Warning! The following contains spoilers for the American Idol Season 19 episode that aired Monday, April 5. Read at your own risk!
American Idol Season 19 rolled on with its second night of solo performances and all-star duets, and the second batch of competitors took the stage with a whole new batch of celebrity singers to boot. The celebrities were meant to supplement the performance of the competitors in their duets, though, by the end of the night, some believed Jewel rocked out a little too hard.
Jewel took the stage twice on Monday evening's live show, once with Mary Jo Young and later with Hunter Metts. Young performed "Foolish Games" with Jewel, and Metts performed "Who Will Save Your Soul," both classics by the singer-songwriter. Jewel, as expected, absolutely rocked the performance. As for how Young and Metts did, well, that's up for debate as it's clear neither singer was the star of the night.
Mary Jo Young and Hunter Metts have proven to be talented singers yet both seemingly had an off night the same night they performed with Jewel, which made me wonder if their latest underwhelming performances were tied to their duet partner Jewel. A quick search on Twitter shows I'm not alone in that sentiment, as some watching believed Jewel made the performance a little more about herself than the competitors she was there to support.
I wouldn't go so far as to say Jewel intentionally set out to out-sing the American Idol competition, but it could've been an unintended side effect of the 46-year-old singer wanting to showcase she's still got it on a live network television performance. In that regard, the singer succeeded, as viewers applauded the performance and were convinced she hasn't missed a step.
Jewel sounded great, but as mentioned, the quality of her performance really outshone her duet partners' performances. That's a big deal considering the vote is now on America, and both performances were Mary Jo Young and Hunter Metts' final performance before America will vote through the next batch of American Idol contestants. The question is, did Jewel make a mistake out-singing them, or did the contestants make a mistake trying to duet a powerful singer like Jewel?
Whatever the case may be, American Idol will go from 24 contestants to 16, with eight competitors from each night guaranteed to advance. Given the talent that remains in the Top 24, there are going to be some rough cuts, and both competitors' performance with Jewel may have given America an easy decision to knock two off the list from the Monday night crowd. Of course, it's impossible to predict how America will respond as a whole with any certainty, so perhaps this will just be a funny moment where Jewel rocked out a little hard, but it wasn't a big deal.
American Idol's Top 16 will be revealed on ABC Sunday, April 11 at 8:00 p.m. ET. Idol fans, do you think Jewel went a little over-the-top in her performance or was it not a big deal? Sound off in our poll, and for those who missed Night 1 of the competition, read up on our thoughts on how the women of Season 19 have dominated this season so far.
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