Idol Live with Nicole!! Top 9!!

Top 9!!! Whoo hoo!!! Also the show is only 90 minutes tonight...whoo hoo again :). Don't get me wrong, I love the show, but 2 hours is a long time to hold my attention! Tonight's theme is "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame". Should be plenty of choices for the contestants to choose from, so hopefully everyone chooses wisely!! Ryan announces in the beginning that its the most "infectious music in the world". Hopefully no one picks too cheesy of a song!! Brief history of the "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" narrated by Steven Tyler (he is in the Hall of Fame with Aerosmith). Wonder if anyone will be doing any Aerosmith music tonight??? Looks like James will have the pimp spot this week...no surprise there. Will.i.am helped mentor the kids with Jimmy this week.

Jacob Lusk- "Lets Get it On" by Marvin Gaye."Man in the Mirror" by Michael Jackson. Jimmy tells him during rehearsal that if he does the song like that there will be a population explosion in 9 months...I think I may disagree. We don't have to find out though because Jacob can't sing a song like that (his words not mine). So he chooses the song that made me fall in love with Kris Allen back in Season 8. I think I will like Kris' version better, but I am biased :). Jacob tells us that if he is in the bottom 3 tomorrow it won't be because he sang the song bad, it will be because America wasn't ready to look at themselves in the mirror. WTF?!?! Is he insulting us so we will vote for him?!?! That might not have been a smart move. He starts off nicely, but takes his ear piece out right at the beginning for some reason. I'm not liking this as much as I did Kris', I was right. Lots of harmonizing with the back up singer during the chorus. He's got the jazz hands back this week. The ending was my favorite part. The rest was just a'ight for me. Apparently Jacob's back up singer co-wrote that song. I do love that song. Steven said it was beautiful (of course). Jennifer said he makes everybody know that if you believe in yourself you can do anything in this world. Randy said he loved that he went with his morals and didn't change the Marvin Gaye song. Said he had his "Jacob moment". IDK, I'm not on the Jacob love bandwagon, but he will most likely be safe.

Haley Reinhart- "Piece of my Heart" by Janis Joplin. She is singing a Janis song because the judges keep comparing the two of them. Well her raspy, growling is once again working well on her song choice. She has been choosing great songs for her voice the last 3 weeks. LOTS of growling this week. Probably more than half the song. I don't know if the ending was my favorite, but she did pretty well with the song overall. Jennifer said she is showing everyone she is a contender. Says if she keeps performing like that shes going to be around for a minute. Which I am pretty sure was a compliment, but it sounded like an insult to me. I'd wanna be around a lot longer than a minute. Randy said that's the Haley they love. Steven said he couldn't find nothing wrong with that. If Steven ever says anything negative I think I might die. This guy never says a bad thing about anyone!!! I love him, but he needs to start JUDGING!! She could go either way tomorrow night.

Casey Abrams- "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic" "Have You Ever Seen The Rain" by CCR. He's got the upright bass out this week. Starts off pretty nicely. Gotta say I'm glad he chose this over his first choice. I really like this song. He is doing pretty well with it too. I'm liking him more tonight than I have the last 3 weeks. Glad he changed his ways after almost being voted off. I like this Casey much better! That is probably my fave of the night so far. Although we are only 1/3 the way through so hopefully it gets better. Randy says he made CCR proud. Says he made the upright bass cool. Calls Casey "Revolutionary". Steven thinks he should put wheels on it and ride it around town. Calls him a true musician and he is what the show is about. Jennifer says that is exactly where he belongs. Ryan asks if he puts pressure on himself since the judges saved him and he says he feels like he has to give 150% to them every week now. I'm calling him safe.

Lauren Alaina- "Natural Woman" by Aretha Franklin. She sounds pretty great during rehearsal so she should be pretty good tonight. Wow she starts of very nice! Nice and soft during the first verse. Starts belting it out a little during the chorus. Belts it out more during the end. That is my new favorite of the night. She sounded great on it! Steven says tonight she is a natural born woman. He loves her voice. Jennifer said she is amazing. Randy said she picked one of the most difficult songs of the night, but he wasn't jumping up and down (is he ever though). Says she did a good job. She will be safe. Christian Slater cameo!!

After break Ryan asks the judges how they think the show is so far. Of course they all say they think its going great. Not much negativity from these people. Steven also asks Ryan how the balls of his feet are and Randy asks if he is wearing deodorant. Ryan then asks if they are on the same show as him and I'm wondering WTF is going on also. Weirdness!

James Durbin- "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" by George Harrison (of the Beatles). Wow guess he didn't get the pimp spot after all. James is slowing it down this week which is actually a huge change for him I guess. Pretty sure I have never heard this song because the title doesn't sound familiar at all. Will.i.am is worried about him doing a ballad. James is sticking with his instincts though and singing his first choice. This is a lot different than we are used to hearing from James, but he is doing pretty well with it. Not my favorite of his, but still good. Ah there is his high scream at the end there. Pretty sure he is crying at the end cause I think he just wiped tears away. Jennifer loved seeing that side of him. Randy loved the emotional side. Said it was very nice. Steven said that was a proud moment for him. Yes James is crying. He said he has worked on that song for 5 years. He will be safe.

Scotty McCreery- "That's Alright Mama" by Elvis Presley. Okay I've heard many Elvis songs, but pretty sure I've never heard this one. Scotty says we won't be seeing the country Scotty this week. The music is really distracting me for some reason at the beginning. Wow I'm impressed. He actually does sound different for the first time in weeks. Looks like Scotty might not be a one trick pony after all. I am pleasantly surprised!! After his performance a herd of girls rush the stage to hug him. Ryan looks confused, as am I. Randy says "SCOTTY IS IN IT TO WIN IT" Calls out the people like myself that thought he was a one trick pony. Steven thought he was all hat and no cattle, but says he did it well. Jennifer asks if he watches any hip hop or rap videos after seeing his moves (I was actually thinking the same thing). He will be safe.

Pia Toscano-"River Deep, Mountain High" by Tina Turner. Sooo happy to see Pia sing something up beat!! Well as usual, she starts off great. Love her voice!!! She sounds great on anything!! She's moving around so much this week too. Very nice job!! Loved everything about it!! Steven calls her a murderer because she killed it. Says there's a million guys at a million bars having a million drinks about her tonight. Jennifer says it was amazing. Says she proved to everyone that she can sing an uptempo song. Wants her to start researching the great performers so she can get greater. Randy says she showed him what he already knew. Says "PIA IS IN IT TO WIN IT". I think that's the third person that they have said that about. Is anyone not in it to win it?? She will be safe!

Stefano Langone- "When A Man Loves A Woman" by Percy Sledge. Okay so every time I hear this song I think of Michael Bolton, not Percy Sledge. Will.I.am is pretty amusing during Stefano's rehearsal. Stefano thinks this will be a big week for him and I hope to God he is right! Whoa starts off higher than I have ever heard him. Stefano is so frickin adorable!! I am so biased against him!! Wow he holds the one note out pretty long without breaking. Well that didn't remind me of Michael Bolton so kudos for that. He kept his eyes open a lot too! I liked it, but like I said I am kinda biased. Jennifer says she knew he had it in him. Calls it beautiful. Says she felt for the first time that he was singing about somebody. Randy says he liked it, but once again he wasn't jumping up and down. Says the first half felt too jerky and Jennifer says he is crazy. Jennifer is biased like me. Steven asks Randy is he is through. He liked it all. Says he nailed it, lots of passion. Awww I love me some Stefano!!! Hopefully he will be SAFE!!!

Paul McDonald-"Folsom Prison Blues" by Johnny Cash. Whoa Paul gets the pimp spot tonight. Really surprised by that!! Everyone has been pretty good tonight though, so I kinda hope he doesn't do all that great cause I need Stefano to be safe!! Jimmy asks if he has seen the Johnny Cash movie and then tells him to sing it like he's out of his f*ckin mind. LoL! Will.i.am is a trip! Paul is also pretty cute with his quirky little white teeth self. He doesn't sound as much like Rod Stewart this week, but this isn't my favorite performance of his. He is sounding pretty good and is full of energy though. He is a great performer though. You can tell he has been performing in front of crowds for a while. Nice job, just not my personal favorite. Randy says he loved it. Steven says he is a perfect imperfect boy. Jennifer says it was a perfect way to end the show. Good job.

Okay so the bottom 3 are getting so hard to predict!! These people all do pretty good every week. No clue whatsoever!! I will make a prediction though I suppose.

The contestants are all having a little square dancing hoe-down on the stage at the end of the show. These kids all seem like so much fun. Much more energetic than last seasons contestants!!

MY faves of the night: Lauren, Stefano, James, Casey and Pia

Shot in the dark Bottom 3 prediction: Jacob, Haley, Paul?? Stefano may be in there, but I really hope not!!

Oh I'm going to say what I've been saying to my friends for the last couple weeks and call the top 4 of the season Pia, Scotty, James and Lauren. In 5 weeks, we will see if I am right!!