With two weeks down, the aspiring singers of Ship Idol begin to feel comfortable as the competition continues into its third week.
On Tuesday, Feb. 21, the remaining eight idols sang popular theme songs from various movies and television shows. Judging the singers this week were former Ship Idol contestants Jozalyn Gregor, Bri Spayd, John Zimmerman and Jean Martinez.
Kicking off the night was Briana Blewett who got the audience pumped up as she sang “Car Wash.”
It took a while for the lyrics to kick in after the song began, but Blewett took advantage of what could have been an awkward moment by showing off her high-energy dance moves and getting the audience excited.
The judges said that Blewett’s performance was great, in which she demonstrated confidence with great high notes and beautiful runs. All of the judges agreed that this was Blewett’s best performance thus far.
After Blewett’s performance, Marcella Best took the stage. She sang “Get it Together” from the show “702.” The judges were hoping for an improvement from Best’s performance last week, but she did not fulfill their expectations. Martinez said that he was waiting for something amazing to happen throughout the entire song, but it never did. Although the judges were not very impressed with the performance, they said that she always chooses songs that fit her voice and they really like that.
Hoping to salvage the somber mood of the judges and audience was Kaneisha Stern who sang “As Days go By” from “Family Matters.” The song was very upbeat, but Stern started off very nervous and soft, but tried to pump it up. After she got going, she forgot the words, but still tried to persevere.
As she continued to stumble the audience cheered her on for support. While this was not Stern’s best performance, the judges encouraged her to not be worried about forgetting the words because it happens and that she should just do better next week. After Stern’s performance, Alexis Matthews belted out one of the most romantic and remembered songs from the hit movie “Titanic.”
Following Matthews’ powerful performance was contestant Conor Kennedy who sang “Nature Boy” from “Moulin Rouge.” The judges were truly impressed and shocked by his performance. Kennedy got into the character of the song and delivered what the judges had said was the best performance of the season so far.
After this stunning performance was the crowd favorite, Emily Keen, who perfectly portrayed the innocent role of Dorothy as she sang “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” from “The Wizard of Oz.”
Keen pranced and danced around the stage and even sat down toward the end of the song which gave the audience a chuckle.
Like all of Keen’s performances, the judges were once again impressed and left in awe. Keen knows how to work the audience and makes them pay attention to her.
Following Keen’s fun little song was Gillian Dolen who sang “I Believe I Can Fly” from “Space Jam.” The judges were very impressed by her voice and the fact that she sang a male song. They said she started off a little shaky, but powered up the song with chorus and the second verse.
Last, but definitely not least, was Emily Bentzle singing “Only Hope” from “A Walk to Remember.”
The judges said that she was better than Mandy Moore and that she is giving the other idols a run for their money.
After all of the contestants sang, the remaining idols sang “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey as the audience voted. Once the votes were counted, it was revealed that Marcella Best would not be continuing on in the competition. The audience cheered for her and her attempt in the competition.
Ship Idol will continue this week with its fourth round where the theme will be country songs.
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