American Idol‘s Top 20 Revealed Live: Which Six Singers Didn’t Make the Cut?

ZACHARIAH SMITH

Dedicating Sunday’s performance of Foreigner’s “I Want to Know What Love Is” to his hometown of Amory, Miss., which was recently ravaged by a devastating tornado, Smith presented a refreshingly mature version of himself, both vocally and in his toned-down (but still energetic) stage presence. Voice and personality considered, I absolutely see him making it to the finale.

MATT WILSON

It wasn’t his most exciting performance to date, but Wilson was his usual charming self this week, delivering an easy, breezy take on James Arthur’s “Say You Won’t Let Go.” I don’t want to tell Wilson to change anything about himself, but as a certain small mermaid once said, “I want mooooore.”

NAILYAH SERENITY

Between her attitude, her fashion and her mother, I’m having a difficult time deciding what I love most about Serenity. For now, I’ll pick her voice, which was well-showcased on Sunday with Mother’s Finest “Baby Love,” a star-making performance for this spiritual songstress.

WARREN PEAY

First of all, I will never not think of War and Peace when I hear this guy’s name, so forgive me if I ever accidentally call him that. Anyway, this old country soul gave us more of what we’ve come to expect, growling the hell out of Zach Williams’ “Up There Down Here.” Lionel Richie loved the performance so much, he literally thanked God for putting Peay in his path, so there’s that.

(Side note: If Idol doesn’t work out for him, Peay should consider pivoting to plant daddy YouTuber. I promise to subscribe.)

KAEYRA

Lewis Capaldi’s “Bruises” was the perfect song choice for Kaeyra (aka Megan Fox’s more talented clone), because she basically punched us in the face with her artistry for two straight minutes. Those chilling low notes, those soaring high notes, that Tony the Tiger growl — it was all there. This also marked her first performance behind a piano since her audition, and I hope it’s not the last.

MARIAH FAITH

Knock, knock. Who’s there? It’s Faith, with all those funky riffs you ordered. When she finished stanking out her performance of Solomon Burke’s “Cry to Me,” all I could think was, “What are you even doing here? Go put out an album already!”

(Side note: Faith is absolutely right about tiny houses being the “perfect plan.” And if you’ve never fallen down a tiny house YouTube hole before, I highly recommend doing so.)

IAM TONGI

Here’s a sentence I never thought I’d say: Tongi just outperformed Meryl Streep — at least as far as ABBA covers are concerned. With all respect to her turn in Mamma Mia! (of which I still hope they make a threequel), Tongi’s take on “The Winner Takes It All” was the best I’ve ever heard. Simple yet beautiful, heartbreaking yet uplifting. A true enigma, not unlike Tongi himself.

HAVEN MADISON

The competition’s youngest contestant picked an age-appropriate song in Leanna Crawford’s “Mean Girls,” yet performed it with a voice far beyond her teenage years. It was also a little more bombastic than what we’re used to getting from the nepo bebé, for better or worse.

OLIVER STEELE

Following a series of health scares, Steele couldn’t help but dedicate his original song “Too Soon” to his father, his greatest inspiration. With uneven vocals and noticeably low energy, it wasn’t Steele’s best performance this season. But I do agree with Katy Perry — it’s a great song.

LUCY LOVE

First of all, yes! I was worried that America wouldn’t put her into the Top 20, but the voters did not let me down.

Second of all, Love took one of the biggest risks of the night by performing “Boulders,” an original song she wrote about carrying life’s heavy burdens. Then again, how risky can a performance ever be when it’s coming from this glittering goddess?

HANNAH NICOLAISEN

This volleyball-playing Joni Mitchell was the first singer sent through from the second group, kicking off the evening’s back half with a strong performance of Queen’s “Somebody to Love.”

OLIVIA SOLI

One of my most basic qualities is that I get absolutely giddy when anyone on a singing competition show chooses a Celine Dion song. Extra points if the performance is actually good, as was the case with Soli’s take on “I Surrender.” I second everything that Perry said, especially the part about Soli only singing Dion songs from now on.

MARYBETH BYRD

Have I been severely underestimating Byrd thus far? She was serving Nashville‘s Maddie Conrad with that performance of her original song “People Pleaser.”

MICHAEL WILLIAMS

I won’t lie, I got nervous when I saw that Williams cut his hair. Like, we all remember what happened to Samson, right? Why even chance it?

Good news, though: Williams’ hair — which still looks great, who am I kidding — was not the secret strength behind his voice. This much was evidenced by mostly excellent performance of Selena Gomez’s “Lose You to Love Me.”

(Side note: I also found it kind of refreshing that Idol didn’t bother trying to force a backstory on Williams. He’s just a nice boy who loves to sing.)

PAIGE ANNE

My heart broke a little bit for Anne, because that performance of A Great Big World’s “Say Something” was not her best. Maybe it was nerves, because we all know she’s got the chops, but it was a rocky road. Based on how much the judges were pumping her up afterwards, I’m actually wondering if it sounded considerably better in person.

NUTSA

It’s been an unexpected joy to watch Nutsa grow in this competition, gradually learning how to hone her natural energy into focused, polished performances. And this week’s, an emotional cover of Toni Braxton’s “Unbreak My Heart,” was arguably her best yet.

TYSON VENEGAS

There’s no question that Venegas delivered an important message with “180,” his latest original song. How he delivered it is another matter, especially on those more difficult high notes.

MEGAN DANIELLE

Regardless of how Danielle ends up doing on Idol, I’m certain she has a successful future in the Christian music industry. I’ve never heard “Holy Water” by We the Kingdom before, but if you told me that Danielle had written it, I wouldn’t question you for a second. (How dare you lie to me, though.)

Sick vocals aside, Danielle just comes across as a fully realized artist, far more than most of the other contestants.

COLIN STOUGH

Luke Bryan couldn’t help but rock out during Stough’s rock-solid performance of Parker McCollum’s “Pretty Heart.” I’m not a huge country person, but even I can see that Stough seems to know exactly what he’s doing up there, and it’s working.

WÉ ANI

The last singer sent through to the Top 20 was Ani, who ended the evening on a high note — several, actually — with a booming performance of Adele’s “Skyfall.”

WHO DIDN'T MAKE IT?

Idol given and Idol taketh away. Here are the six contestants who did move forward to the Top 20 after Sunday’s episode:

* Elise Kristine
* PJAE
* Emma Busse
* Elijah McCormick
* Dawson Wayne
* Malik Heard

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