Last night on American Idol 2016, we watched the judges cut half of the Top 24 down to seven. Most of their decisions made sense, after the two nights of performances but there were a few head-scratchers.
Making it into the first half of the Top 14 were La’Porsha Renae, Sonika Vaid, Gianna Isabella, Avalon Young, Thomas Stringfellow, MacKenzie Bourg and Jeneve Rose Mitchell.
So did the judges make the right cuts? Let’s take a closer look.
Emily Brooke
Was this the right decision? Yes. I was Team Emily and when I read a spoiler that she got cut, I was shocked and didn’t believe it. She’s actually in my predicted Top 10. But after her solo performance on Wednesday night, it all made sense. She earned her elimination from that performance, unfortunately.
James VIII
Was this the right decision? Yes. I had a feeling James wasn’t going to last long because we didn’t catch a lot of him in the Hollywood Week episodes. And after his two nights of performances it became clear he just wasn’t a standout. This cut makes perfect sense to me.
Stephany Negrete
Was this the right decision? Yes. Stephany is talented and beautiful, but she doesn’t fit right with this show. She can surely be a singer, but I couldn’t see her relating with voters week after week. There was just something missing when it came to her overall stage presence.
Jordan Sasser
Was this the right decision? No. I think a lot of people were shocked when he got cut. He was being pretty heavily edited, and his solo night performance was pretty solid. So he oversang and tried to overshadow Fantasia on duet night. He’s in competition mode, so that should’ve been forgivable. I guess what this comes down to is who should have been cut instead of Jordan. I would have cut Gianna and kept Jordan.
Jenna Renae
Was this the right decision? I’m not sure. I’m torn about this. I don’t think Jenna is very memorable, but she’s got a great voice and a great energy. I keep going back and forth on this and I think if she were to stay, it should have been instead of Jeneve. I think Jeneve is interesting, but her ugly outfits and alien-like personality (is she really from earth?) will get old fast. So I’m just not sure.
What do you think? Did the judges make the right cuts?