the top 12 vs. stevie wonder

ace - "do i do"

randy: not impressed
paula: of course she liked it
simon: of course he didn't like it

not bad, and not great. bad song choice, i think.

kelli - "blame it on the sun"

randy: boring
paula: she looks gorgeous, but didn't sing well
simon: she put america to sleep with that

wow. really blah, really bad. i'd been giving her the benefit of the doubt when it came to her 'naiveness', but now i'm convinced it's a put on, and it's getting very irritating. she's smart and she saw how popular jessica simpson got while being stupid, so she's working that angle.

elliot - "knocks me off my feet"

randy: liked it
paula: loves him
simon: good, but no "wow" factor

not his best vocal so far, but still a great job. this is probably one of my favorite stevie wonder songs, and it was part of a mix CD we gave as a wedding favor, so i'm clearly biased here.

mandisa - "don't you worry about a thing"

randy: best of the night so far
paula: gush
simon: best of the night so far

i was really hoping to hear her belt out signed, sealed, delivered, but this was great, she's just so comfortable up there. especially with her shoes off.

bucky - "superstition"

randy: liked it
paula: really good
simon: best personal performance so far

definitely his best vocal so far in the competition. he did a much better job than kelli did working out of their country 'safety zone". i hate to say this, but his voice actually was reminding me a bit of the boss...

melissa - "lately"

randy: forgot the lyrics, but she can sing
paula: loves her voice
simon: didn't even mention the lyrics, it was a very strong performance

even though she was cracking a bit on the low notes, she nailed the higher ones at the end, and it was a strong performance considering she'd apparently been losing her voice. good job singing through that. bit of advice though, when you're on national TV it's not really a good idea to pause for dramatic effect after saying you've been "swallowing and gargling...

olive oil."

lisa - "signed, sealed, delivered"

randy: the end was hot!
paula: good
simon: one of the best tonight

i don't buy her 'rocking out'. she has a great voice, but she has to get more comfortable when shes not singing a ballad if she wants to stay in the competition. she's all beauty pagent talent portion and no pop star.

kevin - "part time lover"

randy: interesting
paula: way to go
simon: apalling

interesting = he just doesn't belong on the same stage as the rest of the singers. please, please, let him be the one to go tonight.

katharine - "until you come back to me"

randy: hot one!
paula: her best ever
simon: "you're good."

she is good. really good. this was her best vocal so far in the competition, i think. amazingly, ryan was totally checking out her boobs after the performance. seacrest maybe not "out"?

taylor - "living for the city"

randy: hot and fearless
paula: loved it
simon: a drunk dad at a wedding that can actually sing

is it just me, or does the band step it up for this guy? maybe it was just the song, but it seemed a lot more powerful... maybe it's just the way taylor works the crowd and the stage. he's fucking great.

paris - "all i do"

randy: hot, unbelievable
paula: loved it
simon: very good, a performing windup doll

awesome. really, really good. after the past couple of weeks i wasn't expecting her to be one of my favorites. she is now... but please, no more singing the answers to questions. it's just as annoying as kelli's stupid answers.

chris - "higher ground"

randy: liked it a lot
paula: fantastic
simon: best of the night by a mile

okay, so whoever gets the last spot of the night gets the kickass stage show? speaking of the band stepping it up... this was really, really great. he completely made it his own, and it could definitely be a single. much better than the chili peppers version, even without flea on bass. however, serious points subtracted for being a fucking musician and not knowing that higher ground was a stevie song. jesus.

i was hoping for a better week with the stevie songs... some of the contestants seemed totally dwarfed by the stage, and gave a boring performance because of it. and some of the song choices were sketchy at best, i mean, it's stevie! where was sir duke? i wish? for once in my life?

griping aside, my favorites this week were taylor, chris, katharine, paris, and mandisa

my bottom three predictions, kevin, melissa, and kelli. i think you all know who i think should leave.