Kenedi Anderson, who was awarded the Los Angeles Platinum Ticket, has already dropped out of the competition for “personal” reasons—whatever those may be. Jay Copeland, who got his Platinum Ticket in Austin, has proved to be disappointing—maybe a result of bad song choices—and the judges had to give him a second chance by putting him through to the Top 14 rather than him getting through by popular vote. Only Nashville’s HunterGirl has had both the staying power and talent to impress America enough to vote her through. “I think the Platinum Ticket has been a fun dynamic to the show,” Bryan told Parade.com at the American Idol Top 14 party. “I think it was a great addition to the show. When you look at Jay, some of Jay’s song choices and his performances did fall off. But tonight, in my opinion, he had the best performance of the night.” Singing to get himself into the Top 14, Jay performed “Believer” by Imagine Dragon, finally making a song choice that showed off the true extent of his talent. That said, along the way, singers like Christian Guardino and Nicolina Bozzo have turned in consistently excellent performances, meaning they might have made better Platinum Ticket winners. “I think maybe five would have been better,” Luke admitted. “But like I said, I thought it was a creative spin on the show. I think the reason why the show has made it 20 years is we’ve always been able to evolve with the times. When you look at what we’re able to do on our socials, and this year even if people aren’t tuning into Idol the night of the show, by Friday our ratings are better than anything. So, the fact that people are engaged in the show, everywhere I go I have people really compliment where we’re going with the show and where we’ve gone.” Luke went on to say that as a whole, America always does a good job of getting it right, but country artist to country artist, he was hoping that Mike Parker would have made the Top 10 rather than having to be a judges’ pick. “I didn’t want to have to save Mike either,” Luke said. “But I think when I look back over the whole competition, I stand behind who we gave our Platinum Tickets to. We were asked to do that at their audition, so a lot of things can change, but I think it’s a fun element to the show.” The winner of last year’s American Idol was Chayce Beckham, who was up against two powerhouse singers in Willie Spence and Grace Kinstler but went on to win the competition with an original song, which may put HunterGirl at an advantage as a singer/songwriter, rather than just a singer, a fact which Luke does not dispute. “When you’re starting out, the only way to tell your story is tell it through your songs and tell it through your experiences,” Luke said. “If you can do that as a young songwriter, you’re going to connect. Had I not started as a songwriter, I wouldn’t have gotten the best songs in Nashville. Because Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney are getting the best songs. So, you’ve got to build your brand with your songs to morph into being able to get great songs. Being a songwriter is just another feather in your cap.” A perfect example of someone who started as a songwriter and then went on to success as a singer is Chris Stapleton, who wrote one of Luke’s biggest songs “Drink a Beer.” “I recorded it and had a big hit,” he pointed out. “Me and a lot of other artists, our mission was to let the world hear Chris Stapleton. We felt like the world must hear him. And now looking back, I don’t get any male vocalist awards, Chris Stapleton gets them all. But you know what? That’s as it should be. Sometimes I think the beauty of country, and what it is really good about, is when Nashville rallies behind somebody, they’re behind them for the right reasons.” American Idol airs tonight at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. Next, Find Out Who Went Home and Who Made the Top 11 on American Idol Season 20
