If you’ve been keep up with American Idol, you’re aware contestants just made it to Hollywood where the stage and the chances of getting eliminated got bigger, that is if judges stick by their made up rules. This week, Katy Perry didn’t mock anyone like she did previously, so that’s good. We got a two-fer with episodes on Sunday and Monday. First night was individual performances, then Monday was all about duets. Because of the nature of the show and humans and circumstances, one duet turned into a trio and a few almost turned into solos. This was the case for Fire, who needs success as much as any contestant on the show.
**For recaps, check out my new American Idol Season 21 Episode Rundowns page**
Fire’s partner was Kaya Stewart, the woman I wrote about in this post. Daughter of a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and, while she isn’t a great singer, her spoiled brat attitude annoys me way more than her voice. She and Fire practiced for hours and when it was time to take the stage in front of the judges, Kayla announced that instead of caring about Fire and trying to make it through the performance, she just quit. Sounds like someone is scared of getting a “no” so she beat them to it. Meanwhile Fire was left alone on the stage until a selfless Jayna Elise stepped up to sing in Kaya’s place.
Another untouchable contestant almost ruined things for Cam Amen. I say untouchable because Cam’s duet partner was J Valerione, a man who identifies as non-binary, they/them, and androgynous. I still haven’t figured out if all those identifiers means Jay is a drag queen, but based on the dictionary definition and the way Jay dresses, I’d say he fits the mold. Therefore, it would be considered hate speech if someone were to call him out for, say, being extremely self-centered when he decided to leave the competition halfway through duet rehearsals because it was just too much for him. Well, that DID happen and Cam, unfortunately, was stuck between a rock and a hard place… that is, until Jay returned to heroically save the day. There’s a lesson here: A person who starts a fire should get no credit for putting it out.
After their messy duet performance and along with the judges, Jay treated Cam like a child who got a boo boo. Such a condescending aura even though Jay is the whole reason Cam fumbled through the performance! Gosh, that ticked me right off. But because Jay is in such a special class, we aren’t allowed to tell him what he did was selfish, stupid, and when he quit the show he should’ve never came back. With that said, Jay DOES have a nice singing voice. But he totally screwed Cam over. Can’t you just feel the patronizing going on in this picture?
Besides the two quitters, there were great duets in the show. If I had to pick a favorite, I’d go with Hannah Nicolaisen and Warren Peay who performed, “It’s Your Love.”
And I gotta mention Zachariah Smith and Isaac Brown who improvised their way through “I’m Still Standing,” and did it with gusto. Zachariah’s voice, backstory, and personality could take him really far in this competition.
See you all tomorrow…
-Out of the Wilderness
Out of the Wilderness 