American Idol Season 12: Sudden Death Group 1 Recap

American Idol Season 12 Sudden Death Batch 1
R-L: Jenny Beth Willis, Teena Torres,
Adriana Lantonio, Brandy Hotard,
Shubha Vedula, Kamaria Ousley,
Kree Harrison, Angela Miller,
Isabelle,  and Amber Holcomb

After ten girls sing their song if choice, five will go. That is the sudden death rules.

Jenny Beth Willis
Owensboro, KY
Song choice: Heaven, Heartache and the Power of Love, Trisha Yearwood

It was not good song choice for this 17-year-old country girl. Her performance was good all throughout, however, she didn't leave anything we could remember her by. 

Teena Torres
Queens, NY
Song Choice: Soulmate, Natasha Bedingfield

I love her performance. She displayed how dynamic her voice was. Her performance was a bit subdued but you could feel the power in there. I like the voice control and she connected with the song.

Adriana Latonio

Anchorage, AK

Song Choice: Ain't No Way, Aretha Franklin

As a very young and petite girl, she definitely doesn't shy away from the occasion.  And she is very confident singing an Aretha Franklin song. She did gave it her all and she was even surprise at the end results. I love it how she builds the song, adding every emotion she has until there is no holding back. And she did not  hold back at the end. She's a pro.

Brandy Hotard
Port Allen, LA
Song Choice: Anymore, Travis Tritt

Yes, she smiled when she was singing about crying. That made her disconnect to the song. Nothing memorable really except that misplaced smile. 

Shubha Vedula
Mt. Pleasant, MI
Song Choice: Born This Way, Lady Gaga

Shubha is a quirky character with a powerful voice and that sometimes make a great combination in a competition like Idol.  In this performance, however, she was overdoing it that it left a bit of bad taste in the mouth. 

Kamaria Ousley
Oakland, CA
Song Choice: Mr. Know It All, Kelly Clarkson

Her performance was not good at all. Her pitch was all over the place. It is a bad sign when the judges commented more on your looks than your performance. 

Kree Harrison 
Nashville, TN
Song Choice: Up on the Mountain, Patty Griffin

Double wow and two thumbs up for Kree. She did take me to church. I like that she sings clean but the emotion was there front and center. Her looks needs improvement though.

Angela Miller
Beverly, MA
Song Choice: Nobody's Perfect, Jessie J

Angela sings great but she needs to feel it more like what Kree did. It might be a bad sign when the judges expect too much in a contestant. They wanted to see more spectacular things from her like the original performance she did the last week.

Isabelle 

Duluth, GA

Song Choice: God Bless the Child, Billie Holiday

At first I thought its gonna be lounge-y but at the end she was working it. Again, there was nothing new to see from her performance other than her a bit stiff demeanor.

Amber Holcomb

Houston, TX

Song Choice: My Funny Valentine

Welcome back, Amber! She did very good. She made this slow, old-fashioned song current. I love the runs and twists she did with the song.

The verdict

Going Home 

Going Home: Jenny, Brandy, Isabelle, Kamaria and Shubha

Moving to the Top 20

American Idol Girls Moving to Top 20: Kree, Teena, Angela, Amber and Adriana

I think the judges got it right. I would have love it if Shuba has also gone through but definitely the five women are the top performers of the night. The performance of the night definitely goes to Kree. I also love Adriana's performance. I never thought she is that good. For Angela, I think the judges are still have hangovers from her awesome original performance last time. I wonder what effect would this  expectation have on our pretty front-runner. What do you think about the results? Who was your favorite?