American Idol: Top 10 Perform

What a rough night. First I had to trek all the way to Philly to watch the Flyers lose to the Maple Leafs, then I had to come home and watch a pretty mediocre hour of American Idol on my TiVo. And, to top things off, I don't have much time to write this puppy. So I'm going to try to sum it up as best as I can. The theme tonight, Songs of the 21st Century (aka 2000-2006). You wouldn't have known it from some of the choices. These kids are just WEIRD!

• Lisa "Because of You" - Well we now know why Simon Cowell and crew whined and complained about getting permission to use Kelly Clarkson songs on the show. Yep, so Lisa Tucker could butcher it! I've had enough of Lisa. And one time when I pick her to get voted off, she WILL get voted off!
• Kellie "The suds in the Bucket" - Seriously Kellie? SUDS in a BUCKET? Apologize all you want for the song choice, but that was just ridiculous. The girl got so much bad press this week. People thinking she's a Phony. Hell, who doesn't know she's "milking the southern 'clueless' thing" a bit by this point? I thought she was on pretty good behavior tonight, but she let her song choice do all the talking. And it was just kinda goofy.
• Ace - "Drops of Jupter" - Couldn't have said it better myself. Pure Karaoke performance. Oh and nice showing of the scar to get Paula Clark all hot and bothered. Only Paula, coming off a season where she was in a "sex scandal" with a contestant, would actually say something like "One day you'll have to explain to me how you got that [scar]." Thank god for Paula (who besides that comment, actually said some stuff that made sense tonight)
• Taylor - "Trouble" - Rayla Montane? (I have no idea who it is...so I'm not even going to try to spell it right lol) My opinion? Best performance of the night. He, despite Simon's protests, changed up his image a bit (Leather Jacket, T-shirt, Jeans, Shorter hair instead of a suit) and he changed up his approach a bit. Just stood and sang America a great song. Probably no one knew the song, but I know I'm going to be looking for it on itunes (if I remember by tomorrow). He's definitely old school for a younger generation (thanks Paula). I thought tonight's performance was very Van Morrison-like with a Taylor Twist. Love this guy.
• ManDIVA - "Wanna Praise You" - I say it every week. The girl can sing. But Simon's right, she may have gone a little too "OUT THERE" with this one. It was way too over the top. But who are we kidding? She's safe this week. She's a DIVA!
• Chris - "What If" Creed. Was talking to some people this week and somehow we predicted a CREED performance out of Chris this week. Hey Simon...congrats you finally caught on! Yes....now Simon agrees with us that all that Chris has proven is that he's a One-Trick Pony. CHRIS why didn't you take my suggestion to do a BALLAD? Oh, you don't read my blog? NO EXCUSE! You read all the other internet press about you stealing credit from LIVE's version of "I walk the Line" last week. I love how they tried to do damage control this week. The producers try to pass Chris off as making his own original version of the song...it blows up in their face....how do they resolve it? Have Ryan ask Chris about it in a little 1 on 1 chat. Good times. Chris is safe...but he better get changing!
• Katharine - "The Voice Within" XTINA Aguilera - I like Katharine a lot, and I think she did an okay performance. It's always tough to do a Christina song with her distinct voice. But she pulled it off somewhat. I know, I sound like a cookie cutter comment from Randy or Paula. But it's true. This girl is a cutie....with a great smile...and a great voice to go with. She's going to go far. But she should try to cut out some of those PITCHY notes!
• Bucky - "Real Good Man" Tim McGraw - Did you see those crazy dance moves Bucky was doing? Was he trying to do a pseudo Line Dance/Moon Walk? Was a good time. What's there to say about Bucky? He's good at being him, but he's not good enough for this competition. I thought about it the same way Simon did. If we were paying to see a concert and Bucky walked on stage and did that performance, good chance I would've walked out. But he still has some appeal out there. And we can't count out the REDNECK vote! His day will come, but I'm not sure it's this Wednesday.
• Paris - "Work It Out" - Not since Aloha Micheau (spelling?) graced the Idol Semi-final stage has someone tried to pull of Beyonce's boppin tune. People fear the song, for even when you sing it really well...you get eliminated from the competition! Well, I don't think Paris is in any trouble. Before Simon made his negative comments about "a little girl pretending to be Beyonce" I thought Paris was really good tonight. And who didn't laugh when she did the signature Beyonce butt shake? It was hysterical! Ok, if you didn't laugh, I'm sure you gagged! But I liked the performance. Still not a huge Paris fan though.
• Elliott -"I Don't Wanna Be" Gavin Degraw - Oh yeah...just what we need...a SOULFUL version of the ONE TREE HILL Theme song! If Elliott has anything to worry about this week besides the crazy backup singers that dominated the big screen with their presence, it was his dancing. I was trying to point out what Mr. Tumnus's dance moves reminded me of. And I still can't figure it out! Anyone out there have any ideas? And the Jazzy version of the song? I thought Tumnus was gonna pull out that flute-like recorder that he used in Narnia to put little Lucy to sleep! I dunno...I guess it was good...but I just can't take this guy seriously! I can't stop laughing when I see him singing. I really don't think it's just his appearance, he just has a weird way about him that makes it hard for me to listen to what he's singing. But, apparently I'm just not hip like Paula to recognize that he is ONE FUNKY WHITE BOY.

I'm not even going to try and get creative with the bottom 3. Maybe if I don't think too much about it, I'll get it right. (yeah right!) Here's what I think:

Bottom 3: Ace, Lisa, Bucky (Wildcard: Kellie Bonus Wildcard: Elliott Extra Bonus WC: Katharine)
Eliminated: Lisa Tucker - Yes Miss Lionel Richie, I'm going to "Do it to you one more time" I just don't think you're cut out for this show anymore. And well, you made a mockery out of my favorite Idol's song! One she actually wrote herself! SHAME ON YOU....and get off AMERICA'S STAGE!

Hope I didn't scare anyone there. But no one messes with Kelly Clarkson and lives to sing another day! Hope you all enjoyed the shorter blog. I'll try to be as long winded as possible next week to make up for it! Have a wonderful Wednesday!