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American Idol S17 Power Rankings (Top 5)

May 19, 2019 by PowerRankings101

We’re one round of singing away from the finale. So here are the rankings of the top 5. I’ll admit, I expected Laci to go. And I wanted Wade gone for a while. So to see them go, I am neither surprised nor disappointed. The toughest call is going to be Alejandro vs. Laine. I have no clue. Oh yeah, and Madison is there too.

15. Wade Cota (2nd Song)- Ah Wade. Doing Rocketman. I expected to hate this, and I kinda did. It wasn’t as bad as anything Eddie Island would’ve done with it, but I can’t say Wade took me to outer space with that routine. Yeah, it didn’t work.

14. Laine Hardy (1st Song)- Yikes, I think this was a step back for Laine. I think he kept it too simple and plain, and for some songs it works, but for Laine, he can’t plateau now. This first song was a speed bump, but he did kick it up a notch later. The question will be whether or not his finale songs are fun and flavorful, or boring as molasses like this was.

13. Madison VanDenburg (1st Song)- I like this song for Madison, but she’s no Pink. The vocal issues were prominent, not as much as before, but still a bit pitchy all over the place. Her power is evident, but the vocal pitchiness is really setting her back and is masking any improvement she has on her stage presence.

12. Wade Cota (1st Song)- Wade’s first song wasn’t amazing, but it also wasn’t the worst thing he’s ever done. He didn’t like the song, but I do think it was one of the better song choices he’s had this season, especially in the live rounds.

11. Wade Cota (3rd Song)- This was Wade’s strongest of the night, but I think he could’ve gone even harder than he has in the past. That being said, it was a nice tribute to his parents, and better to go out on that than on Rocket Man.

10. Madison VanDenburg (2nd Song)- Madison’s song wasn’t that bad, but now that the pitchiness was somewhat avoided, the lack of stage presence really showed. I feel like I just can’t find a Madison performance since Disney night that balances both song and stage perfectly. We’ll find it in the finale, but right now, she’s either strong in one aspect or the other. This one, a strong vocal, bad delivery on stage.

9. Laci Kaye Booth (1st Song)- I thought Laci sounded lovely on her first song. You could definitely hear the nerves coming fresh off of that save from last time, but she still brought so much emotion to it and made it known that maybe the save was used on her for a reason.

8. Madison VanDenburg (3rd Song)- Her best of the night, she was able to deliver a solid vocal, while also allowing herself to leave any crazy stage presence problems aside. She just stood there, emoted, and sang the hell out of that song. That may have gotten her into the final, and if it did, I can get behind it.

7. Laci Kaye Booth (2nd Song)- Laci lacks a bit of stage presence, but this was a nice shake up for her. I actually liked the side of her she showed. It wasn’t the most vocally impressive one for her, and there were definitely patches of pitchiness, but I actually liked it a good deal.

6. Laine Hardy (3rd Song)- “Hey Jude” was just a great song choice for him. While it didn’t really show off anything we hadn’t seen before, I still think he did a good enough job to still put on a better vocal in the third round than Madison or Wade could ever dream of. I think he needs to rely on something like his second round to win it all next week, but this was fine enough for him.

5. Laci Kaye Booth (3rd Song)- I LOVED Laci’s third song of the night, and think that could’ve sealed the deal of going to the finale. Alas, it wasn’t, but if there was a song to go out on, this was a gorgeous, beautiful one to do so on.

4. Laine Hardy (2nd Song)- Laine kicked it up a notch with his second song, showing off his true vocal ability. He didn’t rely on fun or safety nets to take him through, and it showed. This was one of his all time best.

3. Alejandro Aranda (1st Song)- I’m not biased on Alejandro, but it’s true, he had the three best performances of the night. This Bob Marley cover was absolutely stunning, and brought enough of his style to it to keep it fresh, while also paying great homage to the roots it came from. Should be no surprise that I was Alejandro’s biggest fan on this night, and for good reason. He killed it, and the next two performances just got even better from here.

2. Alejandro Aranda (2nd Song)- Alejandro was on the piano TWICE tonight, and the first time he did it, he knocked it out of the park (don’t worry, he knocked it even further on his third song). This allowed him to really emote to the song and show his vulnerable side without the spectacular instrumentals to mask it. It was something truly special. I think this was the best Elton song of the night. Wow.

1. Alejandro Aranda (3rd Song)- I mean…come ON. Alejandro pulled out all the tricks tonight, and delivered three of his best performances ever (probably his best three since his audition). I loved every ounce of this original, but the thing that stood out the most was certainly that piano playing. It was jazzy, smooth, and absolutely what he needed to give him the momentum going into the finale.

I think it’s going to be such a tight race between Laine and Alejandro. Madison will get third. I can definitely see people voting behind Laine because they’ve now had 2 seasons to get to know him, and he has a larger appeal in terms of genre. But I really think Alejandro has been a front runner from his very first audition, and I could really see him capturing a lot of people’s votes, especially from that initial audition that broke the internet. I’m pulling for him, and will give him the prediction and momentum going into this finale. With this excellent top 5 week, I think Alejandro has that edge he needs.

PREDICTIONS:

Winner- Alejandro Aranda

Second Place- Laine Hardy

Third Place- Madison VanDenburg

#casting

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American Idol S17 Power Rankings (Top 5)

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