Tonight, the Rising Star Top 13 take the stage for your votes. Only 8 contestants will survive (plus a west coast save). Get set for a 2 hour show! The expert votes will ONLY COUNT FOR 5% EACH.
UPDATE: Dana Williams was the West Coast Save
There are magic blue seats are reserved for the Top 7 scores.
Macy Kate – Who Knew – Macy, who was the show’s instagram winner, befriended fellow teen, April Lockhart. A pretty yelly and manic performance, I did not enjoy this at all. Brad and Luda vote yes. Kesha waits until the last minute to vote yes. Luda felt like she commanded the stage, despite some pitchy stuff. Kesha agrees with Luda. “Your performance was rad,” she says. Brad also cautions her to watch her pitch, but feels she has everything else. Sorry. I couldn’t get past the tuneless yelping. – 60%
Shameia Crawford – Next to Me – She misses her husband as she competes in Los Angeles. She doesn’t want to be a “do–wop pop chick” anymore. In other words. no more background singing. This is a great song when Emeli Sande sings it, but it’s doing nothing for Shameia. Maybe she should have performed it in a higher key? Her voice on the verses is harsh and wobbly. Not pleasant. She fares better on the 2nd chorus, but something is missing here. Still, she is one of the better singers in the competition. I hope she advances. “You are NOT a background singer anymore,” says Kesha. Luda thought she had a shaky start, but eventually worked it out. Brad didn’t think it was a perfect performance, but it was fun to watch. (They all voted thumbs up). – 76%
Joshua Peavy – “How Am I Supposed To Live Without You” – He’s the last remaining parent on the show. Oh really? His family is in the audience this week. OMG. I’m voting no just based on song choice. Bombastic crapola. He’s singing OK. The worst though, is that the audience will probably eat this up. Brad is already giving him a standing ovation. He gets 3 yes votes from the experts. Joshua is singing so hard, he’s about to bust a blood vessel. He chokes up a little as he spots his family in the audience. Blargh. Josh’s mic is busted, so the show throws to break. Brad loves hearing Josh sing, despite his pitchy parts (which he attributes to emotion). Kesha thought it was his best performance yet. Luda is proud of him. – 85%
April Lockhart – “Iris” – April talks with so many of her fans who are inspired by her ability to play guitar with no hand. (She has only has one hand, and strumms with a beaky thing, remember?). In any case, this is actually a good performance. I’m voting yes. Her quirky phrasing works really well on this 90’s classic. Inventive phrasing and a nice tone from April. A little wonky on the high notes, but I forgive her. Luda is inspired by her. April admits that she was nervous when Brad asks. He voted for her, but felt the performance was not her strongest. He thinks it’s time to have “artists like her” (ie a one handed singer) on the radio. Hm. It’s time to have people who don’t suck on the radio, Brad. The song choice wasn’t her favorite, but Kesha is also inspired by April – 71%
Maneepat Malloy – Stars – Could this performance be any more bland? It’s “Stars” on Sominex. That this unremarkable young singer keeps advancing just floors me. Brad and Kesha vote yes. For the first time tonight, Luda votes no. Kesha felt she commanded the stage. Luda has no problem with her voice, but felt she took a few steps backward from her last performance. Brad loves her vocals, so he voted yes. But he also feels her performance lacked something. SHE’S BORING AS HELL. I have no idea what Kesha is talking about. – 68%
Dana Williams – Latch – I was disappointed when she almost didn’t make it last time, before the west coast saved her. She’s hitting all the notes this week (except for a blip at the end), delivering a very confident performance. She’s got a lovely tone. There’s something compelling about this singer. I’m voting yes! The song is a little obscure, and lacks opportunities to hit BIG notes. That probably hurt her, even though she got yes votes from the full panel. Kesha loves her. She wants Dana’s CD. Luda felt Dana took the expert’s notes. He’s mad at America for not voting for her. I am too, to be honest. Brad felt it was the worst possible song choice. It didn’t to go anywhere for her. He’s right. – 60%
Alice J. Lee – The Story – Her parents are Korean immigrants and they are totally supportive of her artistic ambitions. Another super boring performance. So many of these Rising Star singers lack charisma. Alice sings this song as if she were waiting for the paint in her bedroom to dry, and it’s a little out of her range on the lower end. There’s just nothing here to recommend. Wow. Only Kesha voted yes. Luda voted yes for her last time. But he though her stage performance took a hit. Once again, Kesha claims she’s not a dream crusher. She refuses to vote no. Brad felt she needed more rehearsal. – 40%
Jesse Kinch – 7 Nation Army – Welp. Here’s the guy who will probably win the competition. If Joshua Peavy doesn’t. This week, finally, Jesse chooses to perform a contemporary song. He wants to prove he can be relevant. He’s playing electric guitar and kicks off with a fierce count off. Finally, somebody sings as if they mean it. The experts quickly vote yes as the votes climb and climb. Jesse’s gritty vocal lends the proper urgency to this modern classic. Kid’s got charisma. The crowd is in a frenzy. Brad goes all fanboy on Jesse “WILL YOU SIGN MY GUITAR.” Words fail Kesha. I’m not complaining. Luda calls it a “moment.”
As Jesse hits the top of the leaderboard, Alice is eliminated.
Megan Tibbets – Home – Harp girl was also a west coast save. OK. It’s not the Phillip Phillips “Home.” It’s some New Orleans style funk/R&B thing (by Marc Broussard), and it’s pretty terrible! She has to be kidding with this. WRONG SONG HONEY. Her pitch is all over the place. Also the worst breath control ever. This is a total joke. Brad voted yes. WTH? He admits that it was risky. And AWFUL! C’mon. Nothing about that was good. Luda loved the energy she gave, but the vocals were shaky. Kesha of course, voted yes, because she’s an idiot. – 32%
Lisa Punch – Girl on Fire – Oh. Another west coast save. She’s originally from Guyana. Apparently the citizens there are very aware of her appearance on an American TV show. They probably have no idea that no one here cares. WHOA. She is so off key. She adds some extra island flavor to the mix, but it does not help. Luda votes yes. Is he kidding? Every high note is painful. Nearly every note is off key. ALL THE EXPERTS VOTE YES. I do not get it. The home voters knew better. She earns 59% and will head straight home. “You’re so good,” says Kesha, “AND YOU WERE SO IN TUNE.” Uhm. NO SHE WAS THE OPPOSITE OF THAT. Luda voted for her because she…tried hard? Whatever. Brad thought she was pitchy, but…again with the try hard. Hm. I think the producers had her pegged as someone who should advance. They’re begging the west coast to save her. – 59%
Audrey Kate Geiger – The Big Bang – She missed getting certified as a yoga teacher to compete on Rising Star. Her parents are out in LA this week. Her vocals are good, but this is not a good song choice. Just based on her vocals, she deserves to advance. And she finishes at 65% after all the experts vote for her. She squeaks through. Love her quirky voice, but that song was all wrong for competition. It didn’t go anywhere. Luda loves her voice so much, but he was on the fence. She needed more stage presence. Kesha loves her voice, but didn’t like the song. Brad says she’s his favorite voice, but the song choice was not “the money.” He’s correct. That performance was a snore. – 65%
Macy Kate, who was sitting at the bottom of the leaderboard, now leaves the competition. Dana Williams had a fraction more votes. She now is in the hot seat.
Austin French – “If I Ain’t Got You” – He got married this week? In Georgia? Really. That’s one way to troll for votes. WELP BYE DANA. He sounds kind of nasally to my ears. But he’s full of soul and that should be enough to earn him votes. Smart move to pick an emotional girl song to sing passionately. The gals are gonna love this. And indeed, the votes climb, climb, climb. All 3 experts vote yes. He settles in at 86%. Luda felt parts of the song were pitchy, but he liked his presentation. He notes that the wedding thing was a smart grab for votes. Kesha thinks he makes America happy. And no time for Brad. – 86%
Hot seat Dana Williams leaves the competition. So far, every contestant eliminated is a girl.
Sonnett Simmons – Young and Beautiful – Sonnett has a convo via Skype with her deadbeat mom. That was kind of awkward. The singers are picking their own songs. None of them get, that unless they are confident they can kill a song, they need to choose something the audience can hum along with. This is an ambitious song choice. Sonnett is an interesting singer, but she’s overreaching, badly. Brad and Luda both vote no. EVEN KESHA VOTES NO. Brad says too pitchy. Luda thought the nerves got the best of her. Kesha pleads with her to keep following her dreams. She finishes at 30%
Advancing to the next round:
BIG gap between the boys and the girls. But the guys chose their songs wisely. For the most part, the girls did not.
Jesse Kinch – 88%
Austin French – 86%
Joshua Peavy – 85%
Shameia Crawford – 76%
April Lockhart – 71%
Maneepat Molloy – 69%
Audrey Kate Geiger – 65%
Dana Williams – West Coast Save
