A shockingly good night on American Idol

There wasvno question that tonight’s episode of American Idol was going to be interesting. After all, it’s American Idol does Rod Stewart doing the American Songbook. On the surface, this seems like such a bad idea. Randy Jackson was on Ellen today talking about why they choose themes like tonight’s. He talked about stretching the kids, and showing their range. Well, “American Songbook” will certainly do that. The strange thing was just how flexible they were.

I was nervous about Chris, but his rendition of “What a Wonderful World” was phenomenal. Randy talked today about how Chris could make a CD right now, and is the most “CD-ready” of the contestants. The judges loved him…they clearly are rooting for Chris to win.

While some contestants have probably been dreading this week’s theme, this era’s songs were made for Paris. She is so strong when she sings these songs, and she looked so classy tonight. Paula talked of how it reminded her of Paris’s original audition when she sang Ella Fitzgerald. That was when my husband thought they should just hand the competition to her. She was fantastic tonight…I just hope that America recognizes how great that really was.

The thing about Taylor is that not only is he a great singer, he does an excellent job choosing songs that are perfect for his voice. Even Simon complimented him tonight…did he actually just call the performance “magic”? All of a sudden, I’m becoming a believer in this ridiculous theme.

Back to Randy’s interview on Ellen today…he actually said that he didn’t think that Elliott had a chance at winning; that he didn’t have the stage presence. I don’t get it. At the beginning of the season, Simon praised Elliott up and down, and now it seems that they are trying to make sure that he doesn’t win. Granted, he doesn’t have the look or charisma of Chris and Taylor. But he’s a darn good singer. He did a great job tonight – it was a fantastic song choice for his voice.

You know a performance is bad when the performer thinks she botched it. At least Kellie could tell that she wasn’t very good – could you imagine if she had argued with the judges on this one? She’s just out of her league, especially following four exceptional performances. Did anyone else see Simon’s reaction during the song? Not good for Kellie, but a great camera angle for us.

Was anyone else freaked out by Ace’s hair tonight? He just looked so strange – not at all like Ace. And while the song was good, I don’t think it was as good as the songs from earlier in the night. I’m also wondering how his hair will affect the “girls-who-vote-for-me-‘cause-I’m-cute” vote.

The show ended on such a high note with Katharine’s performance. Wow. She showed that she is a good singer, not just a pop star. Wow.

I am in awe of how good tonight’s show was. Who would have known that they would do such a good job? I don’t know how to vote…I mean, anyone of them deserves the votes. Well, anyone but Kellie. I will be floored if she doesn’t go home tomorrow. And I’m sorry for mocking the theme.