Inside ‘American Idol': Scott Borchetta Says Nick Fradiani Starting to Show His Country Side
When Maddie Walker was booted from American Idol, country fans may have thought it was a season lost for the format. All may not be lost, however. Mentor Scott Borchetta says tonight, Nick Fradiani's country side will begin to show.
It's Billboard Hot 100 night, and Fradiani has picked a very un-country song to cover. But his version of Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" is a mix of multiple genres.
“It’s like Nick meets the Goo Goo Dolls and a little bit of Florida Georgia Line injected in there," Borchetta tells Taste of Country. “Nick is a huge country fan and some of that is starting to come out.”
Florida Georgia Line and Jason Derulo are guest mentors, with each helping four of the remaining eight contestants. Fradiani is a singer Borchetta has talked about with enthusiasm on numerous occasions, but he says to also watch out for Joey Cook's cover of Miley Cyrus's "Wrecking Ball," Jax's version of Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" and Clark Beckham's take on Ed Sheeran's "Make iIt Rain."
The Twitter save returns for a second straight week. Last week, Daniel Seavey was sent home after a dramatic five minutes during which Twitter users decided if he or Rayvon Owen would be sent marching. Some thought Seavey may have been held back by an east coast bias — only Eastern time zone viewers could vote, and he's from Portland. The 13 and up only rule also may have hurt Seavey. He was just 15 at the time, and he has many young fans.
Borchetta says the right person went home, regardless of how it happened.
“He had been suffering from laryngitis and he did not have a good performance," the Big Machine Label Group CEO says. "Had he won it would have been for the wrong reasons.”
“He just flat couldn’t hit the notes," he adds.
The remaining eight contestants are all east coasters, so if there was some time zone bias, it will be duplicated tonight or in any future week.
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