Rising Star is back to its two-hour format, but it moves quickly (and not without technical difficulty) to get through all 13 singers. By the end of the night, seven will be left standing (and there will be a West Coast save).
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Macy Kate (“Who Knew?”)
It takes a while for the judges to buzz her in, but all three do, and I have no idea why. Her notes seem all over the place, and she hasn’t really improved since day one. To me, the stage presence that the judges praise her on consists of her turning her head away from the camera so all we get is hair. Result: 60%
Shameia Crawford (“Next to Me”)
She starts strong from the beginning, even though it’s a bit more relaxed, but she loses control a little bit during her runs. I love the build-up of her performance and she even changes the arrangement a bit. Ludacris says the complete opposite of me (that it started shaky and ended strong) so what do I even know? Result: 76%
Joshua Peavy (“How Am I Supposed to Live Without You?”)
There’s this growing effortless ease in his performances that I’m noticing each week, and this is one of the handful of top performances so far this season. The show cuts off after someone is heard off-screen yelling, “Go to commercial break now!” (New live show kinks, anyone?) But Josh Groban smartly deflects the issues by saying Joshua caused them with his vocal performance. Result: 85%
April Lockhart (“Iris”)
Again, she starts off in a way that I don’t find appealing, but she has this power of pulling you in the more the performance goes on. Time is her weapon and she uses it well. Result: 71%
Maneepat Molloy (“Stars”)
The experts really assail her for her lack of stage presence, but out of everyone, I feel like she’s still the most raw and needs coaching. However, her voice is nice in this song, and I’m not really feeling strongly one way or the other about it other than the stage presence is something she can continue to work on. Result: 68%
Dana Williams (“Latch”)
I don’t know this song, but she at least sings it nicely. I feel like her performances are always looking and sounding the same. Luda says her eyes were touching people’s souls (or something). My soul must be dark because I didn’t get that vibe much. Brad, even though he voted yes, doesn’t sugar coat the fact that the song didn’t go anywhere. Result: 60%
Alice J. Lee (“The Story”)
I feel like she wants to take the performance to a place that the song doesn’t go to. Her lower register is really painful and she only has a few nice moments. It leads to Luda and Brad saying no and Kesha saying yes, which doesn’t mean anything besides her not wanting to give a singer three no votes. Result: 40%
Top 7 to Beat
Now we’re at the point of the show where the rest of the singers have to raise the wall by beating the lowest score of the first seven performers. They’re ordered by their percentages, and the last one is on the “hot seat.” The rest of the singers have to beat the hot seat vote in order to raise the wall and move on.
Here’s the top seven. When a wall raises, the next lowest vote-getter will be in the hot seat:
Joshua Peavy
Shameia Crawford
April Lockhart
Maneepat Malloy
Dana Williams
Macy Kate
Hot Seat: Alice J. Lee
Jesse Kinch (“Seven Nation Army”)
It’s just not fair to have Jesse go after Alice because the yes votes steadily rise. The performance is really great, which is an understatement but … Result: 88%; the wall rises, booting Alice
Megan Tibbits (“Home”)
Who is this girl? This seems way out of place from what we’ve seen out of her in the past, and I wish this version was what we got from the beginning. However, no one seems to agree with me because the judges all talk about her risky song choice that didn’t work. Ouch. Result: 32%; the wall does not rise.
Lisa Punch (“Girl on Fire”)
I’ve said this before, but I always forget about her! And then she sings and she has a great voice for R&B even though it’s not exactly unique from the others. But she has so much energy and has this positive aura about her. As the votes are slow to rise, I definitely think she deserves to knock out the lowest singers. Result: 59%; the wall does not rise.
Audrey Kate Geiger (“The Big Bang”)
I’m digging her voice but not this performance as a whole. The judges take an awfully long time to cast their votes, and it leads to the possibility of Audrey Kate not raising the wall. But finally, at the last second, she does and I breathe a sigh of relief. Result: 61%; the wall rises, eliminating Macy Kate.
Austin French (“If I Ain’t Got You”)
He gets major props for not just riding the Gavin DeGraw/Jason Mraz wave and taking on Alicia Keys. He has great stage presence and puts his all into it. The judges comment on his pitchy notes at certain points, but I must’ve been too into the performance to notice. Result: 86%; he raises the wall, eliminating Dana Williams.
Sonnet Williams (“Young and Beautiful”)
She was so memorable when she sang Chris Isaak, but it’s been a bit of a struggle since as she hasn’t been able to capture that magic. I like the performance a lot more than the experts because I just love the song in general — and get this, all three say no. Result: 30%; the wall does not rise.
Top 7
Shameia Crawford
Joshua Peavy
April Lockhart
Maneepat Molloy
Jesse Kinch
Audrey Kate Geiger
Austin French
WEST COAST UPDATE
This week, the Bottom 6 singers of the Top 13 on the East Coast all vied for the last spot in the Top 8. The highest percentage from West Coast viewers moved on. Here are their scores:
Macy Kate: 61%
Dana Williams: 65%
Alice J. Lee: 42%
Megan Tibbits: 31%
Lisa Punch: 63%
Sonnet Simmons: 30%
Dana Williams is the final singer in the Top 8! For the second week in a row, she was saved by West Coast viewers after originally being cut on the East Coast.
Interestingly, Audrey Kate Geiger, who got 65% from East Coast viewers, only got 61% from West Coast viewers, meaning she ranked 7th on the East Coast, but 9th or even 10th on the West Coast.
Rising Star airs Sundays at 9pm on ABC.
(Image courtesy of ABC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
