Top 36- Third set of 12

Von Smith, “All I Need To Get By” (Marvin Gaye). I was getting ready to sing “la la la” throughout the whole thing, but I’ll be damned—he toned it down and sung a great song. Solid performance and a good way to start off the night.

Taylor Vaifanua, “If I Ain’t Got You” (Alicia Keyes). Mediocre. Not a great performance. Would win a karaeoke contest, but not this.  

Alex Wagner-Trugman, “That’s Why They Call It The Blues” (Elton John). There was a point where it bordered on WTF, but I really enjoyed the rest. I don’t think he will make it through tonight, sadly, so I’m going to be voting my fingers off because I want to give him another chance.

Arianna Afsar, “The Winner Takes It All” (ABBA). It could have been a win, but it was a fail.  This is sad, because Arianna is talented and "The Winner Takes It All" is a good song.  Unfortunately, as the judges say every season, it all comes down to song choice.  Arianna made the wrong one.  It ends tonight for her.

Junot Joyner, “Hey There Delilah” (Plain White T’s). He sung this one before, although the arrangement was different (and better) the last time.  Vocally it was excellent, but the arrangement was boring.  I like Junot and I'll be sorry to see him to leave tonight.

Kristin MacNamara, “Give Me One Reason” (Tracy Chapman). The judges are saying they don’t know who she is, but I think we don’t have to know who she is right now. She was on pitch the entire way, showed off a great range, and was rockin’. Two thumbs up, at this point in tonight's show, she is my favorite girl.

Nathaniel the Drama Queen, “Anything For Love” (Meat Loaf). An intriguing choice but unfortunately after the first two lines we could tell it was a bad one.  He tries to kick it into hear with the verses but he doesn’t have the rocker cred to pull it off. Adam could have nailed this song. David Cook could have nailed this song. Nathaniel cannot. And his headband is ridiculous. Not even his grandmother could say something good about it.

I interject to mention that Muse's "Butterflies and Hurricanes" is a great theme song for Watchmen.

Felicia Barton, "No One" (Alicia Keyes).  Her voice cracks about five times during the chorus. I'm not sure I love the arrangement. She came back for the top 36 and she's going to go right back home with this shoddy performance, I'm afraid. Her voice is fine, it is everything else that worked against her.

Scott MacIntyre, "Mandolin Rain." Vocally, a very strong performance. A little bit boring, but I think it will be enough to get him into the next round. He doesn't even need the pity vote tonight--he is singing better than he did before and I'm starting to like him a lot.

Kendall Beard, "This One's For The Girls" (Martina McBride). Sadly, she looks like a pumpkin in this dress, just saying. But she sounds like a professional to kick off. Not much stage presence (needs to move around), but she'll develop it. I loved that she showed off some high notes. She went flat on some notes and had some pitch issues but I think she had a very solid performance overall. She could be a very well-selling country artist in future. 

Jorge Nunez, "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" (Elton John). Lots of Elton tonight. I haven't heard this guy before, but I'm really impressed. It's like what I liked about Anoop only with a better song choice. A couple of pitch problems but overall a strong performance. But what the heck are they doing, ragging on his accent? Let the man speak how he chooses.

Lil Rounds, "Be Without You" (Mary J. Blige.)  Great song for her voice type, executed well. This is why song choice matters, guys; Lil's voice is shown off in this song, rather than left trying to hold it up.  Moving on to the next round in 3... 2... 1...

Moving on:
Lil Rounds
Jorge Nunez
Kristin

Wildcard possibilities:
Kendall
Scott

Alex

My ideal moving-on list would be the 3 I picked plus Alex. I want to give him another chance because I think the kid will do well. Sadly, I don't think he'll make it.