Diana Ross was the first guest mentor this year. Diana has a 40 year career that includes 80 top 10 hits and being honored by Billboard as Female Entertainer of the Century. Given this history, I think it’s great that she volunteered her time to mentor these young performers. She had a great attitude about working with them and seemed to genuinely care about their performances and their future.

Brandon Rogers started off the night. This was a bit confusing to me, as they usually start and end the night with two of the best performers, and this was nowhere near the best performance of the night. It was an upbeat performance, since he performed “Can’t Hurry Love”, so that could have figured into its placement. Brandon’s voice always sounds fine— not great, not wonderful, just fine— which is really not good enough for this stage of the competition. For someone who has performed on stage with some top names, I find his stage presence lacking (maybe he’s too accustomed to not drawing focus from the lead singer). The last two bars were really good, a hint of what he’s capable of, but I’m not sure it makes up for some major stumbles with the words. Randy agreed that the end was good, but said the rest sounded like a background singer. Paula recognized that nerves played a large part in his problems. Simon said it was a complete letdown and that he sounded like a backup singer for a backup singer.

American Idol has started a new little bit where you can ask American Idol contestants questions. You can find out how to submit your questions at My Coke Rewards. You have to register to ask questions, but it’s free. There were several questions tonight. The first one, posed to Melinda Doolittle was “What is the hardest part of the contest?” Melinda answered the high heels and dresses, pining for her sweats and tennis shoes. The singing part definitely doesn’t seem to be hard for Melinda. She breezed through “Home” from “The Wiz”, reducing Paula to a blubbering mess and… was Simon really choked up laughing at Paula, or were those perhaps tears? None of the judges were overwhelmed by the song choice, but they were definitely overwhelmed by Melinda.

Let me preface this comment by saying I really like Chris Sligh. He is absolutely one of my favorites. But his version of “Endless Love”? It just wasn’t very good. Diana Ross told him he should stick to the melody, and she was right, but I do give him credit for trying to make it his own and for going out on a limb. I wasn’t blown away by this performance, but it was a solid alright. Randy didn’t like the arrangement, either. Paula thought he was trying too hard to be hip, and Simon thought he murdered the arrangement.

Gina Glocksen followed Chris Sligh with a pretty standard version of “Love Child”. I thought she was one of the best tonight at working the stage. You could tell she’s in a band. It wasn’t Randy’s favorite performance of hers. Paula thought she could do much better. Simon said it wasn’t terrible, and it wasn’t fantastic.

Then it was time for Sanjaya Malakar— dear, sweet Sanjaya. I really wish he was so much better, so that I could cheer for him. I want to cheer him on. I just can’t. And what was the deal with his hair tonight? It was a bit over the top tonight. Perhaps he could channel some of his hair’s enthusiasm into his performances. He sang “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”, which was just way too big a song for him. I dreaded the judges comments, as I expected unbridled brutality. They were really fairly mild. Randy said it wasn’t very good. Paula said he has the sweetest soul and needs to explode with his vocals. Simon said a lot of really excrutiating remarks but ended with “you’re very brave”.

I didn’t expect Haley Scarnato to be very good tonight. But you just never can tell with the Top 12. Haley started off with a fan question: “Where’s the craziest place you ever sang?” Her answer was “here”. She sang “Missing You”. I thought it was a good choice to sing a less fluffy piece to show that she could peform something other than pageant pieces. Even though she forgot the words in the middle, I still thought it was better than her past performances. The judges were split in their opinions. Randy said it was a valiant effort, but that she sounded nervous. Paula said she looked lovely— never a good sign when the only thing Paula can think of to talk about is how you look. Simon brought Haley to tears because he was actually NICE. He said he didn’t think it was that bad and that he was really impressed with her presence.

I don’t really know what to make of Phil Stacey. He sang “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me”. I think Phil does a decent job. I guess my chief complaint is that he doesn’t color his performances at all. They tend to be really one-dimensional. Randy said it was boring but that the vocals were strong. Paula said he had strong vocals. Simon said it was a good choice of song, but he needs to control the shouting.

LaKisha Jones has a huge voice, as we all know. So, I was really pleasantly surprised that she chose the really tender song “God Bless the Child”. This allowed her to show some range and dynamics, which she hasn’t really done up to this point. Randy said it was an unblievable vocal. Paula said, “your heart comes through when you sing”. Simon said, “You’ve either got it, or you haven’t got it; You’ve got it!”

Blake Lewis got to answer the final question of the night: “What type of music do you listen to in your private time?” He answered “underground hip hop and electronic music”. He also answered that Michael Jackson was one of his favorite artists of all time, but I’ll try not to hold that against him. As I expected, Blake did something different with “You Keep Me Hanging On”. There are several modern takes on this song, so I don’t think that he needed to perform the song as written, but I didn’t think this was the best remix of the song. It was a tad, well, boring. Don’t get me wrong! I still love Blake! I just wasn’t a huge fan of this performance. It was much better than Chris Sligh’s attempt at a rewrite, but I think he would have done better speeding up the song, rather than slowing it down. Randy said Blake doesn’t need to “Blakeize” every song. Paula said there was a big difference between what Blake did and what Chris Sligh did. Simon didn’t get it. Whatever, Simon.

I expected Stephanie Edwards to do well tonight. Motown/Diana Ross would seem to be a good fit for her, and it was. She sang “Love Hangover”. Diana advised her to sing it a bit sexier, and I thought she did a good job of taking her notes and incorporating them into her performance. I thought this was one of her best performances. Randy didn’t think it was her best vocal. Paula thought she needed to strive for better. Simon said it was a strange arrangement and that it wasn’t her best performance. See? This just goes to show that a lot of what the judges are basing their critiques on are their knowledge of the song in question. I didn’t really know this song, so I wasn’t waiting for whatever “hook” they were. More on song knowledge when we get to Jordin.

(Big sigh.) Chris Richardson. I want to like Chris. He seems really likeable. I just really can’t stand that whole quivery, full of runs, boy band style of singing that he does. I find it irritating. I did think his stage presence was good. Randy thought he overdid the song. Paula thought it was great. Simon said the vocals were dreadful.

Okay, on to the final singer of the night, Jordin Sparks. Jordin sang an odd choice, in my opinion, “If We Hold On Together”. You’ve never heard of the song? Clearly you don’t have children. Out of all the songs tonight I was probably the MOST familiar with this song because I have dinosaur-loving children who have made me watch every Land Before Time movie ever made— the original one (that contains this song) so many times that I think I could recite it in my sleep. I think I actually first saw the movie when I was in high school— can that be correct? So, I can’t completely blame them, but they’re obsessed with these movies. ANYWAY— Jordin… I was pleased that stretched herself with this song. She chose something that required more vulnerability. I wasn’t crazy about the performance, but it was good. Now, here’s why it’s important to choose a song the judges have never heard. They ate this up with a spoon! They loved it!! I think a lot of that has to do with a lack of familiarity with the original— not that Jordin’s performance was BAD, mind you. I just didn’t think it deserved all that fawning. Randy said Jordin made it a three girl race. Paula said that she has a natural gift. Simon said it was a bit gooey, but a very, very good vocal.

So, here’s my order of who I liked:

1. LaKisha Jones
2. Melinda Doolittle
3. Jordin Sparks
4. Blake Lewis
5. Gina Glocksen
6. Stephanie Edwards
7. Haley Scarnato
8. Phil Stacey
9. Chris Sligh
10. Chris Richardson
11. Sanjaya Malakar
12. Brandon Rogers

Do I really think Brandon is worse than Sanjaya? No, not necessarily. But I feel like he’s slacking. I think he has so much more potential. I feel like Sanjaya’s doing his best. So, since I didn’t really like either performance, I’m putting Brandon at the bottom for lack of effort.

There are many who could go home tomorrow, and I wouldn’t be heartbroken, but I need my top five to hang around. I’ve already had a bad reality television week, with Rob and Amber being sent home on the Amazing Race, so I hope somebody at the bottom of my list goes home tomorrow.