Top 14: Wildcard Night: Judge's Pick

Welcome back. After nearly 2 months the home audience is finally in control...well sorta kinda. Starting tomorrow night the Top 10 will perform for the first time for the live audience, but it is tonight that will help determine which 10 they will be. The reason this is a wild card show is because the judge's will pick 4 performers to automatically go to the Top 10. The remaining 10 contestants will sing tonight and 6 of those performers will be selected by the home audience, thus creating the Top 10 that will be fully revealed tomorrow night. Hopefully everyone has got all that, so without further ado, let's get to the show:

Our Top 7 Remain
Prior to Hollywood week we named our Top 20, these 7 are still singing. 
Audition 1=Lee Jean, Sonika Vaid
Audition 2=LaPorsha Renae, Tristan McIntosh
Audition 3 =Jenn Blosil, 
Audition 5=Mackenzie Bourg
Audition 6= Manny Torres

Judge's Picks for Top 10 without Singing Tonight  
1. Dalton Rapattoni
2. Olivia Rox
3. Trent Harmon
4. LaPorsha Renae

Remaining 10 Perform

Manny Torres

(Master Blaster-Stevie Wonder)

He is a fun performer. He has good energy on stage, but his voice sometimes lacks when he moves around too much. It goes out of tune, or is off pitch at times. When he hits everything right it's really nice, so a bit mixed for me.
Judge's Comments=Keith-Great opening to show. Love that song, not right for him. Has a fighter spirit. Delivered on his great energy. 
Grade=B-

Gianna Isabella

(I Put A Spell on You-Annie Lennox)

Her voice is very mature for a 15-year old, it really is, but there are other aspects of her performance that are kinda young. It just seems like she tries to do certain movements because she was told to, not because they are natural or just come to her. I'm still not sold, but her voice is really good.  
Judge's Comments=Jennifer-Surprised by her sassiness. Coming into her own. She is innocent but beginnings of a great singer. Believes that she should be in Top 10. Has potential for a lot of growth.
Grade=B

Thomas Stringfellow

(Story of My Life-One Direction)

I don't like this remix of the song. I also noticed some of his hiccups/squeaks at the end of certain phrases made its return here and there. Look, he is a good looking kid, obviously teenage girls like him, but his vocals just aren't strong enough.
Judge's Comments= Harry-Very talented. Good song for him, but his bad habit of cracking at the end of notes is too much all the time.  Has to think about that. It gets annoying. If he listened back he would agree.
Grade=C+

 Tristan McIntosh 

(What Hurts The Most-Rascal Flatts)

I am glad she finally admitted that she wants to be a country singer. I know she has sung several country songs the past number of weeks, but she also had weird moments from other songs, like she was trying to be something she wasn't. This was better. I enjoyed her for the first time since probably her audition.
Judge's Comments=Keith-Beautiful song choice, with her voice and way she did it. Saw a side of her we haven't seen before.
Grade=A-

Avalon Young 

(Yo(Excuse Me Miss)-Chris Brown)

Her confidence in herself being an R&B singer is amazing. She just goes out there and does her thing. It's something that isn't really out there right now. Her voice is just so pleasant to the ear. It's not a showstopper but so good.
Judge's Comments=More and more comfortable up there. Smooth like butter. Should be in Top 10. Great performance. 
Grade=A-

 Jenn Blosil

(True Colors-Cyndi Lauper)

I don't understand her bedazzled eyebrows, it was a little distracting from her voice. I should be focused on her voice, but I was just looking at her sparkly, glittery eyebrows. It was good, a little off at points, but not terrible or anything.
Judge's Comments=Harry-Knew she had it in her. Problem with last week because it wasn't sung like this tonight. A flawless lyric delivery. 
Grade=B

Lee Jean

(Make It Rain-Ed Sheeran)

I remember a comment that Harry mentioned about Lee getting more in the groove of songs, he definitely tried, but it was still a little stiff with his guitar in front of him. I like Lee Jean, but his voice was a little off tonight. I think I have heard him sing better.
Judge's Comments=Keith-Got his own style and so unique, very chill. Had a lot of nerves tonight. Liked what he is doing.
Grade=B-

Sonika Vaid

(I Surrender-Celine Dion)

Sonika is one of the remaining powerhouse singers. I think even though she has a tender delivery at times her voice can hit some great big notes and still sound so sweet and beautiful. She makes you feel the emotion of the song. Really really good.
Judge's Comments=Jennifer-People came to sing. Got goosies on her face, in her cheeks. Crazy. Her voice sits in the music is so out of this world. It's insane. So beautiful.
Grade=A

Jeneve Mitchell

(Ring of Fire-Johnny Cash) 

She does her thing. It's a little all over the place, but that's kind of her, kind of has that tender voice, then real low and grainy and emotional and powerful. Then she hits that falsetto from nowhere. It's hard to describe, but still kinda cool. If she made it I wouldn't be mad.
Judge's Comments=Harry-Her talent is compelling, interesting and polarizing. Some people might think it's interesting and different and some people might not get it. He gets it. Not best performance he has heard her before. Didn't let go. Very different than anyone else in the competition.
Grade=B-

MacKenzie Bourg

(Roses-MacKenzie Bourg)

Being able to sing a song that you wrote on this kind of stage has gotta be a dream for MacKenzie. No matter what his songwriting abilities are on full display. I really enjoy this song, I like the way that he sings it. He is real cool. He gets in the groove, opposed to someone like Lee that has the same kind of shtick, but MacKenzie gets into it a lot more.
Judge's Comments=Keith-Such a great song. Has everyone reacting. Sang great, played great. 
Grade=A-

Our Predictions for Moving onto Top 10
These predictions are based on our actual choices and judge's reactions from tonight and past weeks.

1. Sonika Vaid
2. MacKenzie Bourg
3. Avalon Young
4. Tristan McIntosh
5. Jenn Blosil
6. Gianna Isabella

Final Thoughts
*I think the judge's picks of Dalton, Olivia, LaPorsha and Trent were right on the money, they did deserve a "Fast Pass" to get right to the Top 10. It will be interesting to see who moves on from those that did sing tonight. The audience at home hasn't voted one time for any of these people, so we have no idea who the audience likes. It's possible people that the judge's love like Gianna, Jenn and Manny won't be as received as they were by the judges. It'll be interesting to see how it all shakes out.

*I am glad that the audience is choosing 6 contestants from the 10 that performed tonight. Initially I heard that the judge's were choosing 8 out of the remaining 14 singers, but it was better than the audience at home gets to choose the majority of the people going into the Top 10.

*Starting tomorrow night the shows are gonna be fast and furious. There will be at least 2 or 3 double elimination episodes, so a lot of people will be gone in a very short amount of time. So hold on, this show is gonna be getting crazy.

That's all for tonight. Come on back tomorrow night for the reveal of the Top 10 and their performances. So until next time, see ya!