It was movie week on American Idol 2015 and despite a very sleepy night, it ended in excitement as the judges, maybe prematurely, used their one save of the season.
Let’s take a look back at the performances from the night. As always, I’ll be reviewing each performance and assigning the letter grade I think each one deserves.
Adanna Duru, “I Love You I Do.” Well that was incredibly boring. At least her vocals were better this week. But by the time the song was over, I was already ready for the whole show to be over. Not a great way to open the show, I have to say. Performance Grade: B
Daniel Seavey, “Lost Stars.” Who picks an Adam Levine song if you don’t have even any semblance of a falsetto? What a horrible song choice. And I’m sort of over the whole thing where I’m afraid to be honest with my Daniel recaps because he’s so young and cute. This was horrible. At least it woke me up after Adanna’s performance but that was just to look for something to throw at my TV. Performance Grade: D+
Rayvon Owen, “Stayin Alive.” This is a good, but risky song choice. And he handled it very well. And even though I think the whole mood of the evening is kind of low, this wasn’t actually as boring as I thought it was going to be after the start. Rayvon pulled out a lot of tricks and he was smooth and his vocals were tight. I liked it. Performance Grade: A-
Nick Fradiani, “Danger Zone.” Nick ditched the guitar this week and I don’t think it effected his vocals at all, but he didn’t know what to do with his arms and made some pretty silly moves. But the vocals were fine. Not his best, but fine. The song arrangement was a bit iffy, but overall, it was al OK. Performance Grade: B
Joey Cook, “Mad World.” No one should ever do this song after Adam Lambert’s version during his season. Especially singers like Joey. This song is so emotional and has so much depth that I’m supposed to feel something when a girl with blue hair and that voice sings it to me? No. Doesn’t work. At all. No emotion. No connection. Vocals were fine, but the performance wasn’t. Performance Grade: B-
Tyanna Jones, “Circle of Life.” Well, this isn’t the song I would have picked for her. It’s just so cheesy and the lyrics are silly and it’s so overrated. Luckily Tyanna can sing anything she wants and it will sound great. But I can’t give her an A this week for the song choice alone. Big mistake. Performance Grade: B+
Quentin Alexander, “You’re The One That I Want.” Hmmm, Grease? Really? OK. This was definitely an interesting arrangement of that song, but not in a good way. It was embarrassingly bad to hear those lyrics performed that way. The vocals, however, were some of his best. But WHAT? Grease? That arrangement? No. Performance Grade: C+
Maddie Walker, “Let’s Hear it For The Boy.” This is a cute and young song for a cute and young girl. Not a bad song choice, despite the fact that the song is older than her. And like I expected, the performance was cute. Not great or anything, but cute. She’s got a nice voice and a distinctive sound, so it’s nice to get to know her that way, but I don’t know if America will respond to this performance or not. Performance Grade: B
Clark Beckham, “Sunday Morning.” I don’t know why we’ve got two Adam Levine songs in one Fox show, but OK. I don’t really like this song well, but it wasn’t a bad performance. It was a boring performance, but not a bad. Clark is an amazing talent and he can sing anything, but I hope he didn’t bore voters. Performance Grade: A-
Jax, “Grow Old With You.” Well this might just be one of the most random songs ever performed on American Idol. What’s next? The Golden Girls theme? Happy Birthday To You? Eh. I didn’t like this at all. It’s silly and boring and I can’t take her seriously with this. Performance Grade: C+
That leaves Qaasim Middleton as the person with the least votes. He does get his chance to sing for a save, and he goes with “Come Together” by The Beatles. And it’s just OK. I know the judges like him and America did like him until his dud performance last week, but this wasn’t save-worthy. The judges were clearly going to save him and they did. And I think it was a waste. So next week there will be a double elimination with a 1980s theme.
What did you think of the performances and the save? Did the judges make the right decision?
Agreed! Waste of a Save! Expect a shock boot soon because of this!
Agreed. My money’s on Jax
I wouldn’t mind that.
We can only hope.
Boot off any of them. They’re boring me to death.
I havent watched the show this year. I flipped back and forth and caught a couple of the contestants tonight and I won’t be wasting any more time. They were God Awful and the judges were still blowing smoke. The show looked worse than ever and was soooo boring – and the talent was definitely not the top 10 in the US. The Voice talent is sooooo much better. You seemed to also have a lot of the same stereotypes that Idol has worked with in the past , and the few songs I saw got butchered. I didnt see the end cuz i turned to Scandal but it does seem stupid to save someone this early.
Same way I feel. Glad I’m not wasting my time watching it this year.
Maybe I should do like y’all. It’s getting to be a waste of my time too.
stop “wasting” your time commenting then
Who died and made you the board police? If he or she wants to comment, then he or she can do so.
EW,
I second what Snow White said. If AJ wants to post a criticism about the show here (which it deserved, by the way) then AJ has the right to do so. Not all comments here should be exclusively positive.
Did the judges freaking ears get hit by a train? Why did they save literally the worst contestant they had? I swear this year it’s really driving my patience. I swear someones getting a chance they did not deserve.
Worst contestant? Have you heard Daniel? Alot of people don’t think Pharrell has a very good voice but his bank account looks pretty good as well as Kanye’s. It’s about talent and Qaasim has an abundance of it…as his Father and Mother do to… Give him 5 years and he is the one from this season that will be making all the money!
Quassim is nothing more than a novelty act, just like Taylor Hicks.
I saw Taylor Hicks live….actually pretty good and I hope to have the pleasure of seeing Qaasim some day too.
I second that, Guest! Just like Taylor, he will fade away and won’t be making any hit records like Carrie, Kelly, or Daughtry!
Exactly! Taylor and Quassim are hard to be taken seriously.
Well news flash, this is a singing competition. Honestly his voice is worse than Daniel’s in my opinion and he’s very stupid on stage. If you guys like people looking like an idiot on stage feel free to keep this dolt in the competition.
I second that Lucian.
I second what Lucian said too.
Branden you give Jax a c+. Well I guess her singing is better than your dumb articles. You get an F-
Clear to see who your favorites are!
That is the point of him sharing his opinions and ranking the performances.
Agree 100% with Daniel it was a train wreck. I actually think they convinced Joey to “do” the non quirky arrangement so Jax would have the spot light. Whoops that back fired big time as back to back sub par performances are leaving Jax front runner status all but done.
As for the rest and the letter some differences but nothing earth shattering. For old guys like me Stayin Alive was butchered. I was a DJ during the disco era and saw the movie. The version last night was terrible sorry. I’m ok with the save used as no one other than Clark is truely worthy IMO. Every week he performs and I read; job = street performer I wonder how this guy has no record deal. Far and away this years best and it’s not even close. The only thing I fear is its a “Daugherty” season and some how Clark finishes 3rd and not the finally.
Joey can get her quirky back, Jax can get her mojo back, Nick could find staying power ect ect. Truth is right now its Clark and the 10 “muppets”. Next week 8 muppets and no singing for the save.
Any one know the rating this season compared to the last few years. Just wondering if the show has much staying power left.
One of my favorite Idol blogs, USA Today’s Idol Chatter, isn’t even covering it this year.
I have been watching this show since season 1 and I have to say this is one of the worse season, maybe not the worse but one of them. The talent is weird to say the least. Clark and Tyanna have the best vocals!!!! They saved Qaasim. His vocals are the worse, next to Daniel. What is going on with this show.,… Branden, I must totally agree with you and last night before Joey even started to sing my husband and I said “big mistake”. Your right, nobody should sing that song after Adam. Infact no one should sing any of the songs he sang on AI. Next week double elimination….should be Daniel (the cutest ever) and Qaasim should be saying “good-bye” next week!!!
Hi Phyllis: You’re right. no one should do an Adam song or Cookie’s Billie Jean or Clay’s Solitaire. No one this time around could pull it off successfully. Clark has the vocal chops, but not the showmanship.
Totally agree!!!!!
Just like in season 10 they wasted a save. Season 10 they saved Casey Abrams after his live show performances were seriously going downhill and two weeks later Pia Toscano the best singer of the bunch was eliminated. I mean seriously what if someone like Tyanna is in danger in a week or two and we have Daniel sitting the a safe green chair. This save was wasted while I like Qaasim I don’t see him winning so I would not have saved him. I believe that we will be in for a shock elimination like we were back in season 10 with Pia because the judges wasted their save.
My best guess is the people the producers are pushing are basically getting he votes. I’ll go further and say 1 person is consistently 1st week after week. Now who could that be? 😛
Pretty sure they don’t care the order they figure when the save would have ended as an option they figure the person(s) they are pushing will never be in danger. Or perhaps there sick of this gimmick?
they should have never saved that guy I think they were scared he would kick there butts if they didnt .they way he did that song stunk
I find him very entertaining with an above average (not great) voice. I look forward to his performances, as opposed to others where I just cringe.
Absolutely wasted the save last night!!
Qaasim was a great save and the only person who kept me awake! After this season is over who are you actually going to remember and who is going to be hired to perform and making the money. It’s not always unfortunately about the “Voice” it’s about who catches your attention!
American Idol Top 11 Power Rankings:
Based On – Performance Quality and Social Media Following
1. Clark Beckham
2. Joey Cook
3. Tyanna Jones
4. Jax
5. Nick Fradiani
6. Rayvon Owen
7. Qaasim Middleton
8. Quentin Alexander
9. Daniel Seavey
10. Adanna Duru
11. Maddie Walker
Who Will Probably Be Eliminated? Adanna Duru and Maddie Walker
Who is at Risk? Quentin Alexander and Qaasim Middleton
Sorry Correction **** Who is at Risk: Quentin Alexander and Daniel Seavey
JOey dis connect with the lyricd emotionally well. Check out her WNTS grade
I’ve always felt the save should be preserved in case a potential winner
winds up on the verge of elimination through some fluke – like when
Jessica Sanchez needed rescued back in Season 11.