American Idol – Season 3, Night Eight

By starrymag | March 29, 2020

By: Dustin Bradley

 

 

 

ABC’s “American Idol” finished up the dreaded Hollywood Week last week with the final round, Solos! We got to see some great performances from some fan favorites and we even got a surprise guest appearance from last year’s runner-up Alejandro Aranda, who even though he didn’t win changed the landscape and talent of this show for the better. Hollywood Week, as you know, comes with great wins but it also comes with great losses as we said goodbye to some really wonderful people. Let’s break down from performances that were significant and at the end I will try my best to list all of our Top 40 heading to Hawaii tonight for part one of the final judgement.

 

Before we get to that though, we have a scheduling update for the show: Hawaii will still be split into two nights. However, instead of airing part two tomorrow ABC has decided to air that episode next Sunday, April 5th, and forgo Monday shows for the moment. They also announced that on Sunday, April 12th and Sunday, April 19th, that ABC will air a two-part special called “American Idol: This is Me,” which will be a look back on our season’s Top 20 with unseen footage and possible home footage. At the moment ABC and producers are trying to come up with a plan for live shows and when or how they will air. 

 

We opened with Alejandro coming to surprise our hopefuls and offer his advice and guidance as well as support to this year’s final Hollywood group. It was adorable seeing the contestants fangirling over him and seeing truly just how impactful he has been.

 

Now onto the stand out contestants!

 

Arthur Gunn- I truly believe that either him, Francisco Martin or Lauren Mascitti will win the show this year. Arthur chose to take a risk and perform a new arrangement of his audition piece “Have You Ever Seen The Rain” by Credence Clearwater Revival. He wanted to include the band but they couldn’t figure out Arthur’s new original arrangement in time so instead we see Arthur in how prime with just him and the guitar. This performance was incredible!

 

 

Lauren Mascitti- Lauren takes a risk and performs an original that she wrote inspired by her Nana. While most of the contestants flop with their original tunes, her song “God Made A Women” is radio ready! Of course, her songwriting is more refined seeing as how she is the fiancé of famous Country Music songwriter Shawn Camp. As I said above, I feel like it’s possible she might win and if she does then she could be able to find mainstream success in the Country Music industry. 

 

 

Franklin Boone- Franklin is a quiet one much like Alejandro last year. And he tells Alejandro that he feels a connection with him because of that and he thanks Alejandro for proving to him that he doesn’t have to chance who he is or his vibe just because the pressures of others tell him to. He delivers an excellent performance of “River” by Leon Bridges.

 

 

Just Sam- This subway singer is being pushed to the edge this week with her voice. Having throat pain and stressing with this competition, she’s scared she won’t perform her best but oh boy does she do AMAZING! Her version of “I’m Here” from the musical The Color Purple is done extremely well! 

 

 

Makayla Brownlee- Makayla comes on stage to sing “Rainbow” by Kacey Musgraves, but before she can even open her mouth to sing she weakly hobbles off stage in discomfort as the judges start to get very concerned. As they should be because it turns out she had a stress-induced seizure caused by a rare heart disease she has that compromises her in horribly stressed situations. She is then rushed to the ambulance to make sure she’s okay to come back. And a few hours later she does just that and performs to grand success.

 

Dillon James- “Cowboy Post Malone” is another person who takes a risk and sings an original. And even if I personally don’t like the song, he does have a way of convincing you with his sheer charisma on stage. He really makes you believe it. He’s a star.

 

 

Louis Knight- Next up is Brit heartthrob Louie who is trying to find the right words to deal with his trauma as the last day of this week is the birthday of his friend Russell who committed suicide in 2018. He tried to keep it in but Bobby wouldn’t let him. He uses all that emotion to perform “Hold Me While You Wait” by Lewis Capaldi and just like his mom and dad…I was balling. 

 

 

Makayla Phillips- Makayla takes a risk, in her words and the judges eyes, and performs Lizzo’s “Cause I Love You.” The judges like her voice but didn’t like the song choice. And yet I believe the judges were way wrong on this because she sounds REALLY good. 

 

 

Last but certainly not least is…

 

Margie Mays and Jonny West- The last contestants of the night are the most emotional to watch. Margie is worried that she won’t make it through after their duet performance, so she really puts in some focus to try and secure a spot. She sings “Lost Without You” by Freya Ridings and it’s so sad seeing all the emotion she is feeling. Jonny sings an original. They both are very great performances, but are they good enough to both go through? Sadly, the judges don’t believe so. Jonny goes through and Margie does not. I believe the judges made a big mistake here. Seeing these love birds depart made me tear up. 

 

 

So, who all made it into the Top 40? Lucky for you, I have compiled a list as best I could!

 

Top 40

 

Aliana Jester

Amber Fiedler

Amelia Joyce

Camryn Leigh Smith

Cyniah Elise

DemiRae “Demi” Moreno

Faith Becnel

Geena Fontanella

Genavieve Linkowski

Grace Leer

Grace Lundy

Julia Gargano

Kimmy Gabriela

Lauren Mascitti

Lauren Spencer-Smith

Makayla Brownlee

Makayla Phillips

Natalie Jane

Olivia Ximines

Perrin York

Samantha Diaz (A.K.A. Just Sam)

Shannon Gibbons

Sophia Wackerman

Bilaal Avaz

Cameron Havens

Devon Alexander

DeWayne Crocker, Jr.

Dibesh Pokharel (A.K.A. Arthur Gunn)

Dillon James

Elyjuh René 

Francisco Martin

Franklin Boone

Jeb VonderBruegge

Jonny West

Jordan Jones

Jovin Webb

Louis Knight

Nick Merico

Robert Taylor 

Travis Finlay