‘American Idol XIV’ review: Jax, Nick Fradiani, Clark Beckham perform as race heats up

Tonight’s new episode of “American Idol” featured the top five each performing two more songs, with an elimination of course happening during the show. Tonight was a surprising one for sure. For one, the format had an elimination in the middle of the show, and to go along with that, we had a show that featured the remaining four singers all getting a chance to go to their hometowns in order to impress their local fans.

As we reported earlier, Tyanna Jones was sent home, and this leaves Clark Beckham, Nick Fradiani, Jax, and Rayvon Owen (who has survived many a close vote) in the competition.

Clark Beckham, “Livin’ in the City” – Solid, but nothing altogether different from what we’ve heard from Clark already. A little wobbly, and his worst performance in a while.

Nick Fradiani, “Bright Lights” – We love Matchbox 20. Therefore, we really enjoyed this performance. Sure, Nick is not exactly much of a surprising performer, but what he did here was solid and pretty emotional to boot.

Jax, “Empire State of Mind” – We’ve heard most of this before, but somehow, did Jax actually sound better when she was sick? It may sound a little bit nutty, but we are actually starting to think that it may be true.

Rayvon Owen, “Need You Now” – It was another soaring ballad performance from Rayvon, but here is the thing: It was great! This is what viewers clearly want from Rayvon, so why not give them some of what they want?

Round 2, soul songs

Clark, “Your Man” – He felt almost a tad cocky talking about this song in his rehearsal package, and for the most part, it wasn’t worth the big risk that he took. A little pitchy, and at times a little hokey.

Jax, “Human” – This was really bizarre to listen to, mostly because it sounded like there was some background noise that almost completely ruined listening to it.

Rayvon, “Believe” – Now, we are starting to wonder whether or not his ability could actually take him to the top three! This was stirring, and having the choir backing him up only helped him out further.

Nick Fradiani, “What Hurts the Most” – Yes, Nick did choose a Rascal Flatts song to close out the night, and it was … solid. Yes, that is the word to describe everything that he does. He probably did do enough tonight to get into the top three, but we’re still not seeing anything about him that screams “winner of the season.”

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