American Idol Top 24 Round 2: Wake Me Up

I sort of feel like I’m in a daze after watching Idol tonight. The second half of the Top 24 took the stage for their solo round and I was left wondering if I was watching the same show as the judges. For the most part, tonight was a snooze fest. Apparently nobody told these kids to choose songs that would keep us awake. That’s not really fair I guess since half of them, maybe all of them, are under 20 years old and might just be getting bad advice.

Anyway, here is my top 12 ranked in order of how I think they did. Remember that tomorrow night we lose five from this group. Thankfully the judges informed us that the Thursday shows are really just for entertainment and basically have little or no bearing on how they choose the top 7. I wish someday they would explain to us what their actual criteria is for anything. I’m going to start with my favorite tonight just to mix it up a little:

1. Dalton Rapattoni – Just hand him the trophy! Dalton covered Rebel Yell tonight and even Billy Idol was impressed with the  uptick in his Twitter interactions. Dalton did his David Cook thing to Rebel Yell and for the first time tonight, the judges were in agreement and loved him.
2. Olivia Rox – The contestants didn’t get clever nicknames this week which isn’t really fair. I love this girl and she killed it tonight. Olivia covered Demi Lovato’s Confident and she was that and more. The judges were very nice to Olivia so I think she is moving on. Harry brought up this “Shuffle” thing but I had no idea what he was talking about.
3. Adam Lasher – I shall call him the invisible man. If Adam makes it through I will sell my soul to Scott Borchetta. I personally thought this was the best of the night (at this point in the show, which was about 10 contestants in) but the judges apparently had their headphones on.  Harry rambled on about said “Shuffle” technical gibberish, Jenny said she was baffled why he would choose that song and Keith said he couldn’t get into the melody. Adam covered Black & Gold by Sam Sparro, was wearing super-fly gold high-tops, looked amazing and sounded even better. This is when I wanted to really punch the judges for the first time this season.
4. Lee Jean Jr. – loves to make origami, as if he could get any cuter. I wasn’t in love with his performance of Ed Sheeran’s Runaway but I certainly didn’t hate it. JLo said something about Lee needing to pick songs that American knew and could sing along to. I’m confused why she thinks we don’t know Ed Sheeran songs. The other judges said nice things that felt mildly convincing. I think Lee is safe.
5. Amelia Eisenhauer – Violin girl with a trucker mouth. Amelia didn’t have her violin tonight which disappointed me. We’ve seen snippets of her with the violin and I was looking forward to a whole song tonight. Her version of Wake me Up by Avicci was an interesting choice for her. She tried something different and danced around a little and the judges said she needed to choose quirkier songs. They did like that she was mixing things up but said this wasn’t the best song for her. I think she is safe but am still confused how the judges feel about Amelia.
6. CJ Johnson – Makes friends by playing guitar behind his back. I really thought his song choice tonight was a snooze fest. CJ covered I’ll Be by Edwin McCain which immediately irritates me as much as Mariah and Celine songs. CJ is a cool dude and he chose one of the most played out songs in reality television history. Why? But he is cute and I think chicks dig him so I think (hope) he’ll be safe. That and I thought this was one of his worst performances and the judges went on and on about how perfect it was.
7. Trent Harmon – Apparently steals hats from girls. This was the first time we’ve heard Trent without the mono-factor. I thought it was ok but it didn’t blow my socks off. Trent covered What are you Listening To by Chris Stapleton and I just didn’t feel anything from his performance. I’m torn between Trent and Kory Wheeler on the last spot but I’m putting Trent here because we’ve spent a lot of time talking about him to this point.
8. Kory Wheeler – Plays a bunch of instruments? Kory sat down at the piano to cover Let it Go by James Bay (not Elsa) and I liked it but at this point in the show, I was really bored and hoping things were going to get better. Kory did fine but the judges said it wasn’t great or special. This may be the one and only thing they said all night that I agreed with. I was underwhelmed but Kory is a cool hipster guy and we don’t have one of those yet so I think this spot is between Kory and Trent.
9. Shelbie Z – Wet paper freaks her out. I know my bottom five aren’t going to be popular and probably so wrong but I just can’t like Shelbie. I still think it is the mic scarves or maybe the use of one letter as a last name. Shelbie covered Work Hard, Play Harder by Gretchen Wilson and oddly enough the judges didn’t fawn all over her. Shelbie got the dreaded “you look great tonight” line from at least two of the three judges. The girl has pipes and she can sing but I think she might be on the way out.
10. Tristan McIntosh – Can say the alphabet backwards really fast! I know this is a shocker but I was not impressed with Tristan trying to cover Good Girl by Carrie Underwood. I don’t know what kind of artist Tristan wants to be and her song choices baffle me. I know there is an excellent voice in there but she is all over the map with her songs. Her whole performance felt too forced and by the end of it JLo had the stank face and Tristan seemed out of breath. I sense trouble for her but, I’ve been wrong before.
11. Manny Torres – Pastor’s kid had to recite bible verses a lot. I didn’t like Manny’s outfit or his weird dancing but he looked good on stage. Manny covered Adventure of a Lifetime by Coldplay and I thought he sang it well enough but the judges weren’t impressed by much of anything. Keith likes the way Manny looks on camera but they all wanted him to connect more with the audience and weren’t complimentary about his vocals. I think our last golden ticket might get a ticket home tomorrow.
12. Jenn Blosil – Doesn’t drink or do drugs but loves to dance! This is a surprising spot for Jenn because I love her quirky but her song tonight weirded me out and almost put me to sleep. She covered Sorry by Justin Bieber and I’m going to show my true nerd by admitting I don’t know the song. I just thought the whole thing was squeaky and out of tune and not what we expect from her at all. She has the most unique voice in the competition so if we’re going for that, she’ll stay. If based on tonight, I think she’s in trouble. Judges didn’t seem to love it either.

There are kids going home tomorrow that should probably stay but the cards have been stacked and dealt and the groups split and this is how we play the game. Pick well next week America, I’m going to miss the performances on Wednesday and I’m going to be really mad if you screw it up!