After the 12 male semifinalists performed, the girls were up the following night — and I expected them to be in a much stronger position based on what we saw in previous rounds. Now that we’ve seen everyone perform, overall the guys have made a bigger impression on fans and viewers.
That doesn’t mean there weren’t any standouts from the girls. In fact, there were, and I fully expect those particular contestants to advance. But there were some forgettable, weak and disappointing performances as well. So who’s going home? And which eight singers are staying? Let’s take a look at the 12 girls and their chances of being in the Top 16.
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Definitely Safe
Sarina-Joi Crowe: I don’t think I even need to say anything because this one’s obvious, but I will. Nine girls sang before her, but it wasn’t until Sarina-Joi performed that we all started taking notice. She blew everyone else out of the water up to that point.
Jax: Following Sarina-Joi, Jax delivered quite the performance as well. I was not expecting her to cover “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)” — if she keeps surprising us with song choices like this one, while maintaining the quality of her fantastic voice, she’ll continue to be a frontrunner. Also, it has to be said that the quiet start to her performance was the best musical moment of the episode.
Tyanna Jones: Besides Jax, Tyanna is also one of my favorites, though I’m well aware that she’s not perfect all the time. With “Lips are Movin’,” it took her a moment to get into it, but once she did, she was great. And the song choice was perfect for her style of music.
I don’t foresee any of the above three singers going anywhere anytime soon.
In the Middle
Joey Cook: Joey Cook is not everyone’s cup of tea, I’m sure. But her uniqueness is a big part of what’s helping her, especially with covering a song by Keith Urban of all people. She obviously can’t bring out the accordion every single week, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens when she performs without it in the live shows. Will she still be able to hold her own? Will she falter? We’ll get there when it happens, but for now, she’ll advance.
Lovey James: I’m really curious to see how Lovey does in this competition going forward. She’s very talented, of course. But can she match up to some of the stronger singers in the competition? During Top 24 week, she was the first to sing, which is always an unfortunate situation, but regardless, once she moved into the second chorus of “Love Runs Out,” she improved greatly and I got a better sense of what she’s like as a performer.
In Danger
Alexis Gomez: Considering “Gunpowder and Lead” is my favorite Miranda Lambert song, I hoped Alexis would do a solid job with it. And overall, she did. There were a few times where she could’ve been a tad better, and that’s not going to help in the voting. If she advances, I’d like to see her do even more songs like this one because it really suited her.
Katherine Winston: It looks like I’m in the minority when it comes to Katherine’s performance, based on various comments I read online afterwards. While many people were not on board with it, I was on the other side of the spectrum. If you’re a big Hunger Games fan like I am, you’ll recognize “Safe and Sound” by Taylor Swift featuring The Civil Wars. I love the song, the music video, the original artist, the movie. Maybe that puts me in a biased position, but I thought Katherine sounded beautiful with her rendition. Unfortunately for me, I’m in the minority and she’s in danger of being eliminated.
Loren Lott: There were some performances on this night that were just a mess. Loren’s was one of those. Yes, she improved in the second half of the song, but her pitch for much of the performance was not good. I’m not ruling her out of the competition just yet because she does have a lot of power in her voice to match songs like this. I’m willing to give her another chance.
Maddie Walker: I almost put Maddie in my elimination predictions. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if she does go home. She’s got a few things going against her right now. One, the judges almost didn’t select her for the Top 24. Two, this is not a well-known Shania Twain song. And three, I’d say her delivery of “Love Gets Me Every Time” was competent, but didn’t stand out. She doesn’t have a bad voice by any means, so if she’s in the Top 16, she really needs to step up and prove herself.
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Definitely Going Home
Adanna Duru: I mentioned earlier about performances that were messy. Here’s another one. I hate to say this, but coming into the Top 24, I didn’t really remember anything about her, aside from her name. So this performance had to be the opposite of forgettable. Instead, “Rather Be” was full of major pitch issues that made me cringe when she went into the chorus.
Shannon Berthiaume: This’ll be an easy elimination. If you’re going to cover Pink, you really have to bring it. Not only were the vocals terrible, but she had pretty much zero stage presence.
Shi Scott: I’m actually surprised she fumbled as big as she did in the Top 24. Some of the above performances sounded bad, but that’s nothing compared to Shi’s. I’m not kidding when I say I didn’t hear a single note that was pleasant sounding. And it got worse when she sang the word ‘umbrella’ — I’m not quite sure what was going on there, but her voice seemed really strange. I’m sounding like Simon Cowell big time in the back half of this article, but I can’t find a way to sugarcoat it.
Elimination Predictions
Adanna Duru
Katherine Winston
Shannon Berthiaume
Shi Scott
Who do you think will be heading home? Are you worried that any of your favorites are in danger of elimination? Share your predictions in the comments section below.
American Idol airs Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8pm on FOX.
(Image courtesy of FOX)
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
Jeff Dodge, a graduate of Western Washington University, has been a TV news editor for many years and has had the chance to interview multiple reality show stars, including Randy Jackson, Nick Cannon, Heidi Klum, Mel B and John Cena.
