American Idol comes to a close during tomorrow’s three-hour finale. Before it, I want to look back at the best performances from the Top 3. These are their standout performances that either moved us, showed us their growth, or just gave us a glimpse of the artist they will become.
Megan Danielle has had a journey of improvement, growth, and finding her inner and outer strength. With every new performance, she becomes a more fierce performer. She’s not only finding her place in this music industry but carving one. Megan’s voice shows maturity long beyond her actual years. Now, she’s gaining the confidence to make it really soar. In my opinion, some of Megan’s best performances are the ones where she steps out of her country music comfort zone and tries on some other musical genres.
Her voice works in many of them, so when she really gets to explore new musical worlds, she meets the challenge with ferocity. I listened to all of Megan’s American Idol 2023 performances, and these are the ones I think are the best. I ranked her top 5 performances.
5. “Head Over Feet” by Alanis Morissette
“Head Over Feet” is the first time I could envision how Megan could fit into the modern pop landscape because it showed how she could also sing popish songs and still give them a bit of a twang.
This cover definitely feels out of Megan’s comfort zone, but she nails it. It sounds like the song was always written for her.
4. Angel From Montgomery” by Bonnie Raitt
Megan has an old country style and soul, so Bonnie Raitt and other artists like her are the perfect role models for her to showcase her voice. “Angel From Montgomery” fits her style and works really well with the rasp in her voice. It tells a story and I think that’s why Megan connects so well with it. It’s a complex song that strips things back to really focus on the lyrics and the singer’s ability to communicate this song.
Megan also keeps the arrangement simple, but does a lot of cool things with her voice, like ending on a high than a low note.
3.”Go Rest High On The Mountain” by Vince Gill
I’m personally a sucker for when singers tackle songs with some emotional relevancy to them. It adds some stakes to the performance and gives it more of a personal story behind the words. This is one of Megan’s more emotional performances as she singings such a touching and spiritual song as “Go Rest High on The Mountain.” Her rendition is beautiful as much as it is invigorating.
Megan also pushes her voice in ways that we don’t normally hear from her. It makes the performance not only very heartfelt but also technically complex. It’s one of her most memorable performances of American Idol 2023 so far.
2. “Thank God I Do” by Lauren Daigle
This is the second Lauren Daigle song that Megan sang during American Idol 2023. If she does end up singing with Lauren during the finale, I hope they duet “Thank God I Do” because it really highlights the strength of Megan’s voice. I think this is my personal favorite Megan American Idol cover. She just gives her performance of “Thank God I Do” so much passion, emotion, and effort.
She does a lot more tricks than we normally hear from her performances. She takes some chances that we haven’t heard from her before her performance of “Thank God I Do.”
1. “The Chain” by Fleetwood Mac
Megan’s performance of “The Chain” was the moment that I knew Megan was a real contender. She gave this song so much attitude that it needed to leave an impression. “The Chain” was her “watch what I can do” moment. It made me want to hear her sing more songs in this rockish folk style. It fit her voice so well.
“The Chain” also marked one of the moments where Megan became more confident in her abilities and being on the stage. She also didn’t try to copy Fleetwood Mac but gave it her own style.
Bonus: “Dive” by Ed Sheeran
Singing “Dive” pushes both Colin Stough and Megan to new heights with their voices. It’s such a captivating and entertaining cover. It ended up being one of my favorite duets from the Ed Sheeran and Alanis Morissette night.
What was your favorite Megan Danielle American Idol performance?
Join us tomorrow night for the three-hour American Idol 2023 finale where we’ll see who actually wins the title of American Idol 21 winner. Also, make sure to add us on Facebook and Twitter for more American Idol news, spoilers, recaps, and much more.