solid vocals with no performance ability. But it didn't matter to me, because neither of them really have business still being there.

I think Jax or Nick may join Rayvon in a Bottom 2 visit, but I can see why you chose Quentin... I just don't think that's fair though, because he really is solid every week and has so much artist potential. Joey will be fine, but she's gonna have to do something great next week to win her chances back. Same goes for Jax to a lesser extent.

Mike V. said...

Agreed Wallace that neither of them should be there. (Qaasim or Ravon) We'll have to continue to agree to disagree on Nick. He's not awful, but I just feel like we've seen better versions of him on the show before (mainly Chris Daughtry).

I thought Quentin was good, but just thinking back at all of the performances, I thought he might get a threat. I also agree Jax or Nick could end up there too.

I've been really brief with my recaps lately so never have a chance to get my full thoughts out anymore! 2 kids under 3 will do that to people! You should see how we watch AI these days. All 4 of us in the bed...my 3 year old screaming with an ipad turned up to max screaming for us to turn the TV down. my almost year old daughter either asleep or woken up by my son waffling all over the place, refusing to go to sleep....and me complaining that I can't hear a single contestant!!! lol Meanwhile, trying to type on a laptop in real time while my daughter sees the bright light and wants to press all of the keys!

They are quite rough conditions to be recapping under!

So, I'm just thankful I have an opinion at all these days! :-)

And no...I wouldn't trade any of it for the world...even the 3:00am wake up call this morning by my very wide awake daughter. Gonna be a rough day!! lol

Bella Bliss said...

Oh boy... tonight's show really got my blood boiling... still adrenalined... curious as to what you've got to say about tonight. If I don't agree, regardless, we'll still be friends Mike, kay?

Bella Bliss said...

This is Wallace McGudis btw... Zach's my real name. :P

Mike V. said...

Hi Zach. Probably won't post until the morning. I'm exhausted! Lol good episode though! Some weird stuff went down. Gotta love live television!

Pretty surprised at the end result but not really based on the Twitter save performances. Anyway I'll write it up in the morning! And totally expect to disagree! :)