American Idol 2014 Top 10 Girls Performance Show Recap: A Night Of Nerves And Surprising Judges’ Picks

American Idol 2014 Top 15 Girls

The American Idol 2014 live performances kicked off Tuesday night as the Top 10 girls took to the new idol stage to sing for America’s votes.

That means before the live performances, the judges decided which 10 of the Top 15 girls got to perform and which five would be going home without the chance to sing for America.

So how did the girls do during “Rush Week”? Let’s take a look. I will review every performance and assign the letter grade I think each one deserves.

Majesty Rose, “Happy.” I wasn’t crazy about the song choice. It just felt really low-energy even though it’s not that much of a low-energy song. She’s a great artist, though, so I hope it’s enough for her. For me, though, I’d have to grade this with slight disappointment. Performance grade: B+

Kristen O’Connor, “Turning Tables.” I have to say I was surprised she made the judges’ cut. She’s got a nice look and she does command a stage nicely, but I find her just a little boring. And for her to take on Adele was silly. She’s not a huge singer like Adele and I don’t see America getting behind her. But we’ll see. The ending of the song was pretty solid, but the rest was just kind of there. Performance Grade: B-

Brianna Oakley, “Warrior.” I’m not a fan of song choices yet. I don’t want this to end up being The X Factor, but I’ll try to overlook the songs for now. Wait, no I can’t. This song is awful. And she was kind of irritating, so I have to say with this performance I’m not a fan. There were some good moments, but overall, I thought it was a bit sloppy. Performance Grade: C+

Jena Asciutto, “Paint It Black.” Finally, a song that doesn’t suck. But the performance wasn’t my favorite. I think it was a good representation of the kind of artist she’ll be, but there were clearly some nerves. So the vocals weren’t great, but they weren’t end-of-the-world bad. I still like her, but I hope she doesn’t completely flop. And like JLo says, she’s kind of a badass, so I like that, too. Performance Grade: B-

Bria Anai, “Wrong Side Of A Love Song.” I haven’t paid much attention to Bria up until now and I don’t know why. I guess she wasn’t exactly getting a lot of screen time, but she can sing. I loved her vocals and the energy she put in this performance. She got a little overwhelmed at one point but it sounded like it was on purpose. I liked it. Performance Grade: A

Marrialle Sellars, “Roar.” No. Come on. Why do we have to hear Katy Perry and Demi Lovato songs? Ugh. This aren’t SINGER songs. These are songs made for studio artists who can’t sing. And according to this performance Marialle isn’t that good either. This performance was actually atrocious. Sorry, it just was. Performance Grade: D

Jessica Meuse, “Drink a Beer.” Wait, she’s a country singer? I’m confused. Anyway, I liked the performance. She doesn’t exactly match the genre she chose to perform, but I liked her tone and the performance as a whole. Maybe she thought singing a country song would get her the votes to stay in? Or is she a country singer? I’m confused. Anyway, I liked it. Performance Grade: A

Emily Piriz, “Paris Ooh La La.” Another Top 10 pick I’m surprised with. I just find some of these girls totally boring. Stupid song. But she sounded OKish, so I’ll be nice about how inappropriate the song choice is and how awkward she looked on stage and just stop now before I say something I shouldn’t. Oh, and major props to Harry’s passive-aggressive remarks. I don’t agree with passive aggression, but I loved the point he was making because I agree. Performance Grade: C-

MK Nobilette, “All of Me.” Well she looked terrified, so that was a little off-putting. But her vocals were great. And when her nerves calmed, and she opened up, her vocals improved and she connected to the song. It was tender, soft and emotional. I thought it was one of the best of the night. Performance Grade: A

Malaya Watson, “Hard Times.” Yes! I’m so glad she made it. She was among my top picks. Her performances give me goosebumps and this time was no different. I think she is completely amazing. And I loved this song choice for her and I loved her performance. I can’t get enough of her. Performance Grade: A+

So there’s your Top 10. That means Brandy Neelly, Adrina Brogden, Kenzie Hall, Jillian Jensen and Austin Wolfe are out of the contest. Some of those snubs I’m surprised by. I thought we’d see Brandy, Adrina and Austin in the Top 10 for sure.

FROM THE WEB

FROM THE WEB

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

9 Comments

  1. I am so disgusted by the way Idol handled this. They exploited those
    girls, and humiliated them on national television. Sure, they might have
    signed up to be exploited, but don’t tell 15 girls that they get the
    chance to perform for America’s vote, only to say “nope, not you five.”

    I am devastated for those girls. You know that all of their families
    and friends were home, all crowded around one TV watching Idol waiting
    their girl to sing. And they never even got the chance to.

    For some reason, I thought Idol had grown past this, and was going to
    be a more positive show this season. Boy was I WRONG! Don’t lie to the
    contestants promising that they get to sing, and then take away their
    chance. This is the type of sh*t that will make viewers jump ship to The
    Voice next week.

    This is by far the second worst thing Idol has ever done. (Hiring Nicki Minaj is the first.)

  2. Ladies and Gentlemen!
    Welcome to the Worst Episode of American Idol History!

    Is it me or we all watched worst judge decisions on American Idol?
    AI always was in lack of modern singers (aka Ken z Hall, Austin Wolfe) and It seems this season is not different. Even a 10 year old can do a better job!
    I read here before that it maybe the last season of Idol and after last episode I’m fine with it (and I am one of biggest fan of Idols!. basically it’s only TV program I see).
    I’m so disappointed. The process of eliminating was so unfair. It’s maybe results in increasing ratings for one or two episodes but but in a long run I can see a huge slip in ratings.
    I think the first step to reverse this horrible process will be elimination of Randy Jackson. Please bring back Jimmy Iovine, Please!

  3. First off I agree that this format sucked. What is the purpose of picking 15 singers and then choosing only 10 to sing and then pick 3 of the remaining 5 to round out the top 13? Talk about dashing someone’s confidence!
    Second, none of the girls were impressive. They sounded great during solo week, but all were either nervous or not ready. I can’t put my finger on it. A very disappointing show so far. I thought things would get better; was I wrong.

  4. It hasn’t aired here yet, but I can’t say I’m surprised. Eric Wood’s performances were being raved about, including on this page, but we didn’t see him perform after the hangar. Didn’t see him in group, didn’t see him in top 50 (or was it 49??) except to see him singing along in the audience of the final performances, didn’t see him in the waiting room, or with the judges to be eliminated. So, where the heck was he?

  5. Right there with ya, Branden. M K and jessica were my top picks. Can’t believe some of the shrill screaming from some of the others. hope tonight is better.

  6. Look…Malaya absolutely SUCKS, she is only playing off her perky on-camera attitude; she doesn’t have the skills to back it up. She tries to scream, she can’t keep pitch…she and M-whatever are going to be eliminated as soon as the lesbian vote ceases to be a factor. Sorry, but it’s true. They are both only there because AI feels their life stories add to the show’s content.
    Reply · Like · Unfollow Post · 36 seconds ago

    Ayana Palisuc · Follow · UI/UX Designer at ODesk · 361 subscribers
    I just hope they let the other 5 sing, and just say they’re eliminated afterwards. I like Kenzie Hall and Austin Wolfe though! 🙁
    Reply · 1 · Like · Follow Post · February 19 at 12:37am

Comments are closed.