The remaining 12 of the Top 24 perform solo on Wednesday night, but many of them fail to impress the judges with bad song choices.
- Feb 18, 2016
AceShowbiz - "American Idol" was back Wednesday, February 17 with solo performances by the second half of the Top 24. But the night was plagued by song choice issues that led to the contestants failing to show their best.
Shelbie Z was the first to perform that night, singing "Work Hard, Play Harder" by Gretchen Wilson. Keith Urban and Jennifer Lopez criticized her key choice, as the former said that Shelbie hit the big note at the end, but the rest wasn't great.
Manny Torres went with "Adventure of a Lifetime" by Coldplay. J.Lo loved his voice and suggested him to connect more to the audience. While Harry Connick Jr. agreed with her, Keith said, "I love the way you work the camera," but the main issue was that the song didn't suit his vocal type.
Kory Wheeler played the piano while singing "Let It Go" by James Bay. J.Lo said he looked comfortable on stage and Keith liked the song choice, but Harry thought there was nothing special with Kory's performance.
Amelia Eisenhower covered Avicii's "Wake Me Up". While the judges agreed it wasn't a perfect song for her, they still liked it and called her a "special girl."
Jen Blosil performed a slow, stripped-down version of "Sorry" by Justin Bieber while playing the piano. She had pitch issue at the beginning as Harry noted, "Your song was out of tune." J.Lo said it was a risky arrangement, but ultimately it paid off.
Belting out "I'll Be" by Edwin McCain, CJ Johnson also struggled to sing in tune. Still, J.Lo praised his vocals and the judges liked that he connected to the emotions of the song.
Lee Jean picked "Runaway" by Ed Sheeran, but once again the judges pointed out that it wasn't the right song. "They love you man, I love your voice. But ya gotta find the right song," Keith said. Harry, meanwhile, advised him "to start practicing playing and singing."
Trent Harmon sang "What Are You Listening To" by Chris Stapleton. Harry said, "You are one of the gifted singer here but I am not sure it was the right song," but Keith thought "it was a great song" and he "sang it very well."
Next, Tristan McIntosh performed "Good Girl" by Carrie Underwood. While the judges still thought it was not the right song, at least the performance managed to excite them. "You look like a million bucks and you have so much talent. But that was not the song for you," Keith said.
Adam Lasher covered "Black and Gold" by Sam Sparro. While it kept the energy in the studio alive, the judges thought it wasn't the best song for him and Keith wanted Adam to find out what makes him different from other contestants.
Dalton Rapattoni finally delivered one of the amazing performances that night. He sang "Rebel Yell" by Billy Idol. "It was a great interpretation of that song," Harry said, as Dalton connected to the song emotionally.
Olivia Rox's cover of "Confident" by Demi Lovato also impressed the judges. "Very cool. That is the kind of music you need to do. It was really strong," Harry said. J.Lo said there's not much advice she could give, but suggested her to "get into your rock chick."
