American Idol: The Right Thing Happened

Well, he couldn't hide forever could he? That's right the Redneck has fallen people and all that remains are talented singers. Oh right, Ace is still there. Well we're close!


Bottom 3: Elliott Yamin, Ace "Pink Sweater" Young, Bucky Covington
Eliminated: Bucky Covington

dialidol.com final tallies: 6. Chris Daughtry 7. Bucky Covington 8. Ace Young

Biggest shocker of the night was probably Elliott being in the bottom 3. I think for the first time ever I was really rooting for the guy. I don't know if he's grown on me over the weeks or if it was just the fact that he sang my favorite Queen tune and did it well (and maybe even better tonight when told to sing on the spot). But I kinda like the guy now. Of course, I grew to like Bucky too, but we all knew he had to go eventually. And what a send-off. There will be plenty of Fat-Bottomed Girls waiting for ol' Bucky back in North Carolina! (No offense to the NC folk....there are Girls of all types everywhere!!) I was sad to see Ace stick around though. I really don't know if I can tolerate any more of his cheesiness. If he pulled off another Father Figure performance (from the semi-finals) maybe I could get back to enjoying his performances. But for now, Ace may as well be the Joker of the group! (ahh card jokes...you loving my new theme?)

Hey how about the cheesy Queen Group performance tonight? Actually, they sounded pretty good...but I think we all could've done without strolling down memory lane with the Brittenum twins and all of the infamous Audition video clips. The best thing about the whole performance is that I was redeemed in my song selections for the group! Both Paris and Katharine sang a bit of "Don't Stop Me Now" (which I picked for them both) and even Chris sang some of "Under Pressure" ! (Easily my 2nd favorite Queen song......Ice Ice Baby is such a rip-off!!!) I'm glad to see the musical masterminds behind Idol think the same way I do. But my question is this....I wonder how long they've been rehearsing this Queen performance.....in year's past they put together a group performance for every week. But this year they've been having the guest performances on results night. I'm wondering if they weren't allowed to use any of the songs performed tonight for the Tuesday Night performances. Because both Katharine and Taylor both sang in the medley some of the songs that they originally wanted to sing (that they rehearsed with Queen). I'm always about the Conspiracy theories and I think this is a good one. The Judges always stress song selection and how they have so many great songs to choose from. But what if they really don't? Sure, they could pick any Queen song out there (maybe)...except 10 of their greatest hits that were featured in the Wednesday Night Medley. I mean, does no one find it odd that there were no repeated songs in that Medley? Maybe it's all in my head. But hey ....that's what keeps me plugged in. Because this year, it sure ain't the performances.

Speaking of which, is anyone feeling the same way I am? I hinted at it last night. But there is just not ONE person that I can see being the next American Idol. I try to think of any of the performances this year and match it up against Kelly, Ruben, Clay, Carrie and Bo's worst performances (ok...maybe fantasia too).....and I just don't see these people matching up! I think there's a lot of potential....but I'm just not seeing anyone taking the opportunity.

And frankly...when will Paula finally admit that she is hooked on crack? The woman has not strung together a 2 word sentence all year that has made sense! (yes...I wouldn't expect a 3 word sentence or larger from Paula) And did anyone catch her on Leno the other night? I was embarassed for her! I think she needs MC Skat Kat to whip her back into shape!

Paula definitely needs to take 2 steps back and remember how to offer constructive criticism and worry less about Simon tickling her.

Anyways....Rod Stewart next week. You Guys excited? I definitely would've been....if they were doing Rod Stewart songs....but no...we're visiting the Great American Songbook volumes I-IV. Now, I know that my mom loves these albums (they make Great Christmas Gifts!).....but seriously....didn't we already do this theme night with the 50's night? When are we going to have an 80's Night? I don't recall this ever happening on Idol! I'd love to see someone take on A-Ha's "take on me" and Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" (you want to talk about falsetto?) and Bryan Adam's "Summer of 69" No no.....let's have Rod Stewart teach us how to sing like old people! And the judges complain about them all sounding old! I'm tired of this people! LET'S REVOLT!

So I'm getting long-winded in my entertaining rambling. So I'll leave you with words of wisdom that someone named Mike once said.... "I told you dialidol.com was not reliable!!!!!!"

Good Night!

American Idol: Top 8 Perform

Well here it is. QUEEN NIGHT. Well, we had a week to ponder the songs that our idol contestants would sing, and were treated to finding out this afternoon what songs each of them would be singing. So I had the opportunity to make my predictions based on their song choices before they even hit the stage. And I gotta say, I don't think I'm going to be too far off on this one. So of all my predicted performances I got 5 of the 8 songs right but none of the performers right! Right off the bat, I thought 3 made some odd song choices (Obviously..they went off my list!) But the choices may not affect them too badly. Well let's see if it hurts them going against the genius that is ME!

• Bucky - "Fat Bottomed Girls" - Ahhh Bucky. I actually really enjoyed his performance. It may have been because he went first, but the thing about Bucky is...he's never awful. He's just never great. That adds up to "Mediocre" as Simon put it. But really, he hit all of the notes, and he showed some good rock antics on stage. And we even saw a bit of a personality in his film clips. And you gotta give the guy credit for singing a song about Girls with "well rounded posterior areas" on a family show. I mean, it's no Sir Mix-a-lot, but still! He's not lighting any phones on fire, except maybe in Confederate land, but I still don't think he's the guy to be sent packing tonight. Once again, Bucky is saved by someone else making poor choices and just being worse than him. And once again we'll be asking ourselves next week "How is Bucky still here?"
• Ace - "We Will Rock You" - Now there's a reason I picked this song out for Bucky last Wednesday. It's not really much of a song! It's really been reduced to a song that they play at High School Football and Basketball games. Sure, if you're Freddie Mercury....you can rock stadiums with a song like this. If you're Ace Young and you want to mix things up and change a song to make it your own....why in the world would you pick We Will Rock You that has one of the most famous Drum Beats in the history of Music? And what about him doing runs with his voice in between "We Will Rock You's" This is just not the song you want to change. It was atrocious. I wrote one note down on my paper before the judges got to chime in. "Somebody go get the Gong!" I hated this performance. And the best thing about all of this was? We got to hear Paula say "bastardize" on live television! I think the Ace of Cheese is about to play his last hand. I just don't see who's going to take the fall for him this time.
• Kellie "Bohemian Rhapsody" - You see people? I'm not as crazy an American Idol fan as you think. Other people do remember Constantine's performance of this song also! It was one for the record books. And "ON PAPER" this performance shouldn't have worked. (I'll get to On Paper in a second). I read about this earlier and just thought to myself "no no no no!!! Kellie! Why!?" If you recall, I said that whoever chose this song would be virtually committing Idol Suicide. But something worked in this performance. Whether it was Kellie's dominatrix-like frightening appearance (which I think she was trying to portray the famous music video for the song in the beginning), or just her crazy dancing antics, or her pre-performance clip (in which she always shines!) it was actually pretty good! Don't get me wrong...it was no constantine. Then again, he did it a few rounds later when he could sing an extra minute of the song. But it was good....and I'm still perplexed at the votefortheworst pick on her. She is one of the better performers in this thing. Yeah, I know it's because she seems phony. But hey! I truly believe this girl is just a bit clueless. And if she really isn't clueless and it's all an act? Then I think she's a genius! Because it's working. She's getting votes from all of the straight guys, all of the people trying to vote for the worst, and then other people who just love her act! And come on...who didn't laugh when she said "It must be the Accent" when she was confused with Simon's "On Paper" comment? I think we can look forward to seeing the battle of the accents next week.
• Chris - "Innuendo" - So, I had read a quote about Chris before tonight's show saying that he wanted to do it because Queen had never performed it live. I was thinking to myself "Chris, there's a reason they've never done this song live! No one knows it!" Of course, they also probably never did it live because Freddie Mercury died not long after the album was released. But I thought it was ironic that Simon made a similar comment about his song choice except he went a notch further and said it's just a bad song. I cannot stress how I agree that Chris should've picked a mainstream song to perform tonight. I had suggested "Somebody to Love," "Under Pressure," or "Another One Bites the Dust" which would've made perfect sense...but no he picks Innuendo. I think it's a silly move. But with all this negative feedback, I do have to say that I thought he did an amazing job with the song he did pick. There were some moments of brilliance in that performance. Some runs of notes where you just think "this is why the producers want this guy to win." And Simon did also agree that it was probably one of the best Vocally proficient performances of the night. But Chris, buddy, you gotta work on that song selection! Oh and good job leaving the mic stand back stage this time!
• Katharine - "Who Wants to Live Forever" - This one fired me up. I had a chance to listen to this song on my ipod this afternoon and knew that Katharine would do well with it. But then I saw the pre-performance clip. When she actually was performing with Queen, she rehearsed to do "Don't Stop Me Now." Guess what one of the songs I picked for her was? Yep...the same! ugh!!!! Do I know this girl or what? Apparently I know half of her. The other half is indecisive! But according to the judges it was a smart move. Fine... But it was a nice ballad and she brought a great level of emotion to the performance. I even thought she was crying at one point! And Simon is right, she did LOOK amazing too. It was a great performance and she's in no danger.

• Elliott - "Somebody to Love" - Yeah, when I read this earlier, I almost cried. My favorite Queen song going to be sung by a guy that's a cross between a fictional fawn and Danny Bonaduce. Yeah, I may be alone on this one...and I didn't notice it until tonight. Maybe it's the fact that he used to be a DJ? Or maybe it's Danny's current reality show on VH1...but somehow I saw a similarity. But I think we'll stick with Mr. Tumnus....there's just more to work with there! Anyway...my thought on him doing "Somebody to Love," one of the most emotionally powerful Queen songs of all time, was that it's either going to make me finally get on board with the guy or just hate him forever! Well, I gotta say, I'm a bit biased when it comes to this song...but I thought Elliott did a good job with it. The first glance he gave when he started it scared me....but then he got into it...and it worked. There was an awkward transition into the "Find....Me....somebody to looooove" part....but I don't think that's his fault. It was the 1 minute 30 second arrangement! I think this song done right will help anyone's chances to stay in this competition longer. And he did it right. I love that song...and maybe after that performance more people love the song too! Buy some Queen albums people! They will Rock you! (niiiice....I'm giving Ace some props!)

• Taylor - "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" - Okay, well it's a better choice than "We Are the Champions" which I think is what he was going to do. But has anyone forgotten yet about David Radford's unbearable crooning performance of this song during the Semi-Finals yet? We got to see Taylor Twist and Shout all across the stage and do his thing. And what can I say? I love the guy...he's great...and he's the most popular contestant by far. Dialidol.com has had him at #1 since day 1....all of the message boards are flooded with Taylor related propaganda.....he's got that likability factor. But I was thinking more along the lines of Simon tonight...and I may get blasted for saying so....but I may be getting a little tired of Taylor's routine! I'm allowed to give the guy criticism because he's in no danger of getting voted off, and I want him to succeed! Yeah...it's been 3 weeks since we've seen him run around the stage twisting and back spasming....but 3 weeks ago when we did see him do it, wasn't it the same as what he did tonight? Just different lyrics and melody? The guy loves music...no doubt...and he rocked out Queen 1000 times better than Radford. But we're not looking at the top 24 anymore. We're looking at theoretically the 8 best singers that auditioned this year (oh come on...it was funny and you know it!...if not...now it is!) Does this performance rank up there? I dunno. Maybe I'm expecting too much. Maybe I'm just still laughing over the fact that Taylor had problems with his stage show and couldn't knock down his mic stand! But I am finding myself questioning whether I feel ANYONE deserves the title of American Idol this year. I haven't felt that way since the dreaded Season 3! Oh speaking of Fantasia...guess who was in the audience tonight? Yep! Awesome! Have I ever mentioned how much I love Fantasia? Yeah, and I never will!
• Paris "The Show Must Go On" - And in an ideal world it would go on without Paris! So paris was sporting a Tina Turner "do" tonight complete with leather pants (I think. Well that's the image I was left with...it doesn't matter if I was right!). Seriously...who lets their 16 year old daughter wear this stuff? Anyway...this was the 3rd song that I questioned being chosen. But I do see why Paris would've chosen it. We can guess Paris has never heard of Queen before. When the Elite 8 walked into the Arena where Queen (with Paul Rodgers fronting the band) was doing a private performance for them, the band was performing "The Show Must Go On." Paris was probably awe struck by the performance and figured she could do it just as well as them. I wrote down a couple notes on what transpired. "What the hell is she saying???? I can't Understand!" She sang half of the song under her breath. I think this is what encouraged Randy to state how it "started rough" then "got a little rough in the middle"....but "DAWG you pulled it off in the end!" What for 2 bars??? Seriously, is this a compliment? I dunno, I talked to some other people that were impressed with the end. And I just thought to myself..."Really? Did I miss something?" Why is it when I think Paris was good, everyone else thinks she was awful, and when I think she was awful, people are awestruck? I just don't get it! When will we all get on the same page and vote this girl off!? lol At least Simon agreed with me that it was just a weird performance. And I started to notice it last week and even more so this week. It sounds like she's singing with a stuffy nose or some kind of cold all of the time! Hey I just write your reading material..you don't have to agree! Like I said before, I think there were maybe 2 bars of "oh wow...she can really sing" melodic notes in this performance. And maybe that was enough to make people think it was good. But I went back and watched again just to make sure I wasn't crazy....and my mind didn't change. But come on....let's be real. Lisa Tucker - voted off 2 weeks ago, Mandisa - voted off last week. Could you imagine what would happen in Los Angeles if Paris Bennett was voted off this week? Can't we all just get along? (Am I going too far with this stuff? am I going to get hate mail? lol)

So it comes down to this...compared to the last 2 weeks, the Queen Week was a good time. If anything, it got me re-listening to some oustanding music for 7 days and actually anticipating tonight's performance. But, as always, there are just performances that don't fit the bill. And my friends, I don't think we're going to have a shocker on our hands come Wednesday. Here's my picks.

Bottom 3 Picks: Bucky, Ace, Paris (Wildcard: Katharine Bonus Wildcard: Chris)
Elimination Picks: Ace Young - Ace, did you have your lucky hat with you tonight? You've jazzed up way too many songs unnecessarily for my taste and now you must go. Who would've thought that a QUEEN would be the downfall of an ACE? (ba dum...CHING!)

Yeah, we're just getting to that point where our bottom 3 should be pretty standard. Bucky, Ace, and Paris are the ones that need to get out of this competition. And it's anyone else's game to lose. Elliott is still hanging on by a thread, but I liked his performance tonight (due to my own biased opinions) so I didn't even put him in danger. I'm throwing Katharine and Chris into the wildcards for picking unknown songs...you just never know with America what's going to happen!

At this point I'd like to revise my statement on dialidol.com. The site was not right 2 weeks in a row, as I stated in last Wednesday's blog. It was exactly right last week, but the week prior Lisa Tucker was actually ranked 3rd best on the list and was still sent packing! This just goes to show that the website isn't spoiling anything! I think where that site can get misguided is with potential West Coast Idol voters having different opinions than the East Coasters. Not to mention all of the Cingular Wireless customers who text in their votes. I mean the margin of error in tracking busy signals in itself is a ridiculous concept. There's just no science to it! We can compare my picks with their picks and what actually goes down tomorrow when the field is narrowed to 7. See you then!

American Idol: The Shocker of all Unsurprising Shockers!

Okay, I know I said I'd be shocked if Taylor or Mandisa got the boot tonight, but it fits the standard Idol mold. A Strong Performer has a weak night, and they get knocked out of the competition just like that. Or was it just like that? Yes folks, we lost ManDIVA tonight.


Bottom 3: Paris, Mandisa, Elliott
Eliminated: Mandisa

Let's think about this, how many weeks in a row have I really had nothing much to say about Mandisa except that "She's Safe!" She's an amazing singer, but maybe there was something missing there that none of us could quite put our finger on. Maybe we ALL THOUGHT she'd be safe...and no one voted for her. But then again, 2 weeks in a row she threw out some substandard ditties. Last night's being the worst of all. Based on those performances? Yeah, she did deserve to go. So maybe that's why it really didn't seem TOO surprising when we were told she was gone. Even when it was down to Mandisa and Elliott and I thought I might get 2 picks in a row! Without getting too much on my demographics soapbox....let's just say with Mandisa out of the competition, there's a good bet that Paris's votes will get a boost. That's just the way America works.

By the way...in case anyone is getting TOO into Idol, there is another popular website getting some attention these days (besides www.votefortheworst.com). It's called www.dialidol.com. I didn't want to bring it up before, because the results were a bit varying. But 2 weeks in a row now it has predicted the exact bottom 3 and who will get eliminated. What they do is somehow systematically keep track of how often each contestant's phone line is busy...and generate the rankings based on this. This may be a little spoilerish for some people, but others who don't care will have a blast with it. I promise though, I will make my own predictions before even checking that site, as I did last night. But I will keep you posted on how accurate they remain down the home stretch of the final 8. Haha...7 weeks of idol is a home stretch. That's a good time!

So with Mandisa out of the picture, here's the big question....who can "under the radar" Bucky play spoiler to next?! Maybe noone. Can Bucky really pull off QUEEN? That's right.....the music of Queen is the theme next week. I love Queen, so I hope they don't screw this one up. I wonder who will try to top Constantine's version of Bohemian Rhapsody from last year. You know somebody will try! If there's one thing Little Constance (awww I missed that nickname) was good for last season, it was his memorable Queen performance. So that may spell Idol doom for anyone that tries to follow in his footsteps. Too bad Mandisa couldn't stick around to sing Fat Bottomed Girls!!!! (oh come on...you know you laughed!) I also really would've loved to see Kevin Covais's version of the FLASH GORDON Theme Song. Actually, anybody doing that song would be entertaining for me! Yeah..I could go all night with this! But I really hope Chris or Taylor get the guts to try my favorite Queen tune...a little "Somebody To Love" I think that would show a different side of either of them, and if executed properly...they'll be a tough one to beat down the stretch. Aww hell..I'm going to go ahead and help the contestants pick their songs since they suck at it. I have nothing better to do:

Chris:

• Another One Bites the Dust (ugh...so predictable if he does)
• Under Pressure

Ace:

• Under Pressure or
• Killer Queen (Falsetto boy) or
• Fat Bottomed Girls

Elliott:

• Flash ( As Mr. Tumnus singing tribute to the Lion ASLAN: Savior of Narnia!) or
• Save Me (from the Witch's Grasp!) or
• I've Got to Break Free (From the Wardrobe!)

Taylor:

• Somebody To Love (he HAS to do it! YOU HAVE TO TAYLOR!)

Bucky:

• We Will Rock You or
• We are the Champions (They're easy enough for him)

Kellie:

• Killer Queen or
• Crazy Little Thing Called Love

Katharine:

• Crazy Little Thing Called Love (this is totally up her alley...but i could see Kellie do it too) or
• Don't Stop Me Now

Paris:

• You're My Best Friend (and thus she gets voted off!) or
• Don't Stop Me Now

Wildcard Vote-off pick for anyone to attempt - Bohemian Rhapsody

Knowing this group though...they probably don't even know who Queen is and they'll pick some random songs that they think sound nice instead of going with Queen's Greatest Hits like any normal person would. So get downloading children of the new millenium! Get ready for a QUEEN BUTCHERING next week! I'm ready! But I'm holding out hope that SOMEONE will pick a great queen song and pull out a great performance and claim the lead in the Idol race.

Okay, I put way too much time into that. But hey, I enjoy it! Enjoy your time off listening to real music and get ready to put your earplugs in again next Tuesday!

Feel free to Post your QUEEN song picks for contestants!

American Idol: Top 9 Perform

You gotta know when to hold on to certain theme nights, but more importantly, know when to FOLD them! Please producers, if COUNTRY NIGHT shows up on any of the cards in your hand....put them on the table face down and just wait for the next round! Like my metaphor folks? Yeah, I'm getting so deep on my American Idol blog. But there is a reason. Why we had one more great America storyteller, KENNY ROGERS teaching our amateurs a thing or two about being a successful performer. Maybe Kenny should stick to singing his hits, because these kids didn't learn a thing! And for 2 weeks in a row, we have seen a subpar and unnecessary week of American Idol. And, I think, this week one of the favorites may be on the chopping block. You know what time it is, time to break it down!

• Taylor - "Take Me Home Country Road" John Denver - Or as I like to call it "that song that I hum until I get to the WEST VIRGINIA part!" Well Kenny said it best. Taylor seemed a bit unenthusiastic to be singing the song right off the bat. And it didn't get much better as he performed it. I mean it just seemed like he was at a karaoke bar, a country music lovin friend said "you should do this one! come on...you'll be awesome at it!" and then he got up there and didn't really know it and just kinda tried to do his thing to it...but not at 100%. Sound like I know what I'm talking about? Yep, I've been there Taylor. But the thing is...he didn't just get up there. He picked the song...and stuck with it. He should've had enough sense to know this song didn't work for him. But did you hear that applause afterwards? Can this guy do no wrong? I mean, I still voted for him. Should be interesting to see where he ends up come Wednesday night.
• Mandisa - "Any Man of Mine" Shania Twain - Or as I like to call it "my theme song!!!" Seriously...I'm straight! Well maybe it's a tie between this and "Man, I Feel Like a Woman" for my favorite guilty pleasure singing song that I hope no guy ever catches me singing. But, you know what? After Mandisa's performance, I don't think I want to hear anyone except Shania sing the song ever again. It was just bizarre. She tried to add her big crazy voice to a straight-up twangy sexy song. It didn't work. I gotta be honest. I totally overestimated Mandisa. I thought she was going to smoke tonight. But it just didn't work. She just has to hope she is not the frontrunner to fall in this dreadful week. And as for the Simon/Ryan spat: I gotta say that I had thought the same thing about Ryan's scruff this week. Kinda ironic that it coincided with the news that he's dating Teri Hatcher and now he resembles Mike from Desperate Housewives. (Seriously...Shania AND Desperate Housewives...and I'm still holding onto my manhood! I deserve a medal!)
• Tumnus - "If Tomorrow Never Comes" Garth Brooks - Why didn't Elliott try to tie into his performance how The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and The Wardrobe was released on DVD today. I mean it would multiply his exposure and votes by the millions! Think of all the talking beavers out there that don't even watch American Idol! I may be in a minority here, but I actually thought this was a better one of his performances. He did seem a little nervous, but he was at least a little more under control and not hoppin and boppin and doing his rap dance and I could ALMOST concentrate on his performance without laughing at him. And if "Careless Wreckless Abandon" isn't a ringing endorsement from Paula, then I think he's got the Narnia card in his pocket for a future day. Not sure where our favorite fawn will end up on the 9 stools wednesday night, but it'll all come down to how everyone else measures up.
• Paris - "How Do I Live Without You" Trisha Yearwood/LeAnn Rimes - Yeah I'm sure some of you thought I'd just put LeAnn Rimes. I'm not totally Country Clueless! But a lot of America is. And that's why I thought this was a smart song choice on Paris's part. Besides her messing up where she was in the song (she recovered okay) I thought the performance wasn't TOO Bad. I've talked to some who thought it was awful. But I think she hit some power notes in there that will get her through the day. I really thought she'd struggle with this theme. Some would argue she did. But jury's out for me. And History was made tonight as Paula got booed and Simon got cheered for being the only judge that liked the performance. Early Dionne Warwick? Was he just milking his moment in the sun? I dunno. I don't know if it was THAT good. But I don't think it was the worst performance of the night. By the way, if you rewind your TiVo to immediately after Paris's performance you'll hear simon say to Paula "Try and incorporate the word 'Mongoose'" Crazy stuff. He just loves messing with that Paula, doesn't he?
• Ace - "Tonight I want to Cry" Keith Urban - awww Ace, I want to cry too. You sitting on that stool, making puppy dog eyes to the camera....awwwwww. Anyway...yeah he was pretty good tonight. Boring...but good. And it's the type of music he needs to be singing. It's where he can make the ladies swoon....and where he doesn't get into ridiculous "look at my scar" rhythmic dances. But the question is in this. Was it good enough? In another week of miserable performances....and with him being a bottom 3 dweller last week, does he have enough support to keep him out of that bottom 3? I'm still thinking about it.
• Kellie - "Fancy" Reba McEntire - Ahhh more damage control. Notice how Ryan is forced to address all the negative media buzz that is hitting some of the contestants. Last week was with Chris doing LIVE's version of "I Walk the Line" without giving them credit. This week, we're addressing Kellie being a Phony. Sure they covered calamari, which apparently her friends never heard of either, but they didn't address the whole "What's a Ballsy?" comment. Hey, I'm fine with that. To me she's still fun to watch perform and just chat it up. And hey, did you catch her $300 Hairdo? Apparently she paid to have some acclaimed hairstylist from North Carolina come out and do her hair. (I'm guessing HE may sing "Man, I Feel Like a Woman" and mean it!) I didn't think the hair looked THAT much different, but it still looked good. I had the same thoughts on Simon after she was done performing. How could she not do well this week? This is her Genre. But pre-performance, I was worried about another "Suds in the bucket" incident. But she rocked it out tonight.... with being one of the better performances of the night and the oxymoron (yep still a deep blog) of being on votefortheworst.com, she'll be just fine.
• Chris - "I'm Gonna Love You" Keith Urban - All I'm going to say is, I WAS RIGHT! Past 2 weeks I've been saying Chris should do a ballad and once Simon told him to switch it up, that's exactly what he did. Now, having said that. Did he do well with it? I think it would've been helpful if it didn't fall on Country Week when he was forced to break down and do a ballad. Then again, could you see him going country crazy? Chris is starting to show signs of weakness, but he still delivered a decent performance, but it was still a bit boring. One question how did Paula come up with the fact that he "Stayed true to who he is" ????? Crazy Paula. Simon isn't a big country fan and has said that the contestants are really picking boring and uninteresting songs and America deserves better (2 weeks running). Now Keith Urban is a hot item right now (and showing some crossover potential), but I gotta agree of all the songs, why pick this one? I mean Urban is a ballad machine! (notice we saw 2 of his songs performed tonight) It was still a decent performance, but when you do a ballad, there's gotta be something in the song that you can make stand out so that the crowd remembers your performance. And that performance? I don't remember a second of it.
• Katharine - "Bringing Out the Elvis In Me" Faith Hill - Well Katharine is back! She was heating up the place once again. And on a night where there were 4 ballads before her, this was probably a good call on her part. She lit the place up with her smile, her pizazz, and personality....oh yeah and she sang pretty well too. Katharine and her bff Kellie easily had the best performances of the night. She should be able to shake her bottom 3 scare from last week with no problem.
• Bucky - "Best I Ever Had" Gary Allan - Well Kenny Rogers was pretty sure that no one would know this song, especially those out of the country listening realm. SURPRISE KENNY! This song hit the mainstream alternative world as well. I'm not sure where I've heard it before, but the 2 Hit wonder 90's band Vertical Horizon has also recorded the tune. Not a bad tune for Bucky. The guy knows how to pick songs that he can handle. But my problem with him still is that he just isn't strong enough for this competition. He got drowned out by the band. But he did hit all the notes, and I think once again we're going to see him stay in this competition to fight another day. It was country, and country is his thang.....And he also went last so this helps him too. You know what this means? Someone we're not quite ready to say goodbye to, may be on their way out of the competition.

Brilliant Segueway Mike! (thank you!) Ok, enough self-praise (or delay), it's time for the picks. So should I get all statistical again this week or just go with my gut since it worked last week? Maybe I'll be statistical and THEN go with my gut! That sounds fun...let's do that!

Who have been the favorites to win? Mandisa, Chris, Taylor, Katharine
Who have been predicted to go the furthest by Simon? Kellie, Chris, Taylor
Who else are really good singers in this competition? Paris, Elliott
Who didn't we mention? Ace, Bucky
Who is inexplicably sliding through round after round because there have been people worse than him? Bucky

Who was great this week? Kellie, Katharine
Who was decent, but not great this week? Elliott, Paris, Ace, Chris, Bucky
Worst performances of the night? Taylor, Mandisa
Who is asking too many questions to avoid guessing a bottom 3? Mike

Bottom 3: Mandisa, Elliott, Ace (Wildcard: Paris Bonus Wildcard: Taylor)
Elimination Pick: Elliott - Man, you should've plugged the DVD to get the Narnians to vote too! I hope I'm not right on this Mr. Tumnus, but get your crazy flute polished to play your exit music.

I know I said I liked his performance, but the more I think of it (No Mike..don't think it's bad!!!), his performance was decent mainly for being the 3rd performance of the night following subpar Taylor and Mandisa songs. But seriously, are Taylor and Mandisa going to get voted out yet? I just can't see it. I'd be shocked if it happened. I just have this feeling, by the applause, that Taylor is untouchable for now, but this performance (combined with that 50's song he did) may tarnish his image come later rounds. Mandisa may get a taste of the bottom 3 this week to put a little fear into her song choices. Many (myself included) don't like Paris. But along with an OKAY performance, I think she's got her fanbase to pull her through this round. But we must keep in mind she's 16 so her clock is ticking! But I'll give her a bye this week. And maybe it'll come back to bite me in the butt. But I'm going with my scientific gut! I may be giving Bucky too much credit too, but I'm going with my gut on that too! Then there's Ace. I just have a feeling he'll be hanging out in the bottom 3 a bit before he gets the boot. But what do I know? I'm just a blog writer!

Alright, that's enough for me tonight. Hope you enjoyed and I hope you don't find me any less entertaining when you start rereading my blogs and notice how many bad picks I've made! See you after the Results Show!