'Platinum Hit' recap - 'Wheels Up'

['Platinum Hit' - Season 1 Episode 3]

In apartment two, Johnny woke up to no roommates. He was worried that in two weeks, both Blessing and Nevin were eliminated and he would be following them. The contestants gathered for their next challenge and were greeted by both Jewel and Kara. They announced this week's Hook Challenge theme: Road Trips. Each contestant grabbed a postcard with a word they have to incorporate into their chorus. Each contestant showed their words like "wheels" and "view," and while Jackie explained her word "road" to the judges, Nick started making fun of her in the background. He was reprimanded by Kara for being immature.

The contestants tried to create their choruses in thirty minutes. While Brian tried to write about longing for a woman, Nick was distracted by Karen's loud wholesome voice. Amber hates cars, so she struggled with the concept. Scotty decided to go in a totally different musical direction and went with honky-tonk country. As time was up, Jewel and Kara gathered the contestants for judging.

Jes began the judging process with a ballad using the word "free" where she was looking for "a home for me"; Jewel loved the vulnerability. Melissa's word "change" left Kara speechless. Scotty's attempt at honky-tonk had left the judges smiling. Jackie had positive judge critiques, but Nick rolled his eyes, hating her voice. Nick had a winded explanation about his song, but Johnny thought it was bad. The judges agreed saying he didn't know how to emote. Johnny got an extended length of time with his song, but never had judges’ critiques. Brian finished and he got positive reviews from the judges.

The judges announced the three hook winners were: Jackie, Jes, and Johnny. Johnny got a bonus, since he was in first place he got to pick his team immediately. The other two would have to choose in schoolyard fashion. Jes had the opportunity to pick the last person or pass them to Jackie.

Johnny - Brian and Scotty
Jes - Amber and Melissa
Jackie - Karen, Sonyae, and Nick

Jewel announced that the contestants would be going on a road trip to get more inspiration. While they were driven to an unknown destination, the teams started working on their verses. Jackie wanted to have a song about doing what they wanted to do. Johnny wanted to explain the escape of his everyday life. Jes' team managed to get a keyboard to fit and managed to have power in their SUV. Jes had a connection with Melissa's hook. They decided to place the "I will lose me" concept into the song.

The contestants went into their small motel room to work on their songs. Melissa's lyrics were filled with imagery that was unnecessary; Amber looked a bit confused through the whole process. Johnny, Brian, and Scotty figured that they needed meaning and direction to Johnny's song. Jackie was surprised about how well Nick worked with the team. Karen stepped outside and brainstormed as many ideas possible; she came back with several ideas. Her first suggestion was a bit redundant and several others looked to be shot down. Sonyae decided to think before she suggested something and got positive reviews from her one contribution. The contestants slept the night in the motel, most sharing the single bed. In the morning the contestants were driven back and had one hour to finalize and record their song. Jackie was happy how smooth everything came together. Johnny was worried about small lyrics and he walked out after the challenge finished a bit disappointed.

At the apartments Jes decided to hang out with Johnny in his lonely apartment. The two were quite bashful with each other while drinking some beer. She joked around about how she couldn't have been teammates with him because she would be distracted. They held hands and hugged, but Jes then left with Johnny having a stereotypical slide down the door in euphoria. In the morning Brian was confident about not being eliminated, but Nick was prepping himself for a third win. The contestants arrived at judging and joining Jewel and Kara were Keith Naftaly and Natasha Beddingfield. Amber was excited because she thought her team's song would fit Natasha's style the best.

Jackie's team started with the song "The road is where my heart is" and Jackie did the singing. Jewel had a smile during the whole song. Though the song wasn't judged by singing quality, the team managed very strong harmonies. Jes' team followed "Home For Me" and the song sounded a lot like Christina Perri's "Jar of Hearts," it was moving and compelling; it may probably not have fit the "on the road" theme as perfectly but was pretty. Kara let out a wow and Natasha was nodding in approval, letting out a nice smile. Johnny's team was last with "Going Where I Need to be", with Johnny doing the main vocals. Natasha scribbled notes frantically nodding, Kara making faces of approval.

As the judges discussed, Nick wondered about melody versus lyrics. Johnny thought he was stupid for not listening to the judges. After deliberation, Johnny's team and Jackie's team were up in front of the judges first. Jewel announced that "Going where I need to be" was the winning song. Keith thought it was a timeless song, Natasha loved the symbolism. They were safe from eliminations and celebrated in the back. Melissa's team stood with Jes' team; Jewel announced that Jackie's team was a miss. Jes' song was poetic, universal, and lyrically moving. Keith loved the gushes, but he wanted a more aggressive hook to the song. Jes, Melissa, and Amber hugged the guys in the back.

Karen, Sonyae, Jackie, and Nick were in the bottom. Karen was criticized for the lyric "I was put her for a reason and i want the world to see it" because it wasn't interesting. Jackie explained that Karen had 15 pages of lyrics. Kara asked Nick to play the instrumental opening again; she found the motif to be the strongest opening. The team failed to place it in the song. Keith loved the bridge which Sonyae contributed; Kara called it the best lyric of the song. The contestants left for deliberation, while Jackie broke into tears in the background.

After the commercial, Nick and Sonyae were both safe. Jewel explained that both Karen and Jackie missed the mark on the song. Jackie was in tears, confused about the judges' reaction to the hook. The song didn't match the hook. Karen lacked lyrical storytelling skills. Jackie was safe and Karen was eliminated. Karen hugged everyone in the back and thought she gave her all. Nick was in tears when he hugged her.

Next Week: Rapping. Kissing. Fighting.