American Idol: Top 30 Part One

On American Idol (2/12/2014), Harry Connick Jr. gives the remaining contestants his version of a pep talk. No more Mr. Nice Guy. Really, Harry? We didn’t know anybody thought you were nice anymore. He doesn’t want to hear no mo’ excuses. Time to give it your best shot in the solo round as the field is narrowed down to the Top 30 – 15 girls and 15 boys.

First we have to say, we can’t stand the fake-outs. How many times do we have to listen to this “it’s really difficult for us judges” spiel. Ugh! Ugh! UGH! Even so, the contestants know they can’t ever feel too confident going in there, even when they are sure they hit a home run. A cocky attitude has never served a contestant well on American Idol. And did we mention Urban laughs out loud when he is enjoying a contestant’s performance? Yes, he does. Not too sure if the singer realizes that. We have not seen many folks who laugh at performances they like. But let’s get on with it.

Who got in the Top 30 so far:

Emily Piriz really knocked it out of the park with “Stars.” Did you see Connick sit up and take notice when she started belting it out? In her sit down with the judges, she revealed that she is Cuban much to J-Lo’s delight. .

Malaya Watson got a bit of a scare with an interruption from Dirty Harry to inform her that she was singing “I Believe” in the wrong key. That little snafu didn’t halt her advance.

Bria Anai covered James Brown’s “This Is a Man’s World,” while Keith Urban laughed heartily (in approval, remember?).

More girls: MK Nobilette, Kristen O’Conner and Andrina Brogden.

Maurice Townsend secured his Top 30 spot with a cover of Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball.” Wonder if Miley saw that — an American Idol contestant singing her song better than her. George Lovett made it happen with his rendition of “I Won’t Give Up.”

Spencer Lloyd wasn’t exactly wow-ing the judges with an original song, that Connick thought was like a “public service announcement,” but they still saw enough to put him through. Jillian Jenson and Sam Woolfe also decided to go original. The judges liked their songs and everything else.

Also in the Top 30: Dexter Roberts, Emmanuel Zidor, Malcolm Allen, Alex Preston and Jordan Brisbane, who was celebrating his 16th birthday.

So long, better luck next time:

It was the end of the road for Casey Mcquillen, Keri Lynn Roche, Leah Guerrero, LeBryant Crew, Madelyn Patterson, Michael Simmian and Nica Nashae. The judges felt that Jesse Roach and Jessica Meuse sounded so much alike, one of them had to go and Jesse got the short straw after an a capella sing-off. Honestly, we didn’t see Top 10 in either future but Jessica seemed to be putting in a whole lot more effort than Jesse, so we could see the judges’ decision. But did you notice Jesse complimenting Jessica on her performance? Jessica did not return the compliment until Jesse asked her how she did.

The show ended with CJ Harris and Casey Thrasher in a similar situation. They are both incredibly talented, but one of them has got to go. In this case, we can definitely see a Top 10 in store, but which one? We’ll have to wait till tomorrow since they pulled out the old cliffhanger.

Tomorrow we’ve got 7 more spots for girls and 6 more for guys and, no doubt, a lot more of the judges’ “tough decision” spiel.