‘American Idol XIV’ preview: Does Shannon Berthiaume stumble, or succeed?

It’s funny in a way that before the season, the judges on “American Idol” really claimed that they were not looking so much for diamonds in the rough this season. Why? They’ve learned over the years that these people don’t really have the time to get it all together through the competition, and need another year or two of working on their own in order to step forward and truly shine.

This is where things get interesting for Shannon Berthiaume. She’s got a killer voice that could do anything from rock to soul, but at the same time, she’s not very experienced. That is proven yet again when she hits the stage in Hollywood Week tonight (see the video), and she stumbled to remember all of the words to her Stevie Wonder song.

This is always a dilemma to us: Do you reward someone for forgetting something that is a basic element of performance, and send home someone who does remember the lyrics, but lacks some of the same talent? We feel like there should be a one-strike policy. If it happens once, you can write it off as nerves or a fluke, since this happens to even some of the best singers out there. However, once it becomes a pattern, then you have to stop allowing for second chances.

For now, we’d put Shannon through just because she’s one of the only real hopes for that Minnesota audition episode that was by and large terrible. Let’s just hope she starts to settle in a little better.

What do you think about Shannon’s performance right now? Share in the comments, and head over here in the event that you want to get some other updates related to the episode tonight! Also, sign up to score some further TV updates worth a song or two via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: Fox.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-Fu1Fo_Xgs