Last Week for the Guys on Idol

It's the last week for just the guys to sing before they're all together as the top 12 on Idol. I'm so excited. :)

I really like Blake. He sounded good, and I liked how he incorporated a bit of beat boxing into the song. He’s different, and in a really good way. (and how did the judges not recognize the song? Wow - it's not like 311 is a fringe band...that song got a lot of radio play!)

Sanjaya looks more and more like a girl each week. Seriously. Somewhere there is an Idol stylist who is having a really good laugh over this. At least this week, though, he actually sounded pretty good. Not great, but better than last week.

Sundance’s attempt at humor was just about at the same level as his attempt at Pearl Jam. It just wasn’t very good at all. He’s really hurt by how good Chris Daughtry was last year, but even without that comparison, it wasn’t a good performance.

Every season the judges talk incessantly about how important song selection is. And every season it seems like only a few really get it. Chris Richardson may be the first person who really understands it. He chooses songs each week that he can sing, and will certainly get him though. He’s a smart kid and a good singer – he’ll go far in the show.

Not so good with the song selection was Jared. Has he not been listening to the judges? Every time on the show that someone tries to sing Stevie Wonder, the judges always comment on how it just wasn’t as good as the original. Why on earth would you subject yourself to that? Come on people, pay attention.

I don’t know what the deal is with Brandon. His performance wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either. He has the potential to be a really good singer; it’s a shame that he hasn’t performed that well in this round.

I’ve really loved Phil, but what was he thinking with his song choice tonight? It just wasn’t very good – for a few moments it was actually painful to listen to.

Chris Sligh has been one of my favorites since the audition rounds. I really liked his performance tonight. It’s interesting to me that Randy liked it a lot more than Paula and Simon. Not because it’s strange for them to disagree, but because every time the camera showed the judges as Chris was singing, Simon and Paula were talking. How can they really comment if they were talking through the entire performance?

It’s interesting that at the end of the show the judges pretty much agreed that only four of them deserve to be in the top 12. I’m with them – there is a huge division between the good and not-so-good singers. So which four do I think are the ones who should continue? Chris Sligh, Chris Richardson, Blake, and Phil. (and I’m guessing that Phil is the ½ that Simon talked about…he’s really good, even though he didn’t show it tonight). That means it’s a toss up between Sanjaya, Jared, Sundance, and Brandon as to who is going home. It should be Sanjaya and Sundance…so it will probably be Jared and Brandon who get the boot on Thursday.