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.