American Idol 2018: Top 24 - Group 2 Solos

Just when I thought it couldn't get worse, tonight happened. Haha. After last week, I was pretty sure this group would deliver far superior performances, but we actually had two (2) trainwreck performances with a handful of great ones. I'm still not sure how to feel about this year's crop - given how show this season will be - but let's all drop that for now and enjoy American Idol for what it is. Haha.

On with the show!

12. Amelia Hammer Harris
Believer
The episode started with this trainwreck? Somehow, she managed to slaughter an entire village of notes with this performance. She was off key for the most part of the song that midway through her performance, the melody actually stood up and walked away. Haha.

11. Ron Bultongez
Dancing On My Own
Not going to lie, Ron's vocals were just as bad as Amelia's but the thing that nudged him slightly above her was the fact that he seemed very much connected with the song. There's a palpable emotion to his delivery that almost sold the performance. The vocals were still pretty weak though.

10. Caleb Hutchinson
Die A Happy Man
Look, there's nothing wrong with Caleb and his performance. In fact, he actually sounded good with nice little moments here and there. Sadly, I was never a fan of country music and he just sounded too generic for my taste. I'm pretty sure I've heard his voice somewhere - maybe in Team Blake? Haha.

09. Garrett Jacobs
Treat You Better
Say what you want about Garrett, but this was actually a pretty decent first outing for him. Sure, that one note he tried to hit sounded atrocious - he shouldn't have done that! - but for the most part, his lovely tone was front and center and it was quite appealing. It's still not good, but not as bad as I expected.

08. Ada Vox
Feeling Good
Overwrought. Overrated. Next.

07. Shannon O'Hara
All I Ask
Shannon has a lot of potential, but she's strangely very forgettable and this performance somehow didn't help her case. I thought her version was fine, but it didn't make enough impact for people to take notice of her. If survives the cut, she'd probably get lost in the shuffle as soon as America gets to vote.

06. Mara Justine
Run To You
Ugh. Couldn't they be anymore predictable than this? Mara's obviously a gifted vocalist, but one has to be more than just a good voice to win this show and this "by the book" rendition of Whitney Houston's classic wouldn't do it. She needs to be more creative than this.

05. Effie Pasero
Barracuda
Another karaoke staple! Good thing, Effie has a pretty distinct voice that somehow made her version a little different than the original. Some of her vocal choices were interesting, she did hit a couple of impressive notes and she really worked that stage well. She may bring some much needed variety on the show moving forward.

04. Alyssa Raghu
Stay
"How are you guys doing tonight? Woooh! Let's go!" and then suddenly shifted to being moody because she's about to sing a Rihanna's ballad. I've always been a fan of Alyssa since her audition, but that bit at the beginning threw me off entirely. I don't know. It felt staged and fake that I almost didn't buy the emotions she was selling even during her performance. Too bad because the vocals were great, her phrasing choices were great, and she looked the part.

03. Jurnee
Flashlight
I'm not sure if I liked most of her vocal and phrasing choices - the performance ended up sounding a bit choppy - but the clarity of her voice was just beyond beautiful. Given the right song choice, she can be this year's dark horse. I just need her to be comfortable with herself and push harder with the vocals.

02. Marcio Donaldson
Inseparable
Marcio annoys me to death!! I know. I know. He's been through a lot, but man, calm down with the crying! We don't need to see you emotional ALL THE TIME. That said, I have to give him credit as his take on Inseparable was probably one of the more vocally consistent performances of the night. Sure, the delivery was a bit old fashioned, but everything sounded gorgeous.

01. Maddie Poppe
Brand New Keys
BEST. OF. THE. NIGHT. I don’t think people fully appreciate how difficult this song is to sing, especially navigating its tricky melody, but she sounded good and effortless.