S14.E26: Top 5 Perform

[Tara Ariano]

The Top 5 singers perform; one contestant is eliminated.

[Shannon L.]

Count down to them revisiting the Quentin/Harry moment in 3.....2....1......

 

Stadium Anthems?  All I can think of is Queen.  It's probably going to be mostly rock and roll songs, right?  I can think of a couple of country acts, but....oh well, it will be interesting to see what they chose. 

[TheGreenKnight]

It seemed like everyone gave one awful performance and one good-to-great one. Jax's first was easily the most embarrasingly awful of all the bad performances tonight--cue the judges undeserved praise. Loved Tyanna on "Heaven," even though I'm so tired of that song. Clark's "Yesterday" was emotionless and loud, and the Bieber song wasn't a good choice at all. I can't remember anything Nick has done tonight or all season. Too bad about Quentin, but I think he would've gone next week anyway.

Edited April 23, 2015 by TheGreenKnight

[riley702]

Gah! "Yesterday" is NOT a stadium anthem! And none of the judges pointed out that little fact to Clark, instead slobbering all over him. Yes, it was a nice rendition, yes he has a nice voice, but geez-o-pete, if he can't project any energy even for an alleged stadium anthem... He is as dull as dishwater. I can't stand him.

 

Glad to hear they're stopping the stupid Twitter vote after tonight.

 

"Light My Fire" is more like it! And perfect for Quentin, although I was waiting for him to bust loose and start belting, but alas... Hated JLo saying that, though, since she didn't have a problem with Clark's dull singing.

 

How many times has Rayvon sung Sam Smith now? Seems like a lot. Also not a stadium anthem, although obviously these "themes" are just a suggestion if they like you. Quentin sticks to the theme and gets criticized for being restrained, whilst Clark and Rayvon sang ballads and received praise. Blech. "Go Your Own Way" IS a stadium anthem type song. Color me shocked, Rayvon, although you just had to go there with that high note at the end.

 

Nick is my favorite. I liked both of his songs. Tyanna is next and I thought she really had a good night tonight. She's been a bit uneven throughout the competition, though, and that might keep her from winning. Hate to say it, but Jax does look like she might win this thing. And as polished/plastic as she comes across, I wouldn't be unhappy with her winning. These three are the only ones I'd be OK with winning.

 

Why is Quentin's Twitter handle QAlexanderXIV? Surely he's not the 14th Quentin Alexander. Or is he calling himself the Sun King (a la Louis XIV)? If that's it, that's kinda fun.

 

*sigh* Of course, Rayvon wins the Twitter save yet again.

[Diana Berry]

Give kudos for Quentin congratulating Rayvonn before Ryan read the vote.

Quentin will miss your outfits.

[kechara]

I remembered Nick doing Maggie May because I love that song.  Saw Rod Stewart and Faces do it  when  it was new.  He's no Rod Stewart - well neither is Rod any more - but he did a decent job.

[ShutUpFlanders]

The bussing of Quentin Alexander. The show is desperate for a water cooler moment that it ruined the show in the process. As usual.

 

Round #1:

 

JAX – All she did was made me miss contestants like Allison Iraheta, Haley Reinhart, or last year's Jessica Meuse and Jena Irene. Any of those four would've killed that.
Nick – Strange opening. And for all that sound behind him, the performance felt… hollow. He at least sang it in tune (at least when I could hear him).
Clark – Damn. People can complain about this season clearly just being Clark winning at the end, but other than Joey Cook's "Fancy," this was the standout performance of the season. He does still need to get out of his head a little more. (Maybe I'm crazy, maybe it was the song, but I thought that was Clark finally loosening up a bit).
Tyanna – Yikes. The beginning was... yikes. Of course Harry doesn't talk about pitch with Tyanna. Of fucking course. She was lucky to have made the Top 4 on votes; she would've been gone in a sing-off.
Quentin – I thought it was good, but not great.
Rayvon – Can't deny the vocal on that, probably the best pure vocalist on the show. But I'd rather have people like Quentin/Joey over him any day.

 

Round #2:

Nick – This week was about three steps backwards for him. Average at best.
Tyanna – Meh. She's gone.
Clark – Good arrangement and vocals on an absolutely crap song choice. It's nice that Keith and Harry gave Clark advice that he could've been using for the last six or seven weeks on his presence.
JAX – Very nice. Great timbre vocally, didn't do anything crazy to the arrangement. Very pure. She still comes across as a poser to me, but that performance was as earnest as I've seen her be.
Quentin – Good vocal. I was worried he wouldn't be up to a Florence song.
Rayvon – I thought his vocal was bland here. It must've sounded different live.

 

 

Despite a couple of strong performances, I thought tonight was lackluster at best. And the results of the last two weeks were awful. This Twitter save has been nonsense. Theoretically, someone who has been dead last for now four straight weeks has been saved. If he doesn't go home next week, it will be the most shocking result in the history of this show, despite how awful Tyanna was tonight.

 

Bottom Two – Tyanna and Nick
Going Home – Rayvon. Though Tyanna is a real possibility.

[thesupremediva1]

Jax was channeling a busted Elsa-from-Frozen look on that second performance. I'm just not a fan of her vocal stylings, and that didn't change tonight. I am continually befuddled by the judges' lavish praise. For Heaven's sake, Brooke White had more range and authenticity, and I couldn't stand Brooke in her season!

Nick gave my favorite set of performances tonight. He also looked damn good, so there's that. He reminds me of a hybrid of Daughtry and Phil Squared. I think he'd be a bankable winner. Nice voice, solid work ethic, good looks, and an artistically blank canvas who could churn out a few hits.

Clark, while also hot, is the exact opposite. I love him and his voice is like cognac and butter, but he's just not current. I don't mind that at all, I live for crooners and throwback types. Half my iPod is doo wop and The Platters, but he will not be allowed to retain that style as a winner. And, sadly, I didn't love the choices tonight. I'm still hoping he makes the finals but comes in second. I don't see winning helping him that much more, at that point.

Wasn't impressed with Tyonna's choices tonight. I saw what she was going for, but she just didn't quite connect on either one. She's an old soul, so she's no Miley (thank heavens), but she's also not ready for Whitney-esque fog and diva moments. Her voice sounded strained tonight and I think she purposely backed off a few belting moments. Still would like to see her in top 3.

Rayvon gave my favorite performance of the night with his Sam Smith song. It was perfect. Didn't care for his second song as much, but the crowd seemed to like it. I struggled to hear him over the band, maybe the audience didn't have that problem in the theater. I'd love to see him safe next week, for once. I have so much respect for his clutch performances and sunny demeanor. Henceforth I shall call him Teflon Rayvon, King of Twitter Save.

Quentin did not sound out of tune tonight. In fact, he was the only one who took the theme and ran with it. Sorry he had to go. He's a great artist and I hope he finds much future success.

[drafan]

 

 

 

 

 

Why is Quentin's Twitter handle QAlexanderXIV? Surely he's not the 14th Quentin Alexander.

 

 

Season 14???? Guess he thought he was gonna win it.

 

Liar, liar, pants on fire, Quentin. You most certainly said what Ryan thought you said.

 

 The X disease has now spread from Jax's cheek to her ear. I'm surprised she hasn't tattooed on a  "9/11", just so we remember her father was a first responder. He was, ya know.  And the affected voice....are these girls all trying to be Meghan Trainor?? Wasn't that always The Dawg's thing....to copy-cat someone current?

 

Nick continues to Daughtry-up every song. I like him but have to turn away. That's how much I hate it.

 

Clark really is the Carrie Underwood of this season. Pleasant and drama-free, nice-looking, talented, probably malleable, kinda  boring.

 

Tyanna. Please do better next week. I like you.

 

Rayvon. Had to screech, huh?

 

Otherwise: Ho-hum.

Edited April 23, 2015 by drafan

[MrsMoltisanti]

Rayvon's second song was all kinds of suckery. Why is he still here? Is this thing fixed?

[WhineandCheez]

First I am taking the Stadium Anthems sign and hurtling it out the window.  WTF name a theme night and don't make them follow it?  Second I want to sincerely apologize to Scot bruschetta for calling him creepy and mocking his facial hair, because he seems truly nice, involved and sincere.  And I like the brown lizard jacket for a change up.

 

Ok Jax blew chunks on the Jet, song, which I adore and do elliptical to 3 times a week.  First, she kitty-purred her way thru it, she Marilyn Monroe-ed the whole fucking thing. Her voice was so weak with no power to it.  And if she was truly punk, she would've have kept the SHE pronoun.  Poseur. ( I love her black bugle bead jacket though)

 

I wish Clark would go and keep all the rest and even bring back Quentin.  Tyanna I fear will be B2, though I loved her bringing da sexy. Rayvon's first song was the best performance of anyone all season.  I rewinded the Tifaux 3 times.  I never rewind.  Of all of them he is a good singer and good performer, I like his smooth moves (exlax)

[27bored]

Rayvon and Quentin standing there at the end looked like Tom and Huey from the Boondocks.

 

Everybody gave one good performance and one meh performance. Clark miiiight be the one to beat after hearing him do "Yesterday". He can sing, but he seems a little too nervous. I think once he goes on tour and gets used to performing for people, he'll loosen up and more of his voice will come through. In a year or so he's gonna be awesome. They pimped the shit out of him re-working that Bieber, and it was good, but it wasn't all that. Sounded like something Ed Sheeran would do. Still, gorgeous voice, he has a natural melancholy but his voice still has a lot of internal melody.

 

Nick...ugh. He seems like a nice guy, but I don't see it for him in terms of long-term prospects. I think Nick will get a lot of poon on the road being the only dude north of 25 and seeming like he's the only one who has actually gotten laid, but I don't think he's gonna do much on a large scale. If Nick wins, he'll make a record, music critics will go "meh" and say he sounds like he's trying too hard to sound like Rob Thomas or Maroon 5, he'll get one moderate hit on your local Top 40/AC station, they might play it during a bank commercial, he'll release another single that's just okay, then he'll release another album that will critically do better than his first, but exactly no one will give a shit, he'll get dropped, then he'll release a third record on an indie/vanity imprint that's more cohesive than his first two, but only his core fanbase will even know it dropped.

 

Tyanna and Jax are interesting because they have the opposite problems. I think Tyanna sounds best when she sounds like her age, and Jax sounds better when she tries to sound older than she is. Tyanna has such a full-bodied voice that she brings something extra to fun, light-hearted songs like "Party in the USA", and while Jax sounds kinda silly and unserious when she goes rocker chick, but when she does slightly more mature fare like "White Flag", there's something cute and understated and kitschy about her. Tyanna looks much better with braids, btw. Her and her mama look like they just stick their heads under Sno-Cone machines just to see what the fuck happens. I was not feeling that damn Bikini Bottom odd-turquoise shit she had at the beginning or the grape color she had on the Ford Focus whatever-the-hell. If Jax made an album in the vein of Dido, Natalie Imbruglia, and Ingrid Michaelson, I think she'd do pretty well. Radio would love her and I think she'd tap into a different, wider market than the kids who watch Idol. Also: her dad could get it. Jus sayin'.

 

Quentin and Rayvon in the bottom 2? This is surprising to no one. Quentin bugged the fuck out last week and if he was 18 or younger I'd give a pass, but he's old enough to know that's a one-way ticket home. He should've just said "I'm just upset that two of my friends are in the bottom 2; they're so talented and I wish neither of them had to leave". Simple, considerate, no problem. Running your mouth, stomping off stage, running BACK on stage to "clarify things" for Harry's overthinking, overtalking ass just made him look extra. I think he has a good voice, a lot of natural talent, natural flair for performance, but he doesn't know how to turn it up on the vocals when the time comes. He dresses like Erykah Badu and has that weird death star Janet Jackson nipple ring thing in his nose to make it seem like he's doing more than he is. I actually think he's more of a ballad singer than Rayvon. Quentin's low-key intensity works when he's doing slow songs, but uptempo he's still got some pitch problems and his charisma doesn't come through as much.

 

Rayvon has nine lives. He's probably laughing at Quentin because all he does is grin and sing like he got kicked and the nuts and he's going on the tour. I really like him singing "I'm Not The Only One" -- it's a song in his wheelhouse, it's a current song so it has some familiarity, and it's the exact kind of song that can be done on AI -- but he didn't do it as well as the judges said he did. Rayvon's irrepressibly bouncy, happy spirit makes songs like that a bit of choir. I do enjoy him modulating the used-car-salesman grin, or at least the effort. He's not untalented, he's just flat soda. Sweet, but no bite. If he gets to make an album, hopefully he can get fellow talented cheeseball Bruno Mars to help him find his soul. He could actually be a good recording artist, but not if he's grinning all the time.

[Stratego]

It seems to me that Borchetta wants Jax to win.  The song "choices" and "praise" are way in her favor vs the other contestants.  That Bieber song was a most unusual choice.  I don't like Bieber's music anyway--but this was way out of Clark's wheelhouse.  If this "choice" wasn't purely Clark's, he was being sabotaged.  The way things are going Nick is picking up steam and will displace Clark for the final two.  Clark will be the "shock boot" of the season.

[Nedsdag]

I watched more hockey/basketball/baseball than I did AI tonight. It was so bad that I missed Nick's second song.

 

You know when they call some people "sexually confused?" Well, I saw more "musically confused" singers tonight than a middle school talent show. Did the contestants know what is the meaning of "Stadium Anthems"? I'm pretty sure Clark didn't when he sang "Yesterday" and the Bieber song. And don't get me started on Jax. She's not a rocker and she's a poor imitation of what's out there now.

 

The way it is going, this "tour" will end up in more shopping malls and parking lots than arenas. Maybe they should be the opening acts for the The Voice tour if there is one.

 

No surprised that Quentin is out. Last week sealed it for him. It should be a very interesting press tour with him this week.

Edited April 23, 2015 by Nedsdag

[rollerblade]

Clark's "Yesterday" was emotionless and loud, and the Bieber song wasn't a good choice at all.

 

I don't follow AI much anymore, so pardon the stupid question. How old is Clark? No offense, but he sang Yesterday like a freaking pedophile. That ultra wide-eye presentation was seriously grossing me out.

[KR Vermont]

Aw, if Quentin hadn't had that dust-up with Harry last week, would he still have been the one leaving tonight...even though Rayvon may be the better technical singer, I enjoy Quentin's performances more, stylistically--I just feel more when he's doing his thing onstage.

[mojoween]

Jax sucks. I hate hate hate that she changed the pronoun because it made the song sound dumb.

Aww I will miss Quentin. He would be the only one I would be interested to see on tour.

Although Nick is growing on me, but most likely because he's the only one who I am not old enough to be his mother.

[BogoGog24]

JAX - Her first performance was terrible, I don't know why the judges were raving over that. It didn't give her much to work with. A throwaway song choice. White Flag was definitely much better.

 

Tyanna - Party in the USA was ok. Her voice deserves more challenging songs than that. Also, they removed most of the lines from the bridge, which is where the song climaxes. I could tell she almost started to sing the bridge, got lost for a second, and then found her way again. The bridge would have given her a chance for a "glory note." Heaven was well sung, but I hate that song and never care to hear it again on this show. And again, she missed an opportunity for a climax or glory note.

 

Nick - The Maroon 5 song fit him to a T. And having the band up there with him was a smart choice. He really seemed much more in his element. Nothing original or creative about the performance, for sure, but it was solid. It looked exactly like the types of performances we see from the guest performers on the results shows. His second song was ok.

 

Clark - I didn't like his rendition of Yesterday. I agree with others who say he seemed too much in his head. I didn't like the jazzed up arrangement at all. And I'm not sure how that song is an "arena anthem"? The Bieber song was interesting, probably the most current thing he's done. I was sure it was a producer choice because they are aware of how many female fans he has, but he mentioned to Ryan he had performed the song a couple years ago, so it seems he's had it in his pocket for awhile. I can't believe the judges didn't seem to like it, but they lost their shit over Yesterday??? The contestants can seriously never win. If they do an exact rendition of the song, they get called karaoke and get told to "make it their own." Then when they take a risk and change the song to suit their style, they get shit for that too. I'm sure at this point it doesn't matter how Clark does, he has his fan base, as all the others do, that are going to vote for him regardless of how he performs, and is a lock for the finale, maybe even possibly the winner.

 

Rayvon - I wish he had switched his song order. The Sam Smith song was a way better "save me" song. Overall, IMO, he sang better than Quentin tonight. I'm personally not a fan of either, and would rather have eliminated both and brought Joey back. But since we had to vote for one, I voted for who I thought gave the better vocal performance. I'm sure a lot of people probably voted for Rayvon to punish Quentin for last week. But I was actually on Quentin's side in that. I just didn't think he delivered tonight. I've never been on the Quentin train. I realize he's had pitch issues for pretty much the entire season, but I never noticed it very much until tonight. He had pitch problems that were just impossible to ignore. Rayvon may be more boring, but he's technically the better vocalist, so I voted for Rayvon. The way I voted had nothing at all to do with what happened from last week. 

 

Quentin - As I mentioned, both his performances tonight just were not quite enough. He needed to have a "moment" and he just didn't really do that. The pitch problems were noticeable. I was on his side in the situation that happened last week and I think it was really awful for the show to keep milking that and making promos out of it and trying to make him look bad (even though I don't think it's exactly surprising to anyone they did that). But when it comes down to vocal performance, I have to choose who I thought delivered better and for me that was Rayvon tonight. I've just never really cared for Quentin very much. 

 

Next week I think the bottom 2 will be Rayvon (again, for like what, the 5th time?) and maybe Tyanna. Clark isn't going anywhere and JAX has her dedicated JAX Pack. Nick is doing way better in the voting than I expected, since he's from CT and all. But he may possibly have the whole state of CT and maybe all of the northeast on his side. For now, he seems to be doing well in the votes and he had an overall solid night, so I think he'll be safe. 

 

Harry's attempt at the sports thing tonight was… I don't even know how to describe that whole thing. In the words of Quentin "That whole thing was whack." Seriously, it wasn't even that funny. And he kept making suggestive comments at JLo. I did think it was interesting that for the second round he asked the questions serious questions instead of giving a critique. I think he did that last season as well, when they got more towards the end. I really think it's a good idea to start asking the remaining contestants those kinds of questions, to find out what kind of record they want to make, or how they would react in certain situations. It separates the men from the boys, so to speak.

Edited April 23, 2015 by BogoGog24

[Ketzel]

According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, (after you skip the church chorale definitions) an anthem is "a usually rousing popular song that typifies or is identified with a particular subculture, movement or point of view." So a "stadium anthem" should be a rousing popular song that is identified with a sporting event, no? In what universe can most of the songs sung tonight be considered "rousing?" Not to mention that I've been to a whole lot of sporting events, but I'm damned if I ever once heard the crowd bellowing out "Yesterday," or "I'm Not The Only One." I don't think American Idol can get sillier, less relevant, more pointless, or thinner of talent than it is right this moment.

Edited April 23, 2015 by Ketzel

[BogoGog24]

Earlier today Idol posted a video of the judges and Scott talking about the show and I think the way JLo described "arena anthems" was perfect. Don't remember exactly how she described it, but basically she was saying it's the songs that people sing along to in concert, or dance to, or light their lighters to. I think the word "anthem" implies the song has to be upbeat, but I think the way JLo described it was great. The songs that affect people in concert, whether it makes them want to sing along, dance, or wave their lighters to I think could be considered anthems. 

[Rick Kitchen]

Boy, throw out the 9/11 survivor story to boost Jax, huh?  Too bad she can't sing her way out of a paper bag.

 

Why are we wasting time on Harry's discussion of Jennifer's walk?

 

Sorry, Nick, if you're 29, you're not a "kid". I liked his song.

 

How is "Yesterday" a stadium anthem?  Clark did have some problems with it.

 

Tyanna's  song was pretty bad. And, to my chagrin, I actually like that Miley Cyrus song.

 

AI, the people have been telling you for weeks now that they want Rayvon gone.  Deal with it. But I was glad to see Quentin in the bottom two.  He got what he deserved.  His song was good, though.

 

Rayvon was great. But why did they replay his performance after the commercial?

 

Nick's second song was as good as his first. I just noticed he got a hair cut.  I am so glad.

 

Tyanna's second song was very good.

 

Certainly interesting interpretation of "Boyfriend".  I liked Clark with that. Harry is just wrong.

 

And now why are we replaying Keith's body moves?

 

Jax's second performance was the best she's ever done. But I have to be honest, I don't know the song.  Thanks, Ryan, for letting me know it was Dido.

 

Quentin's second song was really good.  But I'm glad he's gone. He cut his throat last week. And he looks so sullen all the time.

 

Rayvon's second song was baaaaaad.

[Guest]

I watched more hockey/basketball/baseball than I did AI tonight. It was so bad, that I missed Nick's second song.

 

The way it is going, this "tour" will end up in more shopping malls and parking lots than arenas. Maybe they should be the opening acts for the The Voice tour if there is one.

I was signing up for a summer ceramics course at my local arts center when I noticed on their site a link to buy tickets to the AI top 5 summer tour.  I think the theater has 1600 seats.  Some past tours were in the 18,000 seat stadium.  

 

I don't follow AI much anymore, so pardon the stupid question. How old is Clark? No offense, but he sang Yesterday like a freaking pedophile. That ultra wide-eye presentation was seriously grossing me out.

I think he's 22.  How do pedophiles sing?  He can be a little odd looking, with the plump, pink lips and baby blue eyes.  Then he stands next to Ryan and looks like he's at 120% scale.  

 

I kind of liked the Jet song but would've preferred she didn't change 'girl' to 'guy'.  I also liked Party in the USA.  Nick was ok.  I like this top five.  I don't like Scott, for some reason.

[UsernameFatigue]

It seems to me that Borchetta wants Jax to win.

 

Yep, he had made that obvious for awhile now. As have the producers. And the judges are earning their money by giving her continual tongue baths when it is not deserved. Her whole persona is an affectation. When performing before AI she had brown hair, no fake face tattoo, she went by Jackie and actually had a last name. She is this year's version of JENA, only more annoying. As is her voice. At this point I am hoping Rayvon beats her for the win.

 

WTF was Jennifer taking about when she told Nick  "if you are here next week". Of course he will be there you idiot, he wasn't in the bottom two and in danger of going home. Sheesh.

 

Other than that, with both Joey and Quentin gone I really don't care what happens for the rest of the season. At this point I will likely cheer for Tyanna if for no other reason than she apparently has a shit load of family to support. Yikes.

Edited April 23, 2015 by UsernameFatigue

[KR Vermont]

Loved Quentin's funky Light My Fire (cool bass and guitar), to the point I listened to a crappy-audio you tube version and also the studio version (with the signature organ) several times each, a first for me this year--it's been an underwhelming season XIV.

[Simon Boccanegra]

Critiques were weird tonight. Even Harry didn't notice that there was a serious band sync issue with the beginning of "Harder To Breathe" that really hobbled the whole performance? Nick had to bring that up himself? Until he said something, I was thinking it was just me. They also praised some flat performances and were surprisingly tough on Clark's "Boyfriend," which I thought was much better than his "Yesterday" (which seemed to be there to give him another chance to ace a standard-type ballad, and it was an improvement over "Moon River"). 

 

Rayvon's "Don't Stop" was one of his worst -- he was ragged until the glory note, and inaudible down low -- but there was lingering bad juju over Quentin's scene last week, and Rayvon's "I'm Not The Only One" had been stellar. Quentin's very good save-song performance was not enough to overcome all that. I liked the funky rhythm of the verses of his "Light My Fire," but it had nowhere to go on the choruses, and he didn't really fill the song out with charisma. You just can't see someone sing that without thinking of Jim Morrison. Tyanna seems adrift (great raw vocal material, not there yet), and I'm not getting JAX. A weak female side this season. Nick is this year's solid and inoffensive Casey James type whose triumph will be hanging around into the top five. 

 

I really like the personalities of both Rayvon and Clark. They're good singers and seemingly pleasant people. There is a warmth and niceness about them. That will matter less post-Idol, but I imagine it is endearing them to the audience.

Edited April 23, 2015 by Simon Boccanegra

[RetailTherapy]

I'm sorry - what???  This was stadium anthem night?  Woulda never known, as none of them actually selected a stadium anthem to sing.

 

Hated to see Quentin go.  He was the only one who was even in the least bit interesting.  Photos of the rest can be found in the dictionary as examples of what "meh" means.

[proserpina65]

Well, that wasn't unexpected, but damn if Rayvon isn't a cockroach.  A really boring cockroach.

 

And none of these contestants really understand what an arena anthem should sound like, do they?

 

In order of who I think is most likely to make the finale:

 

Nick - He's really waited for the right time to come into his own.  He's been building on his previous weeks' efforts and has developed some momentum at exactly the right spot in the competition.  Those were both really good performances, vocally and performance-wise.  Maroon Five is the sort of thing that he should probably be doing on this show.  Harder to Breathe suited his voice, as did Maggie May (although I can think of other Rod Stewart songs which would've fit better: Every Picture Tells A Story, maybe?)  And this was possibly the closest to actual arena anthems, I guess.  B+

 

Clark - Neither song fit the theme, but I did enjoy the reworking of the Beiber song.  But Yesterday made me understand why other people think he's boring.  Because that was really dull.  Still, I think he and Nick are locks for the finale. B-

 

Jax - I was in the kitchen and didn't see her first performance, but it sounded fine, and I liked the song choice; it was different and vaguely anthem-y.  White Flag was absolutely terrific, and by far the best performance of the night; it really pains me to say that about Jax. B

 

Tyanna - The Miley Cyrus song was young and fun, and Tyanna sounded and looked good doing it.  THIS is the sort of thing she should be singing, not songs with a gravitas which she doesn't yet possess, Keith.  Heaven, on the other hand, was a lousy choice for her.  It didn't suit her voice and she had no connection to it at all.  She looked pageanty, something I wouldn't have said about her before.  B-

 

Rayvon - The first song was well-sung but dull as dishwater.  And I want what the judges are drinking/smoking, because Go Your Own Way flat out sucked.  The key was too low for his voice - he has little lower register, the pitch was all over the place, there was no emotional connection to the lyrics at all, and his energy was blah.  D

 

Quentin - I figured he was gone after last week, but I will miss him.  He and Joey were the only contestants whose performances made me wonder what they might do next, in the good way.  I enjoyed both of these very much.  Yes, there were still a few pitch issues, but the overall feel of both performances was really good, and Quentin was captivating.  These should've kept him in the competition, but last week's issue pretty much doomed him, I think.  Plus, Rayvon is the cockroach you just can't kill.  B+

 

I'm predicting Rayvon will go next week, unless his cockroachiness takes out Tyanna instead.

[proserpina65]

Earlier today Idol posted a video of the judges and Scott talking about the show and I think the way JLo described "arena anthems" was perfect. Don't remember exactly how she described it, but basically she was saying it's the songs that people sing along to in concert, or dance to, or light their lighters to. I think the word "anthem" implies the song has to be upbeat, but I think the way JLo described it was great. The songs that affect people in concert, whether it makes them want to sing along, dance, or wave their lighters to I think could be considered anthems. 

Peter Gabriel doing "Biko" at the end of his concerts qualifies as an arena anthem.  Pretty much nothing the AI contestants did last night does.

[rereader2]

To be fair to the contestants, they can pretty much only pick from a list of approved songs that they're given, so they aren't the ones that called these anything-but-arena-anthem-songs arena anthems. I believe the CAN ask for other songs, but then if their requests aren't approved they've lost the time they've spent working on a song they can't perform. And lets face it, most arena anthem songs are what huge arena audiences want to shout along with and aren't exactly good vocal showcases, so why go there?

 

Frankly, the "categories" this year seemed to be mostly "here's a bunch of songs the AI producers were able to get permission for without having to pay a lot for that permission."

[cinsays]

   Well, I think the theme this week was confusing to everybody.  Seems like we all have different ideas of what that means. I thought it meant something moving and uplifting, like the National Anthem is supposed to be.  Don't really know.

   Anyway, if that is at all close to what it means, Miley Cyrus?  Bieber?  Just NO.

   Hated Jax's first number - just hated her awful fried hair and her voice just was not good at all.  I did enjoy her second number, probably because I love White Flag.

   Nick is always just blah to me, not good, not bad, just nothing unusual to distinguish him from a thousand other singers.

   Tyanna sounded really flat to me on her first number, but very nice on her second, though not sure she looked like she connected emotionally on it at all.

   Clark is my favorite and I loved his take on Yesterday.  Beautiful voice, lovely.  I hate Bieber and hate that dumb song, so, to me, that was definitely a wasted chance to do a good song.

   As much as I love Quentin and admire his artistry, I did not enjoy his first song.  I don't think it gave him a chance to show his power and intensity.  I liked the save-me song much better.

   Rayvon's take on the Sam Smith song was lovely and I think, based on that, I would have to say the save was directed toward the right person.  I think he has a beautiful voice, but he can just stop with the falsetto.  Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.  I wish he's lose the hat.

   I really am not enjoying the judges' attempts at humor among themselves and their attempts to make this show all about them.  Just shut up and let the kids sing.  Keith needs to realize he's almost 50 and stop trying to dress like a 20 year old cool guy.  JLO needs to realize she can be a pretty, sexy woman without either having her too short dresses showing her big thighs or having half her boobs hanging out.    Harry needs to just get over himself.

[Foghorn Leghorn]

Jax was just horrible and the judges telling her how great she was is completely laughable.  They are guiding America to come down to her definitely being in the final two.  I was embarrassed for her singing the first song.  This is my last season for the show.

 

Clark doing Yesterday scared me at first but I thought it was the most emotion he had shown and he is a good singer.  He is my fave.

 

Nick is just not my pick!

 

Rayvon can be gone!

 

Tyanna has a sweet voice but is not ready.

 

Quentin tried but of course we knew he was going home after last week but tonight I didn't notice his pitch and he smiled more.  

 

I knew only a couple of the songs and had never heard of the others and I was expecting stadium anthem songs so was disappointed in not seeing anyone step out like Adam Lambert might have.  

 

Speaking of smiling did anyone catch Jax's angry face while they were seated waiting for the second round?  I had to rewind and watch a couple of times...someone was being complimented and she obviously didn't agree, cue her bitch face.  I absolutely can't stand her and thank you to the several posters mentioning him being there at 9-11..enough already!!  Do they think they need to garner votes because of that because she may not make it otherwise?  Well here's a clue, she is horrible and can't sing, she is mediocre karaoke end of!

[Primetimer]

The Top Five are announced as the fog machine goes into overdrive.

Read the story

[Foghorn Leghorn]

Oh God that was horrible Harry going on and on drawing circles...endless and pointless wastes of time.  Once Harry gets on a roll with his quirky sense of humor he doesn't seem to know when to stop.  I think Ryan at one point just talked over him and Keith laughed louder.  Agree can we put it back to the contestants?  I wonder if part of Keith's pay is based on how many times he shows us how to hold a guitar like him...funny.  I rewatched the performance and the guitar didn't look any deeper on Nick than before.  JLO hasn't quite figured out what her weakest body parts are yet!  Thunder thighs and her boobs are her girls are hanging low as what happens when we get older Jen....lift them or hire a good bra to do it for you because that dress was not working.

Edited April 23, 2015 by Foghorn Leghorn

[The Real Chon]

I personally dug the telestrator, and Harry should have critiqued each song with it.

WTF is a Snapchat artist? More hipster excuses to keep from looking for real work? That drivel he was uploading looks like any coloring book in a pre-K class.

I guess there were songs, but I was so underwhelmed I worked on late tax returns.

[rereader2]

That whole thing with Harry drawing sports circles--that had to have been planned ahead of time, because lines don't just magically appear on screenshots, neither do freeze frames spontaneously occur. Whichever member of the production staff that had this brainstorm (or approved it) needs to go sit in the corner.

Edited April 23, 2015 by rereader2

[backformore]

This episode reminded me of earlier seasons where the point of the critiques by Randy, Simon, Paula was all about influencing the vote.  Much of the judges' critiques seemed less than genuine to me.   This was especially the case when they criticized song choice.  The contestants don't have that much control over song choice.  And this week's "theme"  was crazy.  Stadium Anthems?  what fits that category, and what doesn't?  the singers were supposed to guess, and then told, "nope, you guessed wrong."    But we all know they had received some guidance on the category while choosing songs. 

[Guest]

I personally dug the telestrator, and Harry should have critiqued each song with it.

I did, too.  I would be up for them critiquing songs with it.  Keith can draw guitar wearing diagrams.  Jen can draw 'work the stage' diagrams.  Harry can continue making fun of Keith and Jen.  

 

I think they decided stadium anthems meant any song ever sung in any stadium.  Kind of like movie song night.  

[backformore]

nm

Edited April 23, 2015 by backformore

[backformore]

Keith, each week, he just keeps telling us about holding the guitar lower.  I want him to just straight out say "put the guitar over your crotch, like it's an extension of your dick. practice in the mirror making a sexy face while strumming the giant penis. girls go crazy, and you end up married to a movie star."

[Foghorn Leghorn]

Keith, each week, he just keeps telling us about holding the guitar lower.  I want him to just straight out say "put the guitar over your crotch, like it's an extension of your dick. practice in the mirror making a sexy face while strumming the giant penis. girls go crazy, and you end up married to a movie star."

 

LMAO  Ain't that the truth!!  

[charlieboo]

Without Joey and Quentin that tour is going to be a complete bore-fest.

What was up with Harry's questions? I felt like I was watching Miss America with the carefully calculated answers.

[proserpina65]

Keith needs to realize he's almost 50 and stop trying to dress like a 20 year old cool guy.

 

Bite your tongue!  Keith dresses just fine.

 

Now, as to the judges trying to act like 20 year olds . . .

[radiochik]

Well, I was supposedly done w this show last week but a nap earlier in the day coupled with nothing else on tv I wanted to watch had me tuning in.  I wish I hadn't.

 

I've kinda soured on Jax lately  but I really liked her version of the Jet song. Like someone else above, I didn't really like that she changed "girl" to "guy". 

 

Nick is bland. Tyanna seems over-rehearsed - no emotion behind those eyes. I love the braids on her - they definately played up her youthful image but the song choices weren't that great.  Clark. Eh. Hated his Yesterday. Loved his Beiber.  Again echoing someone above, he just seems too torch song-y/not current to me.  Not one of these kids get me excited to see them - I don't care who wins.  And I don't see much of a career for whoever does.

 

There were so many shenanigans regarding Quentin/Rayvon and the "fan save".  I loved Quentin's Light My Fire but the judges were underwhelmed.  I couldn't understand how JLo wanted more from him yet Clark's pitch problems during Yesterday were ignored while they bathed him with praise.  Then they cut to spots right after Rayvon's first performance and REPLAY his performance after the break.  WTF? Have they ever done that before?  THEN they mixed up the order of all the "safe" contestants for the second round of songs. But kept the ones in danger in the same order. Meaning once again, Rayvon closed out the singing.  And I thought that Fleetwood Mac song was a hot mess. Too low and all kinds of out of key. One of these days I'd love to be in the studio audience to hear how different everything must sound compared to what we see/hear on tv. 

 

This was the greatest tweet I saw last night:  https://twitter.com/Idol360/status/591045643327688706   So true and so funny.

 

I hope they get rid of this fan save next year.  It just kept Rayvon around 4 more weeks than he should have been there.  I HOPE he goes next week, proving that America as a whole still wants him gone.  If they keep the save, just call it the Rayvon Owen Honorary Save.  I find him meh and that screechy glory note he throws into every song just grates.

 

I'm going to attempt to not watch this trainwreck next week. We'll see how successful I am. 

Edited April 23, 2015 by radiochik

[Foghorn Leghorn]

Yes they replayed Ravon's performance after the break and for a while I thought I messed up my rewind or FF...so that was slanted.  The other thing I noticed was Ryan sent Quentin pdq to his chair right after his first performance like didn't give him one second of air time..did he do that to everyone else?

[Shannon L.]

 

And lets face it, most arena anthem songs are what huge arena audiences want to shout along with and aren't exactly good vocal showcases, so why go there?

That's exactly what I was thinking.  Actually, not exactly--those songs were the first ones that came to mind, then I thought about maybe the really big, loud rock and roll bands:  Queen, AC/DC, early Bon Jovi, Metallica.  Anyway, just out of curiosity, I googled Stadium Anthems and got this list (they were all slightly different, but many of the songs were the same). I'm only going to post a few of them:

 

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

The Final Countdown

Sweet Caroline

Welcome to the Jungle

Thunderstruck

Whoomp, There It Is

Start Me Up

Na Na Hey Hey Good Bye

Jump Around

Welcome to the Jungle

Crazy Train

Eye of the Tiger

Lose Yourself

We Are the Champions/We Will Rock You

 

So, yeah....not many good songs to showcase vocals.

 

Last night was the first time I fast forwarded through most of the songs.  I stayed for both of Nick's and Jax's second one.  I understand why people are bored with Nick, but I do think he's the only one really improving on a weekly basis.

[Guest]

Harry's freeze frame of Jen "praying"... I thought she was checking her cleavage tape.

[Foghorn Leghorn]

Harry's freeze frame of Jen "praying"... I thought she was checking her cleavage tape.

 

And giving them a good squeeze together...LOL   

[Padma]

I tuned in mid-way--just in time for Harry's loooonnngg drawn out bit about Jen on the telestrator. My god that was boring! And unfunny. He has zero sense of comedic timing.  I had to turn the show off (I dunno, I thought I would be watching some singers). Glad to come here and find out there weren't very many good performances anyway.

[Ketzel]

That's exactly what I was thinking.  Actually, not exactly--those songs were the first ones that came to mind, then I thought about maybe the really big, loud rock and roll bands:  Queen, AC/DC, early Bon Jovi, Metallica.  Anyway, just out of curiosity, I googled Stadium Anthems and got this list (they were all slightly different, but many of the songs were the same). I'm only going to post a few of them:

 

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

The Final Countdown

Sweet Caroline

Welcome to the Jungle

Thunderstruck

Whoomp, There It Is

Start Me Up

Na Na Hey Hey Good Bye

Jump Around

Welcome to the Jungle

Crazy Train

Eye of the Tiger

Lose Yourself

We Are the Champions/We Will Rock You

 

So, yeah....not many good songs to showcase vocals.

What a huge missed opportunity for AI to have itself another water cooler moment! Just imagine what Clark, Nick, Jax or Rayvon would have done to "Welcome to the Jungle." *looks around for sarcasm smiley* It could have been the funniest moment since Danny Gokey sang "Dream On." Edited April 23, 2015 by Ketzel

[geekburger]

I think TPTB got excited with Harry vs Quentin last week and decided to give him more airtime this week with his hilarious drawings and ribbing of JLo and Keith. Not. They are trying so hard to be the Voice and they aren't. They were the original Voice but that ship (and judging panel) has sailed. I do appreciate HCJ sometimes has other critiques than Keith and JLo. 

Edited April 23, 2015 by geekburger