Back to the blogging... Top 5

First things first... my apologies for not writing the last three blogs (when Tim left...HALLELUJAH... when the Top 6 performed..and when Siobahn left..which needed to happen!) First time EVER since I started these a few seasons ago that I've skipped any blogs at all...let alone three. I was just REAL busy last week and, if we're being honest here, I kind of stopped caring about this season a long time ago. Sorry. Sad, but true. I still feel the need to finish it out though, so I will.

To recap... Tim leaving was the best thing to happen to this season so far, and I did not shed ONE tear when Siobhan left last week. She had honestly gotten worse and worse as the weeks went on. I'm not sad that she's gone. Not one bit.

Ok...so here we go. Down to the top 5! I think it's way cool that Harry Conick Jr. played for all of them tonight. And I DO love me some Frank Sinatra songs, so there were two good things about the show right off the bat. Alright......

Aaron: Well, Aaron.. you're still here aren't you? It was good. Not great, not bad... just good. I will still VOMIT if you win the whole thing, but you've been sounding a little better the past few weeks so I'm willing to cut you a little slack. You were cute as a button tonight and I thought that was good song choice for you. I feel as if Aaron will stay through this week, but might be out by the time next week rolls around. I'm feeling a Big Mike/Lee/Crystal final 3 so that doesn't leave Aaron much hope. I still feel like he SHOULD go this week, but the 11 year olds are still voting so you just can't be too sure!

Casey: You are very good looking. The scruff you had going tonight... exxxcellent! The pulled back hair.. also a good choice. Yum. He started out a little bit shaky, but it wasn't bad. Some of the notes were a little too high for him, but let's be real here...we have heard MUCH worse this season. So in comparison, it wasn't that bad. They were hard on him, which I understood, but these are also the people that thought Tim Urban sang good, so...really, where's the credibility in that? He for sure looked a TAD uncomfortable without his guitar, but I am SO glad he didn't play it for once in his life! He really should stay over Aaron this week..but since he was in the bottom 2 last week, he might be in trouble again. What he NEEDS to do is keep the scruff. Forever.

Crystal: Keeping it real for the girls... last one standing... First things first, she looked great tonight! That dress was killer on her. and she even fancied up her dreads real nice. Good work, Crystal. This is for sure not her style of singing, but she still, in the words of Randy "did her thing". I honestly NEED her to win this competition. For many reasons. The most obvious one being...she has a great voice and one that is DIFFERENT and not already played out like most of the other contestants this season sound. That should be reason enough. The ONLY thing I don't like about her is that she gets a little too talk-backish with the judges. She always has some sort of defense about at least one thing that they say. I still think she's the best one left and I am pulling for her. Keep it real for the ladies, Crystal!

Big Mike: I wish I liked him as a person more. He just annoys the daylights out of me!! I can't really put my finger on exactly what it is other than his arrogance, but I just don't really like HIM. His voice though, I love. It's just nice. It's an easy listen. Problem is.. I've heard it 6 million times before. It's called "every other male R&B singer that has ever lived". He really does sound great every week but HONESTLY... if he wins this thing he will just be Reuben Studdard 2.0 and everyone will forget about him in 9 months. I think the fact that he got saved actually did save him... I really think he, Crystal, and Lee will be the final 3. But, what do I know!? Oh, and Mike..one more thing... STOP LICKING YOUR LIPS or I WILL be forced to boycott everything you do.

Lee: As a person, he is WILDLY boring. I mean, WOW. He should for SURE take some tips from Harry... HE is a good time! For as boring as he is personality wise, I actually really liked his performance tonight. He seemed like he was having a good time and his voice sounded pretty good. A few jank notes here and there, but overall pretty good. I will never be jumping out of my seat for him, but tonight was probably the first performance of his that I can legitimately say I'll remember. People seem to really love him so I will not be surprised if he's in the final 2 with Crystal. That's my professional opinion anyway. He's definitely not going anywhere this week.

Ok...I must talk about Ellen for a minute. I love her, I really do... but to make a joke about Harry's piano every time you critique a contestant? Not necessary. Just not necessary.

My prediction is that Aaron and Casey will be the bottom 2. I have not one clue who will end up getting the boot, but that is what I think will happen. We shall see!

The Top 7...

So I'm writing while watching again... mostly because I don't feel like spending any extra time on the show than I absolutely have to. It's really sad to me that it's come to this. From a season like last year where I LIVED to write these blogs... to a season like this one where I honestly forget the show is even on each week. Sad. Just sad.

Ok...here we go... Alicia Keys as the mentor. I'd say that's a good choice. I mean, it's not a bad choice so by default I have to say it's a good choice. She's successful enough at this point in her career that it makes sense... especially with all her charity work and such with Idol Gives Back coming up. I can see why they chose her this week.... Now, onto the show.

Casey: Oh, well we're back to the electric guitar with him. I guess that's just his thing so he should do what he's good at. --- His voice actually sounded really great. He's never sounded BAD, I'm just never jumping out of my seat. This performance is MUCH better than last week when he stood in the middle of the teeny bopper front row, so I'll give him props for that. I could see Casey being successful.. I just don't know for how long. I feel like he, along with Lee who hasn't even sung yet, would just get lost in the shuffle of every other guy who sounds just like them and has the same vibe. He's got "the whole package" as they say though, so I'll be really surprised if he's not at least in the top 4 or 5. I can totally understand why the judges were a little ho-hum with him tonight... welcome to my world, judges!

Lee: Funny that he was right after Casey since I just lumped them together in the same category. First things first Lee.... GET A BETTER PERSONALITY! When Ryan was introducing him he looked like he'd rather be anywhere else. DUDE... you are on the biggest show in the country and trying to become a rock star... SHOW SOME EMOTION! He frustrates me. I want to like him, I really want to. --- Ok... his voice is fine. But I feel like he always does his songs just a bit too high. He always seems to be stretching for a note or two.. or three or four. With that said though, he sounded good tonight. But again, not great. I'm not excited. I'm not jumping up and down. And, in approximately 25 seconds, I probably won't care what he did. Also, I like that song...but there are just way to many "la la la's" in it. If Lee can liven up a little bit I think he can make it pretty far because there IS something likable about him.. I just can't seem to really figure out what it is. I was glad to at least see him smile during his critiques. You should try that more often Lee!

Tim: Better Days by the GooGoo Dolls!? Oh no. I'm nervous. The last time I heard this song song live, it was by my brother...who happens to sing WAAAAYYY better than all of these boys... so I can only imagine this is not going to be good. --- And would you look at that, it isn't. Not good at all. This is another off night for him... I just cringed actually. SO flat. AH!! I just want to scream at this show!!! Tim had a few weeks in the last month or so where I was maybe trying to give him a chance and cut him some slack. Tonight it was confirmed that my first instinct about him was dead on: NEVER should have been in the top 12!! It just wasn't good. Flat all over the place and just SO blah!! I am SO glad that judges didn't tell him it was better than it was. Thank God they kept it real. He needs to GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Aaron Kelly: I Believe I can Fly?!? ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?! I feel like this song needs to be put in the same category as any Celine or Mariah or Whitney song. Not that R Kelly is the best singer I've ever heard, but it is NOT an easy song to sing and people who are not R Kelly should just not try it. We know R can sing it...we've heard him do it since, what, 1997? We just really shouldn't allow other people to sing it. --- Ugh. Again I just do not know how to express my anger and frustration with this show! Why is he in the TOP 7!?!?! I have obviously heard much worse, but that song was a bad idea!! Too much. It was just too much and he janked up one too many notes. I'll give him the last note...that was pretty good. But it was STILL not great! I'm just torn. Was it horrible? No. Was it "inspiring" as the theme suggested? Sure. Was it good enough to be in the top 7? Um.... not so much. I agree with Simon... if I heard that version on the radio I would've turned it off immediately. He's a sweet kid, but time to go.

*Ok, I just heard Ryan say that Siobhan is going to sing Whitney AND Mariah... which can only mean one song... When You Believe from the Prince of Egypt. I just know it. Siobhan....what did I JUST SAY about those ladies and their songs!?!?! Leave them alone!!!! Oh, boy... here we go.... I'm already annoyed and I haven't even heard it yet.

Siobhan: I can't. I can't do it anymore. I can't handle her voice. Can't handle the vibrato and the beefy tone. I just can't. I feel like she is getting worse as the weeks go on, and that's just never a good thing. Um...that key change!? No. Awkward and out of place and not good. The high, slow falsetto at the end before the very last line, was the best part of the song. The rest? I was not a fan. And neither was Randy, so I'm glad about that. Ellen.. I love you and I think you're hilarious but you have nothing of value to say. Kara... on the contrary... I can't stand you and would never want to hang out with you, but YOU are right on the money lately! Here's the thing... Siobhan.... you HAVE to have known that that song is NOT A SONG THAT ANYONE SHOULD EVER SING!!! You didn't want "who the song is by to scare you away from doing it?" Well.. you should. You should want that. And you should've been scared away from it. I love a lot of songs that I am smart enough to never sing. It's common sense as a singer!!!! Ugh.. for the flying flip!

Big Mike: He looks bigger. He legitimately looks bigger than last week. What on earth? --- Ok, when he first said "Hero" I thought he meant Mariah's Hero... thank GOD that was not the case. Big Mike is a great singer, but tonight was for sure not his best. He's still a better singer than most of the guys left... all of them actually, in my opinion. I'm not sure how I felt about this song for him.... it was a bit of a "rock vibe" which really isn't his thing. I also think that his big note at the end was a little off...which is unusual for him. However, even with the fact that I can't stand his arrogance lately, I still like his voice. It wasn't my favorite performance of his, but it was better than Tim and Aaron combined!!

Crystal: The only one I am looking forward to. I just like to see what she brings every week. I'm glad she's not playing an instrument... it's good to know that she's not totally relying on her guitar. --- LOVED the a capella start! It says a lot about a singer when they can still be on pitch when the music finally comes in. Here's what I love about Crystal's voice... even when she's sliding up to a note and might not always hit it right on every time, it just sounds cool when she does it so I almost just don't care. Like it's just almost part of what makes her so great or something. I don't know. Umm...she's crying.... what? Did I miss something? I think I was writing and not paying enough attention... let me rewind.... so she was thanking the Lord I guess. Well alright! I suppose the song IS talking about getting on board the train to the Kingdom... like heaven, right!? Well I might've gotten a little teary talking about that too! I am just on the Crystal bandwagon for sure. She's different....she's edgy... she's got a great vibe.. she needs to win. If she doesn't win, I'll be mad. I just decided.

Ok...if Aaron, Tim, or Siobhan don't go home tomorrow night I will scream. They NEED to be the bottom 3, but we all know that's probably not likely. Based on the performances tonight I don't see how it could be anyone BUT the 3 of them, but I'm not getting my hopes up. Just PLEASE let one of them go. Even if the other two are safe.. just please let it be ONE of them! If there is any justice in the world of American Idol it needs to be one of them!

Another elimination and another episode I didn't really care about....

Well, Andrew and Katie are gone and I'm really just fine with it. Andrew was for sure going home, and although I thought it would've been Aaron joining him, I'm not sad at all that Katie is gone. She's done well the last two weeks, but that isn't saying much since the rest of the weeks she's been on the show have been wretched. It's a shame that Andrew left so early since he had such a great run in Hollywood week, but sadly, he wasn't going to win anyway so it didn't really matter when he left...he was bound to leave eventually.

Ok...the performance by Brooke White and that Jason or Justin whoever he was. Eeek. Not good. Not good at all. She was pleasant and nice on her season, but she's still just as awkward now as she was then. She STILL...like 3 years later..looked so nervous to be up there performing. And whoever that was singing with her.... yeah, umm... no thank you. I would've rather seen more of that Africa video with the precious Elliot and those cute little kids than to have wasted 4 minutes listening to them sing that song. It just wasn't necessary.

Now....my favorite part of the show was of course Adam, but I must be honest..and I'm sure everyone will appreciate this.. I didn't think his performance was all that fantastic this time. I wasn't crazy about the way he started the song and I wasn't crazy about all the smoke and lasers. I also think his voice has sounded much better in the past than it did tonight. I was still excited to hear his screams and it was nice to be reminded of how wonderful last season was since this one is a train wreck, but I was hoping for an all caps kinda paragraph about Adam and it's just not happening. I still say he's 20 thousand times better than anyone on the show this year... so at least he's got that going for him! I can't wait to see him in concert this summer!

That's about all I've got for this week. I'm actually finding myself having to force these blogs cuz I just am so over this season that it's hard to find the excitement to write them anymore. I don't think there's ever been a season where I legitimately didn't care who won. The only thing I can say for this season is that it BETTER not be Aaron or Tim.

Another week of Top 9....

I would like to start this blog the same way I started many a blog last season... with a letter to my beloved Adam Lambert!

Adam-
Oh how I have MISSED YOU!! Tomorrow night will be the most fantastic show of the season for me since you will be performing! And although it seemed that not one contestant listened to your advice, it was so wonderful to see you again! You were the reason I tuned in tonight... even though I would've watched no matter what, YOU were the reason I was finally excited about a show this season and I'd like to thank you for that. I'd also like to thank you for coming to Minneapolis on June 12 because I will BE there!!!! Once again I'd just like to say... you rock my world.

Ok...now that that is out of the way...let's just talk about one more thing before I get to the performances. WHY wasn't I that blonde girl in the audience tonight? You know...the one that was sitting right behind my one love, Adam, and right NEXT to my other love, Mr. Shuester from Glee! Ugh. I was so jealous of her all night long! Who does she think she is!? Ugh. Enough about that though...all in all it was a pretty decent night. I'll just say right off the bat that my prediction for the two going home is Aaron and Andrew... but we'll get to them later... Let's talk about the girls first.

Crystal: I feel like I am running out of things to talk about regarding Crystal. She's been so consistent that it's almost as if nothing more can really be said. She's a great vocalist...HAS been since the beginning, and she always seems to do a great job no matter what the song choice or how she chooses to switch it up. She sounded great tonight, picked a song that fit her voice well, and performed it great.... just like pretty much every other week. I wouldn't say that I'm getting bored with her... but it's just nothing new. I will be VERY surprised if she is not in the final two....

Katie: Once again I cannot believe that I am writing this sentence... but Katie did a great job tonight. Maybe she just needed to get over her nerves the first few weeks or whatever, but for the second week in a row now I've thought that she's sounded really good. I'm still not crazy about her, but she has come LEAPS and BOUNDS from where she started in the top 24. I will say, however, that she needs to cool it with the accessories. WHY do you need to wear 10 necklaces AND huge earrings AND a huge ring, AND bracelets. Less is more, Katie! The good news for her though is that I can now say (much to my own surprise) that I like her better than...

Siobhan: I'm just over her. Here's the deal...and hopefully someone can answer this for me,.. what is UP with her 238 different voices? Her tone is ALL over the place. One minute she sounds one way, the next minute she sounds completely different. I don't like it. I just cannot stress enough how much she has been reminding me of an SNL sketch lately with the way she sings. I just can't take her seriously anymore. I'm not really sure where it was that she lost me, but I'm lost.

Alright....on to the fellas.
Andrew: I think his time is up. His take on Hound Dog was just such a snooze fest! Sure his voice sounded good, as it always does, but people are not gonna vote for him if they are bored out of their minds. I'm not saying that Adam was the best idea for mentor because he's been on the scene for approximately 45 minutes, but I DO think his advice should've been taken here and Andrew should've sped up the tempo a bit or something. I just think the judges were right in the beginning of the top 24...Andrew peaked WAY early with that Paula Abdul song and has been trying to catch back up to it ever since. He got close a few times, but never really got up enough momentum to QUITE get back to where he was with that performance. I think he's going home this week..... along with...

Aaron: Oh, my. For the love of all that is awkward! I might've been the only one that thought this, but he looked SO uncomfortable boppin' around the stage like that! I don't know WHAT was up with Kara's "I like seeing you out of your comfort zone" comment, because WOW, I don't think he should ever go out of his comfort zone if that's gonna be what he looks like when he does it! His vocals weren't horrible, but the performance as a whole was just not good. There is just no reason why he should stay another week. Not one. And as much as I thought a few weeks ago that he should stay over Tim Urban.. I'm beginning to rethink that one.

Tim: Well, he did it again. He actually sang most of the song in tune and he managed to do it without annoying me this week. WHAT is going on?! Just when I think I will never like the kid, he goes and has a slightly better than half way decent performance. His guitar playing was great, I thought. And his vocals were MUCH better than they have been in previous weeks. And let's just face it....if dude wasn't even IN the bottom three last week..there is literally no way he's going home after doing better this week than he did last week. I still do not think he deserves to be as far as he is, nor do I believe he should go any further than a 7th place finish... but I'd be willing to bet he won't be one of the two people leaving tomorrow.

Lee: He's another one that I feel like I don't really have much to say about anymore. He is consistent in his performances, has never once made me cringe due to any horrific vocals, and is fairly likable despite his somewhat absent personality at times. He's a mix between David Cook and Danny Goeky. Good tone...a slight rock vibe... and just good, solid performances for the most part throughout the competition. I'm not excited about him and never really have been, but there's nothing about him that I dislike either. He's just kind of "there" for me. I like him, I'm just not crazy about anything he does.

Casey: I sound like a broken record here, but again...what is there to say about him that hasn't already been said? I agree with the judges that it was just okay for him tonight, but again....nothing horrible has ever come out of his mouth and he's got a decent enough voice that I usually enjoy most of what he does. But am I jumping out of my seat and voting for him over and over again? No. Do I get excited to see what he's gonna do every week? No. Do I think I'd ever buy his album or follow his career? No. I still think he'll be around to at least the top 4, but just like a bunch of the rest of them, it just doesn't really matter to me WHERE he ends up.

Alright, I left Big Mike for last because I need to vent about how much he has been BUGGING THE SNOT OUT OF ME lately. I would like to end this blog with a letter, much like I started it. Only this will be a letter to Big Mike, and it will not be showing as much love as my letter to Adam did.

Dear Big Mike:
Please, for the LOVE of God, stop doing the 'double wave' every time you all come out at the beginning of each show. It is annoying. And, even more than that, you look 100% ridiculous when you do it! Also, if you chest bump yourself with your fist ONE more time, I might scream. No...no, I take that back....if you chest bump yourself WHILE closing your eyes in a "much too long/I'm just taking it all in and relishing the moment" mega blink...THEN I will scream!! Why? Why have you suddenly become so arrogant? You walk out onto the stage every week as if you think you BELONG there or have some sort of entitlement to be there. You need to dial down the cocky if you want to stay out of the lowest vote getter club. I can guarantee that is why people stopped voting for you. It can't be because of your voice, because that part of you is actually really great. You always sound good and your pitch is always spot on... which is why it's a shame that people are starting not to like you. Seriously, just quit with the double wave and the "I think I'm the star of the show" vibe you've been having lately. It's not working for you and I'd like you to stop. You deserve to be in the upper half of this top 9, and the constant lip licking and fist pumping are going to keep putting you at the bottom of it if you don't knock it off already!!

Whew... ok, I'm done! I'm not sure who else will be in the bottom three, but I'm pretty sure that Andrew and Aaron will be the ones to go home this week. I'm also pretty sure that seeing Ryan dancing with that guy (who apparently was Michael Sarver from last season) was completely unnecessary and a little to weird to have been happening.

I'm just ready for tomorrow night's Adam performance!!

And there's the save....

This blog will be short and to the point because there just wasn't too much going on for me tonight to spend too much time on it...

Ok, the save of Big Mike... complete right decision on the judges part. The fact that they even had to use it on him, ridiculous. How does the contestant, however arrogant he may act, with arguably the best pitch in the entire competition, get the lowest number of votes? And Tim... honestly.. not even in the bottom three?! I mean, I'm not that surprised because of the fact that he's the love of every 12 year old, but oh my WORD is his safety getting annoying! I thought for sure it was gonna be Andrew once Aaron was sent back to safety (another ridiculous move!). I'm glad Mike was saved... he didn't deserve to have gotten the lowest number of votes.

The best part of the show for me was when Ryan confirmed that ADAM will be the mentor next week!! Yay!! I can already say without any doubt that next week's episode WILL be my favorite episode of the entire season. Hands down. I cannot WAIT to see the wonderfulness that is Adam. I also cannot wait to hear him perform on Wednesday... a performance that is sure to trump every other performance from this entire season! Oh Adam...thank you for coming back into the Idol world.. I literally cannot wait!!

Jason Derulo (sp?!) and Rhianna... I fast forwarded through most of their performances. I just didn't feel like taking the time to pay attention and wanted to just get to the results. David Archuleta was fantastic though! I didn't fast forward through any of him. I loved that performance of his on his own season and it was even better tonight! He's just so adorable. A BIT awkward...especially when he was exiting the stage and not quite knowing what to do... but he's just presh.

I love how Ryan has to make everything so dramatic. (And by "love" I mean...seriously...what is the point of that!?) Even with the fact that he TOLD us that the producers told him there were some SHOCKING results... I still didn't really think it was ALL that dramatic. Sure it was shocking that Aaron and Tim were safe and Mike was almost gone, but why the need to talk about how dramatic the show is gonna be. Just "let it be" dramatic (pun intended!).

Ok...that's about it for me tonight. I am already looking forward to next week and I can honestly say it is the first time this season that that has happened. It's a bit sad that it has nothing to do with any of the current contestants! In any case, congrats to Big Mike for getting another chance. Let's hope there's some sort of miracle and the two going home next week are Aaron and Tim! A girl can dream.....

Top 9.... somewhat steppin' it up finally

I am going to start this blog with a sentence I never thought I would ever write.... wait for it.... ok... here goes... I think Katie had the best performance of the night tonight. There, I said it. I know, I know... I was just as shocked as everyone else. But I must give credit where credit is due, and she did excellent tonight! That was by far the best I have ever heard her...including her audition which I do remember was very good. I never would've questioned her position in the top 10 over Lilly if that was the way she'd been singing all along. I sincerely hope she keeps that up because she still has a ways to go to earn her spot. She was the best tonight, but that still doesn't quite make up for her weeks of horribleness. And yes, I did just use horribleness as if it were an actual word.

Moving on to the other 8 performances tonight.... in no particular order....

Tim Urban. Again, dude... I'm just done with you. That was not bad... but it was also not wonderful. He's just SO average and so BORING to me! His smile, although apparently his #1 trait according to the other contestants, is horribly irritating to me. I think it's the way he has to wrap his upper lip around his fang teeth that just gets under my skin. I'm sure he's a sweet kid, and I'm glad he's "having fun up there" (which he makes sure to tell us all EVERY week!) but he really is just not good enough to keep sticking around. The problem is, and I've said it before... as long as there are 13 year old girls with cell phones, Tim will stay in the competition. Let's just hope that they all got in trouble for something this week and were sent to bed with no phone privileges.

Big Mike. Nothing new with Big Mike. He performed well, he sang in tune, he "did his thing" and it was all well and good. He's getting a little too predictable for me, but I guess that same thing could be said of all of them so I won't spend too much time on it with him. He's just a bit too "eh" for me. Nothing about him is all that exciting or different. I do enjoy the fact that he is never out of tune except for a SLIGHT few notes here and there, but there is no "wow" with him. And I still can't get over that cocky vibe I get from him. I don't know. I don't think he's going anywhere for a while though, and I'm okay with that. He's a good singer and that's what it's about anyway.

Siobhan. She is a walking SNL sketch to me. Her clothes, the way she talks, her every action.. everything about her screams parody to me. Even her voice now has gotten to the point where I just don't know if I can take her seriously. If you dvr'd the show tonight and still have it saved, go back and play the first two lines of her song and try and tell me that it does not sound like she is making fun of the way someone would sing that song. I feel like she sounds like what my siblings and I would do when we were trying to sing in our "stupid" voices. Last week she was awful, and this week for me just did not help. I don't like her voice at all and I will be really surprised and quite annoyed if she sticks around until the final two like everyone was predicting in the beginning. I'm done with her.

Crystal Bowersox. Oh, Crystal. You're also getting a little to predictable (aside from the piano thing last week which doesn't really count since you only got out of your box once now), BUT even so... I still really enjoy you. She never sounds forced, she never sounds like she's trying too hard, and she always sounds like she just loves to sing and doesn't care what anyone else has to say or think about it. I could hear her on the radio. Kind of like a mix of Cheryl Crow and a girl version of Dave Matthews or something. I just like her vibe and I'm glad she's continuing to do well. If a girl's gonna win it this year, it's gonna be Crystal.

Casey. Casey is pretty. His hair is pretty, his eyes are pretty, his face is pretty. He's just one pretty dude. I don't hate his voice, but I don't love it. I feel like he is a mix of quite a few previous Idol contestants. If you took Bo Bice, Bucky Covington, and Constantine Morales and rolled them all up into one, much better looking than all three of them, person... you'd get Casey. He's got a little bit of all of them. Bucky's hair... but prettier... Constantine's "sex appeal"...but WAY more believable and NOT creepy... and Bo's rocker vibe... but way less annoying since he doesn't flip his hair and grab the mic stand every 3 seconds. I think Casey will be one of the last guys standing. I wouldn't be surprised if it was him and Crystal at the end. I feel like he's the kind of contestant that girls will love for obvious reasons, but that guys probably also would vote for.

Aaron Kelly. Oh dear, sweet, adorable Aaron. You've gotta go. Plain and simple. You weren't great tonight. Not great at all. Cute as a button, yes... but in a competition to find the best singer, you just aren't cutting it. It's a shame, really, because he does occasionally have a really great moment where his voice will sound wonderful. But those moments are becoming more few and far between as the weeks go on. He also has no real style, and very little personality on the stage. He seems nervous, which is understandable for a 16 year old, but you'd think the nerves would've calmed down a bit by this point. I just really don't think he should stick around much longer. He can stay one more week than Tim Urban, but after that...he needs to pack it up.

Lee Dewyze. I would done two things differently in that performance if I were Lee... a.) I would've sung it an entire step DOWN because some of those high notes were a BIT of a stretch, and b.) I would've kept the bagpiper but NOT had him come down the stairs. That was quite distracting and a little confusing. The sound of the bagpipes in there was cool, but the entrance was a little bizarre. I really liked how he engaged the crowd to sing the "nah nah nah nah's" . I mean, you can't listen to Hey Jude without singing along to that part, so that was nice that he recognized that. He did good. He's got that rocker-ish tone that is really popular right now, so I can see why people would like him. He's, as Simon would say, very "current" at the moment as far as what's on the radio and all of that. I think the race for the guys is between him, Casey, and Big Mike at this point. Which leaves us with one more guy... just slightly behind the rest....

Andrew Garcia. I like Andrew. He seems like a good guy, seems like a fun person to be around, and has a good personality, despite what Simon has concluded. I like his voice too...it's good and easy to listen to and he's got great tone and usually is pretty solid when it comes to pitch. I'm just not sure he's really breaking out as someone that people are gonna fight for. Sure he won us all over in Hollywood week and he IS a good singer, I just feel like he's getting very one dimensional... too much so in the fact that even when he has a great week like he did last week, you just kind of forget about him when it's all said and done. For whatever reason, I just think that Casey, Mike, and Lee have passed him up a little bit as of now. I will literally SCREAM if he goes home before Tim or Aaron though. That is just not something that should ever happen.

Well... overall it was a good night tonight. I still cannot believe that Katie did that good. I will be really surprised if she's in the bottom again because for the first time this WHOLE season, she actually doesn't deserve to be there. The three that should be there, in my opinion, should be Tim, Aaron and Siobhan. BUT, since nothing has been going my way at ALL this season, I'm sure that won't be the case! We shall see. OH...and I heard a little rumor that Adam Lambert is going to be the mentor for next week.... to which I say, HALLELUJAH!! If that's true, this might be the first week that I actually legitimately look forward to the show again! Be prepared for another Adam praising session if he shows up next week! Don't say I didn't warn you....

This show has got to be kidding me.....

I'm about done with this season. Are you kidding me that Tim, Katie, AND Aaron were safe again!? C'mon!! I'm so irritated. I suppose I can't complain too much because I usually vote for Didi and last night I didn't, but STILL... to have Katie and Tim be the safe ones out of that bottom three? No. At least the other two were THERE. I guess that's saying something, but honestly. This is getting old. I'm trying really hard to still care, but I just kind of don't anymore. I'm not even gonna apologize for mentioning him again cuz now, more than ever, I REALLY miss last season and Adam! Love him or hate him, at least he was exciting! Gee whiz!

The fact that I am irritated with this season is not helped by my LARGE disdain for Kara. Shut up. Just shut up, Kara. When you made that "joke" about Simon being in love with himself.. um... newsflash...Ryan had already said that 35 seconds before you did. Good try, though. MAN she annoys the snot out of me! And her talking to Tim about if he really understands what they're saying... I mean, for real. Sure I don't think Tim should be such a smiling fool either, but who cares!? Let the kid smile.... don't crush his dreams if he's living in some lala land where he thinks he can win... just let him live there. We all know he's NOT gonna win, so what harm is he causing? Get over it.

Ok.... Usher. Um. That song was utterly ridiculous. Much like this season! There was ACTUALLY a lyric that said "your booty...wow.... your boobies...pow!" ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME!?! Between that and the performance by P. Diddy that I fast forwarded, I just didn't know what to do with all the r&b entertainment tonight. Even Reuben, who I love, sang a cheesy stupid sounding song. What the junk!? Going back to P. Diddy.... did Ryan introduce him as "P. Diddy Dirty Money"..... PLEASE do not tell me that he's changed his name again and that THAT is what it is now. I have one thing to say to you, Mr. Diddy: get over yourself.

I'm not even gonna get into the whole intro with the movie trailer and all that mumbo jumbo. It was all just real dumb. I just cannot bring myself to care about this season the way I want to. I wish that I was as excited about it as I was last year. I wish there was a contestant I was crazy about. I wish I looked forward to the show each week. And I WISH the horrible singers would stop sticking around. It's like Sanjaya all over again. I think it might be safe to say that the rest of this season is just gonna be a big yawn. With Lilly and Alex not even in the Top 12, my interest was already decreasing.... and now with Lacey and Didi gone and Tim and Katie STILL there... my interest is lower than it's ever been. After last week I thought we were on the way back up, but this week just put it right back on the road to sucksville. As Simon would say, I am very frusTRATed.

If Tim doesn't go home next week I may consider not watching the results shows anymore and just blogging about the singing. I just don't know how much more I can take.

The Top 10...

Ok, so I'm writing this WHILE watching tonight. Something new for me so we'll see how it goes. I just don't want to do it all for memory again so here goes...

Um...WHAT the junk was up with that kiss between Simon and Ellen during the intro of the show? I would've been fine never having seen that. Awkward is an understatement. And speaking of awkward, another that should be outlawed from the show along with the holding up of fingers for the number to vote for...is the "double hand wave". Katie did it tonight when they all first come out and I just cannot deal. I don't know what it is about it, but I can't stand it.

Usher was a good mentor for this genre..he's an excellent singer and has been in the industry long enough to actually know what he's talking about. However, the sunglasses at all times have got to go. Just dance for us Ush, that's all we ask.

Ok... first up was Siobhan: Oh my. She was NOT good. She was VERY flat on the majority of the song and the screaming with her has really got to stop. It (the screaming) is not exciting anymore and it's getting worse every week. I have decided that I legitimately do not like her. I was on the fence with her for a while and now I'm over it. As a person she seems fun and I enjoy her "quirky self" but as a singer, I'm done with her. I'm glad the judges weren't singing her praises after that like they usually do. I felt bad that she looked like she was about to cry and then actually DID start crying at the end, but reality is a tough pill to swallow. And tonight, her reality was that she sang that horribly. By far the worst she's done.

Casey: Oh, would you look at that, he's playing the electric guitar again. Dude, put it down. For one week in your life, put the guitar down. His voice though sounded great tonight actually. I LOVED the horn section playing with him. Usher was right, excellent song choice for him...it fit his voice perfectly. I hear a little Danny Gokey tone in him every once and a while and tonight I heard it a lot. I'm just honestly sick of the electric guitar EVERY week. Starting to come off as a one trick pony there, fella. Time to switch it up. I hope he was serious when he said that he was gonna play the acoustic next week instead. I mean, you might want to try putting it down COMPLETELY, but as long as it's not the electric again, I'm fine. Judging just his voice alone though, tonight was a good night for him.

Big Mike: I like him, I do. HOWEVER, he's starting to come off a bit cocky and I do not like that. Maybe it's just me, but I just feel like he's a little TOO confident. It's not a big deal, but there is a slight arrogance about him lately. With that said, he's got a great r&b voice. I mean, that's basically his deal anyway so I'm not surprised he did well. It was a nice change up for him to just sit with the guitar, but it was a TAD boring. He for sure needs to be an r&b singer though. I still say he's got some of, if not THE, best pitch of the entire top 10. I can't really remember a time ever hearing him that he was off pitch. If nothing else, that is something I can fully support because that is ACTUALLY what this competition is about.

Didi: First off, I LOVE the song she chose. Love, love, love it. I'm so glad she picked that. I just really really like her. And I like her voice. I'm not sure about that full length gown she was wearing, but HER I like. Her voice wasn't as good tonight as it has been, but it also wasn't as bad as it's been (Anyone else remember the Lean On Me week.... yikes!). She's for sure not an r&b singer and you could tell. Her voice just doesn't really fit a song like that. But, even in spite of that, I thought she did pretty good. I don't like how the judges are so hard on her all the time. She always does much better than what they say. Sure she wasn't GREAT tonight, but cut the girl some slack. You are the same judges that thought Paige Miles was worthy of the Top 24 so OBVIOUSLY you don't know what you're talking about at times. And Kara needs to stop. Just stop everything. If she pulls that "we just don't know who you are" crap ONE more time I might jump thru the TV and slap her straight in the face. I wish Didi would tell her to shut it one week. I also wish that Ryan wouldn't have been so vague telling us that "Didi sang that song specifically for someone".... Um... what? I'd like the info, please.

Tim: Since I'm writing this while watching, I can honestly say that Tim has not sung one word yet and I am ALREADY annoyed. His mentor session with Usher was painful. Painfully awkward. I just don't want to have to listen to him again. Ever. But, alas, I must. Oh, and surprise, surprise....he was awful. I just don't even like the sound of his voice. Like if he had good tone, it might make up for the fact that he sang flat or bad or whatever, but that's just the problem... he does not have good tone. Because of that, even when he could have the potential to sound good, he still doesn't QUITE get there because his tone just isn't that great. I guess toward the end there he started to sound a little better, but C'MON! Get off the show! GET OFF!!!! Please. Just. Leave. And his laughing during the critiques... maybe he knows that he's awful. Or maybe he's completely oblivious to the fact that Simon was dead serious about the fact that he's never gonna win.

Andrew: I loved that Usher called him out on the fact that he was TOO nervous. I think that's been a lot of his problem. He gets too wrapped up in the whole thing that he psychs himself out. Excellent choice of song....loved the upright bass! I feel like he got back to the "Straight Up" vibe from Hollywood week and sounded really great. He for sure looked less nervous so the Usher mentoring must've helped cuz he seemed more at ease this week than he's been. I am SO glad the judges thought what I did about getting back to his vibe. It was about time he did that, and about time they stopped giving him such a hard time.

Katie: Aretha Franklin? REALLY!? Oh good Lord have mercy. Why? Why do people do that!? Here's the deal...if you are TRULY a musician, you should KNOW to never, ever, EVER sing Aretha, Whitney, or Mariah. Only Aretha, Whitney and Mariah should sing Aretha, Whitney and Mariah. That should be a universal rule and people should know to never break the rule. I mean for real! Why!? It obviously could've been a lot worse than it was, but it was still not that great. Just way too big for her! And the worst part, she thought she was owning it. Not so much. Again, not as horrible as it had the potential to be, but seriously...who honestly thinks they can own an Aretha song? Katie... seriously... get a clue. I can understand why the judges were saying she did well tonight because it was better than previous weeks, but still.... she's never gonna win either so why the false hope? Just a waste of time if you ask me.

Lee: Well look at Lee go! He's also got a little Danny Gokey vibe going, just like Casey. I thought his vocal was great tonight. For me, that was the best I think he's ever sounded. I still don't LOVE his voice, but that was really good. He seemed to be way more into it tonight too than previous weeks. I feel like he finally got out of his box of "I can only sing 6 notes"...cuz that's what I'd been feeling from him. But he was really just screaming those notes out tonight! I think that was the "moment" they'd been wanting him to have. Good job, Lee....good job!

Crystal: Ok... when she started singing at the piano I got chills. I LOVE that song..I mean who doesn't?! And honestly the moment she started singing it...just that 10 second blurb in her time with Usher...I had goosebumps. I could have done without those background singers standing pretty much ON the piano. Take a step back ladies. And while you're at it, tell the sound guy to turn your mics down. But back to Crystal... you rock. I'm not entirely sure you should've done that falsetto thing in the middle, but the rest of it was great. Great choice switching to the piano. You could tell she wasn't 100% comfortable on it, but it was great. Her voice is just really cool and I'll say it again... I want her to win. Someone like her just really needs to win. Every winner, with the exception of Taylor Hicks and probably Fantasia, has been so "cookie cutter" American Idol with their voice....if that makes sense. She is out of the box. We need an out of the box winner, since we were ROBBED of that last year when Adam came in 2nd! Crystal needs to win because Adam didn't. There, I said it.

Aaron: Ok, Aaron. I am torn with you. You have a good voice, you actually do. You just don't quite do it for me. Maybe there have just been one too many times where you sang flat or something, but I can't seem to get off the fact that I'm still mad about the fact that you are in the top 10 and Alex Lambert isn't. I would rather listen to him than you. Aaron did okay tonight. Just okay. It was better than other performances from him, but it wasn't great. If I had to chose between him and Tim though, I'd probably pick Aaron. Pound for pound he's a better singer. AND, he doesn't annoy the begeezus out of me. I thought it was a big, and ridiculously false, statement for Usher to say that he could possibly WIN this thing but it wasn't horrible.

I really hope that Tim goes home. I don't think he will because little girls are probably dialing their little fingers off, so I'm not sure who it will be. Based on vocals alone tonight, I would not be surprised if Siobhan was in the bottom 3 tomorrow. I don't think she'd be the one leaving, but she was probably the worst vocal tonight. I honestly don't know who will be in the bottom. Didi maybe? I hope not, but I really think tonight is a toss up. I just want it to be Tim. Or Katie. They need to go sooner rather than later.

Overall, tonight was a better night than most. OH and someone needs to help me out here.... there was a girl sitting behind Usher with blond hair and dreads. WHO WAS SHE!? I know I have seen her before and it was driving me NUTS that I couldn't figure it out!! I don't know if she was on this show, or a different show, or WHAT, but I know I have seen her somewhere before and I could not figure it out. If anyone knows, PLEASE let me know!!

Finally... the right move!

Could it be? Could it really be!? Did something actually go RIGHT tonight on American Idol? Well... look at that!! PAIGE IS GONE!! The world is surely rejoicing tonight because, for the VERY first time this season, the exact three people that should've been in the bottom 3, WERE in the bottom 3. And even better than that, the bottom 2 were actually the right bottom 2. And the BEST news of all.. the RIGHT person went home!! I never thought I'd see the day. Let's all just cross our fingers that this will be the first step in the right direction and that the remainder of the show will continue to redeem itself. I'm believing that it can. I have to believe that, I just have to.

So other than my sheer elation that Paige is a goner, let's discuss a few things about tonight's episode. First things first.... did anyone else notice that Ryan apparently forgot to tell us that Lee and Casey were safe and both guys were left standing as we went to commercial break? Hilarious. Especially from Ryan who is usually right on top of things. Secondly, are we really supposed to believe that Miley's performance was actually happening "live"?? Please. Sure, she was SINGING it live....as in not lip syncing (like those AWFUL group numbers that they REALLY need to veto!), but she was for sure not performing that in the middle of the show like they wanted us to believe. The dead give away was the fact that they never showed the judges. They were talking about them but never shot the camera their way. And why not? Because they were not sitting there. If you look at the wide shots when she was singing you can SO totally tell that those are just filler people. Hey, Fox Broadcasting network, let's try to get some more believable body doubles next time. You're not fooling anyone... at least not me anyway. As far as Miley's performance goes... I actually liked it. She was straining JUST a bit for those higher notes, but I really liked that song (I know, I was surprised by that fact too!) and I thought all in all she did a good job. The head banging while wearing that white satin gown? Um... yeah, not the best idea. She looked ridiculous and should never do that again.

Joe Jonas and Demi Levato were presh. It was like a 14 year old's dream show tonight (or, in the case of my 23 year old sister who has an unhealthy obsession with the Disney channel... the best night of her life). They sounded good and let's just say, for the record, that Joe Jonas looks 1,000% better with that shorter hair style than his previous shag look. The two of them should really think about being in love.

For the first time this season, I will be going to bed tonight thoroughly pleased with the way the show turned out. I sincerely hope that this won't be the only time this season that I feel this way. OH... I almost forgot to talk about how horribly insulting, yet wonderfully fantastic, it was to have Simon tell Paige that she might as well not even sing her "will you save me?" song because it just wasn't gonna happen. Loved it! Brutal, and straight to the point! Something I think is lacking on the show this year...even from Simon. So good job with that! Oh, and Crystal telling Ryan that she'd be listening to "herself" when he asked her who she'd be listening to regarding her performances... loved it! She's great. No messing around with that one. Love it.

Well, Season 9... you're on your way out of the woods. Please don't do anything stupid to ruin that. We've already had enough crap this season... just put the past in the past and keep movin' up! You've still got a LONG way to go!

Top 11....

Ok. Show of hands.... who sings better than this year's contestants? C'mon.. raise 'em up.... OH! Would you look at that?! HALF OF ALL AMERICA IS RAISING THEIR HANDS! If you didn't raise your hand I can only assume that you are tone deaf because that is the ONLY way you'd be worse than the vast majority of the remaining 11 people on Idol this season.


Before I get into the performances, let's just ask one... no, I'm sorry... two.. very important questions regarding the show tonight. 1.) Why on a night when you can pick ANY number 1 Billboard song there has EVER been, did half of the contestants choose to sing songs over 20 years old? It wasn't "classics" night. Song choices were bad tonight. Just all around bad. And 2.) Miley Cyrus as a mentor? Really!? MENTOR? I realize she's sold a bunch of albums and has had crazy success in her 17 years of life, but as a VOCAL mentor? No. If I wanted advice on how to handle my fame at such a young age, or how to find people who will market me and my career so successfully, sure... I'd maybe ask Miley. If I wanted advice on how to be a good singer, she'd be at the bottom of my list just slightly above Taylor Swift.


Ok.. moving on to the performances (which will be in no particular order tonight).... Oh, and as a sidenote, I am currently listening to Adam's performances from last season on my iTunes right now. I felt the need to remind myself that the show didn't always suck so bad. And I needed some Adam to remind me that he rules. Ok.... here we go...



1.) Siobhan: She did not do good tonight. I'm still on the fence about if I even like her voice or not, but tonight I for sure did not. Singing a Stevie song is always a big risk. I just don't get the excitement over her. I know she's different and quirky and has a good enough voice, but I just don't get the hype. She's not THAT great. And I'll say it again just like I said it last week... she needs to lay off the screaming a little. It's not that it's bad, it's just not what it needs to be.. especially if she plans on pulling it out every week. If she's gonna continue to be the "most exciting" contestant this season, it's gonna be a LOOONG season. I just don't love her and I'm not sure I ever will.


2.) Big Mike: He's good. He's just just a solid voice. He rarely sings off key, he picks songs that fit his voice, and he sings them well. He's a BIT too cheesy at times, KIND OF comes off a little cocky every once and a while and tends to "over" perform some weeks. However, even with that said, he has one of the best voices of everyone left so for that and that alone, he should stick around for a long time. I would MUCH rather here him sing than to EVER have to hear.....


3.) Paige Miles: If she does not go home this week I will throw something at my television. I am not kidding. THAT. WAS. HORRENDOUS. 100%, absolutely, mind blowingly, gut wrenchingly AWFUL. I think it's safe to say that 99% of the notes she sang were out of tune. Bad. Bad, bad BAD! And that song?! To sing "Against All Odds" in the style the Mariah Carey did it in.. oh my GOSH woman.... you are NUTS! What part of her ever thought that was a good idea. That MAY have been one of the worst performances ever on the Idol stage. Seriously, if she makes the tour of Top 10, they should charge people less for the fact that they'll have to listen to her. Yuck. Please PLEASE go home! My WORD. And speaking of going home, someone who should join you shortly after....


4, 5, 6.) Tim Urban, Aaron Kelly, and Katie Stevens. They are all getting lumped into one critique here because I don't care about them enough to give them separate numbers. Tim. I don't even remember what you sang. Forgive me, but I didn't take notes tonight like I used to and you are just THAT forgettable. I know it was something old school, that I do remember. I also remember that you slid across the stage and basically jumped into the circle of "fans" that they put in front of the stage. Although Kara was a bit harsh with you, she was right.... you really shouldn't be doing that yet. Sadly, I think you have enough 14 year old girls voting for you to stick around. Please just try to sing better. Now Aaron..... and Aerosmith song? Honestly!? What are these people thinking?! The judges were all about him tonight which I canNOT understand. It was pitchy and WAY too big for him and just not good. His crush on Miley Cyrus was cute and he's a nice kid, but he is just so ho-hum. Nothing exciting about him. At all. And then there's Katie. Oh sweet Lord. Your song choice with Fergie's "Big Girls Don't Cry" wasn't bad. It fit your style sure. But Randy was right...you were sharp and off key the whole time. Again, nothing exciting about you. You need to go home... before Tim and Aaron, or directly after them it really doesn't matter. Just leave.


7.) Casey James: Another old song pick for Casey with "Power of Love". I thought he actually did okay tonight. His voice sounded good and I thought, even though he could've picked something slightly more IN THIS DECADE, that it was actually a good song for his voice. He sounded a lot like Huey Lewis to me, which in this case was a good thing I think. He really needs to ditch the electric guitar though. Three weeks in a row is a bit much, dude. We know you're a guitarist.. you've shown us that already. Try just singing next week.


8.) Lee Dewyze: I like Lee. Something about him is endearing to me and I like him. His voice isn't spectacular, but judging by what he's up against I'd say he's one of the better ones... which, sadly.. isn't saying much this year. I wasn't crazy about the arrangement of his song tonight, but he did well. He's for sure getting more relaxed up there. Tonight was the first time I felt like he really let loose and just had fun with it. He didn't look nervous and it helped him perform better. He'll be around a bit for sure.


9.) Didi Benami: Ok, what was the deal with all the bad critiques from the judges??? I thought she sounded really good tonight. Her pitch, contrary to what Randy was blabbering, was actually very good I thought. I just really like her voice. All the way back in Hollywood week I remember picking her as one of my favorite voices. Just that weird tone of hers is so "in" right now. And with Lilly being gone, Didi is the one that's carrying that vibe. I put Crystal in an entirely different category, so I'm not even gonna compare the two. I just really like Didi and think she has some great, raw talent. I hope people didn't listen to what the judges were saying cuz she's one that I actually like hearing every week. I'd hate to see her go too soon.


10.) Andrew Garcia: While writing this blog I honestly forgot all about Andrew until right this second. That's not a good sign. He's losing his "umph!" He's confusing to me... he's definitely got a great voice, but I feel like he is just SO limited in what he can do. He's stuck in this box of only being able to do a few certain things and sing a very small range of notes... I don't know. I like him as a person and I do enjoy his voice most of the time, I just think he's losing steam. I am hoping and praying he outlasts at least 4 of the people I've already talked about (Katie, Paige, Aaron, Tim.....) but I just don't know how much farther he can go with how limited he is. He needs to do something to "wow" us again...and fast!


11.) Crystal Bowersox: She is the reason I watch the show. And I'm not even crazy about her. But since Alex Lambert and Lilly are gone and she is the most talented of anyone left on the show, I have to default her to my favorite contestant this year. Janis Joplin was the perfect choice for her. She beginning to sound a little predictable every week, but hopefully whatever "surprise" she has for all of us next week will change that up a bit. I want her to win.. for a few different reasons. First of all, there has never been a person of her style, both vocally and appearance wise, that has won and I think it would be great to change the "mold" of what previous American Idols have been. And secondly, her vibe is so "in" right now...that indie/slightly hippie-like sound, and I think she'd be very successful. I just think that if this seasons is gonna be as horrible as it, the least we can do is pick someone like her to win to spice things up a little!

Alright... there ya have it. Paige better go home. No one wants to see her on the Top 10 tour... trust me. No one. I might say a legitimate prayer before bed tonight that her journey ends tomorrow. Now, if you'll excuse me.... my iTunes tracks of Adam Lambert need some undivided attention.

This is absolutely ridiculous...

For the LOVE! I am so flipping annoyed at all that is American Idol right now. I don't even know what to say. Paige, Aaron, Tim, and Katie...four people who should've never even BEEN in the Top 12 have now managed to stay ANOTHER undeserved week. HONESTLY!!! I liked Lacey. She wasn't going to win so I suppose it's not THAT big of deal that she went home, but before the 4 of them? Really?! Unacceptable.

Ugh.

This season is bothering me more than I can even say. I almost didn't even want to watch tonight cuz I had a feeling something like this would happen. I fast forwarded through both Orianti and Kesha because WOW... I can't stand either of their voices. There was really no need to watch them since nothing they could've done would've ever made me want to listen to them on purpose. Ever.

So I need to get a few things off my chest here. The judges save. That is such a joke. Like they would honestly have used it this soon. C'mon. Who are they kidding? It's just basically torture having the person sing when you KNOW they aren't going to save you. And Katie and Paige's tears at the end... yes, girls, you should be crying. You should both be crying over the guilt that should be consuming you about the fact that now FIVE people that sing better than you are going to be sitting at home watching the show while you continue to make a mockery of the show each and every week. I'd cry if I were you, too!

And speaking of making a mockery of things. Tim. Dude... the "oh my gosh, I'm safe?!" little back step that you did. Spare me. Sure you were surprised...WE ALL WERE... but that's somewhat patronizing... and you were still in the bottom 3 so I wouldn't get too comfortable on those couches. Does he honestly think he has a snowball's chance in you know where of winning the whole thing? Poor Tim. You need to take Aaron and Katie and Paige and have yourselves a little powwow to talk about how lucky you are to still be on the show and about the reality that none of you are ever going to come close to winning. And then you need to all go home.

To end this very frustrated (if you couldn't tell) blog.. I'd like to just point out how much I love Crystal. You can see it all over her face that she's just as annoyed as I am. She knew Lilly and the rest of the ones eliminated last week should've gone home, and she knows that people that are still there should not be there. If I was at the the top of that 11 pack like she is I'd be annoyed to. Annoyed that I had to share the stage with such utter ridiculousness while my friend with her peacock earrings was sitting at home instead of sitting next to me like she should be.

I miss Adam. So badly. So very, very badly. I miss everything about last season. I even miss Lil Rounds.... and you KNOW I must be serious about this season if I'm saying something like THAT! I mean, I'd rather Lil be in the top 12 AGAIN for the 2nd year in a row than have to come to terms with the fact that Tim, Aaron, and Katie are still there and Lilly, Alex and Katelyn are not. It's just beyond ridiculous.

Sorry for the downer of a blog, but it just had to be said.

This season better pick it up FAST!

Top 12!

Alright...let's just get this out of the way. I'm still mad at the show right now. Maybe my love for last season was just too great for me to be able to get excited about this season. Or maybe it's because STILL it is apparent that 4 of the top 12 that performed tonight should not have ever been on the big stage. Or...possibly it's the fact that not one person this season is blowing me away yet. I know....I know...my Adam obsession was a bit too much and I shouldn't expect anyone to rock my world like he did last year, but I guess I'm just a little under impressed this season. With that said... I still am holding out some hope that something with shift and I'll get excited about it again.

So here we go... top 12!
1.) Michael Lynche: "Miss You" - First things first....his baby is real cute! So tiny and so adorable. They're for sure playing that "I've got a cute baby" card with him! So Michael is interesting to me. His voice is great. His pitch is more right on than most of the contestants and he is usually picking songs that really fit his voice. The weird thing to me is that his performances always seem just a little awkward. Maybe it's cuz he's so big and he's doing little jigs around the stage or maybe he's just trying to do too much. I really can't put my finger on it. I do think his voice is good though. I'm also starting to wonder if his falsetto is going to become his "signature" thing this season. Like Adam's screams or Danny's glasses last year. (Yes, yes I did just mention last season again... better get used to that!). I think Michael will be around for a while. He's solid and people like him. The real question though is who is watching his very small newborn baby when he AND his wife are in LA at the show?

2.) Didi Benami: "Play with Fire" - I like her. I like her a lot. I feel like now that Lilly and Katelyn are gone, Didi has a better chance to be noticed. They were all pretty similar. She sounded really good tonight...with the exception of her losing her words and the big note toward the end that was just WAY off key. Overall she did a very good job I thought. I think the first few weeks her nerves must've just been getting to her. I think she's got a great sound and I like her. I think it would take a few miracles for her to win it all, but at least she's pleasant to listen to... which is more than I can say for some of these people!

3.) Casey James: "It's All Over Now" - Ok, now I know there are a lot of people that like Casey, so I'm sorry for saying this, but I'm over him. Done. He's just very average to me. Sure he's cute and he's got a proud mother that is quite precious, but his voice is just okay. Nothing about it screams "wow, that was great!" to me. Also, I think someone should tell him that this is a SINGING competition and not an electric guitar competition. You're good at the guitar, yes, but try and just sing and not pay so much attention to it next time. It was a good song choice for him and he sounded better than he has in the past, but still... not jumping out of my seat for him. I wish the judges would stop showering him with so much praise... he's not really worth it in my opinion.

4.) Lacey Brown: "Ruby Tuesday" - I like Lacey. I think she is sweet and adorable and I like that her dad was a pastor. I also like her voice. She's not great...I don't think she's got the best voice out of the 12 nor do I think she has any shot at winning at all, but I like her sound. It's super different and I think she would sound great on an album. I think she's an acquired sound so a lot of people probably don't like her voice. I really liked the arrangement she did of that song with the violins. I agree that she needs to stop sitting on the edge of the stage. I think she'll be around for a few more weeks and will probably crack the top 10, but I doubt she'll go further than that.

5.) Andrew Garcia: "Give Me Shelter" - Alright...here's my take on Andrew. He might not be as good as we all thought he was in the beginning. He's good...don't get me wrong.. I for sure think he's good. I just, again, am not wowed by him! I want to be, I REALLY want to be blown away by him cuz I've liked him a lot from the beginning. I'm just not there yet. I do like that he decided to ditch the guitar this week cuz it showed that he can do a song without it and not look like he needs it. Other than the serious unfortunate sound of the background vocalists on his song, I thought his performance was good this week. Good, not great. I'm glad he did well. I didn't think he was pitchy like Randy said, but it was still just a little "eh" for me. I wish it wasn't, but it just was.

6.) Katie Stevens: "Wild Horses" - Oh. My. Word. Get off my TV. GET OFF! Pitchy, pitchy, pitchy. She is just not good enough. Again, not horrible... but why? WHY is she in the top 12!? It's just annoying. She tries too hard, she pushes too much, and she is just ALWAYS pitchy. I think she knows she needs to fight for her spot. She should know that at least! There is no way she is better that Katelyn or Lilly. I know I need to move on because those two are gone and never coming back, but Katie is just one of those top 12ers that I will always dislike because she's just not good enough to be there.

7.) Tim Urban: "Under my Thumb" - Oh, Tim. You frustrate me. I miss Alex. You make me miss Alex because he should be in your place. Hands down. Here's the deal with Tim. Much like a lot of other people in this group, he is not AWFUL. But...he is also just not that good! I mean, what is going on!? That version was weird and his vocal was just average at best. It did look like he had a lot more confidence this week, but that should not be enough to keep him around. I feel as if I need to prepare myself for the fact that he'll probably be staying around a lot longer than I'd like him too. Even as I'm writing this I'm just continuing to be so frustrated with this season!! I mean, for an American Idol superfan like myself, this is just not cutting it for me and I don't like it. Something needs to change here. Maybe I just need to move on and put the past in the past. It is just really hard to do!

8.) Siobhan: "Paint it Black" - Ok, she is so funny. Her personality is just so quirky and her family seems to be the same way. She's fun. I'm torn about Siobhan. I'm just not in love with her like everyone else seems to be. At the risk of sounding completely contradictory to my "I loved everything Adam ever did/especially his screaming" talk that I did last season... I don't like her screaming. I don't know what it is...but hers is just not doing it for me. It's thin and kind of tinny. I just don't know. I loved that version of the song and thought that the majority of her vocal was good.... I just don't think I'm on the Siobhan bandwagon just yet. The very last phrase of the song after the scream was the best part to me. To be able to do that after such a huge scream is very impressive.... which might be all that I was impressed by tonight oddly enough. I would like to thank Kara for bringing up the fact that her performance reminded her of Adam last year because I thought the same thing when she came down the stairs with the fire looking background. Adam would've rocked that song! Ok.... I'm sorry... I'm done. Still on the fence about Siobhan.

9.) Lee Dewyze: "Beast of Burden" - I like that Lee is from the Midwest. I like that he's a chill guy. I like that you can tell he loves singing. Do I like his voice? Sort of. Once again, to sound EXACTLY like a broken record, I'm just not impressed! He's got a good radio voice, I'll give him that. BUT...part of the reason he has that good radio voice is because he sounds just like a mix between Dave Matthews and Adam Duritz from Counting Crows. Before Randy even brought up Dave Matthews I was thinking that same thing. So obviously Lee would be marketable since there's people doing what he does already, I'm just not sure he's got the chops. I'll give him the credit that he IS getting better as the weeks go on, I just think he might get lost in the shuffle. Maybe if we're lucky though he'll sing a little "Long December" before his time is up. Cuz let's face it, he's not winning.

10.) Paige Miles: "Honky Tonk Woman" - Go. Home. Go home, go home, GO HOME. Ok she had laryngitis and still sang.....woopdie freaking do! Good for you.. you actually did do a fine job with that aliment. But FOR THE LOVE OF GOD YOU SHOULD NOT BE IN THE TOP 12. It was pitchy... not surprised.. and it was just annoying.. again, not surprised. It was honestly borderline painful to listen to. I'm just done with her. I don't even have anything else to say. She just needs to go. Immediately.

11.) Aaron Kelly: "Angie" - or should I say "An-jay" since that's the way he said it the entire song!! Oh Aaron... you are precious, you truly are. And your mom (whose name is Kelly Kelly... ummm...did anyone else notice that!? That's really too bad!) well, she is also precious. But you also need to go. For a 16 year old, you DO have a good voice... but AGAIN I must say, it is just not good enough for the top 12 "best singers in America". I felt so sad for him when he said "being the next American Idol would be a dream come true" because Aaron, buddy... to be brutally honest here.... you have absolutely ZERO chance of becoming the next American Idol. Sorry... I wish I didn't have to be so brutal with you cuz you're a doll, but it's not gonna happen.

12.) Crystal Bowersox : "You Can't Always Get What You Want" - Well, she's clearly the front runner at this point. No question about that. If it wasn't clear before, the placement of her at the end of the show tonight pretty much solidified that. How many times did Danny or Adam sing last? They were wanting a Danny/Adam final two since the beginning so it is obvious that they are hoping the same for Crystal. Hard to say who else they want there with her, but they want her for sure. She was great tonight. Her rock voice was killer tonight and I really liked her performance. You can tell she's a honest, true musician and she knows what this show is all about. She just wants to sing. She doesn't care about the fame, she just loves to sing. It's effortless and consistent and I really like her. I also really like that she was wearing a peacock earring in honor of Lilly. Just shows that she knows what good singing really is! She'll be around for a long, long time.

Alright, well I really hope I get less annoyed as the season goes on. I don't want to feel such a longing for last season every single week I watch! Maybe that's just the reality of the situation. Maybe I'll just have to push my feelings aside and focus on what we've got to work with. It might be a little hard considering the fact that I almost didn't even want to watch tonight... but I'll try. I promise I will try.

I'm hoping Paige and Aaron are on the outs this week. I'm sure they'll be safe....as a way to further annoy me, but that's what I'm crossing my fingers for!

The wrong Top 12....

What?!!? I mean.... WHHAATT!?!?!?!

What in the name of all creation happened tonight!? I am livid. LIVID. Aaron Kelly made it!? TIM freaking Urban made it!?! Alex Lambert DIDN'T make it!?!? Katie Stevens made it?! PAIGE MADE IT!?!?!?! LILLY DIDN'T MAKE IT?!?! WHY?! WHHHYYYY!?!?! There is something TERRIBLY wrong with this season. I know I was obviously way over the top with my love for last season because of Adam, but honestly...I am so upset about this Top 12 I could scream. The 4 people that went home are the wrong people to have been leaving tonight. 100% the wrong people.

Here's the deal... and this blog will be short cuz there is nothing to even write about since the show was so annoying tonight! If we're being honest, Todrick was never going to win, and neither was Katelyn Epperly. Both were very good singers, but there was not a chance they would've been the one to win it. The thing that makes me ANGRIER than I really should be right now is that Lilly...she had the potential to win. I said from the very beginning that I wanted someone like her to win. She should've been a serious contender. A serious contender! And Alex...my adorable ADORABLE little Alex... he also should've been a contender for the title. I don't know if he would've made it as far as Lilly, but to be cheated out the top 12 by Aaron Kelly and Tim Urban..... INSANE!!!!!! Tim, Aaron, Paige, and Katie better be counting their blessings every second of every day that they are still on the show because there is NO reason ON EARTH why any of them ever should've been sent over to those sliver stools. EVER. And what made it even worse was Alex's crying! Oh my word...just break my heart into a million pieces. Honestly, those 4 should be angry right now because not one of them deserved to be leaving this early. Unbelievable.

Livid. That's what I am tonight. Livid. The one thing that is helping me just the tiniest bit is to know that Tim, Katie, Paige, and Aaron have zero shot at winning. Zero. It's just the principle of the matter. Sure they're not going to win, but they should also not be given false information in the form of "oh, you're better than the 4 people going home tonight"...because, clearly, they are NOT! Ugh. So dumb.

The only good thing about the show was the performance by Matt Girard and Scott McIntyre. I have never heard Matt sound that good! He was unreal tonight and saved what would've been quite possibly the worst episode of American Idol in all 9 seasons if not for that performance.

I'm done. I need to cool off before next week so that I can actually start caring about the show again and write these blogs. I love writing them too much to let something SO utterly annoying make me stop. But SERIOUSLY... this is unacceptable and I am not happy about it.

Let's hear it for the boys: Top 8 guys!

Top 8 fellas! I must say.... although it was a very chill night for the men folk, there were some surprises along the way. Some good....and some not so good. Before I get into all of it, I must first AGAIN comment on how annoying the Kara/Simon thing is getting. I think we had gotten used to how stupid he and Paula were that it just didn't matter anymore. But really, WHY must we recreate something that was already so annoying in the first place? I just don't get the need to focus attention on it....which I guess is exactly what I'm doing right now.. so I'm done.

Ok.... here we go.
1.) Lee Dewyze: Ok, Lee....you seem like a charming guy. I bet we'd be friends. I'm just not blown away by anything you do. You've got a fairly decent voice, but there is nothing about it that makes me think that you have any chance at all of winning this thing. The problem with Lee is that in the mix of the 3 or 4 wonderfully creative ladies that are left, and the 2 or 3 guys that out sing him every week, he's just a little bit forgettable. I think he'll be fine to make it through to the top 12...and probably even to the top 10, but I just don't get excited about anything he does.
2.) Alex Lambert: Oh for the love of cuteness! That kid is just TOO adorable for words. I think it's safe to say that I have a slight inappropriate crush on him. I just cannot get over how ridiculously cute he is. AH! And his voice... LOVE it!! His tone, and I've said this pretty much every time I've talked about him, is just amazing. He seemed a tiny bit less nervous tonight. Not by a lot, but he didn't look like he wanted to faint this week. That song was a great choice for him. It was a little mellow, like most of the night actually, but I just think he sounded great. I really like him. I hope he starts to believe in how good he really is.
3.) Tim Urban: Well. Surprise #1 of the night...Tim didn't suck. As soon as Ryan said Tim was gonna be singing "Hallelujah" I thought oh, no! But.... then Tim surprised everyone and actually sang the song really really well. I mean... what?! He wasn't bad. He was even, dare I say, good tonight. And Ellen...she left her seat to HUG him! That might have been just a BIT much, but it's clear that that is for sure the best he has done... ever! I'm happy for Tim cuz let's be honest... who doesn't love the feeling of redeeming themselves from not one, but TWO horrible weeks of singing... but now I'm nervous that he'll be making the top 12... something he should not be doing. If he was getting votes when he sounded awful, I am pretty certain he'll be getting them, and maybe a few more, when he sang so much better tonight. Oh, Tim... you may have just given yourself a second chance. Don't screw it up.
4.) Andrew Garcia: Surprise #2 of the night... Andrew didn't bring his A game like he needed to tonight. I love Andrew. I love his voice, I love his style, I love the fact that he seems like such a great guy. BUT... he just has not been stepping it up as much as he needs to. He was good tonight, he really was. It was a fun song choice and he did a cool arrangement with it, but there was just nothing that "special" about it. For the risk of sounding like Kara, he just didn't have that "wow" moment that we've seen him have before. If he was one of the lowest vote getters last week, I'm a little nervous for him tomorrow night. He does NOT deserve to go home..not for a long time, but I'm just not sure how this is gonna play out. I just fear that he really did peak way too soon and maybe is burning out a little. I hope that's not true cuz I really want him to stick around. He deserves to stick around.
5.) Casey James: Ok, Casey...you sing just fine. You're a good looking dude. You seem like a real stand up guy. I am just not impressed with you. You're easy to listen to and you have a good voice, but there is absolutely nothing about you that makes you stand out to me. I feel like the problem with Casey, for me at least, is that he gets lost in the shuffle of everyone else. He's too safe or something. I think he'll sail through to the top 12 with no problem, I just wonder if he'll ever jump ahead of the pack and give us something to REALLY remember him by other than the fact that Kara basically sexually assaulted him the entire first month of the show.
6.) Aaron Kelly: No. No, no, no. His pitch was all over the place, his voice was shaky, and he looked pretty awkward up there if you ask me. All this "you carry yourself like a 30 year old" stuff... um, no. Maybe he does, but it's an awkward 30 year old then. He is a doll and he doesn't have a BAD voice, but he's just not good enough. I feel like he's just a better sounding version of Sanjaya. Yes, Sanj was HORRENDOUSLY AWFUL, so maybe that comparison isn't fair... but it's just another case of young kid that everyone liked at first and then realized couldn't hack it in the competition. Aaron has a good voice and a lot of potential to get even better, but he really shouldn't be in the top 12. If he doesn't go home this week, that will be surprise #3.
7.) Todrick Hall: What a BIG song to take on! I mean, who does Queen!? (Unless you're Adam and Kris in the finale last season and are performing WITH them!). He actually did a pretty decent job. That falsetto at the beginning was actually right on pitch and he did a good job of putting a little pep into such a chill show. This was for sure the best he's been in the last 3 weeks. If anyone were to slide under the radar this week and get the boot prematurely, I'd say it might be Todrick. Only because I'm not sure how much he's done up until this point to get enough people to rally behind him....even after a good performance like tonight. He SHOULD make it over Tim Urban, but that sneaky little sucker did such a surprisingly good job tonight that it might be cuttin' it close.
8.) Big Mike Lynche: Wow. With the exception of Kara's RIDICULOUS tears, I really enjoyed that entire performance! His falsetto...wow! Who knew he had that in him!? I honestly think that of all the contestants this season, he has so far been the most consist ant as far as pitch is concerned. His voice is just so pretty and he sings with a lot of ease. And that was NOT as easy song to try and do. But he did it! And he did it wonderfully. Kara was BEYOND annoying at the end with her "crying" and laying on Simon....um.. puke!! I know someone else who used to cry after really good performances.... oh, yeah, that's right...it was Paula! Give it up Kara... you are not Paula! Give. It. UP. But back to Big Mike... really great job. Two weeks in a row now he has really done an amazing job. He's sticking around for sure.

Alright...well there ya have it. Before the show even started I would've bet my money on Aaron Kelly and Tim Urban taking serious nose dives into the "you almost made it to the top 12 but not quite" pool. BUT...I'm not so sure about Tim Urban after tonight. I'm nervous for Andrew Garcia, and there is a CHANCE it could wind up being someone like Todrick. I honestly don't know. The girls were much easier to pick last night and I hope I'm right about those two! I think the boy eliminations might surprise some people. Dang that Tim Urban. He ruined everything!

Until tomorrow night.....

Ladies night! Top 8 girls.

Ok... the top 8 ladies. But first, I must discuss a few things...

a.) Let's just go ahead right now and make a rule for this season and all seasons that may follow that states: no contestant is ever allowed to hold up their fingers to tell us what number to call to vote for them EVER again. We can HEAR Ryan tell us what number. And even if we couldn't hear him, we can read. We know that 1-866-IDOLS-04 means that we must dial a 04 after we spell IDOLS on our phone. Please stop showing us with your fingers! Can't stand it. I just can't stand it.
b.) Kara. Do you really need to sit so close to Simon? I don't think so. You are trying to be Paula...that's the only explanation. You are trying to create that silly kindergarten crush thing that the two of them had going on. You should just stop. Seriously. Just stop. You should also stop using the word "artist" 950 times during EACH contestant critique. We are all WELL aware of the fact that you want them all to know what kind of artist they are. Just like the holding up of the numbers...we do not need you to tell us about being an artist every 30 seconds.

Ok....now that that is off my chest! Let's get this started!

Katie Stevens: Oh dear. Dear, sweet, I'm-not-quite-ready-for-this-competition-yet, Katie. That was not good. Not good at all. SOOOO flat! So very, VERY flat. Pretty much the whole song was a disaster. I do feel bad for her that she's gotten so much confusing advice, because she really has...but that doesn't mean that she's allowed to sing bad. There is just no excuse for that anymore. I would be VERY surprised if she made it through. Especially with the variety of most of the other ladies left... she shouldn't be cracking the top 12. She's a sweet girl, but, no.
Siobh(v)an Magnus: I am still just not quite sure how I feel about her. I really enjoyed the first a capella part and was QUITE impressed that she was right on pitch when the music came in....BUT I just don't know about her. I like her, I do. I'm just not sure I love her yet. Her voice is huge, and she is so quirky that it just works for her but I'm not convinced I'd want to listen to her all the time. There are a lot of good things about her voice, I'll give her that. I think her big voice and interesting personality will get her into the top 12. I'm just not sure how long she'll stay there.....
Lacey Brown: Hello! Welcome to the show Lacey!! I mean....WHERE has that been the last 3 weeks. I loved it. Loved it. I was finally able to see why they put her in the top 24 in the first place. Her tone is great! The flip between her chest voice and her falsetto is awesome. That was, by far, the best she's sounded since we've seen her.... no question! She's just got a super cool sound and I think this was actually the first we really got to hear it! I am so glad she finally did a great job... I was pulling for her. Oh, and the fact that she's so dang gorgeous KINDA makes me want to puke!
Katelyn Epperly: Um. I loved her last week. Not too crazy about this week. She has a good voice. She's very effortless when she sings and that's part of what makes her so good. I just didn't like that song choice. She sounded great again, but she shouldn't have played the piano again...she should've been moving around with that song. I mean, the lyric even said "I feel the earth MOVE" and she just stood there! Her voice is definitely good enough to get her to the top 12 though.. I just wish that performance would've been a little more lively or something. Part of me also feels like maybe she's EXPECTING to get far in the competition so maybe she didn't try as hard tonight or something. I don't know. I really like her, but something tonight kinda made me feel like she was a little too sure of herself. I don't know. Hopefully that wasn't the case cuz I don't want to stop liking her.
Didi Benami: Oh, Didi... THERE you are!!! Again, just like Lacey.. I am SO glad Didi showed up tonight! I loved that! That is FOR SURE the reason why I loved her in Hollywood week... because she had that vibe and sounded that great! That was the perfect song choice for her voice and she did an excellent job. LIGHT YEARS better than last week's train wreck! Oh I'm just so glad she redeemed herself. It was about time for me to be able to say I loved her without having to make up an excuse for why. Go, Didi, go!
Paige Miles: She must go. She must go this week. She did not do a good job tonight. Not even a little bit. That song is not easy, so if you're going to sing it..you gotta kill that sucker! She did no such thing. I mean she killed it alright..but not in the good way. Eek. Not only did her voice sound horrible, but she seemed disconnected (despite that "emotional connection" she had to the song). Also, I was bored out of my mind about 15 seconds in. It was just bad. All around bad. If she sticks around after this week I will be VERY surprised and not at all happy about it. See ya later, Paige!
Crystal Bowersox: First things first.... WONDERFUL song choice! That is one of my favorite songs of all time and I am so glad she did it cuz it fit her perfectly! She is clearly the judges favorite, and tonight I think I finally started to see why. She is obviously unique. And tonight I thought she just really found her element. Not that she hadn't been in it before, but for me tonight was a turning point for her. Maybe it was just cuz I loved the song so much, but I thought that was her best performance so far. She's just very good. Her tone is so different and so interesting, but that is what makes her somebody that people are gonna want to listen to. She's not going anywhere for a very long time.
Lilly Scott: Once again, loved her. I thought the song choice this week was interesting and I didn't love it, but I just love her voice so much. I'll probably say the same thing every week, but I'd buy her album in a heartbeat. I just really love her vibe so much! I think her and Crystal are at the top of the pack for the girls. There were some others that might have started giving them a run for their money tonight, but they're up there for sure! Lilly is just plain old good and I can't wait to see how far she can take it!

Ok...so if Paige Miles and Katie Stevens AREN'T the ones to go this week, I'll be pretty peeved. I mean....what other choices are there? None. There are no other choices. They need to go. Case closed. Please do not pass go, please to not collect $200 and PLEASE to not make it into the top 12 over someone who clearly deserves it WAY more than you!

Alright...I'm ready for the fellas tomorrow! Bring it on!