Jurnee – American Idol’s Top 14 – From Littleton, CO
This week on American Idol, the second half of the Top 24 had their chance to impress judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, and Luke Bryan with their solo performances and all-star duets. Performing at the Academy LA in Hollywood, contestants Ada Vox, Alyssa Raghu, Amelia Hammer Harris, Caleb Lee Hutchinson, Effie Passero, Garrett Jacobs, Jurnee, Maddie Poppe, Mara Justine, Marcio Donaldson, Ron Bultongez and Shannon O’Hara each did their best to show they had what it takes to be the next American Idol. Joining them for the all-star duets were performers like Allen Stone, Banners, Bebe Rexha, Cam, Colbie Caillat, Lea Michele and Rachel Platten. You can stream Episode 11: Top 24 Solos and Episode 12: Top 24 Celebrity Duets on ABC.com or the ABC app, but here are some highlights you won’t want to miss, starting with the Top 14. So who are the American Idol 2018 Top 14 contestants? Take a look!
American Idol 2018 Top 14 Contestants
Ada Vox
Cade Foehner
Caleb Lee Hutchinson
Catie Turner
Dennis Lorenzo
Gabby Barrett
Garrett Jacobs
Jonny Brenns
Jurnee
Maddie Poppe
Mara Justine
Marcio Donaldson
Michael J. Woodard
Michelle Sussett
Alyssa Raghu, Amelia Hammer Harris, Effie Passero, Ron Bultongez, and Shannon O’Hara all saw their American Idol 2018 journey come to an end.
The Top 14 now move on to compete for America’s Vote SUNDAY 8|7c as American Idol’s journey continues on America’s network, ABC!
No bio yet but we should be rooting for Littleton’s Jurnee! She’s fabulous – and she’s only 18! She left a job as a hostess to pursue her musical dreams and she certainly has the pipes to be a real force in the music business in the future.
American Idol is on ABC (Channel 7 – Denver) Sunday and Monday nights at 7:00 p.m. (Mondays is opposite The Voice – whose idiot planning was this?) Public voting starts this Sunday, April 22nd.
http://abc.go.com/shows/american-idol/cast/jurnee
By Steve Dove | Apr 16th, 2018
http://abc.go.com/shows/american-idol/news/recaps/american-idol-2018-recap-top-14-contestants-revealed
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Controversial ‘American Idol’ Top 14 Results Spark Confusion, Outrage
American Idol has historically been a conservative, “family-friendly” program. (We all remember how the “guylinered” Adam Lambert lost to “guy next door” Kris Allen, or how viewers never accepted Season 12 judge Nicki Minaj.) But after a two-year hiatus and a switch to ABC, the revived show seemed to have the potential to finally broaden its base.
During Sunday’s top 14 semifinals, we saw two edgy, envelope-pushing contestants, Jurnee and Ada Vox, do things never seen before on Idol. Jurnee rapped (with an endorsement from Nicki herself!), and Ada, who had auditioned for the show five years ago as Adam Sanders, performed as a drag queen. But it turned out this is the same old Idol, or at least it has the same old viewership. Jurnee and Ada — both openly gay contestants of color — were not among the six contestants voted through to the top 10 by America and had to be saved by the judges.
Additionally, before the judges’ deliberations at the end of Tuesday’s two-hour elimination episode, the Twitterverse exploded with outrage over the fact that, according to the order in which host Ryan Seacrest announced the results, it seemed like everyone going through was white (with the notable exception of the worthy Michael J. Woodard, one of my top six picks). One viewer tweeted, “Who wants to bet Jurnee didn’t get enough votes because she’s PoC AND lesbian?” Another posted, “I am a white woman, and I am offended by these picks.” And another simply wrote: “Welcome to White American Idol.”
@AmericanIdol results have America looking pretty racist at the moment… thank god for the judges vote! Hopefully we get some good talent of color in the mix! @MichelleSussett @DennisLorenzo should have been in from the start!! #notright
— Apolinar Santana (@aPAULinar21) April 24, 2018
Anyway, along with Michael, America voted for Maddie Pope and Cade Foehner (who were actually in my personal top six), as well as Catie Turner and two country contestants, Caleb Lee Hutchinson and golden girl Gabby Barrett. That shockingly left Jurnee, Ada, Dennis Lorenzo (another my top six picks), Michelle Sussett, Marcio Donaldson, Mara Justine, Garrett Jacobs, and Jonny Brenns to sing for the top 10’s four judge-determined wild card slots.
Ada (whose name, according to Ryan, was chanted by the studio audience during the commercial break) boldly went with the Dreamgirls statement song “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going.” And she was right! Katy Perry made an “executive decision” to immediately send Ada to the top 10. For that alone, Katy deserves her $25 million Idol paycheck.
“I don’t know everything,” said Katy, removing her earrings to show she meant business. “But I think we do know talent when we see it.” However, Katy won’t be able to save Ada every week, and I’m afraid America just isn’t ready to see a drag queen on a non-Logo/World of Wonder reality competition.
Katy seemed just as frustrated by Jurnee’s failure to make the top six, complaining, “Never have I ever seen a more qualified woman for the job and still not get the job. What’s the disconnect, America?” Thankfully, the judges saved Jurnee, along with Dennis (who had Luke Bryan exclaiming incredulously, “I have never questioned my country, but America does not know what they’re doing!”) and Michelle. This meant Marcio, Mara, Garrett, and Jonny went home.
So, ultimately (and ironically), I did get the top 10 I wanted — and the top 10 that I think American Idol and America in general deserve. But what will happen from here on out? Looking at these early voting patterns, I’m afraid Kieran will soon be dimming the lights on some of my talented favorites.
By Lyndsey Parker | Yahoo Music
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/controversial-american-idol-top-14-results-spark-confusion-outrage-042353892.html
[COMBO Editor’s note: In my opinion, Jurnee and Ada are two of the VERY BEST singers and entertainers on ANY of the vocal competition shows right now. The viewer/voters need to really take a good hard look at “what” are they really voting for!]