there can be only one!

katharine - "black horse and a cherry tree"
randy: "you sang it better this time"
paula: "it was a fun opening"
simon: "good with a small g...the occassion tonight is bigger than that song"

ah, i disagree with randy, it was not as good as the first time she sang it. i agree with simon and paula though. it was fun, but i think at this point we're beyond cutesy. that performance didn't get her any new votes.

taylor - "living for the city"
randy: "you always make it your own...america, that was a hot one right there"
paula: "way to go, way to open up the show"
simon: "a great way to start the show...round one to you"

that was...funner than kats, and vocally better. oh yeah, and the song is a classic most everyone knows. i agree with simon, he's taken the first round of songs.

katharine - "over the rainbow"
randy: "you worked it out...that was hot"
paula: "you've made everyone proud...you owned it up there"
simon: "this was your best performance of the competition so far"

now this was better than the first time she sang it, and that's saying a lot. this was great, and easily her best vocal of the year. kudos for singing acapella in key with no guide, and handling it like a pro. she probably got some new votes with this performance.

taylor - "levon"
randy: "it was a little pitchy"
paula: "i don't think it was pitchy"
simon: "katharine has taken the second round"

i didn't hear any pitchiness here. this actually wasn't as good as it was the first time he sang it, but it still rocked. he seemed to be straining at times though... i'm sure they're both losing their voices at this point. again, i agree with simon, though she hardly won by the margin taylor took the first round with.

katharine - "my destiny"
randy: "you look amazing...you sounded really good...i did not like the song"
paula: "you are brilliant"
simon: "you went from brilliant to quite good within one song"

ummmm, judges? judge. no pitch comments?!?! she was off the entire song... if she wasn't off key, she was ahead or behind the music. plus the key was NOT a good one for her; how can it be the end of the competition and they haven't figured out what key to put her damn songs in yet? terrible vocal, MUCH, MUCH, worse song.

taylor - "do i make you proud"
randy: "no matter what the song is, you know how to make it into a taylor hicks vehicle"
paula: "i couldn't agree with randy more...soul patrol!"
simon: "assuming i was right and the show was tied, then you have just won american idol"

another fucking horrible song, but when he was singing the first few lines, taylor gave a grin that seemed to say he knew it. once it kicked in as a 'taylor vehicle', this was another great performance from him. he finally went all out like elliot had been doing all along, and shit, taylor sounded better doing it.



soul patrol!!! taylor had two and a half good performances to katharines one, and that's just counting this show. through the entire competition, taylor stayed true to himself, and managed to inject at least a little bit of soul into every song he sang. I love katharine's voice, but i don't think she was nearly good enough to win this thing... i'm sure the vote will be 'closer than it's ever been', but after last night, it should be taylor in a landslide.
(i still think it should have been between taylor and elliot, but now i sound like one of those chris fans that is still upset he's gone, so i'll shut up about that)
i know they need to sell their singles, but they really need to rethink this finale crap. throughout the entire season the judges harp on the song choices, and those choices certainly lead to some early exits from great singers.
after all that, they end the show by serving up two of the cheesiest pieces of shit i've ever heard, with the grand specatcle of a gospel choir serving as the silk hat on the pig. after the judges reaction to the songs tonight, maybe this will all change.

SOUL PATROL! SOUL PATROL!