American Idol Recap 04/18/21: Season 19 Episode 14 “Oscar Nominated Songs”

American Idol Recap 04/18/21: Season 19 Episode 14 "Oscar Nominated Songs"

It’s another exciting night of American Idol on ABC tonight with an all-new Sunday, April 18, 2021, season 19 episode 14 called “Oscar-Nominated Songs” and we have your weekly American Idol recap below. On tonight’s American Idol season 19 episode 14 as per the ABC synopsis, “The top 12 contestants perform Oscar®-nominated songs in hopes of securing America’s vote into the top nine on an all-new episode. Plus, Lionel Richie opens the show with a special performance of “Say You Say Me.”

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In tonight’s American Idol episode, Lionel Richie opened tonight’s episode with his song “Say You, Say Me”. Apparently, it was a celebration tonight. The Oscars were coming up soon and that was going to take the place of a new “American Idol” episode and so ABC decided to hype the event from now.

The cast was all going to perform music from Oscar-winning films and up first was Grace Kinstler. She was recently advised to move away from pop music however she chose to ignore that advice in favor of performing “Happy” from the “Despicable Me 2” soundtrack. She claimed she chose this song because she believed she could bring a new take to it except it didn’t sound when she performed it. It sounded exactly like Pharrell’s rendition of it. And so all she did was add higher notes to it.

Grace is talented. There’s no doubt about it. She just didn’t understand the advice that Katy Perry gave her and so Katy was the first to say she sounded great, but she was still unclear about her artistry. What kind of artist does Grace want to be? Grace doesn’t seem to have that figured out and the other judges agreed with Katy.

Even Luke Bryan agreed. He was back from sick leave and he too doesn’t feel like he’s seeing the real Grace. She has to stop picking the songs that are popular and start picking songs that sound like they could be on her first album. Next up was Ava August. She was an artist beyond her years and she too was told to move away from Pop. She was told to go for the classic and so tonight she performed “City of Stars” from the “La La Land” soundtrack.

It was a great fit for her. It has that jazz feel to it and her voice sounded wonderful. It sounded older than she was. She was a baby still but tonight she sounded like an artist

and Luke especially sang her praise tonight. Both Luke and Lionel loved it while Katy still felt there was room for improvement. She wanted Ava to move around onstage more and she claims she wanted Ava to still be a kid but that literally wasn’t what she said last week and so Katy was out here giving mixed signals. Next up was Caleb Kennedy. He always knew what kind of artist he was and he showed that again in his song selection. He chose the song “On the Road Again” from the “Honeysuckle Rose” soundtrack.

Caleb was back with his signature hat. He loves performing with his hat because he gets to hide behind it a little and he does the same thing with his guitar. He was back with his guitar tonight as well. Caleb went without such things last week, but tonight he was being true to form and it worked. Everything came together. Caleb had an authentic grit to him and it turns out he only likes wearing hats because he has a wonky eye that he tries to hide. Katy has one of them as well. She told him that he didn’t need to hide it. Her fans created Twitter accounts in tribute of her wonky eye and so Katy firmly believes that Caleb’s friends/fans will have no problem with it either. Next up was Hunter Metts.

Hunter wants to show off his newfound. He started the competition as a nervous wreck and so he wants to show his fans how far he’s come. He chose the song “Falling Slowly” from the “Once” soundtrack. He had a hard time connecting at first but then Bobby gave him some tips and he started to connect with the audience. He even laughed as he was performing. Hunter definitely showed a new side to himself. Only, was it enough for the judges? It was and the judges later said this was one of his best performances to date. They even told Hunter to ease up on himself because he started crying thinking he ruined the song by laughing towards the end and he hadn’t. The judges knew anything could happen up on that stage. And so Hunter’s imperfections only added to his accomplishments tonight.

Next up was Madison Watkins. She was saved last week by the judges and so she could have let that dishearten her or make her take smaller risks and instead she decided to take even bigger risks than before. Madison chose the song “Run to You” from the “Bodyguard” soundtrack. She grew up singing this song because she loved it so much and so tonight she performed a Whitney Houston song. She pulled it off. She sounded amazing and the judges all sang her praises after such a performance. They were glad she chose this song. It was perfect for her voice and it showed them they were right in keeping her. Next up was Chayce Beckham. He’s been through some things and in his darkest days he never would have thought he would be on “American Idol”.

Chayce being on the show is such a dream come true for him that he wanted to celebrate it. He chose the song “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You” from the “Robin Hood” soundtrack and his performance tonight showcases a different side to him. He showed a gentle side. He doesn’t normally go for ballads and so the judges liked seeing him taking risks. They also thought the women that were voting tonight will also like it. Next up was Beane. Beane was saved by the judges last week and now he has to get America on his side. He knew he had to go big to win the voters over. He chose the song “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” and it was from the “Dirty Dancing” soundtrack. Beane has never done a song like this before.

Beane knew he couldn’t do the original song in its same format. He had to do his own rendition of it and it was a great fit for him. The judges loved it. They loved the risk he took tonight and they wanted to see more of it. Next up was Alyssa Wray. She chose the song “This Is Me” from “The Greatest Showman” because it best describes her own transformation. She used to feel ashamed of being too tall or her hair not being straight enough. Alyssa used to hide these things and now she’s not hiding for anyone. She’s proud of herself. She’s showing it and the judges loved her performance tonight. They loved seeing Alyssa so happy and confident. The viewers enjoyed it too and so hopefully they’ll keep voting for Alyssa.

Next up was Deshawn Goncalves. He chose the song “The Way We Were” from the movie of the same name and tonight he went classic. He wore a white and black tuxedo. He didn’t go dancing around the stage and he chose to stay put and that was enough because he created a moment. He created a timeless moment that transcended everything else and the judges loved it. Next up was Casey Bishop. The rocker was switching things up tonight by performing “Over the Rainbow” from the film “The Wizard of Oz”. She chose the song because she used to watch the film all the time with her family and so whenever she thinks of that film she thinks of home. And Casey did such a beautiful job with this song, she left the judges confused over who would win.

Casey’s voice could do anything. It could do rock or it could go classic and that’s why she was a threat this season. Next up was Cassie Coleman. Cassie had seen the comments after her last performance and so she knows it wasn’t good. She was called talentless as well as a bunch of other names. Cassie took those comments to heart. She felt bad about herself and she doubted her capabilities but thankfully she has the support of her loved ones and so tonight she took a risk by performing “Writing’s on the Wall” from the film “Spectre”. Cassie did amazing things with her rendition. She gave her a warrior cry and the judges loved that part. They also told Cassie that while her last performance wasn’t perfect, she was still incredibly talented and no one could take that from her.

And the last contestant of the night was Willie Spence. He chose the song “Stand Up” from the film “Harriet” because he’s going through a few things right now and this song helps keep his head up. Willie also received a special treat. He spoke with Cynthia Erivo who originally recorded this song and she told him how she was a big fan of his and so that just gave him an added boost. Willie once again sounded absolutely great tonight. He rarely makes a misstep and so he too could win the whole competition. But the votes were in. It was later announced that the contestants that will be advancing tonight are Grace, Casey, Willie, Alyssa, Caleb, Deshawn, Cassie, Chayce, and lastly Hunter.

Madison, Ava, and Beane were all eliminated tonight and so they missed the trip to Disneyworld.

THE END!