The Final! Who Will Be The American Idol 2019?

This is it. After a very good run and some excellent performances in what everyone agrees has been the best Season of all, one of Madison, Laine and Alejandro will take the prize.

We learn that Walker has already been taken on by Bobby Bones in a group of singers that he has in a comedy performance of some sort. I have also no doubts at all that Demitrius and Uché will find fame on Broadway and in broader entertainment respectively. Someone has to snap up Riley who will make them a fortune, Wade and Laci probably already have people offering them a deal - and there'll be a tour too for the Top 10, I expect.

So let's see what happens with these three.

Lionel Ritchie kicks things off by showing that he's still got it with a smart and quite energetic rendition of Dancing On The Ceiling.

Laine

He does a Marc Broussard number called Home. It's Bayou stuff again which he seems very much at home with. This guy does not make any mistakes. Each performance is him, not a copy. Very good and a great start.

Madison

Shallow by Lady Gaga. She's worked hard with this one and is so much better than last week's efforts. Well done. A tough song but she made it through.

Alejandro

An original number called Millennial Love.
Ding an original in the Final is a risk, surely! But there's no stopping this chap. He probably doesn't really care as long as he gets to do his stuff. This is actually a lovely number and has to be a hit very soon, hopefully here in the UK as well as there.

Laine has a huge party in Louisiana and the Governor says it's a day to have  Hardy Party. This is a lot of voters - I wonder whether what I thought earlier about Laine actually leading the voting is, in fact, the case?

He sings Jambalaya, a great classic and cheerful number that he cannot really go wrong with. It is very natural and I hope that it isn't too easy-going that people forget to vote for him! He has real star quality which, for TV appearance and show managers, Madison and Alejandro don't have.

Madison sings Learn How To Fly. She is still missing notes unfortunately. This is quite weak at the start - every time she's doing this. As the only girl left she might get the the last two as the male vote gets split but she really wouldn't deserve that on her singing today so far.

Alejandro sings another original called Tonight I think. It's a nice number but not quite as obviously vote catching as the Laine number. There is also such a difference in the 'Home-coming' and you can see that, for this guy, the studio is more his 'home' than anywhere else.

It really should be Alejandro and Laine as the final two.

Carrie Underwood is here now and puts on a good show,although she is looking older and less energetic now. She puts on  a great professional performance of a new single but it's not the greatest of tracks. Her writers are getting lazy now because almost everything she does tends to be released and make money. She can do much better than this. Someone sack her writers.

The first vote confirms that it is, indeed, Laine v Alejandro. Good.

Alejandro performs another original track. This one is called 10 Years and wow, this is impressive as he plays with a full orchestra backing him which, I presume, he has also arranged himself. Marvellous talent. Whatever happens, he is the real talent in this Season.

Adam Lambert now comes on stage and sings his new single New Eyes. Someone has to sack his writers too as he is too good for this. This fellow is fabulous and is someone you can totally trust to perform. His notes are perfect but he also has style and is just very, very smart and professional without losing emotion on the way.

Next he does Bohemian Rhapsody and is joined by Demitrius who is very much in his element here. A nice coupling and all credit to the producers for that idea!

Some duo called Dan & Shay do a dated number. It's OK but I have no idea who they are. Madison joins in and does a good job but that makes me wonder what is going on? Only a short while before she was a potential winner and now she's doing one of the 'also-ran' acts. Surely there must have been some rehearsal and was she tipped off in advance? Must have been. Maybe there was that much difference that it was obvious she would be third.

Luke Bryan's turn now and he gives us a jolly Country number. Then the lovely Laci joins in and really does seem to be enjoying herself now the pressure's off. Every Breath You Take is very cool for her and Luke together.

Laine is on now with John Pardi. It's Country style with Night Shift and Dirt On My Boots and you can see how smart this guy is as this must add the massive Country vote to his side o top of the Rock 'n Roll and Bayou votes already bagged. He could win for all the wrong reasons.

Katy P completes the judges' performances on the night with an extraordinarily good Unconditionally in which Jeremiah appears from the background and is fantastically good. That was the performance of the night, actually.

Weezer are now on stage - how many more acts are we going to get? Wade joins in for Africa and Walker helps out with Take On Me and Everybody Wants to Rule The World. Wade sort of hangs around and looks happy.

Alyssa joins someone called Kane Brown. They look good together.

Shay joins Andra Day for Rise Up.

Uché joins Kool & The Gang and has a great time. There is a star, for sure. He looks more at home on the stage than almost everyone else! Great stuff.

All a bit frantic as we get this end-to-end with no ad breaks!

For the final numbers Laine does Bring It On Home To Me which has a not-so-hidden message and, once again, will pull in some fans of Sam Cooke. It is an excellent choice and he sings it really well. He is the star, for sure. He could be the surprise winner of this thing.

Alejandro does a fourth original numberII I don't know the name of this one but I am amazed he's done this. No matter how brilliant they may be, people simply won't 'know' them and that is bound to affect the voting intent a bit. Yes, he is the winner in terms of artistry and sheer talent but it could well be Laine as the 'Idol' this year. Alejandro's song is actually a bit rushed, or seems so to me. I'm really not sure that's going to be enough.

Ryan Seacrest takes the stage at last. Dim the lights . . .

The winner is . . .

Laine Hardy!

Flame is his new single. That deserves to do very well and I very much hope that someone gets him over here. I hope too that we get an Alejandro album here soon. I'll buy that.

The Top 5 - Semi Final

This was supposed to be the Top 4 with one going but now it will be two that go home tonight as the Top 3 go into the big Final, or Finale as they like to call it over there.

Tonight each of the five will sing three songs - one will be 'Bobby Bones' choice', as their mentor all through and who has got to know what suits them well, an Elton John number and one about their 'personal hero'.

Wade
You Are The Best Thing
Very good. Excellent, professional performance from this guy. Impressed.

Laci Kay
The House That Built Me
An ideal song for her. Very nice. She looks great too and I'm glad she got saved last week.

Alejandro
No Woman No Cry
Once again the artist that is Alejandro paints a quite different but lovely picture.

Laine
A Bayou number of some description. He's good at this stuff and seems very comfortable on the stage, looking like a star.

Madison
What About Us
Bobby wants to get some emotion out of this girl - something I've been saying for a while. She has a nervous tremor at the start. She's good and this does give her a chance to come out of herself a bit more but she is not a winner. There are simply too many wobbly bits. Towards the end she did show us some talent. Katy spotted this too.

Elton John songs

Wade
Rocket Man
Comparisons with Kim Jong Un should not, of course, even be thought about :) Wade makes a very good job of this. It's a simple number but it works well for him. He's having a good evening!

Laci Kay
Saturday Night's All Right For Fighting
That's better. A really cool performance from this attractive girl. Every note in the right place. Well done. Katy calls her a real pop star. She seems to be enjoying herself too.

Alejandro
Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
It suits his voice and he's on the piano too, just like the writer would be. He plays this one pretty straight. Excellent, just excellent. Is there anything that this guy can't do musically so well?

Madison
Your Song
Waving her arm about doesn't help the visual and just makes her seem amateur and more suited to a cruise ship. She has quite a few bad habits and that wobble is still there and whining top notes. Once again, she does eventually get into gear and finishes well but she does seem to have reached a level at which she cannot really compete any higher.

Laine
Something About The Way You Look Tonight
In complete contrast, Laine stands and just delivers the song so well. There's a rasp in his voice and it suits him. It is unexceptional overall but the silver suit is impressive and the boy can sing for sure.

Personal heroes

Wade
Hard Luck Woman
A confident performance like he knows this track very well. A nice number for him. Really good to listen to. I might even buy his album! Great job.

Laci Kay
Dreams
Lovely. A great track and so good to see her doing it really well. I hope she manages to pick up those lost votes that left her in the bottom two last week. This may be really nice but it does remind me of the beautiful Did Benami who lost out at about this time with her Fleetwood Mac number. Laci's would be another album I would buy!

Madison
Make You Feel My Love
I didn't know this was a Dylan track. Nice choice. the wobbles are still there but maybe not so bad this time. As she progresses, though, there are still too many uncertain notes for my taste. They really spoil the whole thing.

Laine
Hey Jude
Good choice - he can now show off his singing but also have some fun and act like a new Beatle! This will do him a lot of good and may just have secured his place in the Final as he does look and act like a star.

Alejandro
Blesser?
I have no idea what this is but he produces some absolutely fabulous piano work. It was also very good! However, I do wonder what voters will make of this.

It's results time and this is really the big one as whoever gets through to the Final will get bags of publicity.

Two have to go. I'd say it should be Wade and Madison but it's Wade and Laci.

Sp the Final is between Laine, Madison and the one everyone expects to take the crown, Alejandro.

Top 6 Perform Showstoppers and Woodstock

This week each of the remaining six gets two songs - one from a film, supposedly a 'big number' and something from Woodstock, the 1969 festival.

Madison
She chooses Janice Joplin's Piece of My Heart
It's odd to hear this song done cleanly! She does a good, accurate job but it is just a copy of the clean version. I feel she has reached as far as she is likely to go now. She needs to get used to performing with audiences and connecting more. She's good but not great.

Laine
I Don't Need No Doctor from Joe Cocker
Now I don't remember this track but it's good and suits Laine's new image very well. I can see there being a market for this new-old look and sound.Laine does have some natural rawness which is needed for this too. It's not an exceptional performance though and he'll need to pull something out of the bag to be sure to keep going.

Jeremiah
Swing low Sweet Chariot by Joan Baez
Good numbers tonight - from my time. This is very easy-going for Jeremiah for a change. Maybe a bit too easy-going. He does pick it up later and brings something by way of excitement but he is also a bit whiny with it. Again, it was OK but not a stand out at all. If two are to go tonight he may well be one of them as things stand.

Laci Kay
The editing is very jumpy tonight with the as breaks deleted for Netflix but instead we just lurch from one scene to another. Laci sings To Love Somebody with is billed as coming from Janice Joplin. I didn't know she did this, one of my favourite numbers from the Gibb brothers.

I love this but Laci does not do it justice at all. It's not right in phrasing or even emotion. A poor performance, despite the way she looks which is fabulous.

She could be in trouble too and might save Madison as a result.

Alejandro
White Rabbit!! Wow, he's doing a cover of the Jefferson Airplane classic. I have never heard anyone do a cover of this. His version is way too muted, though. It's interesting, cool, and maybe with better sound engineering in the arena this could have sounded a lot better. It doesn't quite work for this programme, though. I admire his courage and the judges refer to him being like Pink Floyd and likely to be a winner anyway.

I definitely feel that he is coasting a little, surviving on his past brilliance for this round.

Wade
With A Little Help from My Friends
Now this is the Joe Cocker track I know. He sounds just like the guy and this is pretty damn good. The best performance of the night so far! It is probably not of great relevance to American Idol chances but you have to say Well done Wade for that!

We then hear Gabby Barrett who apparently came second last year. She sings a new number called I Hope which is great. Indeed, I do hope that we get to see and hear her over in the UK.

Now for the film tracks.

Madison should be safe with these but chooses Surrender by Celine Dion. Now no-one can really match Celine on a good day and Madison is still on the edge with her version. She is not quite hitting the notes and it really is annoying when she's just that fraction of a tone off. It is a very difficult song but then at this stage of the competition the candidates have to perform or get off the stage. She needs to be able to do stuff like this or choose something to make us remember with pride for her. This could be the end of her time at this level.

Alejandro decides to make his own 'ShowStopper' with an original track called Poison. That was very good. It is quite a night for this guy. The talent is fabulous. Katie says how powerful he will be when he wins American Idol!

Laci Kay does something called Open Arms and it's another song that does not suit her at all. It's OK but lacks any real connection or something to make us want to hear more from her. Not a good night and she could well be in big trouble which is a shame because I rate her more highly than Madison in terms of likely future success.

Jeremiah comes up with the classic Somewhere (There's A Place For Us) which Barbra Streisand did so well. It suits him and he does a nice job, a classy performance. Wade and Laine need to beat that somehow as Jeremiah might have rescued himself with that if they don't.

Wade sings Through The Valley, not a track I know but it is near perfect for the big guy. Amazingly good performance again - that's two in a row. I can hear this on some movie like Twin Peaks or some other dark theme. This guy is doing well.

Laine has a lot to do now. He chooses Johnny Be Good!! That's a cool choice and he seems totally at home with this genre. It really does help him to light up the stage and you can tell by the audience reaction that they love this guy. He has transformed over the weeks and must now be a real contender if he can keep this very natural stuff coming along.

So, there's two to go home and I would predict Jeremiah and Laci. That's what the votes say too. That's a big, deep cut this week.

But the judges still have a save. They decide to use it, just as the credits start to roll, and save Laci for another week. No-one gets a chance to say goodbye to poor old Jeremiah.

The Top 8 : Film Songs and Duets

This is really a very good series of the show - all eight remaining contestants are artists in their own right and none have any particular weakness that would prevent an album from doing really well and I can imagine any of them on stage for several years into the future. Walker and Wade may be the two slightly 'less likely to' but even they have their followers who have brought them to this point already.

Each person will sing a Queen number as well as appear in a duet with another contestant to do a film song.

Walker

A Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Walker seems the exact opposite of Adam Lambert, quirky versus professional, self-conscious v the diva. He is perfectly in tune, great timing, has a natural rhythm but this is still not a great version of the song. People will like him - he makes us smile. But he shouldn't try Queen songs.

Madison

The Show Must Go On
Adam is such a good mentor. Love him. Madison has a great start and is looking the best we've seen her. Here is a potential real star at the outset. She loses it, though, when she starts doing the hand touching thing with the front row and never really recovers. No, she is even sounding off-key in the broadcast but maybe OK in the arena. Luckily the staging and whole backing was all great and may have covered up most of the mistakes. Disappointing, though. She should be better than that.

Laci & Laine

Jackson
Now this is a very nice duo. Great sound, largely dominated by Laci and they do forget to look at each other at the right times. Very smart performance nonetheless. Laci looks fantastic, really comfortable and quite enlivened. Katy suggests that they are 'getting on well'! Interesting.

Jeremiah

Who Wants To Live Forever
More great advice from Adam. A fabulous original, slightly held back version by Jeremiah. Impressive and he makes it his own. First real emotion out of all the performances so far and easily the best. This is the first really Big Moment for a while. Beautiful staging and singing.

Alejandro

Under Pressure
This is a musical artist. He totally reworks the track. I am not sure he really does Freddie Mercury justice but it would be a great album track if not a single. Maybe this is not his best performance but he's still the star and the audience love him. For the first time, though, I've begun to wonder whether he will actually win after all. To date, he has seemed the natural #1. Now, I am not not so sure.

Alyssa & Wade

Ain't No Mountain High Enough
What a weird pairing! And a strange song for Wade too, in particular. They do pretty well actually. It worked well and both show that they are really quite experienced on stage. Alyssa is the little pop star who will surely be in the charts before long.

Jeremiah & Madison

A Million Dreams
I can't imagine many pairings doing this any better. They are truly professional and it is a genuinely excellent performance, Madison making up for the previous effort magnificently and Jeremiah just singing so well.

Laine

Fat Bottom Girls
He is surprisingly reticent but should be able to really set the stage alight. Adam Lambert encourages him and he certainly gets the girls' support, including Katy's from the start. He's good and make a great effort with this track. I still didn't feel he put as much into entertaining us as he could have done, though.

Laci

Love Of My Life
A lesser known track. Beautifully performed and presented by this girl who is beginning to look to melike the winner. On par with Jeremiah for the best performance so far.

Alejandro & Walker

Mrs Robinson
A pretty straight version - it never really comes to life and you have no idea of what the song is about either, as neither of the guys give us anything other than the notes. Really not something I particularly want to listen to again. A pretty little ditty. That's all.

Wade

We Are The Champions
Should be a god choice and Wade can really interpret this track well. I did expect more 'power', though.

Alyssa

Somebody To Love
Adam and Alyssa look good together and she gets all his suggestions straightaway.Aa competent and quite impressive performance. Nice to watch and she is really trying hard, you can see that. It's not bad but I'd like to have seen her try to reach a few higher and stronger notes. The end was also a wasted opportunity.

My rating this week:

1 Laci
2 Jeremiah
3 Laine
4 Madison
5 Alejandro
6 Alyssa

---

7 Wade
8 Walker

In fact it is Alyssa and Walker who go. They have both done well and should find a career from this. I am a little surprised Wade made it through but he does stand out.

No Judges' Save.

The Top 10: Disney Night

Only American Idol could have a Disney Night. Oh, now I think about it, the Philippines could too. This is where the show goes off the tracks a bit and the contestants find themselves either in teenage girl heaven or a kind of hell for those who don't see themselves as out-and-out commercial artists in the genre.

Having said that, everyone knows it's coming when they enter and I am sure we'll find that even the least 'Disney' contestant will find a way to adapt one of many thousand tracks.

Uché
121 from Goofy
This is an obscure song that no-one seems to recognise. Not that it matters hugely as it suits him and he gives us a superb performance once again. I do fear for his chances, though, on this night which is not a natural scene for him. He'll need to have an established fan club ready to vote come what may and it was clear this was not there last week so it is a bit early for that. If he does survive, it will be because the scene suited someone else even less well.

Laci
I See The light from Tangled
Much more her kind of scene, this. A nice, gentle song, beautifully presented. She has a super sultry voice. It should work well for her.

Alejandro
Remember Me from Coco
A nice job with his guitar. Re-written and much improved! Well done. This defines 'talent'.

Alyssa
Colours Of The Wind from Pocohontas
This week should suit her too and keep her in the competition. A bit boring but pleasant first half. She goes off key in the middle but, with only two other girls left, I suspect she'll stay.

Leah Michel sings on her own and it's lovely to see her back again on the stage. The sing-a-long? Not such a good idea but that section is mercifully short. Someone needs to have another word with the producers.

Wade
You've Got A Friend from Toy Story
Good choice. Something I actually recognise too! It's not a good night for this guy but he might well survive with this cheery number. Harmless. Still the least good so far Idol-wise but it's an odd week anyway so who knows?

Demitrius
You'll Be In My Heart from Tarzan
So far I've only known one of these songs. This is nice job too, possibly the best vocal so far. He's getting more likeable and we feel we're getting to know him better each week. Probably had enough of the talk about his mum, now, though, no matter how nice she is. I'm not sure how he'll appeal across the board, though. I feel he may suffer for no real reason at all.

Walker
When She Loved Me from Toy Story
He even looks like a Disney character! A pleasant song and maybe not as easy to sing as it may sound. A nice performance behind the piano, possibly his best so far. He seems popular with the voters so I predict he will reach the Top 8.

Madison
How Far Will I Go from Moana
A clever water effect on the stage. This is the girl who doesn't miss notes. "She could be cast for a musical tomorrow" says the mentor. That was good, very good. Best tonight.

Laine
Oo De Lai from Robin Hood
Laine is easy for fans at home to connect with. Here he brings a touch of Country. Not a bad move as the only competition that gives him is Laci who will be around for a while yet. Simple, but effective and I reckon he may have more support out there as this year's young handsome white guy than I'd appreciated.

Jeremiah
Candle On The water from Peter's Dragon
Only his sister is there to support him but that's better than none of the family. All very telling. A strange song. Not that great but he is flawless if not very inspiring this week.

I would place them:

1 Madison
2 Alejandro
3 Laci
4 Uché
5Walker
6 Jeremiah
7 Alyssa
8 Laine

---

9 Wade
10 Demtrius

The three at the bottom were, in fact, the same three who were saved last week which shows America's votes are pretty much the same. Alyssa scrapes through in 8th place and it is poor Uché and Demtrius who go. This time there is no save exercised. I think Lionel realises that not a lot is going to change in voting intent. Ryan hints that Laine has done very well indeed. Interesting.

It's all a bit white now.

Top 14 Pt 2

Before the results are announced I would place the contestants in the following categories:

Certain Top 10 Material!
Jeremiah | Uché | Alejandro | Laci Kay
Pretty Safe and deserve a place
Madison | Riley | Evelyn | Demitrius
Vulnerable
Eddie | Laine | Walker | Ashley
Would be lucky to make it
Wade | Alyssa

Now Ryan announces individually who makes it to the Top 7 and who may have to be chosen by the judges. They can choose three from the remaining 7. Oddly, even those who are through get to sing.

Madison is through and does a great version of You And I.

Evelyn is not. She sings Dust In The Wind, a Kansas song. It suits her well. Nice performance. Looks lovely.

Walker is through. He does a gentle little number which suits him much better. Nice. I can his appeal to voters.

Riley is not through. Wow. That's a shock. She does another super performance. They need a pure Country entry and, without her, Laci Kay has a pretty clear run to close to the Final.

Jeremiah is through. He sings an original number called Almost Heaven. It's really good and he has got to have done himself a lot of god with that.

Alyssah is not through. She sings Katy's number - The One That Got away! An excellent performance too.

Wade is through. He does a perfect song too. Superb and I'm glad to see him make it after an uncertain earlier week. It may be a pity he 'wasted' that track, though. He might have been better advised to play that card later.

Demitrius is not through. I had wondered whether he has enough appeal. With those vocal skills, though, he deserves another chance. He's solid but looks worried every time.

Laci Kay is through. She does a beautiful Fleetwood Mac number As Long As you Follow..  Nice.

Eddie is not through. I thought he might have made it as he seemed to have been very much liked by the judges to date. The Kings of Leon number, Use Somebody is powerful and it's another great performance. It'll be tough for the judges to choose three out of this seven.

It looks like it will be Alejandro and Uché through and Laine and Ashley are at risk with just four to go.

Ashley is not through. Sir Duke is possibly the most 'professional' performance of the night so far although I did wonder about her pitch in places. She did own the stage tonight and seemed very comfortable now.

Laine is next. Oh! He's in!! He does come across well and this CCR-type tune is great. I hope it's coming back in style but I doubt that it will just yet and that Laine may not get that much further. Top 10's cool though.

So, only one - presumably Alejandro - gets through. That shows how Uché just doesn't attract the same proportion of admirers as he does in the venue. I'm sure he'll get saved, though, but that only leaves two spaces for the others.

Alejandro does another original. At the piano showing superb abilities once again. I cannot imagine him not winning at the moment.

So who will be saved? I'd say Uché, Riley and Alyssah.

Uché sings Diamonds, the Rhianna number. He sounds amazing and it's a very powerful performance, the best of all in terms of star quality and entertainment. Wake up America and put this guy through. He deserves Top 5.

Emotions run high as Lionel simply goes on stage and walks him over to the Top 10 group!

Luke saves Demetrius. I was not expecting that. And Katy saves Alyssah. Again, whilst I would have given her an extra chance, I was not expecting Katy to deliver it.

So we have the Top 10. Pretty good group of people.

Top 14 Pt 1

Now we get the very big stage and the votes are public votes. Ryan's back. The judges will each pick one to save out of the bottom seven to create the Top 10 for this Season.

Laine

That's all Right Mama

Even this guy manages to bring the Church into his intro now. It's such a big thing across the Pond in this section of Entertainment land. Laine looks cool and does the Elvis number pretty straight but without any of the Elvis style. He is very competent, pleasant but a bit bland. There's no X factor, although I like the guy and would put him in the Top 10. Just.

Evelyn

The middle by Jimmy Eat World

Wow. This is different! Nice, best best pants in the world! Great number I haven't heard of before but i wish I had. Loved that. She's pretty too and very competent. I am not sure what voters will make of it, though. For that reason she may be at risk.

Alyssa

She Used To Be Mine

A classy look, way over 16. Not an easy song, quite an older person song which she delivers accurately but I'm not sure about the emotions and one or two off-key bits appeared to which spoilt her performance. A tough act but not one of her best efforts. She could be vulnerable as everyone's so likeable this year.

Eddie

Benny & The Jets

A good choice for this guy. Much better than last week. That could please the crowd too as he's more of an act than Laine was. A smart move and he puts a lot into a real performance. Not a winner, though. I wouldn't have put him in the Top14 but he might stick around.

Riley

Suds In The Bucket

Cheer leader, pom poms, this is the real Country American gal. Such a pretty young thing too. This is fabulous classic Country in both her voice and look. The best performance so far. Spot-on vocals and really very entertaining. The song's about an 18-year-old going off with her prince just like that one afternoon. Riley's a bit young but it just about rang true. That was cool. I hope people do vote for her and not just assume she'll do well.

Wade

Trouble

He tells us how he used to sing 'Metal' style music and looked the part then too. Quite a difference now. Now he's found a great niche and is quite different to the rest. It is a big, moody number but he's got tough competition now and I am not sure how good this was for catching votes. He may have saved himself. I'm not sure.

Dimitrius

Perfect (Ed Sheeran)

I'd forgotten that he sued to sing opera. That may explain why he is so good vocally. A nice track which should appeal. He may not get the Texas vote, I guess, but he is the best male singer so far. He puts an original touch to the well-known Ed Sheeran number. Well done.

Madison

Fallin' (Alicia Keyes)

Another 17 year old but what a difference! A really classy performance of this track which is very demanding. A strong presence as she moves from piano to the stage. I'd put her top with that at the moment.

Jeremiah

We All Fall In Love Sometimes

This is an Elton John track which I don't know. It suits him really well, though, and he could turn that into a hit tomorrow. A stunning performance. the vest so far.  A sure-fire Top 10 place for him.

Uché

Finesse (Bruno Mars)

He is the #1 performance artist this year. The track, though, did not work for me at all and I am not at all sure the voters will have figured it out either. However, for sheer talent, he needs to make it. Pretty amazing. The crowd and judges all loved it, whatever it was.

Alejandro

One Dance (Drake)

A different scene for Alejandro as the DJ or Electronic Board manager tonight. It's pretty cool and nicely 2020, which will get some useful youth votes. Fascinating to see this breadth of talent.This week he doesn't win but he will most certainly be in the Top 10.

Ashley

Fix You (Coldplay)

I feel she has a lot to do to stay in the Top 10. It's a great song to make the attempt, though. I love her voice. I prefer her to Madison on this occasion but I am not sure the public are right behind her in enough numbers. I hope they vote but i am not sure.

Laci

I Miss You (Blink 182)

A powerful and quite stunning performance. Very pure talent. I love this interpretation. Will the public? I guess she steals Ashley's spot. I also think she steals Madison's too.

Walker

Climb Every Mountain

Wow. that's unexpected. He's popular and even though this didn't quite work production-wise, with annoying drums, he might just squeeze into the Top 10, taking Edie's spot.

Top 20: The Duets Pt 2

It really is very good to see these twenty entrants getting lots of time and opportunities to impress people. In the dreadful last few days of the X Factor everything is rushed through. To get to this stage, the entrants must all be pretty reasonable and be regarded as having some chance of reaching the Live Shows. So an extended period at this time instead of the rapid cuts is entirely appropriate. If anything, cut more later, by which time everyone will have had a good chance to make their mark and, indeed, some may have achieved success outside the competition and go on to star even without the Idol title itself.

This stage is so important and I am so pleased they have given everyone lots of time and aired the full performances too.

With Ryan Seacrest unwell for this edition, Bobby Bones, who has been doing a lot of mentoring with the entrants in the background and who actually does look quite a lot like Ryan, takes over on the big stage.

Alyssa Raghou and Julia Michaels
Issues
Julia's tattoos really do spoil her appearance. It's like someone has been drawing all over her, which I suppose they have been. But that's nothing to do with Alyssa who does not look like one of Julia's natural buddies but they get on a do a professional job of the track. Alyssa slows things down for this. You sense that Julia isn't confident with her, as Alyssa seems to wait for cues and is a bit late each time. For all that, Alyssa is smart and likeable in this more gentle image we are presented with. Her tone is nice and I get the feeling that she'd be fine on her own and most reliable on a Live Show.
Lionel is very impressed. You can see he's in her corner and I think I would be too, especially as she is so young. Only 16 and has clearly been working very hard.
Whether she'll survive is very much down to how a few others come across in this group.

Eddie Island and Lukas Graham
7 Years
I'm a bit tired of this song, good though it is. It was played almost non-stop here in the UK and it just isn't one of those songs you can have on repeat. It should be good for Eddie, though, as it suits his voice well and has quite a good appeal through its lyrics.
Oh dear. Eddie comes on to the stage dancing in an odd way but looking all cheerful and smiley whilst Lukas stands pretty still just tells the story. Eddie is moving around annoyingly throughout. A stupid dance and smiling. Wrong. OK, so he has a good voice and all the notes were there. He can be a cute guy in an odd sort of way but that's it. He needs to go.

Wade Cota with lovelytheband
Broken
A nice performance with a real band. Compare Wade to Eddie. Well, no comparison. One deserves to go forward, the other doesn't. Wade looks the part of a lead singer. That works better than when he's on his own. He's very good, natural. Well done, Wade. I'd like to see him go further.
We learn that his jacket belongs to one of the guys on the doors outside. I thought that idol producers would be throwing money at them all by now and clothing them but it seems not. I was also surprised when he said he didn't have a smartphone so he couldn't share stuff on Instagram with the lovelytheband guy.

Wade has already 'won' in many ways. Good for him. He won't win the show but he will get some offers along the way.

Ryan Hammond and Cynthia Erivo
Hold On I'm Coming
Cynthia is someone else I do not recognise. She's a talented singer, though and gives good advice. This old number with it's typically risqué lyric from the 60s or 70s is a good soul track but nothing special. It's also weird to hear Ryan saying "I just listened to Church music when I was young". What on Earth? It wouldn't have been the 1940s but the 1990s when he was young! I do worry about America sometimes. As for the performance, Cynthia was OK but Ryan just made a good effort but just doesn't look the part or leave us wanting more. I should think this will be the end of his road here.

Evelyn Cormier and Chris Isaak
Wicked Game
Wow. This could be a moment. A nice pairing. It was Evelyn's audition song and she's a major fan of Chris, which is pretty clear from the start. I reckon he really fancies her too but couldn't possibly admit that these days. It does add a lot to the chemistry that comes across though. They are excellent as individuals. Together? I'm not so sure. That was quite sultry and it certainly worked as Chris singing about her in the lyrics but she held back.
Interesting. She's different and I like her and her voice. A class act but whether she'll get much further I am not sure. In this group, I think she will scrape through as there are certainly two or three who should not move on.

Logan Johnson and Julia Michaels
She's looking a lot happier with Logan than with Alyssa. There's a lot going on from her side but Logan looks like a rabbit caught in a car's headlights most of the time. It's a very long intro from the girl and you begin to wonder whether Logan will actually get a chance. Eventually he joins in but she is most definitely in charge and the star here. I would like to have seen them working closer together and not at opposite ends of a big stage for most of the time. It was a difficult song. Logan does look good and would be an attraction in the Live Shows but i wouldn't put him through, looking at the competition.

Raquel Trinidad and lovelytheband
Tiny Dancer
No. That didn't work. Maybe I like the original too much but it wasn't until the very end that either made any real effort and too many runs kept appearing along the way. I have never found this girl much of a contestant and she hasn't brought anything special this week either, so this will be good news for both Alyssa and Evelyn.

Alejandro Aranda and Ben Harper
There Will Be A Light
Ben's family ran a record and music store in the town next to where Alejandro was brought up. It seems he heard A track from Idol with Alejandro playing guitar and was determined to help him get on. I guess he must be some star there too but I have not heard of Ben before. I assume that this is his song. Anyway, that seems to be why he's here doing the duet. He calls Alejandro "a true artist". This is nice. To be honest, Alejandro is the star of these two. It's a fairly 'ordinary' track that is nice rather than being really memorable but it's by far the best we've seen so far tonight and Alejandro is a mist to go forward. No question.

Dimitrius Graham and Lukas Graham
Love Someone
Here's a nice pairing. I can see that they have bonded so much better than with Eddie. Real emotions from Dimitrius. He's not in the lead but I'd like to see him make the Live Shows. Brilliant duet. Not a natural star but that was excellent.

Jeremiah Lloyd Harman and Cynthia Erivo
Time After Time
A great Cyndi Lauper number. He's been excellent so far. I just hope this is not to 'floaty' for him. He gets to start which is a good sign. Great. He does a good job and they make a very good pair, playing it dead straight too. Yes, he'll be through.

After all these performances my prediction was that Ryan and Raquel would have to go. I also had doubts about Eddie and Logan and, unless there was an imbalance between girls and boys that had to be addressed for diversity reasons (ugh!), Alyssa and Evelyn would both get through.

It is Logan who goes and, quite surprisingly to me, Eddie Island makes the Live Shows along with Wade, Jeremiah, Dimitrius, Alyssa and Evelyn. Oh, and, of curse, the last announced, Alejandro!

I though I had heard that there would be a shock twist to this show with four acts being cut. So I was always expecting a fourth name to go but it didn't happen. I must have misheard Ryan the previous night and maybe he's referring to next week. I would hope that 14 isn't to be cut to 10 in one hit, unless they do a two-parter with more than one song.

However, making the Live Shows is a pretty good thing for all of them and I am pretty impressed this year with the standards, the production and, apart from the panel and some contestants being a bit heavy on the old church stuff, the entertainment.

Top 20: The Duets Pt 1

This is becoming quite an impressive show, mainly due to the remaining talent and some smart production which produces lost of emotions without taking years of viewing time with back stories. The emotions are all current and mostly due to exceptionally good performances.

The three judges I have sort of got used to. I respect them all and they talk sense - indeed, a lot more sense than I remember Britney, Mariah and Nicki providing in total on the X Factor USA and judges on earlier Idol shows. The heavy religion does grate a bit but it's meant well.

This week each contestant  gets to perform with either Jason Mraz, Elle King, Shaggy, Brett Young or Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo.

Walter Burroughs
He gets Jason Mraz and gets out a bit in the shade. Walker's cool but just a bit average in my view. He has a cheerful face and you can't help liking the guy and wishing him well but you do have to remember who else is in this competition. He's not going to win so now might be a good time to let him go. Having said that, going first means he may benefit and survive as people tend to vote to keep and then seldom take it away.

Kate Barnette sings with Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo. I know her and didn't realise she was still performing and certainly didn't know what she looked like. A big star in her day and she still sounds good now.
"Growing up, I wasn't allowed to listen to certain types of music" has to be one of the classic quotes of the whole series from Kate. She lacks the edge of Pat Benatar and seemed to be thinking about what she was doing just a bit much. She just held back for too long. A nice job but she's not a winner either.

Riley Thomson and Brett Young
This young girl comes on on her own at the start and looks fabulous. She sounds excellent too. That worked well and for her first ever duet that was impressive. I don't know this Brett fellow. He's a pretty run-of-the-mill Country-style singer, of which there's a lot across the Pond. This should keep her in the running, though, and she is a clear challenge to some of the favourites.

Uché and Shaggy
Uché comes straight out and gets on with the job and is the first of the contestants who clearly takes a lead in these performances. It's like he's as big an act as Shaggy. I could imagine that he may well be so in the not too distant future. He's this year's Adam Lambert. Shaggy sort of follows on with him. I am not sure the forgettable song makes that much impact but the crowd love them and he should easily fly through to the Top 14.

Madison VanDenBerg sings with Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo. She is a confident singer. It's a great song and that worked pretty well for her. It was the better of the two duets we've seen with Pat. She has the judges' support too but I am yet to be convinced. I expect she'll make it through but after that?

Shawn Robinson sings with Elle King. Now I know the song xs and os but I didn't remember the girl Elle at all. She does not seem a good match for Shawn and she's chosen Proud Mary for him which he doesn't seem too happy about either. All in all you feel he's got the short straw here and, whilst she may actually have had some sense chosing the track as it did suit his voice, it wasn't very impressive at all. He recovers from a mis-timed line well which is to his credit but I feel this is definitely the end of his time on American Idol.

Ashley Hess is with Jason Mraz. I am warming to this girl. She's been a little in the background and hasn't got the obvious 'star quality' but she is still a bit special. She has actually re-worked this song herself and that is cool. Especially as she's to do it with the guy! It works really well and puts this girl on very much the ladder. It's like she took the lead in that performance and she ought to get another chance.

Bumbly sings with Shaggy. They do look cool together. Her Latin voice is needed in this competition. It's a really good performance and they're well-matched. Nice to watch. I'm just not really sure that she was strong enough to go further. It'll be a close call. I would give her the chance.

Lacy Kaye Booth and Brett Young.
Wow. These two really are good together. You can feel the emotion and Lacy is very, very good at putting the lyrics across. One advantage that she has over Riley is that may know what she's singing about. Another is her voice. Riley is straight Country, delightful but just that. Lacy has a special quality and she's showing what she can do more each week. I'd prefer that she didn't wear so much make-up but that doesn't affect what we hear coming from her mouth.
Lionel says " this will be big for you."
Katy says " I don't want to play favourites but . . ."
Yup. Lacy's through.

Laine Hardy and Elle King
I just wish I didn't hear "Take a load of fanny" as the Band's lyric for The Weight as the weight of Elle sits with legs apart and a skin tight leopard-print all-over thing covering some parts of her ample frame. These two people do not match. Nevertheless Laine does a pretty reasonable job of the track and I'd like to think he did enough. I also feel that this song desperately needs the ...aaaannd.... bits to make it work.

OK. I thought the decisions were down to public votes but, no, it seems that the judges still control who goes and who stays. Three of the 10 go.

It's farewell to Bumbly, Kate and Shawn.

The Top 20 Perform

Ryan Seacrest is doing his proper job as host on the big stage now. It's nice to see two substantial rounds now for those who have made it this far - with tonight's full-length solo performances and then duets with some stars next. Such an important feature which I cried out for with X Factor who made the mistake of cutting way to quickly at these stages. This is when those who may be new to all this get a chance to learn and they need more opportunity to get themselves across to the voting audience.

I have ranked these performances, purely in my own judgement as to how they might fare in the overall competition. I have yet to see the duet rounds and so that may well affect the final order. I understand that 14 will make it through out of this group after the duet round and, I think, that will be the people who finally have made it to the all-important Live Shows.

Madison VanDenberg
Domino
I am still not sure about this girl. Is she that much different or just good at doing this type of number? She does have great singing ability although, performing here n the big stage, she did seem a little breathless and the notes were not all as spot-on as they had seemed before. As usual, though, she gets huge compliments from the judges.

Shawn Robinson
Jealous
Great vocals and a pretty good performance but he is a bit stiff and robotic to watch. He's talented but I still don't see this guy moving on much further in the competition.

Laine Hardy
Bring It On Home To Me
I'd forgotten that this guy hadn't actually planned to audition! He is very good and seems totally in control and aware of what he needs to do. Whilst he is a bit retro, he can get away with it and it does make him stand out from the crowd. He looks the part. He also steps up the show half-way through. A good move. That worked well.

Uché
Figures
Not a track I know at all. Whatever! It works for him! Marvellous performance and if he keeps this standard up then he could well be The One. I can see him in the Final for sure. Fabulous guy and he'll have to go seriously wrong somewhere not to make it.

Eddie Island
I Belong With You
He's almost the complete opposite to the previous guy in terms of stage presence! He does a nice job and has a great voice and gets a good response from the audience too. He's a popular guy. I just don't see him winning.

Evelyn Cormier
Leaving On  A Jet Plane
It's a lovely number but I felt she treated it a bit more heavily than I would have wanted. More her phrasing was hard work and she ought to be more gentle. A nice girl, unusual and very talented but this may have been her at her peak. She'll need to find something special to bring in the votes to advance further.

Alyssa Ragou
Ain't It Fun
One of the best 'pop stars' and if they gave her some Latin stuff to do then I reckon she'd stand a better chance still. She was cut last year at this stage and is liable to fall again. It was an average track and she didn't show as much presence as I'd expected.

Ryan Hammond
You Say
A lovely ballad, well sung and he's mature enough to mean the words too. But this could be as far as I would expect him to go. A nice chap but unlikely to win.

Raquel Trinidad
Lovefool
A nice Cardigans' number which suits her voice and style. But she just comes, performs and goes and doesn't leave me with any real desire to vote for her. I'd be surprised if she gets further.

Logan Johnson
Love Don't Live Here Any More
This chap could be a very popular young star. He's a nice singer, super youthful look. But this was not a great performance. It was a bit of a cruise but I'd still give him another chance.

Demetrius Graham
Hello
A weird start to the Adele number! He is a superb singer but when he opens up it doesn't quite work for him. I'd love to see him progress, although he'd never match Uché with whom he'd get compared. He may get dropped at this point.

Riley Thomson
Jolene
Wow. Here's someone who really should get dropped yet. She's taken on the classic number and is the youngest in the competition too.She has a brilliant voice and seems totally natural, even at 16, on the big stage. I don't know how she can produce any meaning from the track's lyrics at just that age, though, which is hardly criticism as she can do little about that. She is a star, for sure, and has little direct competition in this genre. She ought to make Top 5 and is the #1 girl.

Walker Burroughs
How Deep Is Your Love?
Virtually a capella at the start. Very good. He's a likeable guy, great voice and tone but i just don't see him breaking through into the Big Time. It's a bit of a tedious performance for me. All good, but that's about it, really.

Bumbly
Vision Of Love
Lionel says that she "brings a bit of professionalism to the competition". She's got a great voice but seems to have worn a dress that does not allow much movement on the big stage, as she stays more or less attached to the microphone stand. With the right track, she could go far and sell well. However, she gets some of the poorest reviews of all from the judges. Luckily I think it's the public who choose who moves on. I think she deserves to get to the Top 10.

Ashley Hess
Dreaming With A Broken Heart
She's at the piano and comes across as very cool and different. It's not an easy song to do or put across at all but I felt she did a good job apart from missing some high notes. That spoilt things a bit and may well have lost her votes. She needs rescuing in the next round.


Alejandro Aranda
I Fall Apart
I love this guy. He brings so much emotion to every performance. He just stands there with his guitar - which he plays magnificently and totally naturally as if he had been born holding it. It's a gentle number but that's how it should be with this fellow. As the judges say - he's special. He is still the potential winner of this show.

Kate Barnette
Sunday Morning
I don't really know what to make of her. She's good but I don't know where she fits in. There's a nice jazzy feel to this number and not an easy task to perform this either but she does do a first class job. I just wonder how commercial she would be and whether that will attract support from the public.

Jeremiah Harman
Make You Feel My Love
He's at the piano too. A super voice and nice personality. You can tell he means all the lyrics so really has to beat the likes of Walter and Eddie, for instance. This is a super performance with little else other than his own voice and his piano accompaniment. He'll come close in this competition.

Laci Kaye Booth
I Want You To Want Me
This girl stands with her guitar, looking a star from head to toe. She is totally natural and Country, but not in a dated way. She gives a lot of character in this performance - spot-on notes and just sounds great. She pulls us in for sure. An excellent performance and she is a real contender - she could push Riley out of the ~1 girl spot. Brilliant but - will she appeal to the voters? She is still just a little 'manufactured' in some respects.

Wade Cota
All I Want
Someone who most definitely is not manufactured is Wade. He has a very husky start and is the complete opposite in just about all respects to Laci! He breaks his voice open then and is like all the Mumfords in one. A really good choice of track - a perfect song for this guy. I can see him making it big time with this style. A super audition!

My Ranking so far:

1. Alejandro
2. Uché
3. Laine
4. Laci
5. Riley
6. Jeremiah
7. Wade
8. Eddie
9. Bumbly
10. Shawn
11. Madison
12. Logan
13. Evelyn
14. Alyssa

---

15. Demitrius
16. Walker
17. Kate
18. Ryan
19. Ashley
20. Raquel

Hawaii. The Top 40

Over a few days in sunny Hawaii, the 40 contestants who have made it this far will be cut to just 20. Expect some shocks along the way!

Alyssa Ragou
Excellent performance. She looks like an instantly marketable product. She's not entirely credible, though, and seems to be acting, although she does act incredibly well!

Madison Vandenberg sings Who's Lovin' You Now and has an excellent vocal. She's familiar and comfortable on stage with a strong, if slightly dour, personality. She's pretty professional and sails through with Alyssa.

Myra is the Vietnamese girl who has found a place in many of our hearts. She seems younger and more modern now and much more likely to have success as an artist in the States than I would have expected from earlier auditions. I would say she'd sell much better than the previous two but the judges drop her.

Logan Johnson sings Sorry in Spanish and this goes down really well with the audience! A smart move and this works very well.He looks like a potential winner. Nice job. Sailed through. He just needs to stay off those chemicals.

Nate Walker does Still right in front of the man himself! A good job if a bit over-run as he has been all the way through. I thought he'd make it but he didn't. First major surprise.

Dimitrius Graham is someone who's been pretty under the radar so far. I barely remember him. He seems a totally natural performer, current and confident. A nice voice. You can see how he would have beaten Nate in a future round. However, first we get shown the guy going off in tears after what looked like a 'No. decision. Wrong, he's actually through after all. Odd editing but a deserved Top 20 place.

Ashley Hess does not have one of the best songs and it's all a bit laborious. She has been good but not a star. Maybe she'll be better doing quite things in her own way rather than trying to wow a crowd with dancing or whatever. The judges keep her in. Good.

Drake McCain is one we'll always remember because of the crazy hair brand. Great phrasing in his performance. He's confident and could have been 2019's Mick Hucknell, proving that ugly guys do very well sometimes. But he's rejected, being just a bit below the high standards we've got this year and, although unspoken, I fear he just isn't that easy to package.

Kai The Singer has had a tremendous run so far. She has developed so much in each week. This time she is really quite animated but seems to be natural with it. They remark that she has come right 'out of her shell'. She's a bit breathless and this all does seem quite new to her. Dancing for the first time ever too, I think. If she carries on like this she'll be difficult to beat. Unfortunately, the judges didn't get her technical ability and maybe they're right in that she needs time to get used to all this. I would have taken her into the Top 20 but this was a surprising rejection.

Lacy Kay Booth sings Georgia On My Mind fantastically well. She has an outstanding voice and is different to most of the other girls which makes her memorable. It's a nice personal version of this track, near perfect. She is still just a bit too 'American' for me with her wide open eyes and helicopter mum. But that's not necessarily bad in this show.

I remember thinking that we haven't had any 'Country' yet. The stage is pretty much open to anyone in this genre as things stand at the moment.

Nick Townsend sings Hold Back The River. I am not sure he's that great. It's all very sound, no complaints and you do want to wish him well but I don't see him going much further. He gets rejected.

We then see Clay Page, Kason Lester and Johanna Jones dropped too.

Ryan Hammond comes on and is looking good. He's a strong singer and can entertain the crowd pretty well too. But I'm not sure he fits anywhere and doesn't really stand out. However, he makes it, although I suspect that he was one that might just as easily have not made it had the judges looked at these auditions another day.

Kate Barnette sounds a bit nervous, although she has experience and really ought to know what she's doing.

Evelyn Barmier has been impressive throughout the show so far, an unusual artist but she is definitely an artist with great talent. I am not convinced that either will appeal to a big audience wit votes in the Live Shows but they both make it.

Emma Kleinberg, who I don't remember, looks great but is nothing special. I would have ranked her above Kate, though, but the judges reject her.

Uché is up next. I have major expectations for this guy. He has bags and bags of personality and the crowd love him. His has been the best performance of all and it's something of an Adam Lambert moment. A definite, dead cert Top 20.

Alejandro Aranda gets blessed by some weird woman called Auntie Nettie who gives everyone some chant but gives this guy something more. Having got that out of the way Alejandro gives a beautiful rendition of Yellow. Expect to see him in the final v Uché. Another definite, dead cert Top 20.

Jeremiah Harman is next and he is some emotional singer. He does Landslide which is a superb choice for him at this time. I'm most impressed and there's yet another potential finalist. We now need some girls to compete for the Top 3.

Shayy might have been most people's idea of the perfect candidate. There has been something special about this girl, coping with not being able to see and reaching all our hearts with some superb auditions so far. You really want her to succeed but this is not her best performance at all and I'm not sure how much further she would go if she did reach the Top 20. She'd make good TV for the Live Shows, though,m surely and people adore her. She gets rejected and that is an obvious shock to the other contestants too.

Mica, Patyon and Idalis follow with another three rejections.

Riley Thomson is now on and she is truly excellent and one of what has to be very, very few Country girls making it through this year. She looks amazing at 16. I cannot imagine what she'll be like at 20 or 30. A fabulous performer too. She is the complete package and, so far, the only contender for the female No.1 spot. A genuine American Idol in the making, but, at 16, who knows what life will bring that she may or may not cope with? She has to be though

Raquel Trinidad is not the most likeable person to watch. But she's through so the judges must have seen or heard something I didn't. Shawn Robinson is a good singer and he gets through too from a very brief glimpse of the two auditions. So too does the remarkable Bumbly who is a smart performer who brings a much-needed Latin edge to the show. She deserves to be Top 20.

Wade Cota has never been more than an hour away from home, he tells us. He didn't have a passport but they've got him there somehow. He's quite dumb in a pleasant way and worries that he has no theory of performing or music or anything for that matter. His coach reassures him that sometimes natural atlent will rise above all that stuff. Sure enough, he comes across a likeable lump on stage and stands out because of his size and very natural talent, gravelly old voice and the Hozier song is a good move too! They put him in the Top 20 and he says That's crazy, why?!

Margie Mays and Edie island are both good fun and quite entertaining. It's only Eddie who gets through through. He has a good voice but odd looks. His notes are spot-on. Margie was fun but always a bit average.

Laine Hardy failed at this point last year. He's up with Tyler Mitchell, a remarkably good-looking Country guy. Laine does Come Together pretty damn well and is some performer, standing out as quite unique and making a big effort too. In contrast Tyler strolls easily through his number, reliable, solid and good-looking. But maybe just a bit forgettable. Laine makes it and that is the Top 20 complete.

Hollywood Week

Over the next few days 175 entries will be whittled down to just 40. The TV programme shows us only glimpses of some of those who will be successful. I think we see everyone who makes it to the last 40 but I haven't counted. It is difficult to review performances as we see so little and, especially in the group round, I have never been that sure we see the best of everyone anyway.

So all I can do is list my own notes as the individual sessions proceeded.

Laci Kay Booth
Great voice, very white teeth. Seems odd doing Natural Woman but she does do it well.

Alejandro Aranda
One of the predicted winners does Sorry from justin Bieber. Nice guitar work, all very good. Katy throws her jacket at him and then the other two as well. Seems like he's the one to watch!
Courtney Penry
Shouting and almost rapping. Forgot the words. All OTT and she's gone.

Madison Vandenburg
The 'next Kelly Clarkson' as the panel had called her. A bit tinny but this girl knows what she's doing. Pretty good talent but rather a flat personality.
Margie Mays
A pretty crazy girl. Quite fun, nice personality, OK but nothing special.

Tyler Mitchell
Sounds good. Confident
Logan Johnson
Recovering alcoholic. Not great but different to most and a good voice
Eddie Island
he's the odd-looking one with the Harry potter glasses. Good audition - like Coldplay meets someone.
Colby Swift
Good ol' boy but only 19 and can do Spanish. Totally genuine. Luke spots he has holes in his boots and gives him his. No-one had mentioned to Luke that the guy probably had decent boots at home but wears the ones with holes as a lucky charm!
Shawn Robinson
A change is going to come. Lots of runs which are a drag but  quite good.
Gill Ashton seemed another [pretty good one but gets a no after we see Dalton Elliott and Katie Belle sail through.
Laine Haron is gravelly and confident. Looks comfortable.
Jade Flores
Excellent! Unchained Melody is, for me, one of the best auditions we've seen.
Myra Tran
This is the Vietnamese girl and she attempts Chandelier Also pretty good audition again but she does struggle with the top notes.
Jeremiah Lloyd Palmer is the church guy whose parents and church won't accept him now he's declared as gay. Sings You're beautiful and does it well. He's a talented guy and should make the Top 24 with a nice bit of controversy and embarrassment for the churches and the panel who all are very churchy too but will have to put down one of the branches.
Walker Burroughs
He's Top 10 material, says Luke. Jazzy, different, seems to be on just the black keys. A very good performance.
Nate Walker
A very good performer on stage and he can sing with a cool range. Deserves to do well but gets ill.
Nick Townsend
lost his brothers. Another excellent and heartfelt audition - quite modern sounding unlike many this year.
Lauren Engle
She does the Jesus Take The Wheel number but is dreadfully off key. Pity as she looks great and could otherwise have been good.
Wade Coda
The big gravelly bloke whose dad used to beat him up. Good solid chap and he can sing well.
Dimiteus Graham
The Wind Beneath My Wings is always a good audition track and he does it a capella which is pretty impressive. The mother on FaceTime in hospital is a bit weird, to be honest.

A few spin out next and then we see a few more through, like Juan Pablo, Evelyn Cormier, Clay page and Shayy.

Next is Group Night which is not easy to watch and even more difficult to report on as I can never be sure who is who in all the groups! I also find this round a disaster area that is unnecessarily stressful where seasoned performers will not be affected but new talent may well suffer unfairly. There is also the problem of choosing who you work with. Some people are easy-going, others are a pain in the backside. Juan Pablo showed his true colours, for example and may well have been kicked out because of that, despite being all good and making Katy gooey earlier in the auditions.

Finally we get to the more useful guides to stardom - the Solo Round.

Walter Burroughs
Your Song goes down very well. He's a nice singer. 'Harry Potter can sing' says Katy. Now I am confused about who is the Harry Potter look-a-like as I'd thought it was Eddie Island.

Juan Pablo
A Million Reasons is a passionate but OTT performance as if he was trying far to hard. He's pretty talented but i am not sure that worked and I think his behaviour in the Group Round has let him down.

Ryan Hammond
A strong singer - he could be quite appealing and ought to make it through but there are several similar who are as good.

Kai The Singer
Here's a reminder of the differences between the contestants. Kai says this was her first time ever on a plane, even on an escalator! She had never expected to be able to have seen the 'Hollywood' sign on the hills either. This was a nice audition. Very controlled but she is talented and her performance drew us in. This is a contender for the prize.

Riley Thompson
Ring Of Fire A typical Country Girl performance. None the worse for that, though!

Raquel Trinidad
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face Lovely

Evelyn Cormier
Wonderwall Splendid, another contender.

Eddie Island
Did his own track called 1974 which was risky as it was not a good song but his voice is interesting and he may still get through.

Alejandro Aranda
So far he's been the leader and tries an original song too. 10 Years  succeeded where Eddie Island didn't.

Margie Mays
Appealing and sweet girl. She works hard and the panel remark that she simply 'doesn't know how good she is'.

Wade Cota tries his own song too. Quite different with his big gravel voice. He's not so good this time, though, with a poor song.

Nate Walker
Still suffering from a poor voice. He tries always On My Mind but he's all over the place.

Tyler Mitchell
Here's a country lad who is well used to working hard but not the stress that this place produces. He has been one of the best Country boys - he looks good and sounds strong with some passion. He forgets some words but may still make it.

Courtney
We see her fly through very briefly

Drake McCain
He's the one with the weird orange vertical Afro. He has a nice tone but I don't know that he's that different really. He gets lots of applause. Not sure why. A memorable appearance, for sure.

Bumbly
I must have missed her before. She's a subway singer so well used to having to survive in difficult circumstances. I like her - she's very different and original. She deserves a place.

Nick Townsend
In My Blood is an interesting song and performance. I like this guy and he's got unexpected talent.

Gaba
An excellent singer but how current is she really?

Jeremiah
The gay guy that the church have turned their back on at home. I still can't see how the panel can keep banging on about how cool God and Jesus are and also have this guy's story coming out each week. He does The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face and reminds me of our 2004 Pop Idol winner. Nice job. One of the best male singers. A bit dated but still one of the best auditions.

Kate Barnette
She could appeal to the kids.

Myra Tran
Sexy little girl look this time. Put A Spell On You is a good song but she seems to try too hard with her performance. That skirt stays in the memory, though.

Shayy
A very nice production from this popular girl.

Laci Kay Booth
She's so much an American Idol girl. Although I am not sure that she could be over-manufacturing herself and image, I am quite impressed. Nice. You have to smile at the two men's comments 'she looks great!'

Uché
He sings Stars So Beautiful and looks like a star already. He is one of the best performers and has a great character on screen, at least. Plenty of talent there and a real contender.

Madison Vandenberg
She changed from doing an original number at the very last moment. Instead she starts an Adele number and the backing is more or less non-existent at the beginning. Nevertheless she gets on with it and eventually everyone catches up with her. One of the best singers in this competition.

Austin Michael Robinson
He's the pretty 15 year old Country lad that Lionel reckons could sell just on his looks. Literally minutes before his audition he changes too and there is no rehearsal time. No-one accompanies him at the start but he keeps going. I'm impressed with him but the panel's not sure.

Shawn Robinson
Nice guy and another relaxed and star-like audition

Alyssa Raghu
What About Us? A natural pop star but she is trying a bit to hard here.

Johanna Jones
Wicked Game This girl is in love. Talent for sure. I love her too at first but there's an edge to her voice which isn't always that great. Katy cries a lot as the boyfriend proposes.

I now have the details of who made the Top 40 and you can find these on the tab on the menu bar.

The last auditions and some very, very long introductions

So many of these auditions seem to have Katy in the yellow and black dress with the matching eye liner. It's like all the best ones just happened to be when she wore that outfit. There is quite some fun to be had watching her clothes change throughout the series as the editors have mixed and matched a lot.

Here's the fourth audition show and we start with Jessica Whitely. She stands out because of the black and red with bright and bold lipstick. She auditioned seven years ago so you might expect some change over the years but, surprisingly, this first act is very annoying. Let's move on.

Jacob Moran is not an obvious Idol winner but he comes across as a nice person. The three judges clap his performance enthusiastically but he seemed pretty average to me. I don't know what I missed that they heard in the room. I guess we'll find out in a later programme.

Elyssa Raghu made the Top 24 last year. That would have been enough for most singers and has to be an impressive achievement on its own. This girl, however, is one determined person. For me I do feel she is just a bit too 'organised' with so much effort having been made to get further this time. She's taken lessons for this and that and no-one can deny that she not only sings well but looks gorgeous. I feel that I would prefer a natural talent and, perhaps, with the right choice of songs and a genuine, rather than practised, interpretation will win over voters' hearts in future. I actually found some of her audition a bit tuneless in places too. The plaudits and praise were all a bit too much. Yes, put her through but that's enough.

Colby Swift says that a prayer got him here. He hails from Midfield Texas and that does seem very much to be pretty much the middle of one big field! I guess they probably need God out there as there's no-one else to talk to for miles. He's an all-American movie ranch boy and does good ol' Country with passion. Not related to Taylor, apparently.

Evelyn Cormier is 19 going on 30. She does Wicked Game and this is an interesting and natural audition. A different contestant but I am not sure how much appeal she'll have.

Ashley Hess is a bit older at 27 and you expect something good from this girl. She is the best so far, with a nice personality and seems genuinely surprised at the enthusiastic reception, especially when the three gather round her piano as she does another number for them. Nice. Watch out for her.

Gaba is a strange name and she used to be Elizabeth Gaba but now is just Gaba for some reason we never understand. She's a great singer and comes across as pure, natural talent as she stands there in a torn boiler suit with little make-up or effort at self-promotion. Whilst she's good the panel really are OTT and go on and on which is beginning to get a bit annoying. I accept that the show wants to be positive - and I am glad that we don't see many of the failures - but so many acts cannot be so good to warrant so much time spent telling them.

Peach Martine is some contrast to the previous act. She has made a lot of effort to make herself look good and, annoyingly, seems to be good at absolutely everything. Not only does she have 13 A star qualifications but she's a cheerleader and knows how to stand and sing and impress. She's almost robotic and her version of Zombie almost sounds like a record with a scratch but all credit to her for the choice and interpretation. So, yes, you can't help but admire the girl but it seems that she regards success as something like a test and she has worked out how to pass it logically. We will need some emotion - genuine, not acted!

Luke turns into the show's guitar tuner for several acts which is quite amusing but also good to see.

Dalton Elliott gets a very, very long intro with his little kid and all lines about the dad doing the right stuff. He's an OK singer but not great and not really justifying all that initial time. On top of that we get an enormous family afterwards and that takes ages to clear. There's a lot of this going on.

After a weird bloke doing just noises - and I have no idea why they even bothered to include him - we meet Katie Belle. She's a model and an actor and says she has expensive taste. She is attractive, for sure, and does the Beatles' Golden Slumbers. It's nice but not brilliant. You have to smile as Luke swoons when she goes to shake his hand. This is America being far more free and less diverse and all that. I love it. There's no way it could happen on the BBC or ITV these days as everyone is so ruddy careful not to show any feeling at all and certainly won't fancy young girls. Katie is just 19.

Lauren Engle is a bit different. She's 27 and her husband died recently so we get another long and emotional trailer for her. She sings her own song about losing him which is really very good.

---

The final set of auditions follows. So now I imagine that, by the end of this show, if not already, we will have seen the next American Idol!

Jade Flores is the first up - an experienced singer in good Country style.

Jacob O'Brien is a slightly strange all-American boy with flags and a cap and he comes across as just a little thick, if pleasant enough. You tend to think that here is someone who believes God made the world and that it's all flat too. He is 18 but really does look closer to 48. He is quite mad about America and, whilst you shouldn't knock a patriot, he is slightly embarrassing. He has an original song too called I Love My Country in which earth rhymes with prefer. It's not great. He says that if people don't like the way he does things then they're not living the American way. Lionel bravely thinks that he's not good enough. An odd audition.

Christiaan Padovan is one good-looking young fellow. He comes from a smart part of town. He lives in 'The Hamptons' and Luke asks whether 'rich ladies loaded up on wine want to hit on you?' He's a decent character, despite all the comments about his looks, and takes it all in a good way. He is, more importantly, a decent singer - a good one after a lot of very average guys. The panel ask him to bring in the girlfriend. She is a good singer too and I was even wondering that they'd put her through too. This was a nice, genuine, audition.

Ryan Hammond was raised in church. A very, very long introduction again. Way too long. He is a very good singer and does a Sam smith number better than Sam Smith did it.

Chloe Channell has a famous chap called Billie Dean on guitar for her. He has written several big hits for other artists as well as having a good number himself on the Country charts, and she has also worked with Kenny Rogers. A well-connected young lady, indeed.She's only 16 but puts on a very confident and competent performance. We'll see her again.

Emma Kleinberg has yet another very, very long intro.She gives us her own song American Privilege which is interesting and quite a brave thing to do on this sort of programme. She delivered it well and deserves another chance but I'm not sure how far she'll go.

Zebulon Spencer is another older contestant at 27 and very good, strong Country singer. Although I thought he struggled with some high notes, Luke was very impressed and said this had been his favourite Country voice in the whole show this year and last. You do have to wonder just how much more positive they can get! It is all a bit much.

Jorgie is 23 and comes with The Jorgies as his band. It seems that this is how he comes out as being gay - on this programme. Luckily it is shown several months after the actual audition so he will have had time to tell his parents. He tries an impression of Katy which doesn't work and I am about to think he's a gonna when he does the real audition number which is an original song. Nicely done and an interesting guy.

Nick Merico is 22 and already has had a career as an actor in a Nickelodeon show. He can also sing really well and does Back To Black well. This guy could go a long way and I would expect to see him in the Live Shows.

Lady Mapo looks very scary in black with black lipstick and nasty facial piercings. That fooled me when she turned out to be last year's winner, Maddie Poppy! A very good bit of make-up there. Then we also get the runner-up Caleb who0 supports a friend who didn't know he'd be there! It's good ol' boy Country stuff. Surprisingly, Jared Summers gets a no. I thought he was bound to get through. Maybe that was why Caleb left the panel when the voting started.

The very last audition, not only that we see but actually the last one for the panel is Jackson Gillies. He has a skin condition which marks his appearance in places and you kinda hope that he'll not only get through but get some help from the amazing people they have in the background with make-up and cures for this and that. He comes across as a really nice bloke and you just hope he'll be good. In fact he's better than I had expected. The first singer with what I'd call real soul in the series that I can recall. He sings Make It Rain - an ideal song for this fellow. A nice way to end the auditions.

The one where we meet the next Kelly Clarkson and a gay PK.

Week 3 and we're straight in this time and meet Ashton Gill who is good friends with a chap called Laine who was there last Season but didn't get that far for some reason. He's supposedly there to support her. Lionel says that he must have done well from the previous appearance(s) as he now has the merch, the grill and can do girl hopping!! Hilarious! I love the way they can get away with this stuff. Here, the programme would get a pile of complaints and get shut down and judges replaced.

The girl is pretty average, to be honest but gets through. Laine, however, does a great impromptu version of a old Nazareth number and the judges actually seem to persuade him to join this Season and offer him a ticket to Hollywood too. I can't tell how rehearsed that was or wasn't but Laine did seem genuinely surprised and unsure what to do.

Austin Michael Robinson is a small town Country boy (in his own words). Lionel immediately sees he has just the right image that will sell. He's a good-looking kid with long blonde hair, cowboy style and looks great. He's only 15 and the sing-a-long style is average but he's through because Lionel can see how he can make money. That's a different side of Idol for you. Maybe God wasn't watching that bit. He briefly takes his hat off and Luke remarks that he'd be a good advert for Alberto VO5!! I didn't know they still made that shampoo. I remember that from when I was 15!

He comes back afterwards with some rope and there is some very embarrassing time wasted while he rides Luke on his shoulders and ties up Katy. Bonkers, but not as bonkers as the Disney wedding.

In New York, we meet Jake Puliti and more embarrassing TV as Katy Perry does some very strange worm dancing to a very average performance of This Is How We Do It. He really shouldn't make the Live Shows.

A few follow who are not so good and get rejected.

Shawn Robinson - nice tone, fairly gentle and a bit better than average could do well.

Nate Walker does Say Something in a different style. Quite impressive. We could see him in the Lives.

Wayne Coda is a big lad and has a mum and is the oldest of nine siblings from almost as many dads. I am not sure quite what that says about the mum but we'll move on. Understandably, he says they've had a poor upbringing, he got beaten up by one of the dads and his mum has to work hard after finally getting away from him. You kinda hope the bloke isn't watching. He does a George Ezra number which suited him really well. He deserves another round but I can't see this working after that.

Riley Thompson is 16. She has the name, the looks and is the All American cheerleader except she's not blonde. She has to be Country. She sings her own song Oh Daddy which is pretty good. She has that classic look with too much make-up. She'll go far and looks great on the screen.

Peter Lemoncello is the son of a bloke who apparently was the first to make a million sales of a disc through his own direct advertising rather than using a record company. That may be why I'd never heard of him. Peter the younger has the same attitude but seems to like the idea of getting some help from the TV companies. He says that he has just come from a gig where he was with his 'friends' The Four Tops and does one of their numbers. He's OK but old school and that's a strange image for a young lad. I thought he'd get through but no. Odd.

Clay Page is a nice Country singer with a good tome and great character. He could get a bit boring but sometimes boring does well on this programme.

Drake McCain sings a gospel number. He's pretty good but not sure of himself. He joins in with Katy as she sings Happy Day too. Not Live Show material.

Mica Giaconi we see briefly. She's very attractive and sounds like a more mature singer but is just 16! Easily through.

Darian Baena is 15 an impressive with a Spanish and very current sound. She could take Camila Cabello's place in Fifth Harmony.

Madison Vandenburg says that she's been in music all her life. "At 16!" remarks Lionel. She is, though, excellent, singing her own track at the piano. She is one of the best we've seen in my opinion but you have to wonder about the emotions she cannot yet know how to put across. Katy says that she's "another winner" and that she's the "next Kelly Clarkson". That's something all right.

Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon is what they call a PK. That's not as bad as it sounds - it stands for Pastor's Kid. His dad's got a church. Well, I imagine it's God's church but his dad gets to preach in it and, apparently, Jeremiah is the janitor, cleaning out the loos and generally looking after the place. He reminded me of a very young version of the Pastor Tim in The Americans. Anyway, despite the old testament name and his job, this young man can sing really very well. He does his own song, Almost Heaven which is about how difficult it has been for the God-fearing folk to cope with his being gay and whether or not there might be a place in Heaven for him after all. This guy means what he sings and I can see him doing very well.

After Alejandro, "Everyone else is a no!"

It's Audition Week 2 and sunny kids are jumping in the back of pick-up trucks and cruising cheerfully around Idaho with no politically correct parents shouting that they should have seat belts and no cops in sight. This is America.

We learn that there's a lot of love for Ryan Seacrest. I can understand that. The judges are not really making much of a mark and only Ryan is really maintaining the Idol status of the show at the moment. No-one on this side of the pond knows who Luke is. Everyone knows who Lionel Ritchie is but most think he retired sometime in the 70s and now just play his discs at weddings. Quite a few people do know who Katy Perry is but none of us realised just how religious she was or how little she would actually contribute to judging as opposed to swooning at the good looking guys and generally being fun and entertaining but not much more.

Courtney starts us off and she's an enthusiastic girl. She's returning some years after not getting too far on an earlier Idol. Pleasant personality. Singing is OK but I wouldn't expect her to make the Live Shows this time either.

Logan Johnson is a good-looking youngster. Well, 20 may turn out to be pretty ancient by the seems of it as later we get hundreds of 15 and 16-year olds! He surprises us with some pretty bad history with drugs which was not what anyone might have expected from the appearance of his All American family but maybe these issues give him a bit of real soul. A very good version of the entirely appropriate Sober that Demi Lovato wrote. He's a genuine item and could well be a Live Show candidate.

We then get a totally unnecessary and boring waste of time as his family come on stage and after 15 minutes we have seen just two performances.

Eddie Island is really ancient at 25! He's from Nashville. Katy Perry likes his eyes on the guitar and they match her finger nails. He looks uncomfortable and it's like he almost tells her to go away so he can do his own song. You have to admire people doing their own numbers which didn't used to happen much if at all in the previous shows. He's pretty good but he hasn't got the best of looks and comes across as a bit weird in parts but he is interesting. Worth another chance for sure. I can't remember where it came from but Lionel comes out with That little turd!! I don't think he meant Eddie but I'm surprised that made the edit!

Kason Lester is even more ancient at 28. He's a good-looking guy who farms strawberries in a place called Lebanon which is not the war-ravaged place but a town in the States somewhere miles away from anywhere else where they probably believe that God made the world which is flat. We see some very good photography from his farm so you realise that he must have been good for the few to be sent out there to do all the shots afterwards. It's a fairly average performance after all, though.

We then see a pile of people go through looking and sounding OK and then meet Carly Ryan. I can't recall how old she is but she is most definitely a good All American girl. her mum auditioned 15 years ago. She's not great but I'd give her another chance. Luke is very enthusiastic about her but, for the first time, Katy and Lionel don't agree with him and say 'No.' I guess there's enough All American girls singing like that already.

She;s followed by a series of other failures but mercifully brief ones. I do like the way they don't go on an d on like X Factor can do in this respect, almost making entertainment out of the failures.

Next up is Juan Pablo, 26, from Los Angeles but with a Mexican heritage. He sounds promising and has bags of energy. He holds back well, though, and comes out with a good song in Spanish. Quite emotional. Very good. Luke says he wants a cigarette! Katy goes a bit OTT again and seems to have forgotten all about Kason now.

Shayy is just 17 and nearly lost her sight completely a while ago. She now carries a white stick and has very poor vision from what I can tell and, whilst the surgeons have removed some of the tumor which had caused her problem in the first place, it seems that no-one is too sure whether what remains will cut her life short. The judges say they'll pray for her. I get that this time. It really is very emotional and she is one very good singer too. She gets the first standing ovation from the three that I remember seeing this Season. a big hug too from Lionel which wouldn't have been allowed in PC-land. We see her school going crazy with delight when she returns with the news.

That should be a candidate for the Live Shows, for sure.

Then there's a dreadful anthem rendition by some 7 year old. No idea where that came from. OK, actually she sang some parts very well but it just is a bit much.

On to Lander Knowlton who is a sergeant in the army. Good Country style singer with a bit of an interesting edge to his voice. He knows what he's doing, solid and confident but I don't see him going much further than Hollywood.

Ethan Clay is just 15. He met Luke Bryan a couple of years ago and got to perform with him on stage then. Luke had been so impressed with the young lad that he'd given him his guitar. He is very good and did a duet with Luke which was mostly unrehearsed from what I can gather. Impressive. The young lad seems nice and very talented. Another good contestant for the Country spot in the Live Shows perhaps.

Now we get more of the American Joke. Kimberley and Bernie appear in Disney T shirts, one with the word 'Bride' and the other, of course, says 'Groom'. They got married recently at Disneyworld  in some sort of embarrassingly expensive and childlike Cinderella picture book affair. They sing some track from what, I guess, is a recent re-working of Cinderella. This is not good TV. They get politely turned down which they do seem very surprised at. On the way out the girl says the music was wrong and they also blamed the pianist.

Some more good talent is seen going through so we can get the image of the last couple out of our heads pretty quickly.

Finally, ending this week, is Alejandro Aranda. This guy has been busking around and has no idea how good he is. He does his own song which is very good and then Lionel gets him to do another number at the piano. This chap is an excellent musician and a super singer too. He gets a standing ovation. That went down very well. Katy even says that she thinks he's the winner! Unlike nearly everyone else who has a massive family or friends to meet them afterwards and jump up and down like crazy, Alejandro has just Ryan outside. Nice.

After that, says, Katy, everyone else is a 'No.!

Yes, we'll see him almost certainly in the Live Shows unless he cocks up big time between now and then. He was good but signs of nerves and he really is not prepared for all that may follow.

God loves an Idol, it seems.

I missed last year but Netflix makes the 2019 series available to us here in the UK I shall take a look and see how it progresses, reporting here on the good, the bad and the ugly. OK, not the ugly.

Three new judges came on the scene last season in the shape of Katy Perry, Lionel Ritchie and Luke Bryan. Luke may not be a familiar name in the UK but he's hit #1 on the American Billboard charts a couple of times and has written a pile of hits for several artists, although I don't believe he's made the charts here. The guy seems to know what he's talking about, though, and there are usually a pile of Country boys and girls on this show. Some even win!  So a good number will certainly make the Live Shows!

Katy is pleasantly mad and unscripted. The camera likes her and she acts up for it too. She's pretty honest and you'll see that she doesn't hold back on what she likes. I'm not so sure about what she doesn't like but maybe we'll find out one day. Luke is pretty quiet and kinda goes with the flow, not exactly setting the show alight with his commentary so far. Lionel is pretty much as you'd expect the big star to be. Full of self-confidence and, with little to lose, he messes around and has some fun while seeming to like everyone but, so far, is the only judge who ever seems to say 'No.'

If you like God and all American style then you'll certainly enjoy this first show which is very clean and nice and, well, pretty much something you could have missed without affecting the rest of the series. I don't see any of the acts making much by way of the Big Time. One might make it through to the Live Shows but that's about it, I'm afraid.

Ryan Seacrest is there, as ever, doing a first class job but, for now, mostly behind the scenes. It simply wouldn't be Idol without him.

We start with Walker Burroughs. Why on Earth they chose him for the first audition we see I do not know. Maybe it was the red hair, spotty complexion and glasses - doing something to tick some minority boxes and all that jazz. He's OK. He does a more confident version of Lionel's Hello on request but really the judges are way OTT. Jeez, we're 12 minutes in already and he's taken up 8 of them.

Johanna Jones comes in and it's all about crisps and burgers. She has a nice character and could be amusing TV. A gentle song, nice enough audition but pretty forgettable if it hadn't been for the crisps.

We get a few 'No's and then meet Kai The Singer. I am not usually fond of the background reels where we hear all about grandma or someone but this one did get to me. This girl is still living in a pretty poor way and the church paid for her guitar and trip here. She gets a lot of admiration and tears flow for sure. Her song is My Girl but she switches it to Music and that sort of works. She's good TV and we'll see some more of her but I'm not convinced she'll make it that far.

Lionel and Katy lay on the God stuff a bit heavy with her but I guess that's the way this show's going to go with them in charge.

Tyler Mitchell comes on and looks about 7 foot six but is actually just 6 foot 4 and it's everyone else who is small. He is the classic good-looking All American boy and gives us a nice, gentle country number. It's not spectacular but people will like him.

Volkillz is some joke act doing nasty death voice stuff. He's one of those worrying people who give you a little black bag without any explanation. As it happened it had some pendant for Katy but it was a cringe-worthy moment I wouldn't have included in the show. Weird guy. weird singing. Not AI stuff at all.

Margie Saunders burps and is a bit mad. She's a fun person - a sort of cartoon character in many ways. Hers was a cool audition of some country style song. Her performance was a bit flawed in places but she was interesting and may make it a bit further. Entertaining, at least. But not in the league of someone like Kelly Pickler, for example, and you need to have that level of talent and personality to make a mark. or, at least, I hope so or it's going to be a dull few months.

I like the way the bad acts have been cut right down to a few shots. They used to get far too much airtime and still do on X Factor.

After a few more 'No's we meet Myra Tran who came over from Vietnam just a year ago. No-one mentions the war. She is easily the best so far, no accent at all in her rendition of a Jennifer Hudson number and which she did, in my view, just as well. An excellent singer but I am not so sure about how this young, innocent-seeming girl is going to do when it comes to getting real emotion across. There have been several youngsters I can recall from past shows who have been brilliant singers but have simply had zero experience of anything approaching relationships, love and feelings that relationships and attraction and physical contact bring. She'll be back, though, for sure.

Uché has a really long name, which includes Walter. He's a cool-looking guy. God loves him, he says, which tends to put us off, however true that may or may not be. In fact, we get told that God loves everybody anyway so that seemed a pointless thing to say but it gets the judges on his side and they reckon God loves him too. Let's get on with the talent show, OK?

He's a good performer but that's all. He'd look good on an album cover but as no-one has album covers any more that's all he had going for him and I can't him going far after Hollywood.

If i hadn't already mentioned it, yes, all the above except the death voice bloke get through to Hollywood. As do the next few.

Lacy Kaye Booth is a country singer, blonde, dark-eyed and with an interesting voice. It sounded like she was nervous but it may actually be her sound. Her parents were just 17 and 15 when she was born but no-one seems to have been arrested. Her dad appears to have gone and then returned to take her on the road when she was old enough. Odd relationship there which may not be something to think about too much. She's good and, as I said, interesting but will have to work harder to get far.

Nick Rogers is a pretty young lad - the first of the 'boyband' type and he is pleasantly modern in that he comes out with a modern song and raps too. He could do well but still is no more than average and isn't going to set the charts alight without a lot of help.

Tiffanne Lemay is a good singer and could go far with the right songs. She's still only a bit better than average, though, but gets a Lionel signature on the album cover which she brings in! Nice.

Nick Townsend is the last up in this first show and it's a pile of tears again as we get told how he lost two of his brothers at an early age. Very sad. Then we find out that Luke also had the same experience which makes you wonder just how many more we're going to here about and who, seemingly, God wasn't doing as much for as he should.Not that anybody mentioned that this time. He's an odd fellow. Nick, not God, although god probably has to be when you think about all the stuff he does. Nick sings in a strange way that I don't see having much appeal in the wider market but he's good enough to get through for now.

That was not the most exciting show I've seen, I have to say. None of the acts really showed much more than average talent, although the judges seemed to be blown away several times. No idea why. Might have been something in their contracts which requited them to be super-enthusiastic.