S18.E13; On with the Show: Top 20 Sing for Your Vote

[MarkHB]

Quote

Top 20 perform for a spot in the Top 10. The judges, host, in-house mentor, and contestants all participate from different locations.

 

[Annber03]

Very strange to see everyone in their bedrooms/living rooms/porches :p. But I'm glad they were able to work something out here.

Kinda liked Dewayne's version of "I Feel Good"-it felt like a nice modern take on the song. I think the guys in general did a particularly nice job tonight. Olivia's version of "Bad Guy"-there were aspects about it I really liked and yet I'm not quite sure it was the best song choice for her, or at least, the arrangement should've been a little different, or something.

I really liked JustSam's dress. 

 

[DietCokeJunkie]

Going from 20 to 10 in one week is going to be tough. There are about 5 that I would have no problem never seeing again, but of the remaining 15? I don’t know how I would pick. It will come down to the usual popularity contest, I suppose. 
 

I usually don’t have a lot of patience with Katie’s antics, but damn, that hand sanitizer outfit had me giggling all night. 

[lb60]

That was surprisingly entertaining and well put together.

Katy Perry is ridiculous. 

[PhD-Purgatory15]

Well, that was certainly something.

My greatest fear though, is given the current voting public makeup....we could get a skewed Guys to Girls ration in the Top 10. Probably 7 to 3, but I could even see a disaster scenario where it's 8 to 2 or even (gulp) all 9 of them advancing.

I feel like all of the "Heartthrobs", Nick/Francisco/Louis may get voted in along w/ Johnny/Dillon/Arthur....and then certainly Jovin/Dewayne/Franklin have a chance to make it through too. although I'd be worried if I were Jovin and Franklin because I though Jovin's voice sounded really blown out for some reason and I just don't think Franklin picked the right song to break out of the pack.

My Top 4 girls (no guarantee that they'd all four even make the Top 10) would be Sophia (to me, she's the rare wildcard where I don't know or have some idea of what she's going to pick song wise), Just Sam, Grace, and maybe Faith (at least she brings something a little different tonally than like the giant conglomeration of Lauren/Kimmy/Aliana/Cyniah/Olivia...

[MissPriss]

Katy always finds a way to make it all about her. I hope she smothered in that costume. Can’t believe she never took it off. Methinks she must be looking quarantine undone. You’d think she could pull herself together without a stylist. 
 

It’s hard to take her seriously when she’s always acting like an idiot. I think there are some good contestants but I don’t vote. I believe it’s all about filling slots for optimum entertainment. 

[Ladyrain]

I rather liked the format that the show worked out.   For once, the band didn't overwhelm the singers, so I could actually hear them.   And since it was so challenging, it was interesting to see who more easily overcame that vs. those who seemed a bit stifled. And I didn't miss the screaming teens with their waving arms one little bit.  It was fun to see what concept and location each contestant chose at home.    Count me in with those who:

Liked JustSam's red dress.

Thought Katie was show-boating in that ridiculous costume.

[MarkHB]

Who the hell thought that getup for Katy was a good idea? Unless she's worried about looking pregnant on TV.

Has anyone heard why Just Sam stayed in LA?

[PhD-Purgatory15]

My guess is considering the NYC area is still one of the hottest of hot spots in the country for Covid19, Just Sam didn't really want to go back to the 1 bedroom apartment in the Bronx that she shares w/ her Grandmother. 

I also feel like legally she would've had to make arrangements independently of the show. She didn't seem to be performing from one of the other 19 finalists' houses...so maybe someone or a family reached out to her through social media and offered a place to stay through the end of the show should she make it that far.

[Blissfool]

It was better than I thought it was gonna be.

I wonder about the logistics.....Who's setting up equipment? Who's editing...camera angles, anyone? Did they all get a huge box of candles, strip lights, stage equipment courtesy of AI? Are they getting a stipend to order clothes online? Was that a real shed behind Dylan? Did they tell their neighbors to keep barking dogs inside? Did Just Sam receive an anonymous 😉 donation so that she could pay for a studio apartment in LA?

Mikayla has been my favorite since I first saw her.

[Vermicious Knid]

Didn't think I would say this about American Idol, but I was impressed. They actually carried it off and made it look almost live. Bobby Bones continues to be useless, and some of the girls definitely could have benefited from professional hair and makeup.

Faith should be voted off just for wearing those $5 slippers. Girl they were blathering about being the next Whitney got outsang by the girl who did Run To You. Most everyone gave a pretty good performance. Was waiting for someone's dog to run out and start howling but I guess they would have just done another take.

[Ladyrain]

From what I read, there were three 'takes'.   The first was to just get the singer familiar with the set up, but not to use in the competition.   The second was THE one, as if they were live onstage in Los Angeles, bum notes and all.    The third was for different angles to edit in, but the vocals were always from the second (official) take.   If that makes any sense.   I too wondered who was filming, whether it was an AI person or friend/family.   I tend to think the latter.   And everyone got sent the same lighting do-hickey thing, the same mic, same everything.   Maybe that included the extra lighting all over the place.  All had equal access to vocal coaches, backup singers, musicians, etc.  

I thought Idol did a pretty impressive job with such challenging circumstances, and I was not expecting it to go well......but it did!    The only negative aspect is it seems they've pared down the elimination rounds so that we lose so many singers all at once, meaning there's way too much riding on a single performance.  I miss the old days of losing one singer per week, giving the rest more chances to redeem themselves.

[MarkHB]

I did think that that move one girl did, punching the band members out of the frame, was at least a creative bit of performance that put the situation to good use. I'm assuming she thought of that; no one else did anything of the sort.

[DietCokeJunkie]

4 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

some of the girls definitely could have benefited from professional hair and makeup  

Yeah, there were a lot of tragic false eyelashes last night. Mikayla looked like she couldn’t even open one of her eyes all the way. Less is more! 

[Babalooie]

8 hours ago, MarkHB said:

Unless she's worried about looking pregnant on TV.

I certainly thought that this HAD to be the reason.

[Babalooie]

Music professional here.

From the first to the last contestant it seemed to me that they had recorded their songs in the studio and were singing along with the recordings.  Their mouths were not always in sync with the music.   

How could each of those settings get studio sound, especially the ones that were outdoors???

[Tosia]

Agree about the fake eyelashes on them all.

But God, Makayla-- the second singer who usually wears glasses-- is model beautiful.

Loved Just Sam.... she's my heart during these hard times.  Papa Lionel feels it too. Something about her makes me want to take care of her... and I cd be her other grandmother. 

Dillon wins for best photogenic, perfect rustic-appropriate to his personal style background.  Damn that kid is gorgeous too.  (No leching...I'm a visual person.) He's was so appreciative too. 

Johnny West was awesome for song choice and humility.  Of course,  his gf had to stick her mug in front if ther camera less we forget about Margie May's. Blech on her neediness.  Give him space.  

Still love Arthur, but son,  open your eyes. 

I think I want to adopt these young-uns.

Glad Cyniah got a little come uppance for not connecting to audience/camera.

The 3 boy band boys can go away anytime. Meh.  Is Louis going to sing sad sings FOREVER?  Downer..to me. Nick was too faint singing on a whispery voice.  Francisco I like the most. 

Tired of Wackerman for some reason.

Olivia was....IDK.... too precocious. Acting older than her years in that song. Same with her Tina Turner. I was surprised Luke mentioned her dancing last night?? Ummmh, she moved about 2 steps and tossed her hair once,  I think.  Laughable. 

I FF through several of the rest--songs and comments.  

I love seeing the home styles of everyone.

For me, their families need to stay out of the picture ... its like over the top cheerleading. Yeah, we know your background stories by heart.  Move on. 

 

[peachmangosteen]

6 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

Girl they were blathering about being the next Whitney got outsang by the girl who did Run To You. 

I thought the girl who sang Run to You was the girl Lionel said was like a young Whitney. Also, her eye makeup was so bad. So very bad. Poor girl lol.

3 hours ago, Ladyrain said:

I too wondered who was filming, whether it was an AI person or friend/family.   I tend to think the latter.  

I don't think anyone was filming it. They showed the set-up in a lot of the performances and it looked to just be a couple iphones on tripods.

If I had my way the Top 10 would be Arthur, Dillon, Francisco, Grace, Jonny, Just Sam, Makayla, Sophia, Jovin, and maybe Faith. But honestly I like all of them.

[PhD-Purgatory15]

Babalooie, I think you caught what Ladyrain was explaining. All twenty got three tries at their song. A trial run to shake off the nerves, a second go where they kept everyone's audio to keep it fair, and then a 3rd go where they didn't keep the audio but they did keep whatever they did visually on that (last) attempt. That's why there was bound to be some synchronization issues with all 20...although a few matched up closer than others.

I'm thinking of Franklin and Dillon the two most straightforward performances..

[sempervivum]

I wonder how many of the kids borrowed somebody else's house for the filming? I find it hard to believe that not a single one lives in a slightly shabby 1964 tract house or a beat-up 1895 upper flat? Everything looked so suburban and homogenous. And why no explanation of that Christmas tree in the Crocker house?

It was very You Tube-y, but at least it was also fast-paced. I liked being able to see all 20 in one sitting, by way of comparison. 

[incandescent]

DeWayne Crocker: 

 

[nickp1991]

I feel so bad for this year's American Idol contestants The live show should have been postponed The home performances are lackluster

[PBnJay]

1 hour ago, sempervivum said:

It was very You Tube-y, but at least it was also fast-paced. I liked being able to see all 20 in one sitting, by way of comparison. 

I liked the fast pace too and getting to see and hear them all. FF-ing through the Katy Perry nightmare helped speed things up too.

[silverspoons]

I enjoyed the show. I am very happy when we can still have shows going my family can watch. I hope we get more programming like this (I think simple game shows in this format would be a huge hit, easy to find some heart warming stories of those in need and have them compete from home with a host) .

Going from 20 to 10, I am not enjoying. There are a few people that I feel like I know well like Just Sam and then like 5 girls that just blur together(kind of weird we dont really have blonds this year? I get confused over all the brown haired females). I would have liked them to have a little of an intro, like this is my home in NC, I live here with my mom and dad and sister or husband or wife. 

In past seasons some conversations have been about , did this person get years of voice lessons or has money vs someone discovered that just sang at church or school. I hate to say I was looking a lot at their houses to see what they were like. The music teacher had the nicest house (I wondered if it was his or maybe his inlaws, that is why I wish they said I am coming to you from my house or my family's house). All I know is our high school music teacher (and the program has won many awards) in our city works 3 jobs and has an older small house. 

Oliva is what I expected it to look like. She looked like a teenager who dressed up and was singing in her living room, not to say her voice was bad, she did not have decorations, family jumping on her. it was a fireplace, white walls, her singing in a typical living room I see in so many homes. 

Does anyone know why Arthur has a huge following. I have a few singers I like but being a numbers/stats type person I like to look at views, followers to see who is popular and Arthur fans are everywhere. I liked his previous performances better then last night. I would be surprised if he did not make it through based on the stats model of guessing. 

[Diana Berry]

Im no tween but the only girl I voted for was Just Sam.  I just enjoyed the guys more.

[Maya]

22 hours ago, nickp1991 said:

I feel so bad for this year's American Idol contestants The live show should have been postponed The home performances are lackluster

I agree. I feel terrible for them. What a disappointment this must be. 

I like almost all the guys better than the girls. The girls seem so manufactured. I do like Just Sam. 

 

Edited April 28, 2020 by Maya

[marykat71702]

Ok, this was kind of weird...

First of all, Katy Perry just showed once again that she is ridiculous and has to be the center of attention.

Some questions:

Why did some of the singers look like they were performing in front of a green screen? How does Franklin afford that house as a music teacher(maybe he has other side-gigs/inheritance/wife's job...)?  A Christmas tree in April? Do they just leave it up year-round?  Why did some singers have split-screen/mirror/added effects and not others? On this one I'm not trying to sound mean, I'm just curious-who is paying for JustSam to stay in California?

Ok, sorry. Now on to the actual performances...

Dewayne-bad song choice/execution. Same with Franklin.

You know what? I'm tired, so just going to do a round-up. For me, Olivia, Sophia, Dewayne, Louis, Franklin, and Cyniah are ones that can definitely go; Grace, Dillon, Jovin, Jonny, and Makayla should definitely be ones that stay; JustSam, Faith, Nick and Arthur could be either/or; don't really care for Julia or Lauren, and the rest of the names I don't remember, so...

11 hours ago, nickp1991 said:

I feel so bad for this year's American Idol contestants The live show should have been postponed

^This 100%

[incandescent]

10 hours ago, silverspoons said:

Does anyone know why Arthur has a huge following. I have a few singers I like but being a numbers/stats type person I like to look at views, followers to see who is popular and Arthur fans are everywhere. I liked his previous performances better then last night. I would be surprised if he did not make it through based on the stats model of guessing. 

I wouldn't be surprised if at least some of that enthusiasm is Nepalese fans excited to see themselves represented on the show for the first time, similar to Jessica Sanchez getting tons of support from the Filipino-American community.

[WhineandCheez]

I feel like I got Wackermaned. I don't know if Sophia got married or decided to ditch the awful name but I'm never going to forget her original name. If she did get married, well congrats. I think Michaela from Temecula is the best. Second best is the girl with the ponytail singing on the beautiful porch, I think they sang together on group night?

[suebee12]

1 hour ago, WhineandCheez said:

I feel like I got Wackermaned. I don't know if Sophia got married or decided to ditch the awful name but I'm never going to forget her original name.

She didn't get married or take the stage name of Star that Katy suggested. She decided to use James for her brother, who she is so proud of.

[ForReal]

14 hours ago, marykat71702 said:

Why did some of the singers look like they were performing in front of a green screen?

I thought that, too, especially Luke Bryan in his barn-styled office.

[MarkHB]

20 hours ago, Maya said:

I agree. I feel terrible for them. What a disappointment this must be. 

I third this.  One of the (I assume) joys of making it to the live shows was that you got to experience being a rock star of sorts, performing in one of the largest TV studios in Hollywood. Now they're at home making glorified Insta stories and there's no summer tour anymore, either (which went away after Season 14).

One thing in the Grassy Knoll area that this setup reduces: I've sworn in the past that, if the producers didn't like a particular singer, they would put a really annoying or distracting background on the big screen behind them as they performed. With this arrangement that's impossible.

[Vermicious Knid]

Luke Bryan's barn was actually his barn. And they were very conscientious about making sure everyone was equal.

Quote

They sanitized and shipped identical boxes of recording equipment to each contestant, including iPhones and a ring light. Engineers were dispatched to their homes to ensure various Internet connections could handle broadcast TV-caliber production. Producers set up Zoom meetings with contestants to help them create the best space to perform, and advised on lighting and camera angles. Singers worked closely with the musical director and band.