The competition continued on the Sunday, April 27, episode of American Idol. With just 14 contestants remaining, the artists took the stage for live performances of songs from Rock & Roll Hall of Fame legends.
Things are now fully in America’s hands, which left viewers with the opportunity to vote for their favorites to earn a spot in the top 12. Judges Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, and Lionel Richie still offered their feedback to the contestants, though, and all of the singers got advice from mentor James Taylor.
Scroll down for a for a full recap of all the performances and what the judges had to say about each singer. Plus, find out which 12 artists moved on after viewer votes.
Filo
Up first was Filo, who sang “With a Little Help From My Friends” by The Beatles. The platinum ticket winner had the audience in the palm of his hand as he performed.
ABC
“That is a smackdown way to start the show. Killer, killer,” Richie gushed. Underwood and Bryan agreed, with Bryan telling Filo his song choice was “perfect” and adding, “I can’t say anything bad about that. That was amazing.”
Mattie Pruitt
Next up was Mattie Pruitt, who got some advice from Taylor about how to connect to her song choice of “Piece of My Heart” by Janis Joplin. Despite being the youngest in the competition, she completely delivered.
ABC
Underwood told Mattie, “That was a great song choice for your voice and obviously for the night. You sang that wonderfully, I love your look for this, I love you getting into character. If there’s anything I can say to you it’s you gotta find your sass, sister! You’re so sweet and smiley and you look so gorgeous, but you need some sass girl!”
The other judges agreed that Mattie needs more “stage presence,” but couldn’t reiterate enough that her vocals were impressive. “That was one of my favorite vocal performances I’ve heard you do,” Bryan said. “Take that vocal and build on the sass.”
John Foster
Country hopeful John Foster took on Elvis Presley’s “Jailhouse Rock,” but made sure to make it his own rather than being an Elvis impersonator. As he explained it, it was his “go big or go home” moment, giving him a chance to move more than he ever has before on the Idol stage.
ABC
The judges were on their feet applauding John afterwards. “I’m very proud of you on that one,” Bryan told John. “It was exactly what you wanted. It wasn’t Elvis impersonator, it was just John Foster doing Elvis. It was very comfortable watching you. You doing that low moment was really well done. Great performance.”
Richie added, “You were so comfortable. That’s what made it so believable for us. You did a great job.”
Desmond Roberts
Desmond Roberts earned his spot in the top 14 thanks to the judges’ save, so he had a lot to prove this week. He performed one of Richie’s own songs “Jesus Is Love.” Plus, it was one of the first songs Desmond’s dad taught him, so it had significant meaning to him.
ABC
Richie was super impressed. “Let me just say this, I don’t mind you singing the song, but you found some octaves I didn’t sing,” he admitted. “It’s obvious that you were not only comfortable, but you tried to take my song! That is a very hard song to sing and you did so well. That was really risky, but you did it. I’m telling you. It’s great.”
Keep refreshing because we’ll be updating with notes from all the performances all episode long.
American Idol, Season 23, Sundays and Mondays, 8/7c, ABC
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