Thursday 26 March 2015

American Idol XIV Top 11 nearly become 10




Adanna seems to be appearing more confident and experienced each week and this performance is no exception to that progress. Looking immaculate in a short, shiny dress that reflects stars in the lens and interacting well with the audience, this girl looks set for the last few. She has star quality but needs to stop peering down the camera lens as much. She is a little frightening on occasion but very, very smart.




Daniel seems very out of place in this competition. He is very talented but I just don't get the connection with the emotion or words of quite a deep song that a 15 year-old like this young fellow is unlikely to comprehend at all. Nice tone to his voice and full marks for effort but I feel his days should be numbered, although he has clearly made enough fans to make the Top 10.




Rayvon does Barry Gibb and Staying Alive. OK. It was worth a try, I suppose. Slowed down it lost its urgency and I would expect Robin to be turning in his grave after that. He can sing well and the falsetto was in tune but Harry very accurately says how he needs to do something more as it is just a little boring now. Competent and it will have pleased his fans.




Nick has been picking good tracks and putting distance between him and the others which won't do him any harm at all. This should be one of his best weeks and he chooses Highway To The Danger Zone which is a nice number. He seems a little less than enthusiastic in the performance, just a bit casual. That could be because he gives the appearance of being very professional. The crowd really did go for that.




Joey has picked a cool song. It has done well for some past contestants on other shows. Alex Parks won many years ago with Mad Mad World on BBC's Fame Academy. She has the right look and attitude this week and it sounds like a great track for her. She doesn't bring as much light and shade to this as I had expected and it is all over a bit too soon. Not just because I was enjoying it but also I wonder whether she will have made enough of an impression. She is looking so much better this week but then so often that's what happens the week before they go home!




Tyanna is fun and enjoying her time on the show but seems to be falling a bit in Adanna's shadow now. She needs a better image. The Circle Of Life is not a great choice for her. It starts so low and it is unavoidably wobbly down there. Eventually she gets up into better notes but this is one drag of a song that you can't do a great deal with and, quite frankly, Tyanna ruins it with bum crucial notes and even a rasp where there should not be one. I can't see people voting in their droves for that. Keith notes serious pitch issues if America votes you through. Not good.




Quentin is planning to change You're The One That I Want and I admire his courage in taking this classic Grease number. This was the performance of the night so far. Very impressive. He held back and nurtured the lines carefully in a way I had never heard before and it worked very well. This guy is the one to watch.




Maddy makes the Top 10 too. She missed the mentoring sessions but let's hope her improved health will keep her on track. Let's Hear It For The Boy is a fun little number that suits her and has a nice little op feel about it that she can handle easily. She is better than she has been in the past and a delight to watch. The end line was a bit strange and almost added as an extra but up until then it was a sugary bit of fun. I think America will like it. Harry identified how she has scored well with Country and this was too 'Pageanty' and he thinks it was not good.




Clark makes the Top 10 which is hardly a surprise at all. He is very popular and has built a good fan club, competing, I suppose, with Nick in one sense and Daniel in another. He'll slaughter Daniel but not sure how many votes he can steal on Nick. Sunday Morning is not a track I recognise. I believe it was a Marooon 5 number. An odd choice and, despite his faultless rendition of what sound quite difficult notes, it didn't leave me feeling 'Wow' and he needs that factor to keep the votes. Harry, though, is totally impressed.




There are just two people left. Qaasim and Jax, so surely it is Jax that is through. Yes, it is. So Qaasim will sing for the save. First, Jax gets to do Grow Old With You. Nice. She does quirky well. How will the voters like it? I honestly don't know but she deserves to get through just on talent and nerve alone. That was quite a stunning performance and must have done her some good, making people warm to her more. A worthy Top 10 act.




Qaasim has to impress all three panel members to survive. He is some cool performer although I am not sure about his singing on this classic Beatles track. If the votes having come his way so far then this will not endear him any more to the American public. The crowd seem to be behind him but then I think the girls there are excited by almost anyone. Harry has it down as performance of the night. That's a surprise. He actually gets saved which I really did not expect. Wow. That's it. No more in the Season, so if one of the other acts messes up and slips down the vote ladder just once that will be it.

So the Top 10 remains 11 for a week.

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