Down to Seven in Disneyland

This week is Disney Week, aka Cross-promotion Week for ABC properties. The mission was to get down to a Final Seven through live voting.

As always, here are my rankings in order of their performances using my usual scale:

• A – Superior
• B – Good, often meaning positive moments out-weighed negative ones
• C – Meh, nothing memorable or distinctive
• D – Ugh
• F – A Gots-to-Go Situation

Lady K (How Far I’ll Go from Moana) I found nothing noteworthy either for or against her performance. I’m still waiting for her to wow me, and perhaps she can’t. She’s a good singer in competition with better and more memorable singers. B

Noah Thompson (You’ve Got a Friend in Me from Toy Story) As with Lady K, I couldn’t find any fault with his performance. It could have used a bit more personality than his occasional grins. B

Emyrson Flora (Carried Me with You from Onward) As with Lady K and Noah, I couldn’t find any fault with her performance. She looked great and was more dynamic than Lady K and Noah. That lower register of hers is her money shot. B

HunterGirl (I See the Light from Tangled) That was pretty. She doesn’t have the purest singing voice, but she knows how to breathe life into song lyrics. A-

Jay (Remember Me from Coco) That was BEAUTIFUL. Controlled. Restrained. The less is more approach works so well for him. He’s got a lot of tools in his bag, and he seems to be figuring out how to use them judiciously for maximum impact. I agree with Luke, who said, “Classy. Classic. Timeless. I could imagine that it was him singing it in the movie. A

Leah Marlene (When She Loved Me from Toy Story 2) She’s very talented, but this song didn’t work for me. I didn’t think it fit her voice well enough to capture the emotion she was trying to put into it. For the first time that I can remember, I didn’t feel what makes her special. It lacked leahfication. B

Nicolina (Poor Unfortunate Souls from The Little Mermaid) Well, that was FUN!!! Yes, Lionel, that was a performance. Yes, Katy, that was show business. Yes, Ryan, it was like watching the movie. A+

Mike Parker (You’ll Be in My Heart from Tarzan) Mike is my favorite sounding voice in the competition. His tone is sublime. Yet there were times when his choices didn’t work for me. I wanted more energy from the first chorus, especially since the songs are shortened. At other times, he went low and lost a little energy. However, that key change on the second chorus was a wow. Still, I wish I had worked with him on the song LOL. B+

Christian Guardino (Circle of Life from The Lion King) You probably know what I’m going to say. I hear a lot when he sings, but I don’t feel very much. He’s so shouty. I find him tiring to listen to. D

Fritz Hager (Go the Distance from Hercules) In the Glory Spot, this was his least compelling performance for me. I do love his voice and the artistry he brings to every song. But those things didn’t stand out this time. B-

Kieran, DIM THE LIGHTS!!

Voted Off: Mike, Emyrson, Lady K. I’m disappointed that Mike is gone, but I’m actually surprised he lasted this long. I’m OK with Lady K and Emyrson being voted off. Good Idolists have to lose to get to the last Idolist standing, and most of those remaining are better than them. Of course, I wish it had been Christian who was voted off instead of Mike.

See you next time.