American Idol XIV: Top 5 perform and we get the Top 4

This week Clark, Jax, Nick, Rayvon and Tyanna show their colours to win this competition. One will go home and leave a Final Four to move on next week and also have the Homecoming events.



I'm not enjoying this. It could be Clark's pooerest performance and the style and song simply don't seem to be the sort of thing he should be doing. the screaming and general approach may show a much-needed animation in someone who has been a bit robotic on occasion but it all seemed a bit over the top and possibly shots in the wrong direction.

Having said that all the initial indications are that Clark will make the Top 4. No doubt. At least that's what I thought at the start of writing this!




Another stunning performance from this girl. The cracked voice work well with this track. Just watch the moment when she decides to get up from the piano - you can almost feel the excitement that she gathers up and then shares with the audience. She is so talented and I am so impressed. Harry asks whether she was horse and she admits that she was but she gets praise for not just continuing through but almost bringing more character to a good track anyway.





Nick makes it through to sing again. Well done, Nick. He has an earthy originality about him and I can see where he gets a good number of his votes from. Territory that perhaps Clarkwanted to steal but now, I suspect, can't.

This track does just go on a bit but it does give Nick a chance to show everyone how good-looking he is and, as Harry points out, that was easily the most 'comfortable' that he'd been. A good time to get things right.

I don't like the very short hair style which only seems to emphasis the eyebrows but what's that got to do with singing? Nothing. so never mind.




As if you hadn't already guessed, Rayvon and Tyanna are the bottom two. Again and again for Rayvon but he ought to survive again too with Tyanna really having let herself down last week. Rayvon does need to do well, though, and you can hear him putting everything except the kitchen sink into this performance of the Lady Antebellum song. He's good but I do worry that he is trying too hard. We've really yet to hear him just do whatever comes naturally. I fear we may not get the chance as, even if he makes it this week to the last 5,he needs something very special if  he is going to beat Nick or Clark. The judges say the same thing about pushing the lyrics and emotions a bit too much.




Oh dear. This is dreadful. The makeover team must have been on holiday when it came to her turn. But never mind her appearance; her voice is all over the place at the start and, whilst she makes some effort to get back on track, something isn't right. She starts dancing but then stops. The judges' sum-up make it fairly obvious that they must know the result. I can't see how they can but as it happens they are right and it's farewell Tyanna. Not a surprise or a loss at all.





This is where Clark falls down the popularity charts. Very pitchy, unusually for him but worrying as he is in a different zone and , despite the classy bits later, it doesn't get rescued. This is sould without much sould I'm afraid. A pity, as I had thought this would be where he closed the gap with Jax for the win.

Not on the video is an argument where Clark does not come across well. That will not have helped him either, showing a pompous side. He's not going to win now and I can even see him going home next week if Rayvon pulls his socks up.




Lovely. In complete contrast we have Jax in the mist with a beautiful version of the Christina Peri song. When she drops to her needs she perfectly interpreted the lyrics and it was a performance that you just stay with until the end. At one point I was wondering if the mist was going to take her over! A good job. Well done, young lady.




Here comes Rayvon! We'll ignore the fact that it's a Justin Bieber song but, like it or not, you have to respect the guy for the performance this time. He holds back for a change. soemone does need to teach him about breathing next to the microphone but he did a very good job tonight here and, with Clark's not doing well, I wonder whether he might not have just pulled himself into the Top 3 after all!

Impressed. Not as impressed as I am with Jax by quite a long distance but impressed nevertheless.




Good move, Nick. With Clark stumbling, he is now going for the Country vote. No-one else is so why not? There's usually enough in Texas to win the damn thing so if he can pull a few thousand of those in he'll be there next week.

Nice mixture of styles here. A fairly flat, uneventful performance but it worked for all that.

Jennifer has him as the star of the night. Didn't expect that. Keith says that will storm up the iTunes chart. Maybe judges shouldn't make these predictions that can so easiliy be proven wrong. I would predict Jax by a long way.

American Idol: Season XIV - The Top 6 Perform, and we now have the Top 5

So Jax makes the Top 5 and, from this performance, deservedly so. If she decides to do a Wendy James number then I may even buy it myself! She is looking so much sexier than the others and, for that matter, more than most entrants I can recall in this show.

Good reviews too from the judges who didn't actually say that but you could tell it was in their mind. She gets fans and looks like keeping them. Nice job.





Nick is still in the competition after some excellent and well-chosen tracks. I am not so sure about this one that isn't particularly familiar and doesn't suit him as well as some others have done. reminds me of The Voice UK winner, Steve. He did win, though, i suppose, so maybe that's no bad thing but, if you had to choose between Nick and Jax, it would be Jax that took the crown.




I am been very complimentary about Clark so far. He has never looked very inspiring but he has sung amazingly well. Here he takes on one of the big standards that everyone knows almost by heart and so it is a big, big risk to play around with it. He may just have got away with this but I do worry when he slips on the notes which can destroy an otherwise excellent song.





I am now getting quite tired of Tyanna's out of tune numbers. She picks fun numbers and is quite entertaining when she gets things right but most of the time she just doesn't. I am surprisaed the judges don't comment on this at all. She ought to be the next to go. And 5th is better than anyone would have expected for her, surely.




It's Quentin in the bottom two with Rayvon again. A great track and Quentin didn't do a bad job of this. he performs well but it was a bit bland, to be honest, whereas he shouldn't be. he is one of the contestants that has been prepared to take some chances and has a good voice and sense of what's needed. One commentator has said that the new format of leaving everyone in the lurch until they get to the last two hasn't helped and leaves everyone nervous and I agree. It can't be good to hang around before you sing, knowing that one of you has already been voted bottom or next to bottom. The old format of announcing in a second results show worked best but was more costly, of course.

OK, so this wasn't too brilliant. What about Rayvon?




Good choice, Rayvon! Sam smith is currently ultra cool and a big act that many younger voters will be following, whereas The Doors were for an older generation and, when you're looking for votes, this is the way to go. He also did actually make quite a decent job of this, the notes being in place and, apart from some heavy breathing, he did well.




Looks like a different order so here's Nick doing a 70s classic from Rod Stewart and The Faces. OK, it was fun but not exactly the sort of stuff you win major competitions with.




Tyanna singing again. Oh, can I wake up now? That was very tedious and wobbly. Seriously, she should be the one going tonight but, of course, it is one of the two lads, each of whom sings far better than this girl. She is very well-presented but it's all too serious and just doesn't work at all for me. This is the sort of performance that will let down American Idol, especially as the judges don't seem to feel able to pick any fault with her.





Clark takes a slightly different route here and it works quite well. He is not entirely believable when he gets more down and dirty, though. I reckon he got away with it but it might have been a bit high for him. It wasn't something lots of people would rush out and buy. Harry is dead right in his comments. Still, the guy's in the Top 5 so that's cool for him.



Almost going from one extreme to another, well Wendy James to Dido is some fair distance, and staying in one place, Jax is showing just how good she can be. This was superb. I see her as a Lady Gaga in time. She has that uniqueness and talent. Notes are spot-on and her instinct for what people would like to hear is just right. I do hope she wins as she is simply so watchable and you can be pretty sure that she will have some impact on the world at large, entertainment and music-wise.




Quentin's final number is the Florence & The Machine's number which he does almost impeccably well. Good choice this time and shows a moody side but will this be enough to keep him in or will Rayvon get the votes?




Now that is a song! Love the Fleetwood Mac / Stevie Nicks number and Rayvon gives it his best shot. He does seem to be marginally behind the beat for it from the start but the audience clearly love it. A very, very clever choice again. He needs to control his breathing and timing but I do feel he deserves to stay in the Top 5. Quentin, indeed, is the one who gets sent home on the instant Twitter vote.