Idol Live with Nicole!! Top 11 Redux Results!!!

Well as you all know, this week we have TWO people leaving. Not really liking this fact because I think my eye candy Stefano is going to be one of them :(. I'm bracing myself now so when it happens I'm not surprised. I think if Casey would've been gone last week, Stefano would be safe for sure at least one more week, but I don't know. I am going to call the bottom 3 Stefano, Thia, and Naima. I could be completely wrong though since last week I was way off. Time will tell though! They really need to make this week's results show interesting after all that excitement last week. It's 7:55 now so everything I am saying is strictly my own predictions. I also predict that they will be doing an Elton John medley for their group number and it will include "The Circle of Life" and "Crocodile Rock" somewhere in there since we didn't hear those last night from anyone.

To begin the show, we get a nice little intro featuring piano playing and recaps from last night of the judges comments. At the end of the intro the words "Tonight 2 must go and you won't believe who is going home" are typed up on screen. Well if that's true then the three people I predicted will all be safe and it will be someone like Scotty, Pia, James, or Lauren leaving. Unless maybe Casey is leaving and that is supposed to be the surprise. Whoever it is, I hope the judges don't regret using the save last week! Apparently there were over 55 million votes which is a new record for this stage in the competition. Hmm Ryan sends the contestants over to the couches right away, so maybe there isn't a group number tonight after all.

Okay well instead of a large group number, we get group performances and duets. First up, Lauren and Scotty singing "I Told You So". Is this an Elton John song, because I'm pretty sure its by Randy Travis and Carrie Underwood. Actually I'm positive this is by Randy and Carrie. Of course since this is a country song and these are the country kids, they sound great on it. Wow if they ever have country week, Scotty is going to knock it out of the park, but I guess that's a given huh? No lip syncing this week either!! Oh wow, now Ryan calls Scotty and Lauren to the center of the stage and its time for some results! The judges all look so nervous during these results this week! Scotty and Lauren are SAFE!! Wow for a minute there I really thought one of them would be in the bottom 3. Nice job with the suspense Ryan!!

After the break we get the Ford music video. This week it is "Kryptonite" and its the first song I actually recognize from these music videos this season. They sound good, but all them singing this song kinda reminds me of the commercials for the "Kidz Bop" cds. Ryan asks Casey about shaving his beard and he says he may shave it all off, you never know. James talks about the fan mail he has gotten including bracelets (which he wears) and a custom made WWE belt. Nice!! Naima and Jacob are called to the center next. They are singing "Solid" by Ashford and Simpson?? Jacob is soo dramatic and broadway-ish!! When is this song from?? I feel like I'm watching "Solid Gold Oldies". This performance is too cheesy for my liking. Results time again. Jacob looks totally nervous. Naima is BOTTOM 3!! Jacob is SAFE!!! Okay no surprises so far....

Next we hear from Fantasia singing "Collared Greens and Cornbread". Goodness I forgot how annoying her speaking voice was! She asks the crowd if its okay we take it back old school and before I can respond, I am watching "Solid Gold Oldies" again. Yea her singing voice kind of annoys me too. I was never a big Fantasia fan, but I'm pretty sure I wasn't crazy about anyone from her season. I'm bored by this performance. Hopefully will.i.am and Jamie Foxx are more exciting, but I think that probably goes without saying. This song mentions many different foods. So glad that's over with!! Performing up next are Haley, Thia, and Pia with "Teenage Dream". YAY we are back to this generation's music! This is the most up-tempo thing Pia has sung on this show! Pretty good performance from the three of them. Pia is SAFE!! Thia is BOTTOM 3!!! Haley is SAFE!! Yea, my predictions are so much better this week than last. Only way I will be surprised now is if James is the last one in the Bottom 3 (which I highly doubt).

KRIS ALLEN IS IN THE AUDIENCE!!!!! Oh how I love me some Kris!!! So adorable!! After that lovely cameo and Naima's stank face when Ryan refreshed our memory on the bottom 3, we get to see "The rockstar lifestyle that two people will have to leave behind". Nice Ryan. This includes a recording session at 6 am, followed by a private jet trip to Arizona for a charity event with Muhammad Ali. Then on Sunday they do the Ford music shoot, and return home to their gorgeous mansion that apparently leaks. Lauren then slips down the stairs and then says "Its definitely gonna be on TV". You're right Lauren. The idols have to go to a hotel to stay because of their leakage problem. Seriously, they have a huge, expensive house and they don't even have a leak proof roof?!?! Then more performance prep and we again get to see the clip of the save and Casey almost passing out. Apparently we haven't seen it enough yet. Aww Casey felt guilty after getting the save. He will probably feel more guilty if he doesn't go home tonight and two other people do. Back to performances!! Paul, Stefano, Casey, and James are next with "Band on the Run". Paul, James, Casey are all on guitar and Stefano is on keyboard. This is actually amusing because they are all so different!! Paul really needs to have a Rod Stewart theme week and he will sing them all under the table! Results!! Casey is SAFE!!! James is SAFE!!! Stefano is SAFE!!! Paul is BOTTOM 3!!!! YAY so happy my guy is safe!!! If Paul goes home I will be surprised though, Naima and Thia...not surprised.

Jamie Foxx and will.i.am are next after the break performing "Hot Wings" from the upcoming movie "Rio". And we've got a marching band and dancers on stage before Jamie and will are seen on the infamous steps. This is a fun song from an animated kids movie, but its not as catchy as "Blame It". Entertaining enough performance though.

Time for the eliminations!! Paul is SAFE!!! Naima and Thia are ELIMINATED!!! Lauren is bawling!! Okay mystery typer at the beginning of the show, I DO believe who is going home. I am pretty sure I predicted it!! How dare you lie to me and make me think some of the most popular and praised contestants were leaving!! Well at least Naima gets to go home to her cute little girls now.  

Idol Live with Nicole!!! Top 11...REDUX!!

Well thanks to last week's save of Casey, we once again have eleven Idol contestants vowing for the title. This week's theme is "Songs from the 1980's" "Elton John Songs". For some reason my guide description on the TV said it was 80's songs, but maybe that theme got switched to next week. I like Elton John, but this could be tough for some contestants. I was hoping Stefano and Pia would sing more uptempo songs this week, but I can't think of many uptempo songs by Elton John other than "Crocodile Rock", "Saturday" and "Bennie and the Jets". Here's hoping Stefano does great this week though and stays out of the bottom 3!!

To open the show we get a quick recap of the madness that was last week's results show. Like I said last week, that was the best results show I have seen. Pretty entertaining, albeit strange, for the entire show. They really need to do something like that every week, otherwise its basically a bunch of filler. The save is always exciting to see the reactions, but I hope there's not regrets about wasting it this early in the season. Casey is interesting, but the last couple weeks haven't been that great from. Hopefully he redeems himself tonight, and someone who is pretty consistently good doesn't pay the price for it tomorrow, by getting voted off too soon. Oh and I heard Casey was once again in the hospital last weekend. Hopefully this show isn't too bad for his health...If the order that the contestants walk out on stage in is the order they perform, that means Hailey gets the pimp spot. I'm hoping this isn't true, although I guess they do all deserve their turn. We get a video package featuring a brief history of Elton John's career. He looked so different back in the day! Next we see video from the Idols visit at Entertainment Weekly. We are almost 10 minutes into the show and still no singing...SERIOUSLY!!! Finally time for some singing!!

Scotty McCreery- "Country Comfort". He chose this song because it had the word "country" in it. HA, nice way to pick there! I don't think I have ever heard this song, but I bet it's going to sound like everything else Scotty has sang thus far. He brings out the guitar for this week. Well this definitely sounds more like a Garth Brooks song than an Elton John song so at least it doesn't sound copycat-ish. Pretty good performance, but of course all of this performances are starting to blend together now. Nice job though. Steven says "nothing I can say to you that an old fashioned pair of cowboy boots wouldn't fix". WTF does that even mean?!? Apparently it was good though. Jennifer said he has amazing instincts about what is right for him. Randy said he has seasoned very fast and he is so comfortable and in the zone. Very nicely done. Scotty will be SAFE!

Sidenote: That new Flash Mob show looks very entertaining! I love flash mobs! I soo wanna be somewhere when one breaks out so I can think  "WTF is going on?!?!". I will most likely be watching that tomorrow night!

Naima Adedapo- "I'm Still Standing". Oh yea. I forgot this is a fast song too! Casey should've totally picked this one lol. She made it into a reggae version and Jimmy tells her to dedicate it to everything going on in the world today. There ya go that will get some sympathy votes! She of course follows his advice! No I am not liking this reggae version at all! At least its unique though! It reminds me of the Cosby episode where Denise's boyfriend was watching some reggae music video and then started singing along...that part cracked me up! Check out the end of this post, there is a video of the clip! I don't know if this is going to get her many votes. She might not be still standing after tomorrow. So this was one of Elton's fast songs, but it is slowed down a lot for this version. Not liking that either. Umm I think she said the words "Boom fire" at the end too, but I'm not positive. Yea that will most likely be my least favorite of the night. Jennifer says she loves her reggae swag, but this song wasn't meant to be that. Randy says he agrees with Jennifer. Says it came off kind of corny for him. Steven says good for her for picking a song that fits her. Okay I like Steven, but he never says anything bad about any performance. Don't like that. Some people do have bad performances and they need to know that.

Paul McDonald- "Rocket Man". Jimmie said if the music doesn't work out they could get him commercials for toothpaste. So true!! Looks like Paul borrowed some of Elton's clothes for this performance. At least he's dressed the part. I am actually liking this performance by him. He and his band used to perform so this song so at least he is pretty comfortable with it. Very low key, but pretty good in my opinion. I like the chorus. Reminds me a little of a coffee house performance though. He pretty much whispers the end. No wonder why it sounded low key! Randy says there were a couple things that were a little pitchy, but he thinks he may be holding back a little (actually Jennifer added that in). Steven says there are more flowers on his suit than the last time he wore it :). He likes the character where he sometimes misses the note?? Jennifer wants him to push a little more in the upper register. Wow the crowd was eerily quiet during all the judges comments...guess they weren't fans?? He could be in danger, but I doubt it. He seems to have a strong fan base and he is the Vote for the Worst pick so he gets those votes too. Therefore, I'm calling him SAFE!

Pia Toscano- "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me". This girl is gorgeous. She definitely has the look they are looking for I'm sure. She was nervous about doing another ballad, but seriously, this isn't a theme with many good uptempo choices for her. I can't fault her for doing another ballad and she promises she will do uptempo next week if she is still around. I still love David Archuleta's performance of this song, but she is doing pretty good too. Ohhh now she gets the choir of backup singers. She of course can sing so she isn't doing bad at all, but this isn't my favorite of hers. Steven says she has done it again, but then again he likes everyone and everything. Jennifer felt her more than she has before. Randy says she sings a ballad everything and slays them every time, but he just wants her to switch gears. I actually agree with Randy. She will be SAFE and apparently singing uptempo next week.

Stefano Langone- "Tiny Dancer". HA during the photo shoots Stefano says he doesn't need a makeover. I would call him cocky, but its true. He is pretty good looking the way he is. Therefore I will call him confident. Jimmie thinks it will be difficult for him because of the chorus. I hope he does good with it! The beginning actually is pretty good. Better than I thought it would be. Chorus isn't bad either. Performance stays consistently good in my opinion. I am pleasantly surprised. Aww he really plays it up to the judges and walks up to Jennifer at the end and takes her hand. Smart move because I'm pretty sure she likes him as much as I do. Very good Stefano!! Jennifer says he is really starting to connect with the audience. She pronounces his name wrong twice though. Randy agrees with Jennifer. Like that he kept his eyes open more. Loved the high notes. Steven also loved it. Said he nailed it. YAY!!! I loved it too!! He better be SAFE!! My favorite of the night so far!!

After the break Ryan is sitting in between Howie Mandel and Stefano's dad and Howie looks a lot similar to him. Amusing :)

Lauren Alaina- "Candle in the Wind". Vocals are great in the beginning, but it sounds like the music and singing are a little out of sync. Might just be me though. Chorus continues to be good. I'm liking her version of it. It's like the country remix. I liked it a lot. Also one of my favorites tonight. Randy says that was one of her greatest performances. Agreed! Steven says it was perfect and beautiful. Tells her to keep singing like that and she will be able to afford the rest of that dress lol. Jennifer says it was amazing, she sounded gorgeous. Called it the best of the night. I just love her bubbly personality! She will be SAFE.

James Durbin- "Saturday Night's Alright". Jimmie seems very nervous about him picking this song and his performance plan. Oh ye of little faith Jimmie. James sticks to his plan and starts in the audience. Vocals are pretty good, but he really is a good performer. He basically brings the entire audience into it by walking around the crowd for the whole performance. IDK what Jimmie was worried about. He seems to have gotten the performance aspect down. Very good performer! Loved the first chorus! Wow he throws the mic stand, sets the piano on fire, and of course the scream. Great performance! Can't say he is boring at all! Steven says he's got a really good rock voice. Jennifer says she forgets its a competition when he performs. Randy loves that he enjoys himself when he performs. He will be SAFE! HA Ryan asks him what he was most nervous about and James says he has a lot of hair spray in his hair and was worried about having a "Pepsi moment" (obviously referring to when MJ had his hair catch fire during the Pepsi commercial). Ryan then reminds us that Idol is brought to us by Coke :).

Thia Megia- "Daniel". Well not to be mean, but Thia is maybe the most boring performer and she has to follow Mr. Showman James. Good luck Thia!! Especially with a ballad!! No offense Thia, but I am already bored. Nice voice, but too slow for me tonight. I don't have much to say about her. She sounds good singing, but she does too many ballads for me, just like Pia and Stefano, but they are my faves so I am biased. Just a'ight for me! Jennifer says it was beautiful. Randy liked that it was a relaxed side of her, but he didn't like that it was "safe". Steven said she sang a great song well. She could be bottom 3!

Casey Abrams- "Your Song". YAY this is my favorite Elton John song, so I hope he doesn't do anything weird with it! Jimmie has Casey watch back his performance from last week and then asks if he know what was wrong with it. Casey says "uh some things" and Jimmie replies with "EVERYTHING". Nice Jimmie! Rodney Jerkins tells him to get rid of the beard and he gets it trimmed along with a hair cut. YAY Casey sings the song as it should be. Sounds pretty good. Much more low key for Casey, but that could be a good thing. Not my favorite vocals of the night, but pretty good. Nice high note at the end. Randy says it was one of the greatest saves they ever had on the show. Said it was so nice and so tender. Well done. Steven concurs with Randy about the save. Said the last two notes were beautiful and they alone would've gotten a standing ovation. Jennifer says that she didn't lose any sleep over saving him last week and he proved why tonight. He should be safe this week.

Okay pop quiz...I know they saved Matt Giraud (sp) during Kris Allen's season, but anyone remember who they saved last season??

Jacob Lusk- "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word". He first heard this song by Mary J. Blige and wouldn't ya know it, during his rehearsal Mary shows up. Small world! Jacob has a great R&B voice, but he can be a little too dramatic for me and Jimmie apparently agrees. Starts off pretty good actually. He usually goes over the top towards the end though so we will see. No jazz hands yet this week. Okay let me take back the comment I made 20 seconds ago, because now it is a little too dramatic. His facial expressions are pretty intense too. Well the end got to be a little much for me, but that was actually not too over the top for Jacob. That's kind of sad actually. Steven loved the whole thing (surprise, surprise). Jennifer says he made it his own, she liked it. Randy thought the first half was brilliant, but told him to pick one spot where he goes all out. Well he will most likely be SAFE, even though he's not really my cup of tea.

Haley Reinhart- "Bennie and the Jets". I'm hoping since she got the pimp spot this week, she will give a great performance. I actually really liked her last week so hopefully this week she's just as good. She' sitting across the top of the piano to open the song. Well kudos to Haley, because her growling thing actually works pretty well in this song. Little too much growling in the second half though. Pretty good performance from her though. Much better than I thought she was going to do. Good job Haley!! Jennifer says "THAT WAS IT HALEY". Says it all came together. Randy said it was the best of the night. Steven said she sings sexy. She should be SAFE!!

Faves of the night- Stefano, James, Lauren, Haley

Bottom 3 (mine at least)-Naima, Thia, ?????

I've said it before, but these people are all pretty good this season. Very hard to predict who will be going home tomorrow night, but I really hope my boy Stefano is safe this week!!

Here is a video of the clip I was referring to during Naima's review. I feel the same way Bill Cosby does :)

Weekly Song Wednesday!!!

I really need to keep this "Weekly Song Wednesday" a regular thing! There are so many great songs out there, I don't know why I'm slacking so much on this! So this week's song isn't BRAND new, but it's not widely played so it's new to most people. I was in Kohl's the other night and heard this song come on and fell in love with it. So right when I got home I had to google the lyrics and find out what it was. I was completely surprised to find out the song was by Idol alum Jason Castro! Then when I thought I rememered hearing it once before and realized it is the song he sung on "The Bachelor Wedding of Jason and Molly". So give it a listen and let me know what you all think! The song is called "That's What I'm Here For". Enjoy!!

YouTube Tuesday!!

So since I have been a little MIA with these "YouTube Tuesday's", I decided to post a double feature this week. Now if you are frequent readers of my blog then you are familiar with my "Sick of Them Saturday" postings. Well we all know I have mentioned both Jersey Shore and Charlie Sheen in those posts because I was sick of them that week. However, this week's YouTube Tuesday features videos of both of them...in a way. They are actually "Kimmel Kartoons" as featured on Jimmy Kimmel. He takes the voiceovers from both Charlie Sheen and Jersey Shore and mashes them up with various cartoon scenes and they turn out quite amusing. Make sure to check them both out! I hope you find them amusing as I did :)

Charity Donation Update

If any of you remember reading my blog post about my new years resolutions (which you can find HERE), you recall me saying that I wanted to make a donation to a different charity every month this year. Well it is now March and I am happy to say that I have kept that resolution thus far :). In January I donated to the Michigan Humane Society, February I chose St. Jude's Children's Hospital, and I just made my March donation to the World Wildlife Fund. One of the local radio stations also held their annual radiothon last month for the Children's Miracle Network and I once again became a monthly donor for them. So, now for the point of this post. I need some help coming up with other great causes to donate to. As you can probably tell from my donation history thus far, I really support animal and children's causes. However, I am also planning on making donations later this year to USO, Breast Cancer Foundation, American Cancer Society, and the ASPCA. So if you add it all up that keeps me covered for 7 months, which means I need help choosing 5 more organizations for the year. So I am asking the help of my lovely blog readers; if you could leave me a comment with an organization that means a lot to you or one that maybe you make regular donations too I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks for all the help!!!

Idol Live with Nicole! Top 11 Results...aka WTF!?!

Well let me state my guesses of the bottom three before the show starts. They would be Haley, Naima and possibly Stefano??  Actually it was a pretty good show last night so its too hard to even predict. I think I will only call Jacob, James, Pia, Lauren and Scotty safe for sure. Everyone else is pretty much up in the air. Haley could be a goner tonight, but we will see. If it is Stefano that gets the lowest amount of votes, I could see the judges using their save for him. Haley I don't see them using it for.

Aww all the Idols look very nice in their formal attire. Apparently Marc Anthony helped the contestants this week before their performances to work on their pitchiness and hearing problems on stage. It seems to have worked since they all sounded great last night. Why didn't they think to do this much sooner. Seriously the show has been on 10 seasons and they are just now getting around to this?!?!?!? They also show him disagreeing with the judges backstage which I appreciate since I disagree with them frequently also. Next up is the group performance of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough". It appears they are singing live this week too! Sounds so much better live! Guess the producers heard about all the complaining about the lip syncing. The idols all look so great tonight too! Well after that great performance we are surprised by Stevie Wonder himself on stage to sing "Signed, Sealed, Delivered".Steven Tyler seriously looks extremely surprised and happy by this appearance too. Is it just me or does Stevie never seem to age?? My favorite group performance by far, even before Stevie came out. Could've used a little more Stefano during "Ain't No Mountain", but pretty great anyways :). Aww afterwards Stevie sings "Happy Birthday" to Steven and he is so happy its adorable! Wow they got him a cake and painting and everything. This is the best results show of the season so far. Hopefully Stefano will be safe and I will be extremely happy!

Uh oh, after commercial break, Ryan tells us they are surprising results. That's not usually a good thing on this show! Eek!!! Ford music video is next. This week the song is "All This Beauty". Cute video about recycling. Now time for some results! Up first are Lauren, Pia, and Scotty. Well Ryan tells us after the votes they will all be packing their bags...to go on summer tour because they are all SAFE! Not surprised by that at all.

Sugarland performs their hit "Stuck Like Glue" after commercial. Love me some Sugarland. They do a pretty good performance. Jennifer Nettles looks like she is from the 80's with her outfit though.  This seems like it was pre-recorded though because I don't see the Idols or judges at all. After Sugarland we hear more about the Idols love of sports wrestling . Apparently James is a fan of WWE and doesn't believe that it is fake. Jacob refuses to talk about wrestling and we then see footage of Paul and James wrestling each other and James seems to be pretty good with the take downs. This is all pretty cute and all, but it seems pretty pointless and random. It was very entertaining though so I am pretty sure I would be able to watch all these people in a "Real World" type show. More results now! James and Paul are called up next. Ryan has them stand on opposite sides and then  Ryan then tells us that both of them are "not safe" tonight and then that they are "really not safe tonight" and we get some "Eye of the Tiger" and then Hulk Hogan appears from behind the doors. WTF is going on with this show tonight?!?! This is becoming the weirdest results show ever! Stefano is jumping up and down and James looks like he is going to have a heart attack. Hogan then tells them that both James and Paul are SAFE! He then "throws" Ryan off stage and rips open his shirt. WTF just happened?!?!

Well back from commercial and more results. Jacob, Thia, and Stefano are called down next. Jacob is SAFE, Thia is BOTTOM 3 and Stefano is BOTTOM 3! :( Ryan then calls down Casey, Haley, and Naima and tells us its an interesting night so make sure we stay tuned to the whole show. Uh oh :(. Naima is SAFE. Haley is SAFE. Casey is BOTTOM 3!!!!! Wow very wrong with my bottom three prediction.

Jennifer Hudson performs her single "Where You At". Jennifer looks amazing (as we've all seen from the Weight Watchers commercials). She sounds great too. I'm liking her new song a lot. I may be wrong but I think this is the first time Jennifer has been on the show since her season. George Huff is one of her backup singers too :). Back to the results. Ryan sends Thia back to safety. I'm getting really nervous now. EEK!!

Ryan announces that the person with the lowest amount of votes is CASEY. STEFANO IS SAFE!! Aww Stefano seems to be crying (maybe). Stefano and Casey hug for a good minute while Stefano is telling him something, which we can't hear because its muffled, but the producers seem to censor it anyway?!? Stefano then goes and hugs James for a long time too. Love the little bromance between Stefano and James :) Casey chooses to sing "I Don't Need No Doctor" and I am predicting before he even sings that the judges will save him. I could be wrong though (clearly I was with my bottom 3 predictions). Well after a couple lines, Ryan stops him because Randy is waving his arms for him to stop singing. Randy tells him they don't need him to sing anymore because they already know who he is. I was right the judges don't even need to hear him sing, they are going to SAVE him. Casey then looks like he is seriously about to pass out and Ryan announces they are using their one save on him. He then asks them if they are kidding, which if they were that would be extremely mean, but of course they aren't. Great reaction from Casey though. Ryan, like myself, really seemed to think he was going to pass out. He then runs to the audience to hug his parents. Well, based on his reaction alone, I am glad they saved him. I just hope my boy Stefano is safe next week! Casey is really surprised they saved him with 11 people left, but lets face it, the judges have their faves and they are going to save them regardless of how many people are left. Wow this night just keeps on with the surprises as Ryan announces that next week TWO people will be eliminated, BUT that all 11 contestants will be going on tour this summer.

WOW that was quite possibly the most exciting results show I have seen. From beginning to end, the surprises just kept coming. I really hope Stefano knocks it out of the park though so he survives the double elimination!!! GREAT SHOW!!!

Idol Live with Nicole!! Top 11!!

Tonight's theme is "Motown", which means some contestants (Stefano, Jacob) should do great, while others (Scotty) could struggle. This theme always seems to produce some great performances so I'm hoping that continues tonight. I personally love Motown because it is one of the great things that came from Detroit :). The show opens with a black and white intro. I'm glad it didn't last long though cause I can't say I'm a fan of black and white TV. We then get a brief history on Motown, which I am sure they could use every year since this seems to be a running theme each season. I think I'm going to start a new drinking game for every time Randy says how long he has been on the show and Steven Tyler makes an inappropriate comment or some bizarre analogy.

Casey Abrams- "Heard it Through The Grapevine" by Marvin Gaye. Casey says he feels comfortable with Motown, but his rehearsal sounds a little rough so I hope the live performance is better. Can't say I am a big fan of the beginning. I guess its hard to jump from Nirvana to Motown though. Gets a little better in the middle, but still not great. Great stage presence as he walks through the audience, but I can't say I enjoyed the vocals very much. Steven thinks he is the perfect entertainer. He loved it (of course). Jennifer says he is so specific who he is. She thinks there isn't any other recording artist around right now like him. Randy calls him a true original. I still didn't like it too much. He will be safe though I'm sure.

Thia Megia- "Heat Wave" by Martha and the Vandellas. She wanted to do an upbeat song after getting critiqued for so many ballads. She starts off pretty good. Much better than last week. She looks very cute too. Very confident performance. Good vocals throughout the whole song and she moved around a lot. Much more energy than last week. Jennifer says it was great to see her let loose. She wants her to dig deeper each week. Randy says she took a chance and she can really sing. He was happy to see her move out of her safety zone. Steven agrees with Jennifer and Randy. He's good with it. She should be safe...we will see though as the show goes on.

Jacob Lusk- "You're All I Need" by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. Jacob has a church background, who knew!! Here's hoping Jacob doesn't go too over the top (like he seems to do every week). On a quick sidenote, the backup singers sound good, but they sure looks pretty stiff! Beginning is very nice and restrained. Chorus is even pretty good. He definitely has the jazz hands going though. The ending was a little much, but otherwise that was my favorite Jacob performance. Steven once again refers to him as "baby Luther". I don't think so, but whatever. Randy says it is his best performance on the Idol stage. Says nothing was wrong with that performance. I have to agree. Steven says he held it back this week and loved it. Jennifer says he moves her and he made them beg. I agree, that was the best he's done thus far. Ryan invites the whole front row to come up and hug Jacob while he is giving out his numbers. Random Ryan...He will be safe though.

Lauren Alaina- "You Keep Me Hanging On" by The Supremes. Like Scotty, Lauren could have trouble with this genre, but we will see. Okay so this is really the first week I've noticed how much Lauren looks like Candice Cameron aka DJ Tanner! Vocals start off good. Lauren then makes her way off the stage to dance and sing seductively to Randy (blech). She's actually doing a lot better than I thought she would this week. Pretty food performance and she has a lot of personality while she sings and performs. Steven says she "ripped that song another beauty mark". Says it was beautiful. Jennifer says this is the most beautiful she has seen her. She loved the attitude she gave to the song. Randy says she "now has her swagger on high. She's ready!".

Stefano Langone- "Hello" by Lionel Richie. Okay I got to say I am a little disappointed with his pick (before actually hearing him sing). I thought he would do great with a Stevie Wonder song. Hopefully he does great anyways though. Its a little ballsy of Stefano to pick "Hello" after David Cook knocked it out of the park a couple seasons ago. That's a tough act to follow. Ryan reminds us of David Cooks success with this song before Stefano performs. Stefano is doing pretty good and I LOVE him, but I seriously dislike this song that I am already ready for it to be over with. Chorus is pretty good, the judges don't look like they are enjoying it too much though. Glory note at the end is done nicely. Decent performance, but bad song choice in my opinion. Jennifer tells him to connect more with the audience (I think). Randy says the only thing he is missing is the connection. Says he sounded good but there was no real connection. Steven agrees (shocking). Jennifer adds at the end that she just loves him anyways. Hmmm hopefully he will be safe. Randy then makes an inappropriate innuendo about Stefano and Ryan being in a relationship. Just when I was starting to like you Randy!

Hailey Reinhart-"You Really Got A Hold On Me" by Smokey Robinson. Its her goal not to be in the bottom three this week. We will see Hailey. This song should fit her voice though since she has that little growl thing going on. At the beginning it sounds as if the backup singers are louder than her, but that soon changes luckily. For some reason she sings hunched over the entire time as if she is having an episode of appendicitis. She is doing pretty good with the song though. Like I said her growling fits good in this song. My favorite performance of hers so far. Randy says it started a little rough, but by the middle the Hailey he loves came roaring back. He ends it with "Yo you know what I'm saying. You feel me right". Steven says she sang her heart out and she doesnt look a day over fabulous. Jennifer says she has effortless control in her voice and it goes where she wants it to go. She says she has the most soulful voice of the girls.

Scotty McCreery- "For Once in My Life" by Stevie Wonder. Well I thought Stefano would do great this week and he was just a'ight for me so maybe Scotty will surprise me and do better than I think. There's a pretty impressive video of Scotty shooting a basketball from the window of the mansion and actually making it into the hoop. Nice job! Well it doesn't sound like motown at all so at least they won't call it karaoke. Has the Scotty twang to it. He moves his eyebrows while he sings more than anyone I have ever seen. It is actually sounding much better than I thought it would though. My only problem with Scotty is everything sounds alike. He has an excellent country voice, but every song is starting to sound like the previous one. Steven says it was beautiful. (That's going to become a new drinking game rule too. I think he says that to just about everyone). Jennifer says it was a great version of the song. She says it wasn't his strongest, but the low note at the end always gets her. Randy agrees with Jennifer. He says the song needed to peak a little sooner though.

Pia Toscano- "All In Love Is Fair" by Stevie Wonder. I have a feeling this is going to be pretty good. Of course her vocals are great. I really hope next week she goes with something more up tempo though. She seems to be doing ballads every week too. She can hit the high notes pretty darn good though. She always sounds pretty pitch perfect to me. I'm thinking if a girl wins this seasons like the producers seem to want, it is going to be Pia. Great performance as always. Jennifer tells her she needs to move around more on the stage and, like Stefano, take it to the next level. Randy says she is phenomanal and he loves that she had more falsetto in the beginning, he is also getting sick of the ballads though. Steven says she is the closest star in the American Idol universe. Agreed. She will be safe.

Paul McDonald- "Tracks of My Tears" by Smokey Robinson. Paul is the first contestant to play an instrument this season. Big switch from last year when just about everyone played. Sidenote: I LOVE Paul's teeth. I wish mine were that white. Although they do sort of remind me of the "Friends" episode where Ross whitened his and they were glowing in the black light :). I love that Paul starts off his performance EVERY week by talking to the audience as if he is giving his own little concert. Well the guitar seems to have put a stop to Paul's "dancing" this week. He is actually sounding pretty good. I am pleasntly surprised. It actually sounds like something you would hear on the radio today. I really liked it! Great job Paul. That has got to be my favorite from him all season. Randy says he has a distincitive kind of voice (which we all know by now) and a bunch of other stuff, but I am pretty sure he liked it. Steven compares him to Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson. Calls it great. Jennifer says he is the complete package. I'm calling him safe too. Ryan asks him what kind of pin he has on and Paul says a jaguar or something, but Ryan insists it is a cougar so he can get the "cougar" vote. Seriously made me laugh. Nice one Ryan! I think he is the oldest one on the show too with his 26 year old self.

After break, Ryan points out that Randy has not said "pitchy" once tonight and I totally didn't notice that. Thanks Ryan! It really is a record!

Naima Adedapo- "Dancing in the Street" by Martha and the Vandellas. LOVE this song! She sounds a little flat in her rehearsal piece. Well she definitely dressed the part with her bell bottoms tonight. I like the beginning and actually the first half is pretty good. Then towards the end she busts out with some African style dancing. Random. Steven says something strange that I can't even quote. He uses the word beautiful again though. Jennifer says she is an exciting performer and she loves watching her and says it was her first goosebump performance of the night. Randy says tonight all of Naima showed up. Everything worked out.

James Durbin- "Livin For The City" by Stevie Wonder. Like I said last week, James is slowly making his way to the top of my favorites list. I believe he is at #3 right now. He reminds me of Adam Lambert again this week, but not in a bad way. Throws a couple of the trademark screams in there this week, but not over the top so I can tolerate them. Great performance by James again. The crowd loved him too! He remains in my top 3 of the season. Jennifer says he is serious business. He left her speechless. Randy says it was a little rough when it started (and gets booed), but when he hit his stride it was unbelieveable. Steven says he's all about being crazy. says he was incredible and the song was perfect for his voice.

Well all in all it was a pretty great show tonight. Stevie Wonder was well represented except by the person I was hoping would do one of his songs (Stefano). I didn't hate anyone, but there were definitely some stand outs for me. Tomorrow's results show should be interesting. If it's going on fan bases then Hailey could be in trouble again, but she did pretty good tonight so I'm not sure. Tough to even predict.

Faves of the night: James, Hailey!, Jacob!, Paul! and Pia (although I am sick of ballads from her)

COULD be in danger: Naima, Hailey (based on voting history), Stefano :(, Thia

Love Stefano and Hailey was pretty good tonight so I hope they are both safe tomorrow.

Idol Live with Nicole! Top 12!!

Top 12 tonight and the theme is "Songs From The Year You Were Born". This has been a rough theme in past seasons, so hopefully tonight is better. People that really need to step it up tonight : Karen, Stefano, and Hailey. I just looked and saw what year they were all born in and only 2 were born in the same year and the rest were all born AFTER me. Goodness I'm getting old!!

For the intro, Steven Tyler sings for a second and then Jennifer lets us all know that the contestants songs will be available for download after the show tonight, with all profits being donated to the relief efforts in Japan. Also during the results show tomorrow, you will be able to text with donations. Hopefully they can raise a lot of money!!

Naima Adedapo-"Whats Love Got To Do With It" by Tina Turner. Naima was born in 1984 (October, therefore she is younger than me also). She says it is hard being away from her kids, who are 3 and 1 years old. Starts off pretty good in the beginning. Sounds a little flat, but not too bad. Second half is better than the first half (in my opinion). I appreciate that there was no weird reggae rap thrown in the middle this week. Steven loved it, called it beautiful. Jennifer says she seems to be consistently pitchy, she is worried about her. Randy agrees with Jennifer, says the vocals were kind of a mess. Hmmm guess it wasn't as good as I thought. It did sound flat though.

Paul McDonald- "I Guess That's Why They Call it The Blues" by Elton John. What year did "Forever Young" by Rod Stewart come out?? For some reason I can totally see Paul singing that. Paul was also born in 1984. Same as me :). He sure was a cute little kid. Okay I am going to say this most likely every week, but Paul has the weirdest tone to his voice, but not in a bad way. His "dancing" cracks me up too. Poor Paul was hoarse during his rehearsal and he sounds hoarse tonight too. Yes very hoarse, so he's not as good as he normally is. Poor guy just looks like he is trying to get through it as quick as he can. He still has those nice white teeth though! Yea not great, but I won't hold it against him too much. Jennifer said she could see that he knew he was struggling , but he has so much soul and star quality that he overcame it. Randy isn't giving him a pass because he is sick. He says he had pitch issues, but he likes that he tries to make everything he sings his own. Steven agrees with Randy. He says he defines a "cool dude in a loose mood" though. He likes his distinctive voice though. I think the fact that Paul was sick will actually GAIN him votes, so he should still be safe.

Thia Megia- "Colors of The Wind" by Vanessa Williams. Okay seriously this girl was born in 1995! I feel so old when I watch this show now. WTF! :). Cute little baby and I am SO glad they didn't subtitle her family! We then get to hear itty bitty 6 year old Thia singing a song she wrote HERSELF when she was only 6! Impressive! Starts off nicely. She kinda looks like Pocahontas with her long dark hair too. She does a pretty decent job with the whole song. Kinda slow, but I guess that's because of the song choice. This girl could totally be a Disney star if this Idol thing doesn't work out. Randy says the vocals were okay, but he felt like he was at a pageant somewhere. Tells her to take some chances next time, it was too safe and boring tonight. Steven asks if that's who she thinks she is and she said it was the best song out of the choices she had, especially with what is going on in the world today. Jennifer says she needs to break out of the safety zone, but her bravado needs working on. Hmm she may be in trouble tomorrow night.

James Durbin- "I'll Be There For You" by Bon Jovi. During James Coke sit down, Ryan apologizes to Kate Hudson for her nose bleed seats and she covers her eyes with bags of Cheetos. Seriously. Apparently James, Stefano, Casey, and Paul have formed their own little band. James was born in 1989. There's video of him singing his ABC's while trying to get out of his crib when he was maybe 2 years old. Okay just a little side note, I TOTALLY used to sing this song in my backyard while standing on my Little Tikes picnic table when I was 4 or 5 years old. Nice choice James! Starts off great! James is becoming one of my faves. The tail is back! Chorus is my favorite part (partly because that's the part of the song I would always sing :)). He does his infamous Adam Lambert scream, but it actually fits in the song so its good. Nice ending too! Great stage presence by James, he moves all around. Steven says he has leftover sandwiches under his bed older than him. He also tells him to not get too "poppy" on him. WTF is wrong with Bon Jovi?? Jennifer says she was singing along with him and she gets  so much joy every time he sings. Randy says he always figures out how to make it his own. He also says he figured out how to do the high note, but not overdo it. Agreed! Wow Ryan looks really short next to him! Steven says he will perform with James (I think if he makes it to the finale). He will be SAFE!

Hailey Reinhart- "I'm Your Baby Tonight" by Whitney Houston. She was born in 1990. Goodness they keep getting younger! Her parents are both in a band (together). This girl must've forgotten that its not smart to do Whitney on this show. Let's see if she can pull it off. Yea I'm not liking the beginning at all. The middle is a little better with her little "growling" thing she does. Yea this was not the best choice for her at all. I think she loses her place towards the end when it gets really fast. I didn't quite understand it much. Yea she might be in trouble again. Jennifer says she looks beautiful. Says she seems unsure with her movements though. Ryan then tries to wipe the lipstick that she has on her chin off. Awww how nice Ryan. Randy says he is a little confused by her variety of song choices. Says the vocals were ok, it wasn't a great performance. He's confused by her. Steven says it was sweet and tough, but he wants to hear more blues from her.

Stefano Langone- "If You Don't Know Me By Now" by Simply Red. He was born in 1989. His family was very musical also. Stefano turned down "great" choices by New Kids on The Block, Milli Vanilli, and finally settled on this song. Smart move I think. Okay I think this is going to be my favorite performance by him from these last few weeks. Great beginning, great middle, and great ending. The good thing about Stefano is he always sings with such emotion. Jennifer seems to be loving it too. I might just have to download this song myself. Loved it! Randy says it was the best of the night so far. Agree! Says he SLAYED it. Steven says he had beautiful phrasing. It was over the top beautiful. Jennifer says it was a perfect song for him. LOVED him!!! He better be SAFE tomorrow!

Pia Toscano- "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" by Whitney Houston. She was born in 1988. Video of Pia singing some Whitney Houston when she was little. These kids had great voices even when they were toddlers! Okay I am liking her vocals, but not liking the fast music they have to go with it. Apparently this is the dance remix. Like her Whitney better than Hailey's. She is probably my favorite girl. Great vocals throughout the whole song. Not pitchy at all. She hit all the high notes too. Loved it. Steven says she took the song and nailed it in her own way. Jennifer liked the up tempo remix. Says it was perfect for her. Randy says every week she brings amazing vocals and says she is trying to win it. Calls out all the other contestants to get in it to win it too. She will be SAFE!

Scotty McCreery- "Can I Trust You With My Heart" by Travis Tritt. He was born in 1993. OMG he was the cutest chubby baby! He says he doesn't want to change his country roots which is good because he does country pretty darn good. Okay so his vocals are of course good because this is what he does good. However, he needs to start picking more up-tempo songs and moving around the stage more. Hopefully next week he does, because I can guarantee he will be back next week. Great job by him tonight though. He knows what he can do and he does it good. Jennifer tells him to keep growing. Randy names drops Travis Tritt and tells him to sing songs with more range because he can do it. Steven tells him to keep knowing who he is and he will go places. Agreed! He will be SAFE!

Karen Rodriguez- "Love Will Lead You Back" by Taylor Dayne. Karen's sister wanted her to do the show so she could get closer to Ryan since he knows Nick Jonas. Cute! Karen was also born in 1989. Seriously these people are young! Karen's hair looks a little like Marge Simpson tonight. Why is it so high?! She needs to bring it tonight or else she will be in danger I believe. She has a nice tone to her voice, but she doesn't sing very powerfully. She is bringing a little more power tonight though. She seems like she is putting more emotion into it. Ohh she's bringing the espanol again. Just one bar of it though so that was a little unnecessary if you ask me. Randy says it started rough, but she was on it by the first chorus. He still isn't jumping up and down though. Steven loves when she breaks in to her "ethnic what it is ness". Seriously that's what he said. Jennifer said a lot of stuff, but ended with perform it from your heart (I think). She will be in DANGER I think.

Casey Abrams- "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana. Casey was born in 1991. Casey got a lot of flack about his parents being older when he was younger. As if he can do anything about that. His parents are pretty funny though. He says he's going to be like his parents and not have a kid until he is like 60. LoL! Wow Judas Priest and Nirvana on American Idol in one season. Who woulda thunk. Starts off nice with the guitar. His facial expressions are a bit scary tonight. Wow this is a different Casey than we have seen in the past. Little different for me. Not bad, and I am sure he will get good reviews, just not my favorite. Way to be different though. He does get a standing ovation. Steven says he is so good and crazy and talented. Jennifer says it got a little screamy, screechy and Kurt Cobain never got screechy like that. Randy plays himself up as a musician and producer and everything else he does and then name drops a bunch of bands so we know that he knows who people are. He then tells Casey he loves that he puts art first and that hes fearless even though it wasn't his best performance. He will Be SAFE!

Lauren Alaina- "I'm The Only One" by Melissa Ethridge. She was born in 1994. Lauren is also sick with the flu. See what happens when you make them all live in one house Idol producers!! One gets sick and they all get sick! Her parents look very young! She starts off real low, but picks up as the song goes on. This girl has great stage presence too. Better than last week, but still not my favorite of hers. It is pretty good though. Second half is better than the first. Jennifer says she gave it the country flavor. Very, very good job. Randy says it was very nice and tells her to have a cold every week. Steven agrees with Randy. Calls her a shining star. She then fake coughs all over Ryan, although since she is really sick I think she still spread her germs on him. Goodness what would they do if Ryan missed a show?! She will be SAFE!

Jacob Lusk- "Alone" by Heart. He was born in 1987. This guy cracks me up in his interviews. Great personality! Wow last week he gets the choir and this week he gets the pimp spot. They seem to really like him. I've heard this song many many times on Idol, but never by a male (I believe?). Okay I don't think I like his voice and this song. Beginning isn't that great to me. Of course he busts it out after the first verse though. It does get better after the first verse too. He is trying a little too hard because I do believe he cracked toward the end. Okay he got a standing ovation too. It wasn't my fave of the night, but I did like him better this week than last. Randy says it was a very very nice performance. Says he got a little sharp at one point, but found it again after a couple bars. Says he is in it to win it. Steven said gospel had a baby and they named it Jacob Lusk. Jennifer said he is amazing to watch and we got a competition.

Faves of the night: Stefano, Pia, James, Scotty

MY bottom three: Hailey, Naima, Karen

Performing on tomorrow's results show are Lee Dewyze and Black Eyed Peas!

Weekly Song Wednesday!!

I'm loving another song, so I had to bring back "Weekly Song Wednesdays" this week. So I first heard The Script when I heard their song "Breakeven" and I LOVED it. Next came "The Man Who Can't Be Moved", which I also loved and they once again have another hit out "For The First Time", which of course is stuck in my head quite frequently lately. Like Bruno Mars, I seem to like everything these guys put out! Give it a listen and let me know what you think!!

My New Favorite Movie!!

A while ago I posted about the greatness that is Netflix for Wii. Well this weekend I indulged myself in it and watched a few movies. Some of those movies included "Precious"- not as good as I thought it would be. I had higher expectations, still a good movie though; "Keith"- Had never heard of it before and basically just found it by searching through the Netflix library. Pretty great movie though, reminded me a little of "A Walk To Remember" (which I love!); and my personal favorite that I watched this weekend and definitely one of my new favorite movies of all time- "Life As A House". Now this movie came out way back in 2001, but this is the first time I have seen it. Loved this movie from beginning to end and I'm pretty sure I could watch it at least once a week. A few disturbing moments in the movie when I was thinking "WTF?!", but otherwise FANTASTIC! Be prepared with a box of Kleenex though, as it is pretty darn sad! If you haven't seen it yet I highly recommend it! Check out the trailer below!

Now if only I could find someplace that actually sold it I'd be one happy lady!! Might have to check out some of the movie stores to see if any of them have it for sale. If not, I guess I can always watch it on Netflix whenever I want!

Sick of Them Saturday!!!

Well it is the return of "Sick of Them Saturday". I meant to do this feature last week, but never got around to it. Can you believe it though, I am sick of the same person this week too. Any guesses who that might be??? Yes, you are correct if you guessed CHARLIE SHEEN!!!!

Now I do find his show former show very funny. He also does make a few good points like when he said that he honored his contract by showing up for work and doing his job. He said they told him to get help and he did and apparently the drug tests came back clear. Yet they still decided to leave the show production on hiatus and eventually fire him, therefore breaking his contract. However, he didn't do himself any favors by bad mouthing anyone and everyone involved with the show. This week he called out (and called a few unpleasant names) Jon Cryer for not publicly supporting him and also insulted John Stamos who was in talks to be his replacement on the show, although I heard he apologized for that. Now I don't know how successful the show will be without him since he was a huge part in making it the hit that it was, but I guess we will see next season. I am incredibly sick of hearing about him all day everyday. Every magazine has him on the cover, every entertainment news show has him as the top story, and last week he seemed to make the rounds to every news show (that wasn't on CBS). I personally was pretty annoyed when his 20/20 special pre-empted "Detroit 1-8-7", especially since there had already been specials about him on the previous night and that morning. He is making himself some pretty popular quotes though. I heard he was going to make T-shirts with them, but I'm hoping thats a rumor. If I only see Charlie on reruns of "Two and a Half Men" this upcoming week, I will be very happy!

Idol Live with Nicole! Top 13 Results!!

Well being that it is 7:56 and the show hasn't started, I am going to predict a girl being voted off tonight. Most likely either Ashthon, Karen, or Hailey. We will see though. Tonight's show also features performances by Diddy Dirty Money and Adam Lambert. Hopefully Lee Dewyze will get to perform on the show soon since his career after winning Idol hasn't been too great.

Wow looks like Casey is sick and in the hospital AGAIN. I believe this happened last week too. Goodness hopefully he is okay, he had a great performance last night! Looks like the Idols all get to live together in some gorgeous mansion. Probably one of Ryan's, I'm sure he has a few to spare. The bedrooms appear bigger than my whole apartment..seriously! Oh YAY the horrible group numbers are back!! They are performing lip-synching a Michael Jackson medley. Seriously why must they lip synch these things, you can totally tell! Ahh "Man In the Mirror", the song that made me fall in love with Kris Allen two seasons ago :). Have a look yourself...

Back from commerical and we get to see a middle aged guy holding a "Steven Tyler for President" sign the Ford music video. Now unlike the group numbers I actually do like these. This weeks video is "The World", which I have never heard before, but the videos always look like so much fun! After the music video is another video from the red carpet premiere of "Red Riding Hood", which all of the Idols got to attend. Some of them seem very excited to see Lance Bass there and Nikki Reed from "Twilight" is also there and Paul asks if she is "some sort of famous actress or something". Something like that Paul. Now finally time for some results!! Jacob, Karen, and Stefano are called up first. Jacob says he messed up but he pulled himself together and got back on track (during last nights performance). Karen says she couldn't hear herself that well so she wasn't relaxed while singing. Stefano is glad to be there after being the wildcard pick last week. Ryan once again messes with them and says "You are all safe...EXCEPT Karen this week". Nice Ryan. Not surprised though and glad Stefano is safe :).

Adam Lambert performs "Aftermath" unplugged. Wow I honestly was expecting an over the top performance full of lights and special effects from him. Not even close though. Not a bad performance at all. Well no lights or effects, but we do get thr trademark scream, albeit toned down a notch or two. All in all pretty nice by Adam. He wanted to strip the performance down so people could focus more on the message of the song...good idea.

After break Lauren, Ashthon, and Hailey are up. When asked how she felt about the judges comments, Lauren replies "Um, huh, you know...it kinda sucked." She says they were right though and it wasn't good and she apologizes for her "bad" performance. Ryan sees she is about to cry so he says he isn't going to drag it out anymore and tells her she is SAFE! Ryan tells Ashthon AND Hailey they are both in the BOTTOM THREE! So with Ashthon, Hailey and Karen being in the bottom three, that means Scotty, Casey, James, Naima, Pia, Thia, and Paul are all SAFE! Well I am not surprised at all, as you can see from my prediction in the beginning of this post which I promised was typed before the show started :)

 Puff Daddy, P.Diddy, Diddy, Diddy Dirty Money performs his hit "Coming Home" ft. Skylar Gray after commercial. Love this song and I am LOVING this performance! Very mellow and nice. That could very well be one of my favorite performances (by an already established singer) on this show. Great job Diddy Dirty Money! He then talks to the contestants a little before plugging his upcoming tour. Wow performances from both music guests were live tonight and not pre-recorded, very impressive! 

Finally time for the first elimination of the Top 13. Actually now that I think about it, I am surprised they didn't eliminate two people like they have done before when there was a Top 13. Karen is SAFE, Hailey is SAFE, Ashthon is ELIMINATED. Although looks like the judges save is back so she could still have a chance. Ashthon chooses to sing Diana Ross again (even though its what got her the least amount of votes). Her performance is better than last night, but the judges don't save her again. Can't say I blame them though, America doesn't seem to claim her as their favorite so no point is wasting the save this early in the season. I did like Ashthon, but her performances haven't been the greatest these past couple weeks. This years elimination song is "Don't You Forget About Me" by David Cook and poor Ashthon is just crying during her video.

Remaining: Jacob, Stefano, Lauren, Scotty, Casey, James, Pia, Naima, Thia, Paul, Karen, Hailey, Ashthon.

Idol Live with Nicole! Top 13!!

YAY!!! Finally time for the real deal to begin! Looks like they are going with more modern themes this year too as tonight's eppy is songs from their favorite artists. Should be getting a nice mix of songs tonight. Really hoping Stefano does good since he was so good during last week's wildcard performance. Don't want him getting voted off this early! Time for the show!

Lauren Alaina- "Any Man of Mine" by Shania Twain. Well she started at a weird part of the song, but vocally sounds good. A little quiet though. Gets louder with the chorus though. This girl does have a lot of personality and great stage presence though. She knows how to perform well. Not my favorite performance from her, but still fun. Steven wishes it would've been a little more "kick ass" and the crowd is SILENT. Jennifer wants her to kick it into high gear, but loves her voice and her on stage. Randy basically agrees with the other two, he doesn't know if it was the right song for her. When she does her post performance interviews she reminds me so much of Kellie Pickler!

Casey Abrams- "With a Little Help From My Friends" by Joe Cocker. Just like me, Casey first heard this song on "Wonder Years". I totally just saw that show on TV the other night, by the way :). Walking down the infamous Idol staircase to kick off the performance then sitting down to sing it. Sounds great in the beginning! I don't really like the way he is pronouncing "friends" during the chorus though. Wow he gets the staircase and the whole choir of people to back him up. He is singing this song with so much passion! I am loving this performance and he isn't even one of my faves! Probably will be one of my faves of the night though. Great job! Jennifer said it blew her away. Randy said he hit all the notes and made listening to him sing fun, he loved it. Steven said he is a rainbow of talent that never ceases to amaze him and a plethora of passion. He should be safe for sure!

Ashthon Jones- "When You Tell Me That You Love Me" by Diana Ross. Really happy she got a wildcard spot last week so hoping she does good tonight. Hmmm not liking the beginning too much on this. She's got the Diana Ross hair though. Some huge earrings too. The second half is better than the first and she does good holding the notes out. Ending was pretty good. Not my favorite of hers. Randy liked it even though he was worried when he first saw her song choice. Steven says he thinks there's a lot more than what she is showing us. Jennifer wants her to start singing songs we can sing along with her. I agree with Jennifer. I like her, but not sure if she will be safe or not.

Paul McDonald- "Come Pick Me Up" by Ryan Adams. I really wish my teeth were as white as his! Apparently he has been getting lots of comments on them and says it may be because he doesn't drink tea or coffee. Also uses Crest Vivid White. I may have to try that! I've heard Ryan Adams' music before, but never this song. His voice is so different and the way he moves just amuses me so much. Not a bad job on the song, but I can't get over how his voice sounds to critique him much. Love the raspiness though. Steven loves the rasp too, but called it a little pitchy. Loves his voice though. Jennifer said he is so unique and she hopes America gets it since she doesn't know Ryan Adams or that song. Randy said it probably wasn't the most exciting thing for people but he loves who Paul is and Ryan Adams. He loves him for this show. He is very unique so he should be safe. Ryan then dances around like him and it actually is pretty close to what he actually did.

Pia Toscano- "All By Myself" by Eric Carmen. Whenever I hear this song I think of the movie "Clueless". Starts off pretty good. I like the dress she is wearing until I notice the strange train connected to it. Does great with the chorus. Really nice on the long note. Great ending too. She pretty much nailed it. Jennifer says she topped last week, really beautiful. Randy reminds us for the 10th time (at least) this eppy that this is his 10th season. He loves that she can hit every note. Called it a "very hot dope cool performance". Steven says it was the sum total of everything she has done so far. Called it beautiful. She should also be safe.

James Durbin- "Maybe I'm Amazed" by Paul McCartney. Well this is a choice I didn't expect him to do, especially for this week. I was thinking he would do some hard rock/ heavy metal stuff. He looks cute after his little makeover and haircut :) No tail this week either! He is doing pretty good with the song. I actually love the chorus and he doesn't do too much of the annoying scream so its tolerable. Hmm kudos to James that was actually much better than I expected! Randy says he is one of his faves because he has a voice that can sing anything. Steven says he has taken "everything he ever felt and kicked it into next week". Says he did such a great job. Jennifer says his voice has everything. Great performance, he should also be safe. These contestants are kicking butt tonight!

Haley Reinhart- "Blue" by Leann Rimes. Well she starts off with her voice cracking a bit during the "Blue" part. Gets better as the song goes on. Okay I really don't like when she does the "Blue" part at all. Just eh for me. Steven says that was really beautiful, she did such a good job. Jennifer says she does things with her voice that are so diverse. She loved it. Randy is laughing during this critique and says it was a little boring for him. She says she was trying to show the softer side. EEK I agree with Randy again.

Jacob Lusk- "I Believe I Can Fly" by R. Kelly. So I liked this song back when it came out in 1996 for "Space Jam", but for some reason I hate when people pick it to sing on this show. I like Jacob's personality, but I hope he keeps his performance toned down like he did last week. This guy has a career in gospel music for sure. Hate me if you must, but I am not liking this that much. HA I knew he would have a choir with him on this song! Nope way too over the top for me this week. He took us to church! Steven says pure passion, pure music he can't even judge because he is SO GOOD! Jennifer says with performances like this its anyone's game this season. Randy agrees with Jennifer, but he does say he went a little sharp and fell off it in the middle but he loved it anyways. I didn't love it, but I'm sure enough of America did that he will be safe.

Thia Megia- "Smile" by Michael Jackson Charlie Chaplin. Well every time I hear this song I think of MJ's brother singing it at his memorial service. Pretty sure I never heard it before then. Okay she doesn't remind me of Michael Jackson really like Randy thought. Sounds pretty decent on this song though. Especially since it is so flipping old! The song takes a strange medium tempo turn in the middle. She sounds good, but that was a little boring for me. Randy loved the intro since he could hear the Michael in her?. He didn't like the jazzy part in the middle though. Steven agrees with Randy. Says it was a little pitchy in the middle, but he liked it. Jennifer says the arrangement was "interesting", but that doesn't matter cause she sings like an angel. Hmm she could be in danger.

Ryan tells us that after the break its a battle between "east coast and west coast". This isn't a rap war Ryan.

Stefano Langone- "Lately" by Stevie Wonder. LOVE Stefano so hope he does well this week. Didn't like this Bruno Mars too much last week, but loved the wildcard song. Starts off nice, but I don't like his enunciation on certain words. He puts a lot of passion into his singing that's for sure! Picks up nicely with the chorus. I loved it. Steven said he pulled it off, it built from the beginning to end, it was beautiful. Jennifer said he had her dancing for a minute with the dance remix of that song. Said he sounded great. Randy said it started off a little rocky, but by the middle he was soaring. Very nicely done. He's adorable! I love him!

Karen Rodriguez- "I Could Fall In Love" by Selena. Video of Karen singing Selena when she was very young. Starts off a little low for me. Chorus picks up a bit, but still lower than I expected it to be. Second half of the song is better. Eh not that great for me. Was too quiet the whole song. Jennifer said she could tell she was a little uncomfortable while she was singing. Says she is one of the strongest girls though. Randy agrees and says it felt like she was fighting with the song. Says it was a little sleepy for him. Steven agrees also. Wow she will most likely be in danger unless she gets a lot of sympathy votes.

Scotty McCreery- "The River" by Garth Brooks. This kid has a career in country music for sure. Starts off great. Garth Brooks is a great choice for his voice. Seriously am loving this performance. So close to the original. Pretty sure he is the most country sounding person they have had on this show so he will definitely get signed when he is done with this. Audience seems to have loved it too. Randy says this is exactly where he belongs, don't change it. He loved it. Steven said he did Garth justice. Jennifer says she loved that he opened up as a performer. Very good, he should be safe.

Naima Adedapo- "Umbrella" by Rihanna. Well she gets the pimp spot, so I'm thinking this should be pretty good. Don't really care for her outfit at all, but the singing it good. She's dancing quite a bit, but not enough energy for me. Ohh until the middle and then she busts out some weird reggae rap stuff. The end is pretty good. Yea that was just a'ght for me. Steven says she is crazy good, little pitchy, but she brought flavor that no one else has done tonight. Jennifer doesn't care about the pitchy because she loved the reggae, rap and dancing. Says she needs to work on the control though. Randy does care about the pitchiness. He didn't like the cutoffs, but he loved the reggae. Yea I didn't like that too much. She then says some stuff to her husband that I didn't quite understand. She speaks very fast. Hmm she could go either way. She was a wildcard last week so I don't know how much support she had to begin with and the reggae, rap stuff was kinda different. She could very well be in the bottom three tomorrow.

Randy sums up the night by saying it was a tough night. Says there were some really good performances and some not so good. Jennifer and Steven basically echo Randy.

I thought there were some great performances tonight. Pretty good for so early in the season. This should be a good year! On tomorrow's results show: Diddy and Adam Lambert.

My favorites of the night: Casey, James, Pia, Stefano, and Scotty

Least favorite: Haley, Jacob (too over the top), Karen, and Naima

Idol Live with Nicole! Top 24 Results- Top 12 Named!

Dear American Idol people,

It is bad enough when you make your results shows one hour, but to stretch it out to two hours is just plain ridiculous. Do you realize that both performance shows were only an hour and a half. Seriously, WTF?!?

Well apparently we are getting two hours of show tonight. This should be just about full of filler. They will eliminate 12 people, have them sing 30 seconds each and yet somehow we are getting 120 minutes of footage. Oh goody!

In the intro, we get a recap of the contestants auditions and which cities they came from. Followed by recaps of Hollywood week and snippets of the shows from the previous two nights. Seriously all that only took 2 minutes. Yet somehow they manage to stretch out eliminations for another 118 minutes minus about 30-40 minutes worth of commericals (mostly for AT&T, Coke, and Ford). Ryan lets us know this is the largest cut ever. True Ryan, 12 people in one night is quite a lot. Goodness it took a good 2 or 3 minutes just to introduce everyone and half went to one side of the stage and the other half to the opposite side. Ryan lets us know that after the Top 10 are chosen, the judges will choose from the remaining 14 who they want to sing again for a chance at the wildcard vote (from them). Steven is asked who he thought was better, the guys or girls and he plays Switzerland and says they were pretty even. I say the girls were! Before commerical, Ryan lets us know that "drama like you've never seen before" is about to unfold.

After commerical, we see a 5 minute recap of the guys night. Time for eliminations...after Ryan talks some more to the guys. Nope I was wrong, now we get some interview footage of the guys. FILLER!!!! James lets us know that the Top 40 party had a blue carpet, which is kind of like a red carpet, but blue. Thanks James!! Well even though it was filler, it was pretty entertaining. The guys (for the most part) seem fun. Now eliminations!! Up first is Scotty and Robbie, Scotty is SAFE! Robbie is ELIMINATED! He still could get a wildcard spot though. Clint, Jordan, and Jovonny are next. Clint looks like he is about to have an anxiety attack. Jordan says if he could redo it he would pick a John Legend song, "Ordinary People". Jovonny looks like he could be on Jersey Shore. Clint and Jordan are ELIMINATED! Jovonny is also ELIMINATED! Wow Ryan way to lead him on! So far no surprises for me :).

The girls are up next and once again we get a quick recap of last night's show andalso an interview package. Pia and Lauren A. are up first. Lauren is SAFE! Pia is also SAFE!! YAY happy about both of those two :). Ta-Tynisa and Julie are next. Ta-Tynisa is ELIMINATED! Julie is also ELIMINATED!

Back from commerical and Kendra, Ashthon and Karen are up next. Ashthon is ELIMINATED...WTF!! Karen is SAFE! Kendra is ELIMINATED! Tim, Jacob, and Casey are up now. Ryan calls the song Tim sang "Streetcorner Serande" when its actually called "Streetcorner Symphony". C'mon now Ryan. Jacob is SAFE! Casey is SAFE! Tim is ELIMINATED! Awww, I <3 Tim! Although he didn't do very well Tuesday so I guess its justified. Naima, Thia, and Lauren T are next. Seriously we are flying through these things now! Naima is ELIMINATED! Thia is SAFE! Lauren T is ELIMINATED! Brett and Paul are up. Okay these are going so fast that I am losing track of how many people we have left. Goodness! Paul seriously has the whitest teeth ever! Paul is SAFE! Brett is ELIMINATED! Well my gosh that was a lot of people to go through in 10  minutes!

Hailey and Rachel are first after the break. Hailey is SAFE! Rachel is ELIMINATED! Now the remaining two guys, Stefano and James. Aww they have been roommates since Hollywood week. James is SAFE! Stefano is ELIMINATED! :( Okay so before they even sing, I am hoping the wildcard spots go to either Stefano or Tim and Ashthon.

Okay I see why this needed to be two hours long...

So it looks like the judges are choosing six people to sing for a chance at the two remaining spots. Three boys and three girls. Up first is Ashthon :). She is singing "And I Am Telling You". Good performance, great vocals. Very good control when she was holding the notes. She has a great shot at making the Top 12. Judges seemed to all like it. Next up to sing is Stefano :). He is going to sing "I Need You Now". Okay I am liking this much better than the Bruno Mars song from two nights ago. Also had good control when holding out the notes. If he would've sang like this the other night he would have been safe I think. Jennifer is jumping in her seat so I think she liked it. Judges all seemed to like him too. Really hoping those two get through!!

The judges choose Kendra to sing next. She chooses "Georgia On My Mind". A little too low on the volume in the beginning. Can't hear her too well. Chorus picks up and its pretty good. The end sounded a little sharp, but that could just be me. Randy agrees with me about it being low in the beginning. Next up is Jovonny. He chooses "Angel". Good choice for him. Ahhh some more singing in espanol. Okay he is doing pretty good too. Dang it I really wanted Stefano to be a lock for the wildcard. Nice job by Jovonny though, he's definitely in it still. Jennifer tells him he did all he could do...hmm that doesn't sound as promising as previous comments.

Naima is first to sing after the break. That means Rachel, Ta-Tyneisa, Lauren T. and Julie are all going home for sure. Naima chooses "For All We Know". Another good performance. All three girls did good, but I really hope Ashthon makes it. This song she is singing is a pretty good exit song though...Hmm she did pretty good. Could be a tough decision for the judges. Crying at the end too so bonus points for that. Last guy to sing is Robbie. That means Brett, Jordan, Clint and Tim :( are gone. Brett hugs all the judges. He was pretty likeable. I will miss Tim for sure though. Robbie sings "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word". Of course he is doing well too. Still hoping Stefano gets it though. Judges seem like they are loving it...crap! Well it will be either Robbie or Stefano for the guys I am sure. Although the judges seemed to like Stefano's Tuesday night performance more than Robbie so hopefully that helps. Randy says this is the toughest night ever.

After the break, the judges still don't have their decision so therefore we get to see Jennifer's new music video. What a coincidence how that worked out hmm, After the video, the judges have their choices. Of course we have to wait until after more commericals to find out though.

Finally we get to hear the results. The people moving on are ASHTHON, STEFANO and NAIMA. YAY very happy about the results!! So the Top 13 are Scotty, Lauren A,. Karen, Pia, Jacob, Casey, Thia, Paul, Hailey, James, Ashthon, Stefano, and Naima! Well almost all of my favorites made it to the Top 13, did yours?