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Aww, everyone got at least one vote. That makes me so happy With the exception of Chris Richardson tying with Sundance, I can pretty much agree with these results.

Who had the best performance tonight?
Phil Stacey: 8% (9)
Jared Cotter: 3% (3)
A.J. Tabaldo: 4% (5)
Sanjaya Malakar: 3% (3)
Chris Sligh: 12% (13)
Nick Pedro: 1% (1)
Blake Lewis: 26% (29)
Brandon Rogers: 1% (1)
Chris Richardson: 21% (24)
Sundance Head: 21% (24)

Total Votes : 112

In a fair world, the final 12 would be made up of 8 girls and 4 guys, but this is American Idol and the rules are six and six. The girls had another strong night tonight (although not as good as last week). If I were an odds maker, I would put heavy odds on two girls in the finals (care to guess which two?).

Gina Glocksen started off the night with Heart’s “Alone” dedicated to her boyfriend. I thought the song choice was good, and the performance was okay, but I was really distracted by her look. She needs to quit trying to look like Katharine McPhee and embrace her inner rock star. I know she sings with a rock band, and I have a hard time imagining that she would have performed with them wearing that dress. Randy and Paula both liked the performance. Simon wasn’t sure about her image— in other words, he was also distracted by the dress.

The next performer tonight was Alaina Alexander, dedicating the Dixie Chick’s “Not Ready to Make Nice” to her mother. I’ve finally figured out what I find uninspiring about Alaina. I confuse her with Haley Scarnato and vice versa. They’re both attractive girls with decent voices and not much else to distinguish them. So, it’s hard for me to get all that excited about either one of them. Alaina’s performance tonight seemed off to me somehow, although I couldn’t really put my finger on it. I had a hard time understanding the words, but that wasn’t really it. Randy thought it was a mess (I didn’t think it was that bad). Paula thought it was a bit out of tune. Simon said she ran out of steam 3/4 of the way through the song. Alaina does make a cute couple with Ryan, though.

Lakisha Jones sang Gladys Knight’s “Midnight Train to Georgia” for her grandmother (who loves Ryan, by the way). At least half of the people left in the competition should really be looking at her performances and thinking, “Who am I kidding? I can’t beat her.” Tonight’s performance didn’t quite live up to last week, but it was still great. Randy though it was hot. Paula loved it. Simon said she’s a phenomenally good singer and “you can afford to believe you’re going to be a big star and you need to start acting like one”.

One person who needn’t fear Lakisha is Melinda Doolittle, who sang “My Funny Valentine” tonight, dedicating to her vocal coach and stylist, otherwise known as her two “Gails” (a la Oprah Winfrey). My brother called me before I’d even had a chance to watch the show to tell me how much he loved this performance. He called with good reason. Her voice is just perfection. She’s so smooth, her performance gave me chills. Randy said she came out to win it tonight. Paula thought it was astounding. Simon said it was incredible, the best vocal in the competition, so far. He also said she doesn’t know how good she is— I think the phrase he was looking for is humility.

And then Ryan spoke the words that struck fear in my heart— “We’ll be right back with Antonella Barba singing Celine”. Really Antonella? Celine? You think you sing like Celine? Oh, honey. That’s just so sad. Please America, let Antonella go home. I know you think she’s beautiful, but if you send her home, maybe she can try out for America’s Next Top Model next year. Please, America? It’s not that she’s horrible. She’s just much worse than the other women left in the competition. She sang “Because You Loved Me” and dedicated it to her brother. It was pretty much as I expected. Randy thought it was completely the wrong song— you don’t say… Paula thought it was leaps and bounds better than last week. Simon thought it was worse than last week.

Jordin Sparks was up next with another dedication to a brother. This time the song was Christina Aguilera’s “Reflection”. I wasn’t wild about this performance. It was okay. I think she was a bit choked up from the dedication, which is kind of a shame, as I certainly think she’s a great singer. I like her singing songs with a bit more sass. Randy thought it was a good song choice and is impressed with her ability, despite a few pitchy moments. Paula thought it was infectious and called her a brilliant, talented girl. Simon that it wasn’t the best, but compared to a lot of people it was excellent. He’s also impressed with her “massive potential”.

I’m not sure what to make of Stephanie Edwards. Tonight she dedicated her performance to her parents. She sang Beyonce’s “Dangerously In Love”. I keep forgetting that she’s 19 because she seems much older. I wasn’t crazy about the song, but I felt like she sang it well. Randy thought it was Beyonce light, but good. Paula thought it was fantastic. For once, Simon agreed with Paula.

I thought it was odd that Leslie Hunt sang the same song as A.J. Tabaldo, but that’s what she sang— “Feelin’ Good”. Her vocal performance was better, but I though he out-divaed her. She really has a very nice voice, but her facial expressions when she sings are still odd to me. Randy thought it was pitchy and just alright. Paula loved it. Simon felt Leslie is a bit lost in the competition. I think he’s right.

Haley Scarnato sang Whitney Houston’s “Queen of the Night”, which she dedicated to her fiance. It was fun and entertaining— nothing that was wonderful, but at least it wasn’t boring. Randy said it wasn’t great, Paula said it was better than last week, Simon said she got an a for effort, but came out badly vocally.

Sabrina Sloan is really, really good. The only problem is that I keep forgetting she’s in the competition. Tonight I knew were down to the last singer, and I kept racking my brains trying to figure out who I was forgetting. Until Ryan said her name, I simply couldn’t remember who I was leaving out. Tonight Sabrina sang Whitney Houston’s “He Fills Me Up” and dedicated the performance to her grandmother. Like I said, she’s really good. She can certainly sing. I’m just not sure what spark is missing that would push her over the line from really good to great. Randy said she has a big voice. Paula thinks she’s a big contender. Simon warned her not to confuse power with shouting.

Here’s my ranking of the girls:

Melinda Doolittle
Lakisha Jones
Sabrina Sloan
Jordin Sparks
Gina Glocksen
Stephanie Edwards
Alaina Alexander
Haley Scarnato
Leslie Hunt
Antonella Barba

There you have it. That’s all for the top 20. Tomorrow night at 7 p.m. CST there will be another elimination, and we’ll be down to 16. Kellie Pickler will be performing tomorrow night on the results show. That should be entertaining. Until then…

It looks like people aren’t that impressed with this year’s Top 24. Slightly over half said that there have been better or wondered “are they kidding?” A decided mniority thought this was the best bunch ever.

What do you think of the Top 24 for American Idol 6?
Wow! Best Ever!: 11% (27)
Looks promising: 31% (77)
There have been better in the past: 38% (95)
Ugh. Are they kidding?: 19% (48)
Total Votes : 247

So, if I got to personally choose the top 12, this is who I would handpick, based on the performances so far.

1. Blake Lewis
2. Chris Sligh
3. Sundance Head
4. Jared Cotter
5. Phil Stacey
6. Brandon Rogers

1. Lakesha Jones
2. Melinda Doolittle
3. Jordin Sparks
4. Sabrina Sloan
5. Gina Gershon
6. Stephanie Edwards

Unfortunately, this is who I would predict will actually be in the Top 12, at this point in time:

1. Blake Lewis
2. Chris Sligh
3. Sundance Head
4. Jared Cotter
5. Phil Stacey
6. Sanjaya Malakar

1. Lakesha Jones
2. Melinda Doolittle
3. Jordin Sparks
4. Sabrina Sloan
5. Gina Gershon
6. Antonella Barba

I forgot to give my ranking of the guys tonight, so here it is. The first three could really go in any order.

1. Blake Lewis
2. Chris Sligh
3. Sundance Head

4. Jared Cotter
5. Chris Richardson
6. Phil Stacey
7. Nick Pedro
8. Brandon Rogers
9. A.J. Tabaldo
10. Sanjaya Malakar

The guys did MUCH better this week than last week, although I don’t think many of them came close to the girls’ performances from last week. I think there could definitely be six contenders among them, though. Tonight the singers were supposed to dedicate their performances to someone, so there was a nice little sentimental moment when they talked about their dedications before each song was performed.

Phil Stacey dedicated his performance to the Navy Band SouthEast, the outfit he is stationed with. I was surprised he didn’t dedicate a song to his wife and daughters, but perhaps that would have been too predictable. He sang “Ain’t Missing You”, a song popularized in the 80s by Tom Waits. I’m not sure this was the best song choice. He did the best performance possible of that song, but it’s just not a song you could do a lot with. Randy and Paula liked it. Simon wasn’t jumping out of his chair, as he put it. He feels that Phil is not unique and that he is a “very, very good karaoke singer” (well, at least he’s not a mediocre karaoke singer, as so many are called). But Simon does think Phil will be back next week, as he has the likeability factor going for him.

The second performer tonight was Jared Cotter, singing Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get it On”, which he dedicated to his parents. I’m not sure this was the most unique vocal performance of this song, but he did put a lot of himself into the onstage performance. Randy thought the performance was pitchy, but liked the presentation. Paula was at a loss as to what to say. Simon said “it reminded me of the Love Boat” to which Jared replied, “That would have been a great Love Boat, man”. Too funny.

AJ Tabaldo had an odd song choice, in my opinion, singing The Pussycat Dolls’ “Feelin’ Good”. He dedicated the performance to his parents (a popular dedication tonight). I thought he sounded good, vocally, but his performances remind me a bit of Will and Grace’s “Just Jack”. They’re a bit femme for me. Randy said it was kind of nice. Paula said he has a really good voice. Simon said it was “nearly very good”.

Poor, poor Sanjaya Malakar. He just can’t catch a break. Dedicating Irving Berlin’s “Stepping Out With My Baby” to his grandfather, Sanjaya simply didn’t have a good night. This is a case where he is evidently too inexperienced to pick songs that work for his voice. I feel like he needs to embrace the softness of his voice and pick songs, accordingly. Or he needs to add power to his voice, as he did at the end of the song. But mostly his performances just come across as confused. And I’m afraid the criticism is really harming him. If he’s back next week, I hope he chooses a better song. Randy said the performance didn’t work for him. Paula said he needs to pick younger songs. Simon said it was “very weak” and “a little weird”.

Halfway through, we heard Chris Sligh sing Ray LaMontagne’s “Trouble” to his wife. He made a really very touching dedication to her and sang the song well, too. I kept thinking of Taylor singing the song last year, but Chris approached the song in a completely different way, so it wasn’t a disturbing comparison (kind of an apples and oranges kind of thing). Randy thought it was a good choice. Paula thought it was awesome. Simon said “tonight you were a very good singer”.

I like Nick Pedro. I’m pulling for him to go far. But tonight’s performance of Peggy Lee’s “Fever” (dedicated to his girlfriend) didn’t give me fever— more like a lukewarm kind of feeling. I thought it was okay vocally. I just felt like he needed to go farther with the song and give it more intensity. This wasn’t helped by the fact that I just saw a really great performance of this song Sunday night when I was flipping by the Grease reality show. Randy liked that Nick returned to his vibe (I did like that). Paula thought he needed to let go and go for it. Simon thought the performance was good but that it lacked charisma.

Blake Lewis also returned to his original audition style, dedicating Jamiroquai’s “Virtual Insanity” to his parents. There was scatting, there was beatboxing… I found the whole thing thoroughly enjoyable. I didn’t even write notes, as I was too busy watching his performance. Randy loved it, giving Blake extra points for the high degree of difficulty (high degree of difficulty? Is this diving?). Paula liked it. Simon thought the first part was a copycat of the original (since very few of us have heard the original, it’s kind of hard to argue with that). He thought the middle was good and that the end was out of tune. Overall, he didn’t care for it.

I think Brandon Rogers is capable of such greatness. Go back and watch his original audition if you can’t take my word for it. He dedicated Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time” to his grandmother, who is no longer living. It was, well, a bit boring. I get that he was feeling the song, and that did come across, but perhaps he could feel the song AND sing it in an interesting way. Fantasia was definitely feeling her song last week, and it definitely wasn’t boring. Randy was bored. Paula felt his heart coming through in the song. Simon said Brandon needs to make a wow impact with each performance, and this didn’t.

And now for this year’s “I don’t get the fascination” performer. Each year there is a performer that the judges just ooh and aah over that I feel just ho-hum about. Chris Richardson is that person for me this year. I don’t dislike Chris. I don’t even dislike his singing. I just feel like he’s average and so-so. I’ve felt this way since his first audition. I just don’t get it. They keep comparing him to Justin Timberlake, but he reminds me more of one of the New Kids on the Block. Anyway, on to tonight. Chris sang Jason Mraz’s “Geek In The Pink” and dedicated it to his grandmother, which I thought was cute and very sweet. I thought he sounded much better than last week, and he didn’t flap his arms like a chicken, so that was better, but I didn’t think it was anything standout. Clearly, I was mistaken. Randy said Chris was “in it to win it”. Paula fawned about it. Simon thought it was the best tonight. Um, okay. Like I said, “I don’t get it”.

When Sundance Head was asked about the feedback he’d been getting since last week, he said mostly his friends and family told him “don’t be so crappy”. In an effort to comply, he sang “Mustang Sally” like I’ve been expecting him to sing since his first audition. He dedicated the song to his 2 month old son, whom he’s clearly missing. I hope tonight’s performance is one of many more like it for Sundance. Randy said, “welcome back, Sundance”. Paula thought it was awesome. Simon thought it was good, but still thinks Sundance can do better.

That was it for tonight. Tomorrow night the girls sing. Thursday night, four more go home. Make sure to take our poll and let us know who you liked.

If you’ve been wondering how Melissa McGhee is doing post-Idol, you should check out the BuddyTV interview. Highlights? She toured with Ruben Studdard after the show ended last year, and she’s recording an album next month.

Jennifer Hudson won an Oscar last night to add to her Golden Globe. Here is her acceptance speech:

And here are the Dreamgirls performances from last night’s Academy Awards:

If you want to learn more about how eliminated contestants Paul Kim, Rudy Cardenas, Amy Krebs and Nicole Tranquillo feel now that the eliminations are over, check out this interview at http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20007164_20008533_20013314_,00.html. There’s nothing incredibly revealing in the article. Paul Kim was sick. Nicole Trujillo will miss shopping. But it’s still one last glimpse of the parting singers.

We did get some helpful information tonight. We were given the names of the stars who will be appearing this year. They are Diana Ross, Jon Bon Jovi, Jennifer Lopez, Gwen Stefani, Tony Bennett, Martina McBride, singers from Herman’s Hermits, and Barry Gibb.

The group sang “Seeds of Love”, then we moved on to the eliminations.

The four singers eliminated tonight were Paul Kim, Amy Krebs, Nicole Tranquillo, and Rudy Cardenas. The only one of these I was really surprised by was Rudy Cardenas. I really like Rudy. I think he’s a really good singer, and I thought his performance this week put him solidly in the middle. Apparently, America did not agree. I’m also a bit disappointed that Nicole Tranquillo was eliminated. No, I didn’t like her song this week, but I was looking forward to hearing her sing something else. Too bad I won’t get that opportunity on American Idol.

Also, Fantasia Barrino appeared and sang “I’m Here” from the musical “The Color Purple”. She still has such a wonderful way of connecting emotionally with songs.

So, that brings us to twenty. Next week, we’ll see the guys and girl sing again and eliminate four more. Until then, check back for other American Idol news and updates.

Okay, after a full day in bed, I’m finally ready to write the rest of last night’s summary, just in time for the results show tonight.

The judges seemed to be in a good mood last night— especially Simon. Of course, Ryan was behaving like a pesty younger brother, not content to leave Simon happy. On paper, I sure did think that the guys were going to blow the girls out of the water. After last night, I think the reverse may be true.

Stephanie Edwards started the night off with Alicia Keys’ “How Come You Don’t Call Me Anymore”. She sure is mature for 19. She’s very soulful, and this song was a good choice for her. She had good energy, and she really committed to it. Randy loved it. Paula said, “you’re a star”. Simon said it was “a million times better han any performance we saw last night”.

I love the song “I Can’t Make You Love Me”, so I was excited that Amy Krebs was going to be singing Bonnie Raitt’s hit, but, you know, it just wasn’t great. It really needed something else. I’m not sure exactly what it needed— more energy? More enthusiasm? I’m not sure. But more of something. Maybe it just wasn’t a good choice for tonight. Randy said it was a middle of the road performance— “very, very too safe”. He later added, “she’s better than the song she chose,and she didn’t sing it that good.” Paula agreed with Randy. Simon, in his inimitable way of coming up with metaphors and similes said she was “like a candle”. Huh? I’m not sure why a candle is unmemorable and forgettable, but that’s what he meant by it. At least he didn’t compare her to a hotel lounge singer.

Leslie Hunt sang “Natural Woman”. Up to this point, Leslie has had a very positive American Idol experience. She may feel differently after tonight. She does have a very unique voice, and I did enjoy the performance, but it was a bit too “happy” and “dancey” for the song, I thought. Too fluffy. Randy thought the song was too big for her. Paula said she needed to be careful what songs she chooses. Simon used his famous “I’ll tell you what it is with you…” line on her. The long, drawn out explanation that followed can be summarized as she looked uncomfortable and awkward. Perhaps that’s what I was picking up on that made me feel that it was too fluffy— perhaps it was ungenuine happiness that I was picking up on.

There seemed to be a lot of Aretha last night. Sabrina Sloan sang “I Never Loved A Man (The Way That I Love You). A little piece of trivia about Sabrina. She was in the touring cast of Hairspray. We hadn’t seen a lot of her before last night. Last night she looked like a very young Cher (I mean that in a good way). She has a really good r&b voice. Randy loved it, saying that the was “the one to beat”. Paula gave it a standing ovation, and Simon said it was the “best so far”.

I have to admit, I’m not a huge Antonella Barba fan. Something about her is just very unappealing to me. Last night she sang “I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing”. I thought this was a really bad song choice for her. Her voice is just not as strong as some of the other contestants, and she clearly seemed very nervous. She picked an emotional song, but I just don’t feel like her emotions really reach her eyes. She kind of reminds me of Ayla Brown from last year. Randy said her performance just wasn’t good. Paula reverted to complimenting her looks, which is never a sign of a good performance. Simon agreed that “the good news is you’re attractive, the bad news is it didn’t work”. She did, however, earn a first for this year— Simon’s first prediction that someone would be going home.

Jordin Sparks is just amazing. I can’t believe she’s so young. Maybe she’s just too young to be nervous. I thought she might have made a mistake choosing Tracy Chapman’s “Give Me One Reason to Stay”. I was afraid it might be a bit old for her, but it really worked. She has an excellent voice, and it was a good performance. Randy said she should challenge herself, and “I don’t know if there’s any song too big for you”. Paula said she was a natural talent. Simon said she has a “very, very good voice” and that if she pushed herself, she just might surprise a few people.

Now, onto the most bizarre performance of the night. I think Nicole Tranquillo has a great voice, and I think she chose a horrible song for American Idol. She sang Chaka Khan’s “Stay”. My first complaint was that I couldn’t understand a word of the song— seriously. I had to go back and mute it, so that the words would go across the bottom, so that I could figure out what the lyrics to the song were. She had a lot of energy, and she clearly can sing, but it was just weird. Randy said he didn’t get it, that it was too urban. Now, I have listened to some of the music from the band Nicole Tranquillo sings with, and it’s really urban, but it’s better than what she sang last night. Paula thought it was the wrong song but praised her voice. Simon felt the performance was indulgent, aggresive, over rehearsed and fake. Come on, Simon, tell us what you really think.

I think contestants should be banned from choosing Celine Dion in the first round. Inevitably people choose to sing her in the early rounds, and it’s generally not that great. Haley Scarnato did a fair job singing “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now”. It wasn’t fabulous, but it sounded solid. Randy thought it was just alright. Paula thought she did a nice job. Simon said she “sounded forty” and that she sounded like a singer at “a reasonably good hotel”— well, as long as it’s a reasonably good hotel, that’s not so bad, right?

Melinda Doolittle sang another Aretha Franklin song— “Since You’ve Been Gone” (no, not the Kelly Clarkson song). This was a great song choice for Melinda. It was an Aretha song, but not one of the more well-known ones. She was the most polished performers we’ve seen so far. She sang a finale-quality performance. A year ago Melinda was thinking about trying out to sing as one of the background singers for American Idol. I think she made a much better choice auditioning to be the American Idol. I expect her to go far. Randy said “that was the bomb”. Paula said it was a big performance. Simon said she is “an incredible singer, a fantastic person, and I really hope you do well”.

I kind of felt sorry for Alaina Alexander going after Melinda. She sang “Brass in the Pocket”. I liked it okay. I felt like it was fun, but I didn’t like the fact that she tried to take all the rock out of the song. That left it a little flat. Randy said it wasn’t great. Paula said she didn’t make it her own. Simon said she kept singing “I’m special, and it really wasn’t”. I still like Alaina, though, and I hope she doesn’t go home tonight.

Gina Gershon sang another Celine Dion song “All By Myself”. You may remember Gina from last year when she was cut in the final round in Hollywood. I thought she did a good job with the ballad. It wasn’t boring, as some ballads can be. She attacked the song with energy, and I thought she hit two really great notes. Randy liked it, and Paula thought she had picked the right song. Simon said the song showed a different side of her, but he didn’t feel like she hit both of the notes.

Lakesha Jones was the last singer of the night, singing “And I Am Telling You”. She has a HUGE voice, and she’s so sassy. The last note actually brought tears to my eyes. Randy said he loved it— I mean he REALLY loved it. Paula said that this is where she belongs. Simon was tempted to tell the other 23 people to book their plane tickets home.

So, that was it for the top 12 girls. Here’s my ranking of them:

Lakesha Jones
Melinda Doolittle
Jordin Sparks
Sabrina Sloan
Gina Gershon
Stephanie Edwards

(the following are in no particular order)

Haley Scarnato
Amy Krebs
Alaina Alexander
Leslie Hunt
Nicole Tranquillo

And bringing up the rear

Antonella Barba

Tune in this evening for the results show to see who goes home and also to watch Fantasia perform.

I’ve been really sick this evening, so I’ll be typing up my notes on tonight’s show in the morning. Feel free to let me know what you thought about tonight’s performance in the comments.

There’s just not a lot out there about Amy Krebs. We’ve pretty much only seen her when she made it into the Top 24.

Here’s the clip of that moment:

Here’s the link to her official American Idol page

An interesting tidbit: she’s from Federal Way, Washington— the same place as Sanjaya Malakar.

Apparently, Lakisha Jones has performed in my hometown. She was the runner up to our own American Idol type program called Gimme the Mike. I didn’t watch the year that she appeared on, but I’m including some of her performances below:

Hmmm. Interesting show tonight. As I told my husband, I felt like there was one person who was clearly the best, several fighting it out for second, a large pack in the middle and a few subpar performances. More on that at the end. For now, here’s the play by play.

Rudy Cardenas started the night off with “Free Ride”. Rudy is very cute and personable. I thought it was a good performance, good energy, good vocals, but something just seemed disconnected. I couldn’t really put my finger on it. Randy hand no problem stating his issue with the performance. He felt it was corny. Paula, predictably, loved it. Simon finds Rudy utterly unremarkable.

Brandon Rogers turned in a solid performance of “Rock With You”. He was a bit stiff to me— maybe it was nerves. Other than that, I thought he was a strong contender. Randy felt like it was “pitchy”. Paula said he needs to step up as a lead singer. Simon thought the performance was safe and predictable and then he gave the first of several complidisses for the night (Ryan’s phrase, not mine), saying that Brandon was “much better than that”.

My husband and I were both really excited to hear Sundance Head. We both really liked him in the initial auditions, and he’s from Texas, so we were pretty sure we’d be voting for him for quite some time. Tonight he sang “Nights In White Satin”. It was, um, interesting. Okay, here’s the truth. It just wasn’t very good. He was very humble in his pre-interview, saying that he made it to the top 24 on the strength of his first audition. He’s right. It’s been pretty much downhill ever since. I hope that he makes it past tonight and that he can dust himself off and be the singer that he obviously CAN be. Randy, Paula and Simon all had varying degrees of dislike for his performance but all agreed he needs to go back to the bluesy guy they saw in the initial auditions.

Barefoot Paul Kim attempted “Careless Whisper”. This is another guy that I really wanted to like. He seems very sweet. His initial audition was not my favorite kind of singing, but it was alright for that type of music. But tonight— ugh. It was not good. There were some really rough notes, and his energy was very low. Randy still holds out future hope for Paul, though. Simon’s advice was that he put his shoes on next week. In a show of solidarity, Ryan then appeared without his shoes.

Upfront I want to say that I find something about Chris Richardson unappealing (not on a personal level, but as a performer). He seems like a really nice guy, but I think his voice, performance style, the whole package, really, is just not my cup of tea. Tonight he sang Gavin DeGraw’s “I Don’t Want to Be”, which makes me think of One Tree Hill, but that’s another story altogether. I know a lot of people probably loved his performance. My husband really liked it, but I just didn’t care for it. I thought he sounded young and immature, and I didn’t care for all the chicken wing flapping that he did with his arms. Randy and Paula, on the other hand, really liked the performance. Simon said he “sounded small”— whatever that means.

Nick Pedro has such a mellow, pleasant voice. This was really showcased tonight when he sang “Now and Forever”. However, I did have to agree with Simon that he had lost some of his sparkle tonight. He could have had a bit more energy, and he needs to stand up straight. Randy and Paula just didn’t like it at all.

I had never heard Keane’s “Somewhere Only We Know” before tonight. I thought it was a really nice song. And I thought Blake Lewis did a great job of singing and ballad with energy. Even though he was sitting for the song, he wasn’t at all boring. There was no beat boxing tonight, but he promises we’ll hear more of that in the weeks ahead. Randy dug the performance. Paula thought it was a surprising song choice but with a contemporary vibe. Simon thought he was the first person tonight who sounded like a singer singing in 2007. He named this the best performance of the night.

In his initial audition, Sanjaya Malakar had great fortune with a Stevie Wonder song. He tried to repeat that tonight with “Knocks Me Off My Feet”. Unfortunately, this time it didn’t go as well. He has such a nice smile and is so soft spoken. He just seems a bit overwhelmed. He picked a difficult song, and he just never really dug into it and let go. The judges were not kind. Randy said it was really bad, Paula opted to just call it a hesitant performance, and Simon referred to it as dreary and dull.

Before he took his blog down, Chris Sligh had a list of his top 100 favorite songs. Number 9 was MuteMath’s “Typical”. And that’s what he chose to sing tonight. It’s definitely a song that fit Chris. He’s certainly not a “typical” American Idol contestant. All in all, it was a good, solid performance. Randy said, “I’m a Chris fan”, Paula said everyone had a great time. Simon was having a hard time coming up with exactly what to say when things got kind of weird. Chris insulted Simon and then I couldn’t tell whether Simon was mad at Chris or Ryan. Either way, it was momentarily very uncomfortable.

Shayne Ward’s “Back to One” is a bit gimmicky for my tastes, but Jared Cotter did a good job with it tonight. He has a cute smile and makes you want to like what he’s singing. Randy felt like it wasn’t his best performance, and Simon felt it was unadventurous.

A.J. Tabaldo is definitely the most persistent of this year’s contestants, since this was his fifth time to audition. He turned in a decent performance of “1000 Kisses”. Personally, I found the performance a bit cheesey. But Randy and Paula liked it. Simon felt it was a bit like a theme park performance (hey, at least he dodged the karaoke bullet). But then said, “Maybe you’re better than I thought”. Boy, he sure knows how to pour on the sweetness, doesn’t he?

The final performance of the night was Phil Stacy. His wife was in the audience, and he was clearly nervous. He chose a song that was clearly meant for his wife— “I Could Not Ask For More”. It started off “monstrously”, as Simon said, but after the first couple of lines, he relaxed and gave a really lovely performance. It was definitely an “awww” song. Randy said it was the best vocal performance of the night. I’m not sure if I agree with that, but it was really good.

So, here’s how I would rank tonight’s performances.

1. Blake Lewis

2. Phil Stacy
2. Chris Sligh
2. Brandon Rogers

(in no particular order)
5. Rudy Cardenas
6. Nick Pedro
7. AJ Tabaldo
8. Jared Cotter

(bringing up the rear)
9. Sanjaya Malakar (he almost made it into the middle group for me)
10. Sundance Head
11. Chris Richardson
12. Paul Kim

I don’t necessarily think that Chris Richardson will actually be in the bottom two, as I’ve already admitted my bias there. And I’m not sure that either A.J. Tabaldo or Jared Cotter won’t join Paul Kim in the bottom two, since tonight was the first time we’ve really seen a great deal of either one of them. If I were guessing, I’d guess A.J. would be in the bottom two out of those two.

So, what did you think of tonight’s performances? Love them? Hate them? Let me know.