‘American Idol XIV’ review: Meet Adam Lasher, Mikey Duran, Erica Washington in New Orleans

Tonight, the name of the game for “American Idol XIV” was redemption. The audition episode in Minnesota was pretty terrible, save for maybe one or two singers who stepped it up.

Tonight was definitely diverse in New Orleans, given that within a few minutes we went from having a pretty salt-of-the-earth country singer to a drag queen. Somehow, both were pretty good! Nobody moved us on a Hollywood Anderson level, but there were still a few people who impressed, and could be around for a little while.

Jelly Joseph – Wait, wasn’t auditioning to “Rolling in the Deep” the thing a few years ago? We thought she was also a little too segmented with her performance, but there were still a few things in here that she did really right. She had good style, and could at least hit the notes. That’s more than we can say about the duds before her.

Tiffany Stringer – Talk about energy! She has a big personality, and that’s great. She needs to work on not just trying to sing like Cher Lloyd.

Greyson Turner – Not our favorite original song, but at 15, this guy has talent for weeks, days and months. As good as he is now, he’ll be killing it within a few years.

Sarah Quintana – Really wonderful. We don’t know if she is a good modern singer, but she’s by far the best jazz performer we’ve heard on the show so far. We don’t usually put rejections in here, but the judges are crazy for this one!

Quentin Alexander – Cool dude. Cool fashion. We get what Harry Connick Jr. said here that he needs to push things a little bit further when it comes to his voice.

Mikey Duran – Love this guy’s tone. He is a very different sort of singer than we’ve seen on the show so far, but he’s intriguing. His original song makes us want to hear what else he can do.

Ricky Dale Hendricks – Wouldn’t it have been hilarious if Ricky sang something other than country music? He may be the most country guy ever, given his name and that he’s from a town made famous from “Duck Dynasty.”

Dakota Suarez – The aforementioned drag queen, who has the talent but needs to work on control.

Erica Washington – Not big on the song choice, but we did enjoy the actual talent that she brought to the table. A nice way to close the show.

Who was your favorite tonight? Share with a comment, and head over here to get our review of last night’s show! Also, be sure to sign up to get some other TV news worth singing about now via our official CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: Fox.)