Whitney Houston and Stevie Wonder. I just wonder if they’re setting these contestants up to fail. The one person they always say not to sing and then they make every single girl sing it. Hmph. Tonight was pretty rough for me in the first half but the second delivered a few gems. I also have to admit it was very sad for me to hear the phrase, “I didn’t grow up listening to Whitney.” Sad, folks! OK, so let’s get to it.
Joshua – I love Joshua and he sang it alright but I just felt like the song choice was poor. It came across like a cheesy show opener.
Elise – This definitely wasn’t her gig but I still appreciated the full rich parts of her voice.
Jermaine – This was by far my favorite performance from Jermaine so far in the competition. But I’m not sure how much that’s saying since he has yet to wow me.
Erika – I just don’t see what the judges see. I think she sings everything right and all but I just don’t enjoy her staying in that low register for so much of the song.
Colton – That was rough for me. I can’t stand how he slurs his words. I barely understood half of what he said. The end got a lot better though and I love when he belts those notes.
Shannon – Yikes! Where was our beauty pageant moment? This should have been a slam dunk for her and that key change was just horrendous. I feel bad because I think she probably CAN do the song.
Deandre –I didn’t care for this much at all. It’s interesting Stephen mentioned Nyema because I wasn’t much of a fan of hers either.
Skylar – I was nearly clapping when Mary said to dial it down. Exactly what a mentor needed to tell her and it sure did pay off. I really, really enjoyed that. She can slay a note but it’s nice to see her build to that instead of feeling like you get a beat-down the entire song.
Heejun – Have I mentioned this post how much I love Heejun. “I love you more than Jimmy.” He’s a RIOT. This probably wasn’t my favorite song of his. It was pretty enough it just didn’t blow me away.
Hollie – Hollie totally stole the show at this point. That was right up her alley and I found myself singing along and actually feeling like I was listening to a Whitney song.
Jeremy – Jeremy hasn’t wowed me to date but I felt like that was beautiful. His tone really shined through for me tonight.
Jessica – Ya’ll I just cried through her entire song. That was so perfect and so Whitney. A little of me mourned Whitney’s death for the first time and at the same time celebrated that Jessica just pulled that off. Wow. I honestly don’t know that I’ve ever cried watching this show. Simply breathtaking.
Phillip – Phillip just makes me smile. I love to watch him sing and play and he’s just got this cool vibe and looks so cute doing it. I really don’t even know if the judges know how to judge him just because he’s so unique.
Favorites: Jessica, Hollie, Skylar, Phillip
In trouble: Deandre
I couldn’t really identify with the songs since I knew almost none of them but I’m loving Skylar! Her voice is amazing and so country and yet she’s so young. Phil is definitely my favorite guy and although I like Heejun’s personality, he’s not a favorite singer of mine.
Aw, so sad you didn’t know those songs. Get to know the real versions and I think you’ll love them. There were a few Stevie ones I didn’t know but you absolutely need to know all the Whitney ones!
And totally agree on Heejun, not the best singer but he needs to be on people’s TVs for one reason or another.