Hawaiian Hometown Hero Iam Tongi Delights Again

It’s not an all-in battle, either. By the end of it all, we’ll have our Top 20 revealed, but that’s being split in half, as well. Tonight’s 13 are competing against one another with only 10 of them surviving into next week’s show (with the same thing happening tomorrow).

It takes some pressure off, but raises it in another way. If they were scared of anyone from Monday’s group, they can breathe a sigh of relief. But there are half as many competitors, so they’d better do everything they can to not fall into that Bottom 3.

For one contestant, there was another level of pressure. Iam Tongi is the first native Hawaiian to make it to this stage of the competition, and tonight he had to sing in front of a massive hometown crowd. Now, that meant he had a ton of support, but he also didn’t want to disappoint them.

Allen Stone proved an incredible mentor from what we got to see of his time with the contestants, giving them great advice with their vocals as well as their stage presence and overall performances. His choices were smart and made perfect sense — even if some of the contestants didn’t always take it!

Fair warning, since I’m safe at home, I’m probably going to be a little harsher than my colleagues Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan. But I might be nicer, too. Maybe.

And just for fun, I’m going to rank the performances from worst to first to see who my favorites are each week. That way I can see who’s the best and then see how they fare as the season progresses.

(“Is This Love,” Bob Marley and the Wailers) With the first few lines, Allen set a standard of professionalism as a vocalist we hope the contestants play over and over again and study for all the little nuances and tricks of the trade. It looks so effortless, and yet it was so commanding. From the first note, he had us. Even the judges had to note the difference from what he was doing to what all of the contestants were bringing. We’re not sure the difference between pros and amateurs has ever been as clear as it was in this moment. This was a gorgeous vocal.

(“Golden,” Jill Scott – 24, Lawton, OK) A bold song choice resulting in a mixed performance. He was strongest at the top and bottom of the number, when he didn’t fall into cliche. As soon as he walked from the mic stand, he kind of lost us as someone who was interpreting the song, rather he started looking like someone who was trying to show off, like, look what I can do? We know he’s got impressive pipes, but we want to see those organically through the music. At the start, we felt we were getting that, and when he settled back in toward the back half, we got so much more of who he is as an artist than when he was flexing and awkwardly trying to strut around. The stage performance is definitely a work in progress.

(“Holding Out for a Hero,” Bonnie Tyler – 18, Issaquah, WA) Allen advised Elise to loosen up her physicality while performing and white it took about a third of the song for her to really get into it and make it happen, when she did it created a genuinely magical performance. Her voice even got better as she got more comfortable performing. This is a demanding song, and at first we worried she was coming across a bit too innocent. By the end, though, she had us believers. If she can keep growing in confidence and presence, she’s got the voice to have a big impact.

(“You Should Probably Leave,” Chris Stapleton – 21, Conway, SC) For some reason, this fell off for us a bit toward the back third after she first hit that chorus. Her vocals to that point were smokey and bluesy and gritty and beautiful, but when she tried to go big, it lost some of that specialness and authenticity. This song is all about the story, and we lost the urgency of her delivery as it went along. But until that point, she was weaving straight magic, so we know it’s in there. It just wasn’t as consistently prevalent as we had hoped.

(“The Middle,” Zedd f. Maren Morris & Grey – 16, Clarksville, TN) That second verse and beyond was everything that made us fall in love with Haven from the jump. We got a different side of her through the first verse and in the chorus, which was also fun to watch. She’s got a bubbly stage presence which is fun to watch when she’s dancing around — we get the judges hoping they could have seen her cut loose a bit more. That said, we know she wanted to show this other side, but every time we got that full voice of hers breathing out a bit, we were drawn right in. That’s her magic, so we appreciate that she gave us about half the song in that way to remind us of her magic.

(“What’s Love Got to Do With It,” Tina Turner – 28, Holly Grove, AR) Lucy got a little ahead of herself when the tempo picked up, with the band hustling to catch up to her. We’re a little uneven on the overall performance. Those opening lines were absolutely incredible, filled with passion and gravitas. When she soared through the first chorus, it seemed she got a little lost in the energy of the piece, losing focus. It remained high energy, but vocally, she fell off a bit in the back half of the song, There is no denying the passion she brought to this performance and when it was great it was really grate, but when it was a little too wild, it fell off just a bit.

(“Set Fire to the Rain,” Adele – 24, Bamberg, SC) Allen really wanted Warren to chuck his hat into the crowd in a symbolic gesture, but it just wasn’t going to happen. It didn’t really matter, though, because this song interpreted through his gristle still created something wholly unique that sounded really special. It might have been an impactful transition moment, but there’s no denying that Warren can sing anything and make it interesting just by how he approaches it. He’s got the kind of sincerity and grit that audiences eat up.

(“Better Together,” Jack Johnson – 25, Mount Juliet, TN) Not the flashiest of songs, but Oliver absolutely nailed that syncopation and storytelling vibe in those early verses. There was a subtle energy that did just what Allen told him to strive for, pulling us in and making us a part of Oliver’s world. He actually lost us just a little bit when he got toward the chorus, but there’s no denying he’s a wholly unique artist that’s imminently enjoyable to watch. That was more a special guest performance than a contestant one.

(“Speechless,” Dan + Shay – 21, Buffalo, NY) An ode to his wife, this song reminds Matt of his wedding day, so if he could convey even a fraction of that emotion this should be a big moment for him. Let’s just say, he nailed it. Even more poignant, he literally made it about singing to his wife by targeting her in the back quarter of the song and finally getting down on one knee to deliver the final line. Along the way, he showed off some smooth R&B vocals and runs with a beautifully rich vibrato and all that heart we were looking for. He definitely was feeling this one, and through him, so were we.

(“Don’t Let Go (Love),” En Vogue – 21, Algonquin, IL) A killer fashion choice, Kaeyra looked the part as she took on this rock/R&B anthem and just slayed it. She said she was wanting to show stage presence, and she had that in spades. There was so much confidence and personality on display throughout this performance, and yet it never detracted from her killer vocals. En Vogue are incredible vocalists, so it is no joke to take them on, but Kaeyra proved up to the challenge, really leaving her mark. That’s how you get noticed in a field of 13 (or 26)!

(“Lovin’ You,” Minnie Riperton – 22, Charlotte, NC) This song is all about the whistle tones. We all know they’re coming and you live or die by them when you sing this song. Nailyah can hit them, but she was definitely in her head about whether or not she would. You could see her body relax after she nailed them, starting to move around and even play with the audience. She had a beautifully playful delivery on the whole track and then wrapped it up with an even higher note! Nailyah did not come to play and she will not be forgotten!

(“Lucille,” Little Richard – 19, Amory, MS) What the hell was that?! We knew Zachariah was this unassuming talent, but who knew he could master an era and a sound so far before his time that no one is doing anymore. It was as if he was possessed and transported back to the 1950s with screaming teenagers all around. The stage presence was through the roof, the audience control was incredible. We’d have maybe liked for him to showcase a little more of what he is, but there’s no denying he slayed this particular song and performance like he was born to it.

(“Lay Me Down,” Sam Smith – 20, Vancouver, BC) With her theater background, bigger is where Emma goes, so Allen was perfect in telling her to pull it all back in and let it build to those magical moments. Sam Smith is no joke as a vocalist, but Emma proved that she’s got that same kind of range and incredible control that they do. She soared beautifully into the upper echelon and reached into the basement to scrape out some of her bottom notes. She hardly moved, but we found we weren’t moving, either. We were too enraptured by every expression as her passion and artistry poured through her entire body. She has grown so much!

(“Don’t Let Go,” Spawnbreezie – 18, Kahuku, HI) The hometown boy certainly had the support, but he also delivered in every way that’s made him special since his very first performance. First, he’s just got the goods when it comes to his voice. It’s so rich and so authentic and feels so raw and real with every single note. Then, he’s got this charm about him that comes through when he performs. With the support of this crowd, he looked totally comfortable up there interacting with them, and he certainly had their attention. This was a world-class moment, proving more isn’t always the answer.

With only three acts going home, it should be easier to predict who they might be, but it was a pretty strong overall night of performances. On top of that, so many of them brought such different sounds and energies, it’s hard to predict what might connect.

We do feel fairly confident — sorry to say — that PJAE might not make it to the next round. There just wasn’t a consistent enough connection to his song for us to feel he made himself unforgettable to the audience.

Just above him in our rankings was Elise Kristine, followed by Mariah Faith and Haven Madison. We do feel like Elise had a double whammy against her. She was slotted first on the night and then she didn’t slay her performance. So we’re fairly confident she might fall short.

It’s from there, though, that things start to look murky. Mariah Faith, Haven Madison, Lucy Love, Warren Peay and Oliver Steele all made bold choices with their song choices. For Oliver, he was vocally sound, but was the choice enough to stand out?

For the rest, there were definite inconsistencies in their performances. Either they strayed a bit from why we loved them or they gave us glimpses of their artistry mixed with moments that didn’t quite work out as well as we’d have hoped. As such, you find yourself looking back.

We can’t even look at how memorable they’ve each been to this point because they’ve all stood in such unique lanes and made their mark in our hearts and memories. Maybe it’ll be none of them and Matt Wilson will end his “Idol” journey with that beautiful serenade to his wife. It was a memorable moment, but is he as memorable as these other five artists?

Our final prediction — and we look forward to being wrong — is that we will say goodbye to PJAE, Elise Kristine, and Haven Madison. If Haven survives, we think Lucy Love might be in trouble.

“American Idol” continues Sundays and Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.