American Idol – Season 3, Top 7

By starrymag | May 17, 2020

By: Dustin Bradley

 

 

ABC’s “American Idol” revealed its Top 7 last week on its annual Disney Night and this year it was also Mother’s Day. So, our Top 7 not only got to sing classic Disney tunes, but got to serenade the most important women in their lives! 

 

Sadly leaving the competition is Jovin Webb, Sophia James, Grace Leer and judges save Makayla Phillips. This means that many fan favorites are still in the running to be crowned the next American Idol! And fantastic news announced on Saturday – “American Idol” will be back for a 4th season on ABC and its 19th season overall! No word yet on which judges will return or if mainstay Ryan Seacrest and newcomer Bobby Bones will stay on, but the outlook is very positive that we will keep the whole crew! 

 

Let’s drop down below and look at the performances and refresh ourselves on who we think deserves a spot in the Top 5 and who will ultimately be crowned the next American Idol!

 

Disney

 

Arthur Gunn- “Kiss the Girl” from The Little Mermaid; Arthur is the first announced going through! Many people think he will claim the crown and, honestly, after his track record of excellent performances I wouldn’t be surprised. This performance was no different! Like Luke Bryan said, “I can’t wait to be able to purchase a record from him one day.” Truly this rendition could be a single!

 

 

Just Sam- “A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes” from Cinderella; Our Harlem girl is through to the next round! She said she feels like this is her Cinderella moment and we couldn’t agree more. This performance was classic. 

 

 

Jonny West- “Almost There” from The Princess and the Frog; Um, hello Billy Joel? This performance and arrangement could have been sung by the legend himself, but instead it was performed by a possible new legend. Future Mr. Margie Mays is an effortless performer. This is quite possibly my favorite performance from him to date. He’s definitely making Top 5.

 

 

Louis Knight- “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from The Lion King; British heartthrob Louis Knight made it into the Top 7! All the judges thought he lost a bit of focus, but can you blame him with such a beautiful backyard? Even if he doesn’t make it into the next round he will have a career ahead of him because he is a great performer, songwriter and has a pretty relatively big fan base so far. 

 

 

Julia Gargano- “Beauty and the Beast” from Beauty and the Beast; Who would have thought we would hear this song performed with so much funk? Very interesting choice. The judges all like Julia and didn’t mind the change, but think her lower register was a little bit wonky in this performance and I agree with them. She seemed to have missed a little bit of low notes and turned them into more breath, but we know how talented she is so we know she will redeem herself next song! 

 

 

Francisco Martin- “You’ll Be in My Heart” from Tarzan; Francisco from San Francisco, I firmly believe, will be the Top 3. I would be completely shocked if he didn’t make it into the Top 3 with the fanbase he has behind him! Francisco is another person in this competition that will have a career even if he doesn’t win. Honestly, if he doesn’t win I see him going the Catie Turner route and releasing an EP to critical and fan acclaim. He is a wonder songwriter and I hope that if he makes it into the Top 3 that he gets to perform an original he wrote as a post-Idol single. This performance was so good! My only issue was that the editor cut in too many shots from the movie so we missed some great parts of his performance. 

 

 

Dillon James- “Our Town” from Cars; Only Spiritual Cowboy could pull off singing a song that hardly anyone remembers from Disney-Pixar’s Cars. Of course, the recognizable song from Cars was performed right after by last year’s winner, Laine Hardy, from his home. Dillon was able to make this performance his own though because, like I mentioned, most people don’t even remember this song. He is such a magnetic performer that he draws you in even if you don’t like the song choice or style. I see him being Top 5 and possibly Top 3.

 

 

Next our contests performed a song dedicated to their mothers/ mother figures in their lives and with that we got presented more of a video package with each contestant with some great interactions between them and their loved ones. 

 

MOTHER’S DAY DEDICATIONS

 

Arthur Gunn- “Hey, Ma” by Bon Iver; Arthur and his mom are so cute! Seeing her support him no matter what through this journey is so beautiful. His voice is amazing in this performance! The judges all love it. Namaste Arthur. 

 

Just Sam- “I Turn to You” by Christina Aguilera; This is a hard holiday for Sam. She hasn’t had the strongest relationship with her mother and she isn’t able to be with her grandma due to the pandemic so she’s going through it. This performance was really good and the judges got emotional because of the journey Sam has been going through this journey. They tell her that no matter what they will always keep in touch with her because she’s now a part of the Idol family. 

 

Jonny West- “Amazing Grace,” Traditional with added lyrics; It takes a lot of courage to add lyrics to this traditional hymn and Jonny pulled it off. This performance was mesmerizing! His voice and lyrics are impeccable. Katy Perry believes he will be the winner. I, personally, think it’s possible that he will be in the Top 3.

 

Louis Knight- “You’ve Got a Friend” by James Taylor and Carole King; Louis is singing his mom’s Carole King song, which also happens to be my favorite as well! This performance was a step up from his last and I believe that’s because he was able to have an audience in his mother and the emotional connection between them helped him be connected in a way he hasn’t been since his audition in my opinion. Katy and the other judges think this might be his best performance yet. 

 

Julia Gargano- “Sweetest Devotion” by Adele; Julia ROCKED this performance! This performance was her best since her original song in her audition. All the voice issues she was having in the first song are long gone! She is absolutely SANGing! And seeing her moms emotion is so wonderful to see! The judges all agree that this performance was one of her best! 

 

Francisco Martin- “River” by Leon Bridges; Francisco is singing a song we have heard many times this season and yet with Francisco you forget that anyone else sang it until after he was done. And seeing him perform this song to his mother, who is a nurse on the frontlines during this pandemic, was very impactful. His smiles and glances to his mom were so cute! The judges all adore him and think this performance was fantastic. He is mine and Luke’s choice as winner. I truly think he has earned a spot in the Top 3! He is MY American Idol! 

 

Dillon James- “Hang On, Hang On” by Amos Lee; The producers did the smart move by positioning Dillon last because our Spiritual Cowboy delivered the most powerful performance of the night be all measures. His battle with addiction and his mom’s unconditional love and strength through the journey of his lows are inspiring. There’s a line in his letter to his mom that completely made me burst out in tears. He writes, “You have always been a real mother to me, but I have not always been a true son to you.” Seeing his mom and siblings sitting on the sidelines while he performs and his moms emotion was so beautiful. This performance was the right way to end the night. The judges all LOVE it! I believe he will be in the Top 3. 

 

My prediction for who makes it to the Top 5/Top3 in order of who I think will win and be runner up is:

 

• Arthur Gunn

• Francisco Martin

 

I believe the 3rd spot could any of the remaining Top 5; Just Sam, Dillon James, or Jonny West

I have enough common sense to know that Arthur Gunn will probably be crowned the winner tonight but honestly with this group of Top 5 any of them could and should win! I believe that all of this predicted Top 5 will go on to have a career in music. My ranking is very flexible and no matter what order they actually end up in, this season has been the hardest for predictions because they all deserve to win and all have the talent to win! Unlike the previous seasons, all of the contents deserve to win and could win.