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.