I admit, I did enjoy seeing some of these past contestants again. I was surprised at what a difference a year makes! (for some)
A non-talent note or two:
1. I feel Katy needs to just go back to the dark hair, she looks so much better with her natural colour. To each their own and all, fun wigs are fun, but the bleaching she does just is too harsh for her.
2. I am sorry, but why is Bobby there again?! He is just such a useless time filler for me and I find myself just wanting to poke him with a twig to shut him up. Sorry, but gah.. I wish they would move on from him. (ok mini rant done)
The singers:
Cyniah - Hot Mess for me. The outfit was way too much, not flattering at all. Her vocals were average, I frankly think she was better last season. Overall bad song choice for her. I will surprised if she is anywhere near the top in votes, I predict near the bottom to be honest. Still do not care for her attitude. and side note.. she is billing herself as a Singer/Actress?? What has she acted in???
Nick - Maybe he was being smart, I don't know. He has no chance on being voted back in IMO so maybe he felt this as well and took the time to showcase his own music in hopes it will help him??? I don't know on this one. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good... there were singers voted off this season that are so many levels above him (Murphy, Ava, Graham...), Kudos to Luke for being brave enough to point it out.
Aliana - She was one of the three I was most excited to see back, and honestly she did NOT disappoint me. First she looked amazing!! I loved her last season because she was just so her, I loved her emotional support pupper, I loved her dad, I loved so much about her. Seeing her, now a year later, she has grown SO much. Her braces are of, and her smile even bigger and brighter, she has more poise and polish, and her vocals have matured as well. I would not be unhappy to see her get back in, she showed she can hang with the top 9... and maybe even blow a few of them out of the water.
Franklyn - Another I was glad to see come back.. he is just such a down to earth, heart on his sleeve kinda guy. I let out an audible awwww when he said his wife and him were expecting their second child... like I seriously want alllll the best for this guy. I really liked his style of performing last season too. That being said I was kind of shocked at his song choice, I like Switchfoot but the song was too big for his style of vocals. I liked the stripped down, nuanced thing he brought to the table and this just did not do it for me.. sadly. I wanted so much more for him
I could not help thinking that this would have been a good song for Casey to do.
Faith - So many people have been told to not sing Whitney, Mariah, and we old school AI'ers know how much Simon hated when people did Unchained Melody.. my biggest pet peeve with AI contestants is singing Janis. I will freely admit I am ALWAYS overly critical of them when they do.. I don't even like Faith Hill's version of Piece of My Heart... so this was a glimpse into my own personal hell for me. She DID get all the lyrics this time, good for her I know it was a sticking point for her, I am glad she accomplished that at least. It is a win for her. I personally felt she was whining her way through and she needed that rasp and grit that the song (and Janis's SoCo aged voice) is famous for. I am sure some liked it, but it wasn't for me.
Arthur - Lets face it, he will make the last spot in the top ten, and I have no problem with him being that person. I cannot count how many times I have seen Johnny Rzeznik play this song live, it is a great song and Arthur did a great version of it that was all him. I missed his voice, with just enough of his Nepalese accent bleeding through to let you know who is singing and cementing his style. I loved him then, and still love him now.
Dewayne - I think he has to be the biggest surprise for me tonight. I admit I did not remember him from last year until they showed his recap. Whereas I do not think he was the best of the night, I can see how much growth he has had in the last year... and his comfort level singing a song that meant so much to him. He did remind me what I like about Gospel music, I think this was better than almost anything he did last year.
Makayla - Girl can still sing and it looks like she has checked the diva-like 'tude at the door this year. She did a really good job on Demi's highly personal and emotional song... she may have a srun at that last top ten spot.
Olivia - This was all a bit too much for me I think, there was a lot of things to distract me visually. She did well on the vocals, much better than her Billie Eilish attempt last season, that wasn't the issue for me. In fact, I think she has grown vocally and I applauded her for that. She may have sung it better than Michelle in some parts. I know she fancies herself a dancer and all but her 'dance break' was a little awkward for me. I think it was mostly because she had to break pose to sing into her mic again a couple times, if you are gonna dance while singing a headset mic is your friend. And much like last year, her "I choreographed the dance moves" claim but she really 'lifted' them from Tina's original number and this one was pretty much taken from Michelle Williams's video for the song. Just say I was inspired by, or I modified the original to fit in my time allotted. Tina's Proud Mary moves are iconic, please do not try and take credit for them, I would have had more respect for the attempt if you said that you wanted to include the moves to pay tribute, or whatever. I guess I haven't gotten over that sticking point yet.
Louis - His original was FAR better than Nick's. He is a much better songwriter overall. And he is far more comfortable when he is doing his own stuff, it shows. I wasn't excited for him to come back this season but I was pleasantly surprised and I liked the song. No matter what I think it was a personal win for him, and I am happy for him in that respect. That being said, He may have an outside shot at coming back.
So for the TL:DR of it....(sorry) For me it was about Makayla and Arthur, maybe even in that order. Aliana and Louis have a shot but I don't think (sadly) Aliana has the fan base pushing for her, but she should she was wonderful tonight. Louis DOES have a fan base, so he could be the dark horse and win the spot, but now we wait a week to find out.
I could not help thinking that this would have been a good song for Casey to do. 
