The first live show of the fifteenth and final season of American Idol was emotional! The original winner, Kelly Clarkson, joined Keith Urban, Jennifer Lopez and Harry Connick Jr. on the judges panel, and as Jlo said afterward, she was a breath of fresh air.
Kelly didn’t pull any punches with the singers. She doled out clear, no nonsense constructive criticism. After Gianna Isabella delivered her usual half-baked performance, Kelly was kind, but honest, telling the singer she needed more time before she could tackle big songs. The singer’s critiques always came with at least a side of encouragement. Also, it was interesting to hear comments from someone who understands the unique challenges the contestants face.
After last season’s light up chair debacle, which ruined too many competition performances, I was relieved the eliminations would happen at the top of the show, short and sweet. The tension in the studio week after week as the singers waited for their damn chair to light up was not fun to watch. I solely blame those dang chairs for unnerving the uber-talented Sarina-Joi Crowe, leading to her way-too-soon elimination in 12 place.
So, hooray for eliminating contestants before the performances if they aren’t going to be allowed to sing. Once the contestants for that week are cut, the rest of the field can breath a sigh of relief and get on with the show. The producers would probably rather keep the suspense going as long as possible. But if viewers are tuning out, what’s the point.
ELIMINATIONS. Ugh. The judges fawned over Gianna Isabella for weeks. That last push from Jlo begging fans to vote her into the Top 10 worked. Then, there’s Jlo, all surprise face, when Gianna proves again that she’s completely out of her depth in this competition. Sure, Jenn Blosil was pitch impaired, but she brought a maturity, intrigue and sense of daring to her performances. Alas, the curse of the quirky girl came for Jenn even sooner than it usually does. Maybe it was those crazy eyebrows last night. But it was probably more about that string of inconsistent performances, and her idiosyncrasies wearing thin with the voting public. Manny and Thomas’ ousters weren’t really shocking. I would have rather had Thomas in than Lee, but I’m not too disappointed.
Tonight’s performances started off strong with an intriguing take by Olivia Rox of “Unconditionally.” During the commercial break, FOX immediately aired a spot promoting The Passion Live featuring that song. A coincidence or not? Hm. After Olivia it was a whole lotta blandy meh until La’Porsha Renae took the stage, all witchy-woman in her long black cape, to blow us all away. Maybe she raised the remaining contestants games, because the performances improved considerably afterward. Olivia, La’Porsha, Sonika Vaid and Trent Harmon were the best of the night.
It’s time to take some polls!
Favorite Performance
Most Likely to Be Eliminated
Which Contestant was Most Robbed?
Kelly Clarkson as Judge Yay or Nay
Grade the Episode
Check out a new Gallery of Top 10 portraits below
