Friday, April 10, 2015

American Idol 14: Top 7

What got into them? Daniel Seavey just got eliminated and everyone's almost at the top of their game! Haha. This episode was terrible! How am I supposed to to snark at potentially one of the strongest group of seven (7) I've seen on American Idol?

Quite frankly, after watching the episode, I just again stared blankly at the screen and asked myself, "What the heck do I do now?" I mean, I did somehow manage to come up with a ranking, but even the person at the bottom of my list turned in a better than average performance. It's going to be a battle for the runner-up! Haha. We already know who will win this season.

Oh, just to add, I was really hoping that Jordin Sparks would bring out the result next to Jason Derulo. Haha. Awkward.

On with the show!

7. Nick Fradiani
Teenage Dream 
Teenage Dream felt like a missed opportunity for Nick. Yes, this was another solid entry to his catalogue - in fact, this was one of his better performances to date - but it was also another throwaway number from him. His interpretation lacked substance, I felt like this should've been done simplistically with only a few instruments as that would make a greater impact, and his pitch got wobbly towards the end. Look, Nick wasn't bad tonight. No one was really bad tonight. Nick was, simply, stuck. He didn't take a step back, but he sure as hell didn't advance in any discernible way. 7

6. Jax
Poker Face
Once again, her vocals were fairly impressive. There was a certain weight and power to her voice that I certainly didn't expect and while she needed to work on her diction as the bridge sounded like random noises, I thought she phrased most of her words incredibly well. The arrangement was a tad strange though - took me a while to get used to it - and I somehow lost the melody of the actual song. It's clearly a polarizing performance so I'm not sure how many genuinely enjoyed that. 7.5

5. Rayvon Owen
Set Fire To The Rain
Solid, but nothing to really write home about. Rayvon is a methodical singer and rarely stray from technique and this was evident here. His vocals were technically great - probably even better than a couple of people ranked higher than him - but there was something about the performance that screamed a little desperate. I can understand that given that he landed on the Bottom 2 again after his rousing version of Since U Been Gone, but those last notes, while impeccable, was meaningless. It had no real purpose or intent other than to show off. 7.5

4. Joey Cook
Wrecking Ball
Joey's rendition of Wrecking Ball almost had everything. Vocals, dramatic elements, great staging, a dress from Helena Bonham Carter, and supremely confident performance ability all wrapped into a song that I love. Her haunting connection to the material was palpable and how her voice navigated the verses were fantastic. But I agree with Harry that something needed to happen after the second verse and a key change would've helped elevate the performance to something great. 7.5

3. Quentin Alexander
Latch
Finally! Quentin delivered a believable uptempo number this season. He didn't look stiff, awkward, his vocals were more consistent, it had a good amount of energy, and seemed like a fully put together artist. I never would've thought he could pull of Latch - given Sam Smith's impeccable vocals - but he sort of gave it justice. The falsetto was a nice surprise. Hip, current, and desperately needed. 8

2. Clark Beckham
Make It Rain
There's just something inherently soulful about watching Clark stand by a microphone with his guitar and lay it all out. Make It Rain wasn't a clear departure from anything we've heard from him, but it was perfectly orchestrated and he sang the hell out of the tune. He's a very talented vocalist and his control over his voice was absolutely unreal. At this point, it's seriously Clark Beckham's competition to lose. 8.5

1. Tyanna Jones
Stay
Welcome back, Tyanna Jones! Not going to lie, I was a little iffy with her tackling another ballad, but she absolutely nailed this performance. She's got a beautiful clarity to her upper register that soared during moments of this tune and there was an emotional quality to the performance that made it stand out in comparison to some of the other competitors. She's got a sadness to her. It's evident. She connected to this song in a way I've never seen her before and it was beautiful. Sensitive. Precise. Heartfelt. 9
 
ELIMINATED

Qaasim Middleton
Hey Ya
You know what, this wasn't even bad! His voice sounded on point for the most part - possibly his best vocal performance on the show - and he just got that something extra and can work that stage and the audience better than almost anyone this season. If only he worked fast on his vocals, he would've lasted longer, but at the end of the day, the better singer won over the better performer. 6.5


WHO SHOULD GO HOME?
Nick Fradiani

WHO WILL GO HOME?
Rayvon Owen

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree with almost everything! You preferred JAX's over Nick's DAM? Hahah what has gotten into you JK. I know JAX is polarizing all the time, I hope there's less mistakes towards finale. But, again, IMO, Nick's Teenage Dream > JAX's Poker Face hahaha

Anonymous said...

OMG you nailed this perfectly. Totally agree with you on Rayvon's. My mind couldnt stop but thinking that he's so desperate and it shows. He's probably in trouble next week.

Jax needs to stop rearranging the songs and lose the melody in the process of doing it. It seems to be a tad disrespectful for the original artists and composer of the song (well at least for me). Interpretation is different than showing off. At least be like Joey's.

Weirdly I love everyone including Qaasim. But somehow Nick needs to go (Although I loooooooooooove his voice in itunes recordinggggg)

- A

Anonymous said...

Can you please upload studio version? Thanks before hand.

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