Welcome back. Tonight is the beginning of the end of the Hollywood section of American Idol Season 13. Last week we significantly reduced the number of contestants from over 200 to less than 70 and tonight we will begin to find out which 30 contestants will make it to the first set of live rounds. It is broken up into 15 males and 15 females.
Tonight's episode is definitely non-linear. It shows us the Final Judgement where the judges are telling us who makes the Top 30, but right before that they also they show the previous night when they performed for the judges for the final time. So it's kinda back and forth but we will try to keep it all straight for you. So let's get to it:
Hollywood Final Performances and Top 30 Reveal
Emily Piriz-She has a beautiful voice while singing "Stars". She reminds me of Angie Miller the 3rd place finisher from last year in how clear and pure her voice is. She has just a great talent, can play piano and really get to exactly where you want her to get to.
Does She Make Top 30? Yes.
Spencer Lloyd-He decides to sing an original in his final performance and it's horrible. Harry calls the song a Public Service System Announcement due to it's odd lyrics.. It's a lousy song that I couldn't even grasp. He has been better in the past and the song did nothing to help him in his journey. Jennifer Lopez thinks the last song worked against him, but liked his past performances.
Does He Make Top 30? Yes.
Jillian Jensen -She is a past X Factor contestant that got cut a little too early. She decides to do her own original song, but unlike Spencer's attempt this one is much more pleasant to the ear. It's still probably not the best decision to sing an original at the end, but at least it was tolerable. She could be one to look for. A singer/songwriter with a really solid voice.
Does She Make Top 30? Yes
Madelyn Patterson- I haven't seen her, or at least I don't remember hearing her before the final performance. She does do a really nice job with "Up To The Mountain", nothing outstanding, but solid. The fact that we didn't see much of her until now was not a great sign of good things to come.
Does She Make Top 30? No
Sam Woolf-He decides to sing an original as well, one that he wrote about his mom moving away. It's a pretty heartfelt-soulful song. The song is called "I Try" and although I probably won't download it on Itunes it's still a nice showing from him.
Does He Make Top 30? Yes
Keri Lynn Roache- I've liked her voice since her first audition and she decides to sing "I'd Rather Be Blind" in her last performance for the judges. Some of her hand movements on stage are a little spastic and strange, but her voice shines through just like before. The judges think she has a stylized voice that maybe doesn't hit them like it might hit others.
Does She Make Top 30? No...(The judges made a mistake on this one)
Malaya Watson-I remember liking her in her audition, then didn't like her during one of her Hollywood rounds. After a rocky start in her first performance, the judges, mainly Harry and Keith tell the band to get back into the right key to help her out because they were making her sound like she was in two different keys. She ends up singing the rest of the song "I Believe" really well.
Does She Make Top 30? Yes
Bria Anai- She always does way too much with a song. I guess it happens because she is very young and doesn't realize she doesn't have to always put a run or a riff on every single note. I hope that as time progresses she can control it and will only bring out some of her tricks at selected times.
Does She Make Top 30? Yes
Jessica Meuse and Jesse Roach-In a bit of a twist the judges don't believe that they can successfully decide between Jessica and Jesse after their final performances so they have them perform right in front of them during the final judgement. Jessica and Jesse both have to sing acapella, just like during their auditions. Jessica sings "Simple Man"and Jesse sings "Do Ya". Jessica seems likes she is the winner of this one. The judges go back and forth between them, they think they are both kinda similar in their styles so they can only send one through.
Who Makes Top 30? Jessica Meuse
Who Goes Home? Jesse Roach
Emmanuel Zidor-This guy has had a weird journey for me. I think he is relatively entertaining, and a nice fellow, but his voice is not great at all, they kicked people out of auditions with better voices. His last performance was one of his better ones, but not sure if that's enough to really win me over.
Does He Make Top 30? Yes
MK Nobilette -In the bits and pieces we have seen of her I've liked her voice a lot. I think she sings and probably is really nervous and it is a little distracting. Jennifer Lopez calls her singing a "quiet storm". It's not over-powering but it's also really impactful. MK says that she's not the typical American Idol contestant because she is gay and some people don't like that, but she's happy that the world is changing.
Does She Make Top 30? Yes
Leah Guerrero and Andrina Brogden -Just like before they can't decide between Leah and Andrina even after they both performed really well in their last final performances. They both kinda have quailities that are great and qualities that aren't. The judges don't allow them to sing again, they just tell them the news together.
Who Makes Top 30? Andrina
Who Goes Home? Leah
Malcolm Allen-He is singing "I'm Going Down" during his final performance and I liked it. I probably have seen those types of performances before so it isn't outstanding or entirely memorable. The judges think he is a talented guy.
Does He Make Top 30? Yes
Alex Preston-He likes to change things up during his performances. He tries to take a well known song and make it all acoustic guitar-y. As a side note he kinda looks a bit like Jonah Hill with a poodle on his head. His performance is pretty boring, not really that impressed with this particular song choice or version. He brings in his guitar to hear the final judgement, not sure if he just has it as a crutch or it's just physically attached to him.
Does He Make Top 30? Yes
Casey Thrasher and CJ Harris- The judges bring the two of them up together. I was never that impressed with Casey although the judges have been along the way and CJ has been hit or miss. The judges make them sing acapella to battle it out. CJ's acapella version is really good and Casey has to do a lot to make up for it, and I don't think he does.
We Find Out That....TO BE CONTINUED
We'll find out what happens to CJ and Casey tomorrow.
Also Making Top 30
George Lovett- Really beautiful version of "I Won't Give Up". He put it all out there.
Maurice Townsend-His first audition was great, then we kinda lost him during some of the rounds, but he hits it hard and well during the last performance.
Dexter Roberts-He has sounded solidly all along, I haven't been overly excited about him, but solid is the right word for him.
Kristen-O'Conner-Her last performance was really sweet and she hit all of her notes as well as she could.
Jordan Brisbane-We saw him during his audition then lost him during all of the other rounds. He is very young and inexperienced and could be even better in a couple years.
Also Not Making Top 30
LaBryant Cruz
Sabrina Lantini
Connor Zwetsch
Casey Mcquillen
Nica Nashae
Totals of the Night
8 Females Tonight of the Top 15 were chosen=7 More Selections Tomorrow
9 Males Tonight of the Top 15 were chosen=6 More Selections Tomorrow
Final Thoughts
*I really disagreed with the judges a few times tonight. First off they kicked out Keri Lynn Roache and they kept Emmanuel Zidore and the very young and inexperienced Jordan Brisbane and Bria Anai. Wow. The males that are good are really good, but there are some guys selected to stay in the competition that are very weak. The females as a whole seem much stronger. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.
*My next gripe, one that I have had for years and years is they should take the best 30, not just the best 15 of one gender and best 15 of the other gender. It's unfair if the 16th or 17th best female is cut when the best males might not be as great as them. Or vice versa. The same thing will happen when we get to the Top 10, then only the Top 5 of one gender will make it. Just doesn't seem right. I don't know, it'll probably never change, but I just feel it provides lesser talent to stay and better talent to be let go.
*The curse of the original song. It can giveth but it can taketh away very quickly. If an original is good then the judges are impressed but it might not sway them necessarily, but if the song is horrible it can change everything dramatically. It really is super risky move and it works about half the time. I wouldn't do it, but I'm not out there.
That's it. We have begun the process of narrowing down to the Top 30, or rumored Top 31. The final decisions will be made tomorow night. So come on back here after the next episode to find out who makes it to the live rounds and who comes up a bit short. So until then, see ya!
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