Mississippi singers make Alanis Morissette songs their own and advance on ‘American Idol’
Two Mississippi musicians wowed Alanis Morissette and Ed Sheeran and America voted them both into the “American Idol” Top 5 Sunday night.
Colin Stough and Zachariah Smith, both of Amory, each covered a Morissette song of their choice and sang a duet of an Ed Sheeran song with another contestant.
Colin Stough receives praise from Alanis Morisette & Ed Sheeran
Stough, 18, chose “One Hand In My Pocket” by Morissette. The country singer said his rendition would “either fail or fly.”
In his practice with Morissette, she suggested that Stough stand up to sing and make his “Idol performance imperfect” to highlight the low and gravely parts of his voice.
“To hear it from soulful, Southern perspective put a whole new life into that song for me,” Morissette said.
After his performance on the “American Idol” stage, Morissette, Sheeran and Luke Bryan all praised Stough’s rendition.
“Obviously that’s a song that everyone knows, and you’re doing it in a way that makes it in your own, and then rocking out. So it was brilliant,” Sheeran said.
Luke said Stough is “just so dang cute” and complimented his growth on the ABC singing show.
“You’ve come so far ... you made a lot of dynamics happen in that song, and you put your own artistic stamp on it,” Bryan told the teen.
Stough also performed “Dive” by Ed Sheeran in a duet with Georgia singer Megan Daniellle.
Zachariah Smith nails ‘Ironic’
Smith chose to sing “Ironic,” with a soulful pop twist.
He commanded the “Idol” stage and the audience erupted in cheers when he finished the performance.
Morissette said Smith sings like an angel.
“I just saw you being in flow, enjoying yourself and just letting it move through your body and there was this liquidity that I loved,” she told him.
Bryan called his performance dynamic and Sheeran couldn’t take his eyes off the Mississippi singer.
“You rocked it. I think your voice is super, super powerful and I was captivated for the whole thing,” he said.
Smith also sang Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” in a duet with Haven Madison.
You can watch the Top 5 perform again at 7 p.m. CST on Sunday, May 14, on ABC.
This story was originally published May 8, 2023 at 11:14 AM.
