5/9 American Idol 19 - Mother's Day/Coldplay

I’m glad they called Grace and Casey first. I didn’t care who else made it after that. I’m glad that Arthur left. The twist was so unfair and he just doesn’t compare to the other talent this year. Hunter has had very weak performances. If you don’t look at the screen while he’s performing you’ll understand. I know a lot of people like him, but I don’t see any great career in his future. I hope the Idol spotlight gives a boost to the careers of Ava and Cassandra. I think Arthur’s rude insertion screwed them both over.

Once Grace, Casey and Willie were called, I did not care about the three remaining guys...any or all of them could have gone. I thought that Arthur seemed far less sincere this season. Maybe the strangeness of coming into the established group made him feel insecure....but he was not as nice as I remember him last year.

I am not a huge Coldplay fan, so I found this week's first hour kind of a meh hour. Chris himself was delightful however. It is always cool to see artists and mentors fan boy/girl out a bit over the contestants, and I think he was rather sincere.

Overall, they all did well enough but with this group almost anyone in the top 10 was going to be decent to say the least. I personally did like Hunter and as an entertainer I think he should have moved on over Caleb. Caleb is talented he CAN sing and he really is a good songwriter (most notably on both for his age) but I think his lack of emotion and reserved attitude would make it hard to market him. He just cannot connect with an audience. He may have been more shocked than I was he moved into the top 5.. and I was pretty damned shocked.

As for the rest of the top 5, I think it was right.

Grace and Willie can sing like no one else, I give Grace a TON of credit for taking on Into the Unknown last week... even Idina has said how hard that song is to sing (Brendon Urie pulled it off too, and he even impressed her) and Grace did crush it. I just wish they would pick better wardrobe choices for her that accentuate her positives and not her negatives.

Casey has immense talent for someone so young but I find it hard to watch her at times. She almost reminds me of Carrie Underwood on stage back in the day.. almost like she doesn't know what to do with her body and when she tries to emote things physically it can border on awkward. Like her left hand, it is almost always making the same movements, no matter the song... it is odd and distracting for me.

For me it is all about Chayce, I love his voice, his personality, and his vulnerability. As much as I can respect that all the rest are talented in their own right it is Chayce I'd listen to if I had the choice. Along with Casey I think he may be the most marketable. They have a unique enough sound that there is little to compete with, their sounds hold more mainstream possibility, and in Chayce's case good stage presence. Grace has the best voice out of them all, and I think she has grown the most of any of them. But, if I am being honest, I cannot see her as a "pop star." Frankly, I think she is better than that, hell I am comparing her to Idina Menzel for crap sake and that is pretty good company to be in.