MANILA, Philippines – She may have nailed the song with her unique arrangement but Filipino-American singer Jett Hermano failed to make it to the Top 20 of the latest season of “American Idol” on Wednesday night (Thursday morning in Manila).
For the second part of the girls’ night where the remaining female “Idols” staged their solo performances, Hermano chose to sing Rihanna’s hit song “Only Girl In The World.”
Accompanying herself on the piano, Hermano slowed down the song, which judge Keith Urban said brought out the sexiness of the entire performance.
Urban also praised Hermano for making the song her own.
“What you did for me by slowing the song down and doing it the way you did, you brought out the sexiness in the song in a way that Rihanna does but in another way. I really, really appreciate that, Jett,” he said.
While noting that she also loved the song’s arrangement, judge Nicki Minaj said she felt Hermano’s performance needed to have a climax.
“I like the arrangement as well. I liked that you slowed it down. But I thought it was going to a climax or something and I never felt that,” she said.
Judge Randy Jackson, for his part, lauded Hermano’s beautiful falsetto which he called “Little Mariahs.”
“The first part was absolutely beautiful and I loved the little thing at the end and I call it little Mariahs, those little falsetto thing were very nice,” he said.
But just like Minaj, Jackson said Hermano should have done something more than just sit in the piano.
“I thought you’re gonna get up from the piano, rock it on stage, wear that vocals... In the middle part, when the tempo came in, I was like ‘Yo, come on!’” he said.
Contrary to what Minaj and Jackson said, judge Mariah Carey said she finds Hermano "intriguing."
“I always thought you were an interesting audition. And that there is something different about you and I’m not sure exactly where you’re gonna take it but I’m sure it will be very, very intriguing,” she said.
“It didn’t matter to me that you didn’t go sick at the end and have your feet on the piano or whatever. I did enjoy the first part of the song a lot and I like that you did that song,” Carey added.
But despite her unique arrangement and praises from Carey and Urban, Hermano was sent home by the judges at the end of the show along with contestants Melinda Ademi, Juliana Chahayed, Cristabel Clack and Rachel Hale.
Last week, Filipino-American hopeful Adriana Latonio survived the Las Vegas round of the hit talent show. She is now set to advance to the “Sing For Your Votes” round of the competition.
Meanwhile, it remains to be seen whether another Filipino-American singer -- Bryant Tadeo -- could pull off an A+ performance when he and the rest of the top 10 boys will compete for a slot in the Top 20. That episode will be shown on Friday in Manila.
source: abs-cbnnews.com
