Idol Live with Nicole!! Top 8!!

So I have to say I am going to miss seeing Pia this week. However, the main people I blame are the judges. It's not Stefano or Haley or Paul or any other contestants fault that they are still there and she isn't when they probably shouldn't be. It's the judges for deciding to use their ONE save for the season on the contestant who WOULD'VE come in 11th place!! They should have known that one of the better singers would possibly be voted off sooner than they should, but they still thought Casey was worth the save. The contestants don't vote for themselves (well maybe they do), but America is the one keeping them on. Oh, and I don't feel too bad for Pia anymore since rumor has it she has already signed a record deal, and hasn't even been off the show for a week yet. Seems kinda unfair to me, but whatever. Alright, enough of my rant!! This week's theme is "Songs From The Movies". I am hoping not to hear "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing" because it seems so obvious. We will see though!

Of course to begin the show we get a recap of the elimination last week. Stefano looks like he feels so bad, so I'm sure he appreciates seeing it over and over again. Mystery typer informs us that "It was the moment no one saw coming" . That is true, but still lets get over it!! You know all these recaps do is make me feel bad for Stefano. Everyone, including the judges, booing about the elimination. Yes it was a bad mistake, but Nigel Lythgoe told reporters that Pia was never a top vote getter. She was always middle of the pack. If anything I think them showing this so much is going to get Stefano more votes, sympathy or not. The poor guy looks like his dog just died. You can't help but feel bad for him. Especially knowing that Pia already has a contract!! Jennifer is shown telling Pia after the show last week that she wishes there was something they could do. Well J-Lo you guys could've saved her if you didn't waste it in the very beginning of the competition! Ryan congratulates Jennifer for being voted "World's Most Beautiful Woman" by People magazine. She looks embarrassed so at least she is modest. Ryan then reminds us to vote tonight because of what happened last week, in case we already forgot.

Paul McDonald- "Old Time Rock and Roll" by Bob Seger. Well Paul got the pimp spot last week and this week he gets the first spot, which is basically the worst place to be. Wonder if the producers are trying to get rid of him now. Paul by the way, is the "Vote For The Worst" pick this season. That could explain why he is still here for those that were wondering.  Will.i.am. is back as a mentor along with Jimmy. Paul is wearing something that looks very similar to a matador's costume, which doesn't exactly match the song. I can't really picture Bob Seger wearing this or anything remotely similar. Glad to see Paul's "dancing" is back. That's always entertaining :). Can't say his voice matches up with this song too well though. Too different, therefore I'm not liking it too much. Some random lady dances up next to Paul while playing the saxophone. Paul has also gotten a hold of a tambourine. This is entertaining, but the vocal aspect is kinda bad. The "Vote For The Worst" people have to be loving this though. Wow that was something. I do like Paul and his adorable "dancing" and perfect teeth, but I think it may be his time to go. Steven wants to borrow Paul's suit. He liked  it (shocking). Jennifer says every time he comes out he lets go a little more. Says he killed it. Randy likes the clothes and loves that he is not a typical singer, but an artist. Okay this is why people like Pia get voted off. The judges don't say a bad thing to anyone. Wonder if they will throw Stefano under the bus though.

Lauren Alaina- "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus. Fun fact: when Nigel stated that Pia was never a top vote getter, he also stated that Lauren and Scotty were. I'm betting one of them wins the show. Jimmy tells her she is a much stronger singer than Miley and I agree. She is much more likeable too! Jimmy tells her she can take the Pia votes now. She looks uncomfortable about this. Will.i. am tells her not to "steal" them, but "invite" them. Jimmy was right, she is a much stronger singer than Miley and she is killing it on this song! Sounds great!! This song could have totally been a coronation song for this show. She is obviously my new fave female contestant. LOVE HER! If the judges loved Paul, they obviously are going to love her. Jennifer says she loved hearing her sing that. Randy says she did an amazing job. Steven loves what she brings to a song, says she moved him beyond tears.

Stefano Langone- "End of the Road" by Boyz II Men. Jimmy tells Stefano that last week he did one of the greatest songs ever and he got his ass kicked. Way to kick him when he's down Jimmy. Jimmy tells him he is always giving him a hard time because he believes he can win. Tells him not to be a cop out by thinking he is the one going home this week. Kudos to Stefano already for picking a song that I don't ever remember hearing on Idol before! Hmm this might not be a good choice after all, it would work very well as a swan song! Well I'm liking it. He is definitely singing with a lot of passion and emotion this week. Shot of Stefano's dad and he looks like he is as into it as Stefano is. Well I think that may be my favorite performance of his. I loved it! So much passion!! Randy uses the word "yo" a lot and "dude" so you already know he liked it. Name drops one of the members of Boyz II Men saying he is going to text him telling Randy that Stefano slayed that song. Randy agrees with me and says that was his best vocal to date on that stage. Says he is in it to win it. Steven says he knows how to milk the song and says its not the end of the road for him tonight (I hope not!!). Jennifer says "that was the sh*t" which of course gets bleeped. Wow Jennifer got bleeped and not Steven. Way to switch roles! Well I'm really hoping after that he is safe.

Scotty McCreery- "I Cross My Heart" by George Strait. Scotty calls Jimmy "dude" during rehearsal which apparently Jimmy doesn't like too much so he apologizes and calls him "sir". Will.i.am mocks Jimmy and reminds us that Jimmy called him "mama". True story Will. Jimmy then borrows Randy's infamous line from Season 7 and tells him he could sing the phone book. Well obviously he is going to do well with this song, since it is a pretty "country" sounding country song and he has a pretty country sounding voice. I do love this song though :). Jimmy thinks he should've stuck with his original choice though. He is of course doing a good job, but with the exception of the Elvis song last week, all of his songs sound the same. During the chorus I can hear the backup singers better than I can hear Scotty and I'm not liking that fact too much. I love his little rapper hand movements he has been doing lately though. Don't know where he picked that up from because I am pretty sure George Strait or Garth Brooks haven't ever done that while singing before. Looks more like an Eminem move. Nice job, but like I said, they all kind of sound alike. Steven loves his voice. Jennifer says everyone wants them to be tough, but they all are so damn good! Says it wasn't her fave choice for him but he still performed it good. Randy loved the song choice and that he loves him staying with his roots. Says "if its not broke don't fix it". Hmm if he believes that I wonder why he will sometimes call contestants out on being too "safe". He then says "a star is born on this stage". So if you are keeping track, we are four contestants in and the judges haven't said a single bad thing about any of them.

Casey Abrams- "Nature Boy" by Nat King Cole "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins "Nature Boy" by Nat King Cole. During rehearsal Will and Jimmy look bored to death and I can't blame them because the 10 seconds we saw of him performing that bored the crap outta me too. He then switches his song and it sounds a little better, but the next day he switches it back to "Nature Boy". I have a feeling this is going to be boring. Jimmy seems pretty annoyed by Casey not taking his advice. I think Jimmy may be the right one in this argument though. Well Casey has the bass out again this week. I am bored within 20 seconds of this. I think this is going to land him in the bottom 3 tomorrow. He is making weird faces and the song is just too slow and boring. I am not liking this at all. The second half picks up a little bit, but still too slow for my liking. Apparently I am ignorant though because all 3 judges give him a standing ovation! Jennifer says at the beginning she was nervous, but she realized she loved it apparently. Randy says that was a "Grammy" performance. Umm okay Randy. He loves that this season is apparently about education?? He then reminds us that he is an artist himself. Steven says a bunch of gibberish, but eventually makes sense and says he is the true meaning of the word artist. He also says his mom used to sing that to him when he was a baby, so that gives us some idea of how old that song actually is!

Haley Reinhart- "Call Me" by Blondie. Haley seems to be picking really smart song choices these last few weeks. They all seem to fit her voice. I'm really liking this song by her. Unlike Paul, her outfit seems to match nicely with the song also. Pretty good job by Haley tonight. Can't find much wrong with her performance. She sounded good, looked good, and performed good. Randy didn't love the beginning because it sounded too karaoke, said it wasn't a showcase of her voice. Steven AGREES!! WTF?!?! He liked the chorus though. Jennifer loves her wailing at the end, but she agrees with Randy. She doesn't want to say anything bad about the girls though because she wants them to stay. Nice Jennifer. Okay I'm confused. the judges loved Casey and liked Paul, but none of them liked that. WTF?!?!

Jacob Lusk- "Bridge Over Troubled Water" by Simon and Garfunkel. I'm really hoping Jacob says something stupid about us again this week because I am so ready for him to go home. Jimmy calls him "stool man". Haha I love it! He then calls him out for insulting America last week when he said we were afraid to look at ourselves in the mirror. Jimmy tells him not to preach to 24 million people when he hasn't even put a record out yet. WOW I am loving Jimmy right now!! After Jacob sings a little of his first choice, Jimmy and Will tell him he doesn't need to be corny right now. Jimmy then tells him to sing "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and Jacob agrees. I can already picture this being too over the top. Starts off nice and mellow, but I anticipate that changing soon. Actually the first half of the song is pretty good. He's not even doing the Broadway hand movements yet. Three quarters through and its still very nice. Well the ending was a little too much, but still not bad at all. Nice job by Jacob. Steven says its astounding how angelic he sings. Jennifer says he is such a gifted vocalist. Randy says he believes him when he sings. Says it was "perfect, perfect, perfect harmony".

James Durbin- "Heavy Metal" by Sammy Hagar. Well James gets the pimp spot tonight and I have a feeling this will be an interesting and entertaining performance. Jimmy hated his rehearsal and tells him he needs to be safe this week. James says he knows what he's doing, no disrespect to them. Kudos to him for standing his ground though. Somewhere James found a heavy metal looking guitarist who I am sure just ruined all of his street cred by appearing on American Idol. Well this isn't exactly my type of music, but James is doing pretty well with it. He is basically just screaming the song, but I think that's how it is supposed to be done. Of course we get his trademark scream followed by lots of guitar solo. And one more scream to end it. Well that was surely something. That and Casey's performance was like night and day. Jennifer loved it. Randy says he can see James on stage with Ozzy at the next OzFest. Steven called it outstanding. The guitarist is Zack Wild and he apparently plays with Ozzy. Yea I think he lost his street cred for sure :).

Faves of the night: Lauren, Stefano

Bottom 3 prediction: Paul, Casey, Haley

Tomorrow's results show features performances by Rihanna and Kelly Clarkson with Jason Aldean.

Who did you like?? Who do you think is going home?? My guess is Casey.