Last night we said goodbye to MacKenzie Bourg in a surprising (or not) shift of power as Dalton went from the bottom 2 last week to the top 2 this week.
After last night’s performances, however, I think it’s safe to officially say that the final two will be La’Porsha and Trent. Our report card for this week definitely reflects that so let’s get to it.
American Idol 2016 Top 3 Report Card
Round 1 (Contestants’ Hometown Picks)
Dalton Rapattoni, “Calling You.” Well this was a boring performance. And it all seemed really gimmicky to me. I just don’t feel a connection to him. And there were virtually no vocals with this one. Grade: C+
Trent Harmon, “Tennessee Whiskey.” As always, Trent took a strong song and made it even better. I loved how emotional and smooth, and just perfect this song was for him. He seemed refreshed from his hometown visit and this song showed that. Grade: A+
La’Porsha Renae, “Glory.” I wish she had picked a better song, but like I’ve been saying, it doesn’t matter what she sings, it’s going to be fantastic. And this was. The vocals were strong and she brought out the emotion and made the right contact with the audience. Grade: A+
Round 2 (Scott Borchetta’s picks)
Dalton Rapattoni, “Dancing in the Dark.” This was one of Dalton’s best efforts. I thought this was actually really cool and Dalton made it current. I’m not going to be like the judges and say it’s OK that Dalton isn’t great singer. Because it’s NOT OK. But I give credit where it’s due, and this was pretty solid. Grade: B+
La’Porsha Renae, “Stay With Me.” Again, she can sing anything. I just can’t believe that she was considered the bottom two. Dalton isn’t even close to being HALF as good as she is. This was a huge performance. Her vocals were powerful and her emotions were high. It was, however, a disconnected performance, like she admitted. She just couldn’t relate to the lyrics and it showed. Grade: A
Trent Harmon, “Drink You Away.” First of all, horrible song choice, Scott. Luckily, Trent is a great singer and performer and really wants to win American Idol, so he delivered. Another great one from Trent, even though I don’t love the song. Grade: A
Dalton Rapattoni, “Everybody Wants to Rule The World.” Well, I can’t be as nice this round. This was a good song for Dalton, but he sort of acted like he couldn’t even be bothered. He barely got out a few of the lyrics. If this guy beats either La’Porsha or Trent then I think American Idol deserves to go away. Grade: D+
La’Porsha Renae, “Hello.” Oddly enough, this wasn’t as good as I hoped it would be. The other two performances were much better. I think this song is just so much of an Adele song, it just didn’t work for La’Porsha like they thought it would. And she really missed the chance to hit that giant Adele note. Grade: A-
Trent Harmon, “Waiting Game.” I have no idea what this song is or why they picked it for Trent, but it was a great performance. It was definitely the kind of song Trent could record, but I just don’t understand the choice. Grade: A
How would you grade the American Idol 2016 Top 3 performances?