“You went and saved the best for laaaast…” That Vanessa Williams song rings true for American Idol this weekend in Hawaii. There were two parts, Sunday and Monday night. The first half on Sunday (recap here) was rather dull with only a couple of acts I can even remember and it was only two days ago! Bummer. But then some real powerhouses showed up for part 2 on Monday night, featuring my top 2 favorites– Jack Blocker and Jennifer Jeffries— plus a host of great performers. Basically all of them were amazing. I can’t see any matrix of data points on a graph where the 4 who get eliminated next weekend aren’t from the first night of singers.
From Monday night’s episode, these three performances surprised me the most:
Kennedy Reid… such stage presence! I’m starting to think her first auditions were calculated. Just enough to get to the voting round. Now she’s leaving it all on the stage.
Emmy Russell… The most adorable of the group. She has a folksy voice that is hard not to like! This was her best performance all season. Great song choice, too, using a track from the up-and-comer Benson Boone and his viral hit…
Mia Matthews… a touching rendition of “Daddy’s Hands” and if you didn’t at least *almost* cry, you must be dead inside.
Honorable mention goes to Jelly Roll, the mentor of the night. I haven’t ever met him but he comes across as such a genuinely kind, and funny, man. He was so encouraging to the artists and I love that he embraces his darker past and even better, he’s left that life behind. He said something like he used to live to tear down but now he’s living life to build up. Very cool, sir!
Overall, a great episode that saw my favorites shine and a few underdogs who might be gaining momentum.
-Out of the Wilderness
Discover more from Out of the Wilderness
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Out of the Wilderness 