British Invasion on Idol

I’m pretty bummed that this week is British Invasion week on Idol. I really feel like if they had done this one later in the show, we could have seen a front runner go home. But this early in the competition the “big singers” can slide by, even with a style that doesn’t suit their voices.

The clip of Haley working with Lulu featured her getting advice on the phrasing of the song – telling Haley to try to add some staccato. Then Haley performed 20 seconds later completely ignoring the advice. Fantastic. It actually sounded pretty good, much better than last week. I agree completely with Randy – that was a great song choice for her. Chris Richardson sounded really good too. He didn’t try to over do it – he just sang the song, and he sang it well. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – he’s the smartest singer in the competition.

Stephanie sang the song alright (said in my best Randy Jackson voice), but it lacked a lot of pizzazz. It was the second week in a row that she sang a sort of blah song, and she’s starting to get lost in the shuffle of really good performances. Great performances like the one who followed her by Blake. I am feeling SO good about picking him to win in my pool. I loved his arrangement of it (and, quite frankly, his plaid pants as well) That was amazing – he’ll be heading for next week for sure.

I liked Lakisha’s performance tonight, but that wasn’t her best. It’s the theme – it doesn’t suit her at all. I think it was good enough to keep her around for next week, but I worry about her with some of the other themes (I hear that next week is Gwen Stefani…). I’m not too sure about Phil’s performance either. He sounded good, but watching him pretend to be a rocker was just strange.

The one pick in my Idol pool that I’m really regretting is Jordin. She’s phenomenal; I just wish that I had picked her going further in the competition than I did. That was a great choice for her voice, and I agree with the judges that she sang it beautifully.

Am I the only one who thought that Peter Noone was joking with Sanjaya when he told him to sing “You’ve Really Got Me”? Or maybe it was just that he couldn’t stand to hear his own song murdered. Either way, the performance was horrible. The judges went with the “that was your best performance” comments; maybe people won’t feel like they need to “vote for the worst” this week, and he’ll finally go home.

I liked Gina’s performance a lot better than the judges did. Then again, I’ve liked her a lot more than the judges nearly every week. She’s been in a tough spot the past few weeks – the judges want to see her embrace the rocker girl in her, yet the themes don’t fit that at all (and they criticize her for it). Even though I was bummed that Chris Sligh didn’t sing “Henry the 8^th” (my dad used to sing that one with me too!), he made a great song choice. He’s a good singer – I’m glad that he was able to show that tonight.

The show closed with Melinda. Let me say, I really think she's one of the best singers on the show. But I'm not the only one who is sick of this "oh, you like little old me!" act. You're good. We know it, you know it, the judges know it. Enough already. I've heard talk that if she doesn't change the act a little she could make an early exit.

Overall, this was a great theme. Even the bad performances were pretty good. There should be more themes like this - themes that everyone can sound good singing. I have no idea who to vote for - there were so many that were really good...Blake, Jordin, both Chrises. And my prediction for the bottom three? Sanjaya, Stephanie, & Phil, even though I don't think they are the bottom three singers. And if we all keep our fingers crossed, maybe Sanjaya will finally go home.