Top 10 Perform

I'm so glad I was on vacation last week where I didn't write anything about one of the worst weeks in Idol History. There were at least four candidates who were beyond horrible but thankfully, Paige's time was up. Not sure what she was even doing in the Top 12 anyway.

Well, now it's a new week for the Top 10 to redeem themselves with R&B/Soul night with Usher as the mentor. How will they do? Let's find out.

Siobhan was first to kick off the show. I still don't get this girl. I've not been a fan of hers since the Top 24 was announced. I just don't think she's a good singer even though she can do that scream at the end of songs ala Adam Lambert. The difference is that Lambert was a good singer throughout the song and could pull off the yell. Siobhan is not a good singer, has a decent yell, but it all doesn't come together. The perfect example was in last night's "Through The Fire" by Chaka Kahn which she destroyed. I didn't even like her yell last night either. I don't think she'd even yell well if she was getting stabbed by an ice pick. The game's up Siobhan. American now sees exactly what you are - a singer in the Village that attracts maybe a hundred or so people in a drunken bar. That's your future. I hope she can deal with that fate.

Next up was Casey going with Sam and Dave's "Hold On, I'm Coming." I liked Casey's performance. If finally showed that he's much better than Bucky Covington. I wish Casey had a better stage presence. He just stands there most of the time with his guitar and sings and smiles. I know girls love him so I guess the smile works in his favor. I think at one point of the song he even muffed the lyrics but covered it up pretty well. I think Casey has gotta get back to his roots. He needs to do an all out rock song and rip off his shirt like he did in the auditions. I could care less about seeing his chest but I think that could create some buzz and continue to garner the teenage girl vote. But, it was a solid job for Casey.

Big Mike was next to show off his chops going with India.Arie’s “Ready for Love. First of all, I'm not an India Arie fan. I had no clue what this song was. It was a boring song. I'm not even sure if Mike sang the song like India or made his own version. He sang the song great but it actually bored me a bit. I would have liked something with more emotion and a bit more upbeat since this was R&B night. He could have chosen a song by Johnny Gill or Joe which he could have put his own spin on. However, despite the snooze fest of a song, he did a good job with a poor song choice.

We then get to hear the sing-talker in Didi going with the Temptations "What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted." Yes, I know the song has meaning for Didi. However, if you want to show emotion, you still have to sing the song well. This was the kind of performance you see in movies when a bad singer sings and glass shatters. It really was hurting my eardrum. Then, to top it off, she was boring on stage. She had no connection with the audience or the microphone. She claims she wanted to "sing something that moved her." Well, that performance may have "moved" her from the Top 10 back to her hometown. It really was horrific.

Tim, or "Telfon Tim" as they now call him took the stage next to sing Anita Baker's "Sweet Love" which was just as bad as his "Under My Thumb" from two weeks ago. Tim is totally this year's Sanjaya - the bad singer with awful hair that keeps on defying the odds and advancing further than his voice should have taken him. Girls will vote for him. People who think he sucks will vote for him. His parents and friends will vote for him. Dirk Diggler's porn friends will vote for him. The deaf will vote for him. So, Simon said it best that it just doesn't matter how good or bad time sings. That being said, let's move on to the next contestant.

We then get to see Andrew who we are still waiting to top his Paula song and he may have done it with girlfriend beater, Cris Brown's "Forever." It actually felt like Andrew was singing forever as I was not a fan of the song but I thought he did it well. I liked Andrew from the beginning and didn't hate his songs as much as the judges the first few weeks but then again, I was a huge fan of Scott MacIntyre which I'm still getting killed about. But, Andrew had it going last night. He has a unique voice and his fate will be made by song choice. If he continues to make smart song decisions, he can advance at least half way to the Top 6 slot. I'm not sure what Andrew's mom said in Spanish but for Andrew's sake, hopefully it was positive.

Katie was up next going with Aretha Franklin's "Chain Of Fools." This is such a keroeke song but it was definitely better than she's done the last few weeks. However, I do believe that Suri, ooops, I mean Katie is out of her league. She needed a few more years to polish her craft and become a more rounded singer. However, she's cute and not the worst so I think she has a few more weeks left in her.

Then comes Lee going with a song by the Cornelius Brothers called "Treat Her Like A Lady." Who the hell are the Cornelius Brothers? This reminded me of when Bo Bice sang a song called "Vehicle" that I had never heard before and he nailed it. Lee had that same fate. He did a great job with a song that no one had ever heard before and could have a hit with it. It was one of the better rock performances I've seen and Simon was right in saying that Lee's life could have changed with last night's performance. It was really that good. He showed that he can be a rocker and wow us. He did just that with one of the best performances of the season.

So, front-runner Crystal was next trying to shock us by not using the guitar and going the piano route with Gladys Knight's "Midnight Train To Georgia." At the piano, it was a bit awkward as she seemed to concentrate too much on pressing the right keys but once she got up from the piano to sing, Crystal was in her groove. It was definitely not my favorite Crystal performance but she showed that she's one of the best singers this season. That being said, I do hope she goes back to the guitar next week.

Finally, it's Aaron ending the show with Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine." I remember how well Christina Christian sang this song in Season 1. Aaron didn't do nearly as good with his version. I though his performance was "Eh." It wasn't great. It didn't suck. It was just there. It was one of those performances you'll never remember after this week. That being said, I think there was a lot worse so he should be safe another week.

So, how goes home? The bottom three has got to be Didi and Tim. But, who will the third person be? I'm going to say it's Siobhan. However, I think Didi's time is finally up.

Until tomorrow, Birdman Out.

And Then There Were 11

The first season of Idol we only had a Top 10 and the first person booted was EJ Day. From there, Idol went to a Top 12 format. In the past 7 seasons, 5 of the 7 contestants eliminated first had been a girl. Joining Vanessa Oliveraz, Leah LaBelle, Lindsey Cardinale, Melissa McGhee, and Jasmine Murray is Lacey Brown who got the boot last night. (Note: The two guys in seasons 6 and 7 were Brandon Rogers and David Hernandez respectively.)

What do you remember about these people? I can't tell you much except that David Hernandez was a male stripper. So, it's no shock that Lacey Brown goes home. There's not much to remember about here nor did anyone lose sleep about her departure.

It's still shocking that the cat with nine lives, Tim Urban, aka Dirk Diggler, survives again. Tim Urban is this year's John Stevens. He's the guy with the terrible voice that continues to defy the odds to remain in the competition.

If I was a betting man, Tim survives again next week to make it into the Top 10 and be part of the summer tour. Oye. Anyone paying for this summer's tour must not have anything better to do this summer.

So, we say good-bye to Lacey Brown. It was nice knowing you. I'm sure we won't see you anytime soon.

Hope to catch ya next week. Until then...Birdman Out.

Top 12 Finally Perform

Okay, before I get into last night's performances, let me briefly touch on last week's eliminations as I was on my death bed sick as a dog and couldn't think of typing anything.

As we know, both Todrick and Alex were given the boot. Personally, both of these guys are better than Aaron Kelly and Tim Urban. As for the girls, we lost Lilly and Katelyn. I could care less about Lilly. She's a bitter person and can have a miserable life performing at her county fairs. As for Katelyn, she got screwed. She had the look and the voice and it's shocking that she lost out to some of the people we are stuck with like Paige, Didi and Katie. But, the highlight of the night was the duet between Scott MacIntyre and Matt Giraud singing Billy Joel. Watch out world...Scotty Mac is gonna be big.

So, let's see how things went down now that we are at the real part of this competition already.

The theme for the night is The Rolling Stones. Now, I'm not a Rolling Stones fan. So, after watching last night's performances, I'm not sure if the Rolling Stones are really bad OR if no one can really pull off a Mick Jagger song. It's probably a combination of both.

First up on the big stage is Big Mike. Mike, this season's Ruben Studderesque teddy bear, sent with "Miss You." This wasn't my favorite Lynche performance. I though he was much better the past two weeks. He sang the song well but his dancing on stage was a bit amateurish. But, Mike got soul and he'll sail through to the next week with ease.

Next up is Didi Benami. Or, she could do what Megan Joy Corkery did last year and drop her last name. Before ya know it, she's just gonna be Didi. Didi is a pretty girl and there are times I think she can sing and there are times where her voice wants me to grab one of the wife's tampons and stick them in my ear to absorb the bleeding. Didi went with "Play With Fire" and it was boring. Think about it. Do you even remember this performance last night? She spoke half of the song. Sung a quarter of the song. And there was another quarter of the song that was just plain bad. Shockingly, the judges didn't hate her performance. She may just get a bit deeper ala Brooke White / Megan Joy based on looks alone.

Casey James was next doing his version of "It's All Over Now." Well, it's far from over for Casey James. He's got the girls vote right where he wants it. If Bucky Covington can go to the Top 8, then Casey can go much further than that. I'm just not sure if Casey is a country star or a rock star. What I love is watching Kara watch Casey. Her husband must love seeing his wife drool over some kid. Personally, I think Casey is good and I really have no issues with the guy. I do agree with Simon that he needs to do more on the stage and be a star instead of just standing there strumming his guitar.

Lacey Brown now gets her turn and chose "Ruby Tuesday" which was appropriate since the performance was on a Tuesday night. I'm not a Lacey fan. Her sing / talking is just not good. I don't like that sound. I don't like her voice of lack thereof. Lacey is a forgettable person. Do you remember Leah LaBelle or Melissa McGhee? These were forgettable girls in the Top 12 from prior seasons. They are all forgettable. Lacey may not be the first to go but she still falls into this forgettable category.

Andrew Garcia hits the stage next and went up there with out his guitar to do "Gimme Shelter." It was the first time we've seen Andrew sing a song NOT buy a girl. Personally, not a fan of the song and I think he does better when he sings a song by a girl and makes it his own. Unfortunately, with it being Rolling Stones week, he had no choice but to sing a dude song. I like this Garcia kid. I think he has potential to do that WOW song again but this surely wasn't a WOW. It was an "EHHHH." But, I do hope he sticks around as I think he's one of those contestants that can be average one week and blow us away the next week.

We then get to see Katie Stevens version of "Wild Horses." Simon pointed out that he had a hit with this song by Susan Boyle. Whoop De Doo. You couldn't pay me to buy a Susan Boyle CD. Katie is over her head in this competition. When she's on stage, I feel like she's performing in her high school talent show. Katie has a nice voice but she's always pitchy. It's a shame she's in the competition this year as I feel she's do better if she was in this competition two years from now. I think one of the wild horses may have had a stroke after hearing this version of the song.

Oye. Now we hear Tim Urban. Tim goes with reggae version of "Under My Thumb." What was under my thumb was the fast forward button on the remote control. This was one of the worst performances of the night by far. The reggae version didn't work. He doesn't have the voice. I look at him and all I see is Dirk Diggler. Tim's time could be up.

The crazy Siobhan is next doing her version of "Paint It Black." She bored me through the first 80% of the song and then she want Adam Lambert the last part of the song to wow the judges. Personally, I thought the performance from beginning to end was horrendous. It seemed very keroeke to me and then that yell at the end solidified why I really don't get excited by this girl. She's a bar performer. Who's rushing to the store to buy the new Siobhan album?

Lee Dewyze's turn was now. Lee needs to get some personality and quick. He's worked in a paint store but talking to him as about as entertaining as watching paint dry. Lee's song choice is perfect for him in "Beast of Burden." Lee's got the perfect rocker voice ala Daughtry and David Cook. So, he's got the voice in his favor. For him to go really deep, we'll need him to continue to pick good songs and to get some personality or he'll turn into an early exit like Michael Sarver.

On the stage next is Paige Miles. I feel like she's so overrated. Simon keeps on praising her voice. I must be deaf. I don't like her voice or her Lawrence Taylor look or her stage presence. Do you remember Jasmine Murray from last year? I feel that Paige has similar talent to her and Jasmine was the first to go as part of the Top 12 (or 13 last year). Paige went with "Honky Tonk Woman" and now sure what she was doing. Was she singing a country version of this song? What was wrong with her voice; it was worse than normal. I think we need to turn the page on Paige.

Aaron Kelly, from his small town was next. Maybe one week they'll do Mellencamp week and he can sing "I was born in a small town..." I'm just not getting Aaron. Is this a CD you'd run out to buy? Do you remember the young John Stevens who made it to #6 in Season 3? John was much better than this kid and the John stank. Kevin Covias was even better than Aaron and he wasn't that good. I don't like bashing 16 year old kids but his voice is just not strong enough. And, his poor mother who's name is Kelly Kelly. I would NEVER marry or date a person who's last name was the same name as my first name. I guess that's what happens in small towns when there are only 50 people to chose from to date. Anyway, Aaron sung "Angie" and Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. I was ready to fall asleep.

The show ended on the right foot with the always miserable, sour puss - Crystal Smellysocks. This girl has a problem. She looks like she doesn't want to be there and sing these songs but knows deep down that she has to go through the motions to try to win this competition. She'll be a miserable winner if she does indeed win American Idol as she'll never want to make the music that she'd be required to make. Just put a smile on Crystal and enjoy the ride you are on. She sings "You Can't Always Get What You Want" and by far was the best performance of the night. She just needs to continue what she's doing and loosen up a bit and not be so serious. A smile would be nice but not a big smile so we see your teeth.

So, who goes home? I'm gonna say that the bottom three will be Tim, Aaron,and Paige. And going home will be Tim.

Not sure if I'll be writing next week as I'm on vacation but we'll see if I can make time. For now, Birdman Out.

Top 8 Boys Perform

After the girls the night before, would this night be worse? The answer is a big NO but still, nothing really excited me until the end. Anyway, here's how it went.

Lee kicks off the big night with Owl City's "Fireflies." I think he had some nervous butterflies during this performance. Don't get me wrong. I thought he did an ok job and good enough to advanced but it sure didn't blow me out of the water. He's got a great voice but this song was terrible and he can do much better than what he showed us.

Alex Lambert was next up with is Carol Brady hair / mullet thingy he's got going. This guy really bores me but when I look at him sing but I do agree with the judges that he has a good voice. He's just dull as far as I'm concerned. He bores us with Ray LaMontagne's "Trouble" and Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Okay...I'm awake. It's boring. This guy has as much personality as a wet rag. Maybe he was singing the song in his sleep while standing there on stage. This snoozer of a performance puts Mr. Lambert on the bubble.

The just as boring Tim Urban was up next singing a song I can't stand in "Hallelujah." If you want to be able to pull of a song like this, you need to be a really good singer. Unfortunately for Tim, he's not that person. While he maybe did better than I thought he was going to do, I was overly distracted by his Peter Brady hair comb. He looked like such a dork up there and just has absolutely zero start power and stage presence that he can't go much further. The judges thought it was Tim's best performance so far but when you stink week after week, that doesn't say much. I still think Tim could be on the bubble tonight.

Next was a bit interesting in Andrew Garcia singing Christina Aguilara's "Genie in a Bottle." Wow...this take a set of balls to pull off but I thought it was a great song choice to try to recapture the "Straight Up" by Paula Abdul. I totally disagreed with the judges. I thought he totally pulled it off. He made it is own. It was original. It was risky. I thought parts of the song were pitchy but the originality of his performance overrode how well he actually sung it. This guy deserves to be in the Top 12 and I hope the judges negative comments don't deprive him of that chance.

Casey James hit the stage next with Keith Urban's "You'll Think Of Me." Not sure why Casey went pure country. I think he can do better with a pop/rock song as to the Bucky Covington country route. He did a better than average job with an annoying song but wanted more from him. He's a lock for the Top 12 since girls love him and he is a good singer but who is this guy? Is he a country singer, a rock singer, or a pop star? If he keeps on singing these bad country songs, he'll be none of the above and will be stuck taking off his shirt for magazines for girls to drool over.

Pool little Aaron Kelly now had is turn going with Lonestar's "I'm Already There." If he thinks he's already there, then it's time to go home as you aren't quite there yet. I thought the performance was horrendous. It was off pitch vocally and he seemed nervous. I think he's a lock to be eliminated tonight.

Now comes Todrick Hall who has continued to be ripped by the judges but continues to advance. He goes with Queen's "Somebody To Love" and nailed it. He brought soul to the song. He showed he can do this. His stage presence and emotion carried over to the song as he put on a great performance to go with the solid vocals. This was long overdue from Todrick and I'm happy to say that he'll be in the Top 12 after this huge night for him.

Finally, we get to see Big Mike end the show. He goes with Maxwell's "This Woman's Work" and this man had it working. He put on for the second straight week one of the best performances of the season and went from an early exit to now a projected male front runner. This was great. He had great vocals and actually was feeling the lyrics as he was into it. It's what one would call "gettin' down." It was the perfect final performance before the Top 12 is announced tonight and Big Mike will be part of that group for sure.

So, for the first time, I think the boys had a better night than the girls.

Who goes home? Definitely Aaron Kelly is the first.

However, the 2nd person could be tight. I hope it's not Andrew Garcia as I think he's good. So, I'm gonna go with either Alex Lambert or Tim Urban. These two guys are interchangeable. For shits and giggles, let's say Tim Urban goes home.

Until then...Birdman Out.

Top 8 Girls Perform

It was the biggest night of their lives with two more girls going home this week to get us our top 6 girls. And guess what happened? They killed Corey Haim. The singing was so bad that they made him take more drugs than he normally would have taken and there ya go...he's dead. And I'm sure he wasn't the only one who killed himself last night after listening through this. I was just glad that it was only one hour.

So, here's how it went:

Katie started of the show with the ultimate NO NO singing a former Idol's hit song in Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway." Katie's version was quite different where as Kelly turned it into a hit song, Katie turned it into a utter mess. Yeah, she's young and she did listen to the judges to pick a younger song but this wasn't the song to pick. Her voice was all over the place. I needed to breakaway from the TV after hearing how the show started.

So, I was hoping that the show would get better with Siobhan singing "House of the Rising Sun" by The Animals. The judges stated that she didn't have a big moment like last week. However, they should have said that she didn't have ANY moment. It was painfully boring. I was ready to put needles into my eyeballs while watching this. Some people think this girl is great. I personally think she is greatly overrated. Who's running to the local music store to buy the Siobhan debut besides her cousins?

Up next is Lacey looking like Pat Benetar and singing Brandi Carlile's "The Story." And that was exactly what it was. She was up there telling a story instead of singing a story. This sing/talk thing that these contestants keep on doing has become annoying. We first saw it last year with Megan Joy and she stank. Now, everyone is going that sing/talk route and it's just not good. Unfortunately, based on the judges comments, she may be around as they thought it was one of her best performances. I must need a hearing aid.

Next up we get my gal Katelyn with her bushy hair going with Carole King's "I Feel The Earth Move." I would have liked a better song as it was a bit cheesy for what she was supposed to be doing but what I like about this girl is that when she does pick the right song, she can sing. It may not have been her best performance last night and I hope not her last but song choice is key for this girl who can go much further if she plays her cards right. Still, last night's mess was better than most of the other contestants as far as I was concerned.

Another sing/talker had her turn in Didi going with Fleetwood Mac's "Rhiannon." Not one of my favorite songs and the talk singing is really annoying me. However, the judges claim she did a much better job than she's been doing. This is what you call a "judges save." They want to have the best Top 6 girls and by giving her positive comments helps sway the votes for her to give some of the worse girls less votes thus eliminating them. She really wasn't nearly that good and what the judges like as well as people calling in is that she's pretty and gets the good look vote. That's all. She really can not sing. That's for shit sure. Kara said it was her "favorite moment all season." So, she's basically told us that we've been watching crap for the last few months.

Paige, "I Look Like LT" Miles is up next going with Charlie Chaplin's "Smile" and the second she started singing, all "smiles' in the audience went to frowns. Holy crap. A terrorist should use this performance and play it over and over when they capture a hostage. That would the worst torture ever. I don't know what else to say about this except, "Na Na Na Na, Na Na Na Na...Hey Hey Hey...GOOD-BYE !"

Finally, it's Crystal's turn. She goes with "Give Me One Reason" by Tracy Chapman and was the first and only one of the night to nail it. She's comfortable with the guitar. She's comfortable on stage. She's maybe not comfortable in the dentist chair but the porcelain veneers are coming...I promise ! And this girl can flat out sing and change up a song and make it her own. She's really the only girl worth of continuing based on the evening's performances.

And then comes Lilly to end the show. I thought, "on no...she's gonna do a good job since she's last." However, she went the talk/sing route and destroyed Patsy Cline's "I Fall To Pieces." I've been watching Idol since the beginning and it's been VERY rare, I could probably count on one hand, how many times I've fast forwarded a performance. And mid-way through Lilly's performance, I couldn't stand it any longer and hit the FF button. I needed to get to the end. The judges thought she didn't have any "wow factor". That's an understatement. There wasn't ANY factor in the song. It was just painfully boring. I think I'd rather read Shakespeare than hear this again and I can't freggin' stand Shakespeare.

So, that was our crappy show. Paige is a lock to go home. I'm guessing the other will be Katie. Who knows. Who really cares. Surly not Corey Haim.

Until the boys, Birdman Out.

Next 4 Eliminated

Looks like I was right on the money with John Park and Jermaine Sellers.

And right on the money with Haeley Vaughn.

However, I did think that Michelle Delamor would sneak by and either Lacey Brown or Didi Benami would go home.

So, with just 4 more to go home next week before the Top 12, these four people should be:

- Lacey Brown
- Didi Benami
- Tim Urban
- Aaron Kelly

Until Next Week...Birdman Out

Top 10 Girls Perform

It was the girls turn to go and since Crystal Smellysox caused the switcheroo of girls to boys, it was right that they had Crystal kick off the show.

I know I've been hard on Crystal. I hate her hideous teeth. I can recommend a GREAT dentist for her in Livingston. I hate her dirty hair/dreads. I can recommend a great shampoo. I hate that stupid thing under her lip but above her chin. But, there is one thing I don't hate and that's her voice. She is hands down a better performer, singer, and artist than any of the other 9 girls and that became obvious after her rendition of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Long As I Can See The Light" which she rocked while on the guitar. When you hear her sing, you don't notice all of her imperfections and the staff's stylists are making her look a bit more appealing each week. Crystal will be around for a long time so I guess by the end, she may even be good looking.

So, we go from the high of Crystal to the low of Haeley Vaughn. I think the judges thought they had the next big country star when they put Haeley in the Top 24. I hope the judges realize that they are wrong. This is NOT Haeley Underwood or Haeley Swift. She's basically Haeley Wrong. As she got on stage looking exactly like Dee from What's Happening, she utterly destroyed Miley Cyrus' "The Climb" with every verse she attempted to sing with her lisp. The judges claim she's too young and needs more time. Time wont help this girl. She's not born to be a professional singer. Even if I saw her sing on a cruise or in a theme park, I think I'd walk out. That's how bad it is. Yeah, maybe she can be a star in her high school play but that's about as far as it will go. The only thing appealing about her voice is when she's silent. This girl needs to go home...NOW !

Up next was Lacey Brown. I'm not sure I get this girl's voice ala Megan Joy. It's supposed to be singing but it's more like talking and squealing. Maybe she should try out for voice-over work for the next Chimpmunks sequel. She sings "Kiss Me" and while it may be better than last week, it's still just not good. She really just doesn't have a good voice so no matter what the judges say as their critique, it's not going to matter if you are not a great singer. I look for Lacey to be one of the candidates to go home this week.

We then get to see Katie Stevens who looks a bit like Suri Cruise. Katie is cute but who cares that she can say "give me a kiss" in 8 languages? So what. She's an international slut? Is this relevant information that we need? Anyway, she goes with "Put Your Records On" by Corinne Bailey Ray and does an okay job with it. I thought it wasn't as good as she was last week but since there are others that are so bad, it actually made the song maybe sound better than it was when comparing apples to apples. I think she'll be safe due to poor performances from the other girls.

Then came Didi Benami who's twin in Jannell Wheeler got the boot last week. Didi sang Bill Withers' "Lean On Me" which I thought was not a great song choice. I feel about Didi the same what I did about Brooke White - who cares? I actually closed my eyes and if someone didn't tell me who was singing, I wouldn't know if it was Lacey Brown or Didi Benami. So, that being said, Didi becomes on the bubble for her poor performance of a keroeke song.

Michelle Delamor was next to sing. She picks a interesting song in Creed's "With Arms Wide Open" and while it was unique and original for the first second, it went right down hill after that first line. I like that she tried to change it up and would have loved to have heard Jordin Sparks do this song back in her year but Michelle's version just wasn't strong enough. She was pitchy and couldn't come close to hitting the high notes. I think she'll still squeak by this week based on her looks and the fact that it was better than others.

Lilly Scott now had her turn. I'm SO not a fan. She's Allison Irritating with platinum hair. She's an ugly Ann Jillian. Her hair looks like what my mom used to use to clean the blinds. You know...that duster thing that's on a plastic stick? She sings Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" and ya know what, I just don't like it despite the judges praise. This girl is this year's "I Just Don't Get It" girl. I don't care what she sings. I don't like her voice. I don't like her personality. She annoys me. She looks awkward on the stage. She's a village girl. She can sing on Bleeker or Houston any day of the week as long as I'm not in attendance but on stage for American Idol doesn't quite do it to me. I almost got up to suck a TUMS after she sang. But, it looks like she'll be around for a bit. How annoying. I loved when Randy compared Lilly to Bjork. That's great Randy...Bjork sucks too !

On the stage next was Katelyn Epperly. I thought Katelyn did a solid job and surprised me last week. I thought she did even better this week with Coldplay's "The Scientist" while at the piano. She's a cute girl and it's not often when you see the female at the piano as Brooke White used to do. I thought she showed off that she has a great voice and could be a dark horse to go deep in this competition. She'll get better each week and with her looks and personality, I think she'll be around for a bit. Yeah, I wish she picked up the pace of the song a bit but I thought she did a great job.

Then we get to see Paige Miles who looks like Lawrence Taylor's off-spring. She did what I hate when people do; pick a song made famous by a prior idol contestant. She chose to sing Kelly Clarkson's "Walk Away" and I walked out during the performance to get the bag of chocolate from the freezer as a snack. Actually...I'm wrong. I did that during Lacy's performance. I went upstairs during this performance to put the pacifier back in the baby's mouth and didn't even waste my time hitting on the remote. So, it was justified. She sang "Walk Away" and I did just that. With Paige not getting any footage in the auditions, not sure if her fan base or lack thereof will keep her alive much longer. She's definitely on the bubble tonight.

Finally we get to hear Siobhan or Chevon; sounds like a gas station to me. She is another girl that is destined for greatness in small clubs in the East or West village. When they showed footage of Siobhan with a mohawk, it didn't surprise me but it was quite disturbing. Does she think that looked good? What's the statement she's making by shaving off her hair? The statement from my perspective is that she looks ridiculous. She went with Aretha Franklin's "Think" and I thought that I really didn't like it until the last 20 seconds of the song when she went Adam Lambert on us with one big note to save her ass. If you take away that one note, she's on the bubble for this keroeke performance but that ending saved her for sure.

So, who's going home. The worst of the night as far as I'm concerned was Haeley followed by Lacey Brown and then Didi Benami. So, it should be any of these three. I'm gonna say Lacey survives again and I'm gonna go with Haeley and Didi.

Until tomorrow, Birdman Out.

Top 10 Guys Perform

The Top 10 girls were supposed to perform but with Crystal Bowersox having been rushed to the hospital, the guys were up. They didn't say what happened to Crystal but I'm guessing it was due to malnutrition from years of eating canned foods in her trailer park just caught up with her.

So, here's how the guys played out:

First up is Big Mike Lynche singing James Brown's "This Is A Man's World." I'm not a fan of the song but Mike got into it. He showed off his chops getting down and giving us some well need soul. Hell, I'll book this performance on Soul Train any day. He did a great job and showed that is not the next Ruben Studdard and can be his own artist. If he sings like this one more week, he's in the Top 12. It was a great way to kick off the show.

We then went for the high of Michael to the low of John Park who has gotta be the stunt double for John Cho in the Harold and Kumar movies. John doesn't have a terrible voice; he just doesn't know how to sing. He told us that English was his second language so he probably would have been better off singing a song in Korean. He sings a song by that dick, John Mayer, called "Gravity." It wasn't a good song choice for his voice. It wasn't good singing. You know the history of the Billboard charts how well Asians have done. Actually, after doing some research, I was wrong. Back in 2006 there was a girl named Adrienne Lau who debuted at #16 on the charts. Who knew. I never heard of her. Probably most have you haven't either. I don't believe John Park will be the 2nd to make the charts.

Next up was Casey James who continues to make Kara drool. She is making jokes of it but she stares at him with her "F**K ME" eyes. Anyway, I think Casey is going far and is one of better guys in the competition but he picked a song that so many other idols have sung in the past singing "I Don't Wanna Be" by Gavin DeGraw. It still is a great song choice for his voice but I know that Bo Bice, Chris Richardson, and Elliot Yamin each did this song and I'm sure others have as well that I can't even remember. Also, they need to so something with this Bucky Covington hair...put it in a ponytail or something. Anyway, despite all of that, this guy can sing. If you close your eyes, you can totally hear this guy on the radio. Plus, the fact that he's doing it with a guitar can make him a star. It surely doesn't hurt that girls love this guy. He has nothing to worry about this week for sure.

Then we get to see the always nervous Alex Lambert perform. The idol staff need to fix this guy's mullet or odd hair comb. He has no stage presence but if you close your eyes, he sort of sounds a bit like a young Rod Stewart. When I open my eyes, I can't stand it but with my eyes closed, the guy's voice is actually pretty good for parts of the song. He sings John Legend's "Everybody Knows" and I was pleasantly surprised. He definitely needs to work on his image and stage presence but he's someone that could get better each week. I just wish I didn't have to look at him. Maybe he could perform like the Unknown Comic and sing with a brown paper bag over his face.

Todrick Hall was next to take the stage. They showed Todrick as a kid dancing in "The Nutcracker." I hate the "Nutcracker." Todrick has this thing about taking a GIRL song and putting his own spin on it. Last week he changed up a Kelly Clarkson song. This week he went with a Tina Turner song called "What's Love Got To Do With It." When I hear this song, most guys can think of one thing - Tina's legs in the video. So, not sure if this was the right song choice for Todrick. He may have nice legs but I don't want to see them and thankfully, he didn't show them. Anyway, I did like the way he changed it up again but the judges think he's changing it up too much. Not sure whey they are so on this guy's back with changing up the songs. In the past, they'd praise any singer who could change up a song like this but for some reason they are not liking what he does. Todrick has a great voice. I hope he stays another week and takes their advice and just sings a song and not change it up at all. And make sure that the song is a GUY song. This way, he can show that he does have the voice to remain in this competition. I got your back Todrick.

Then came Jermaine Sellers, a Todrick twin. These guys are interchangeable except for the fact that Todrick can sing and Jermaine can not. Jermaine uses a steam mask before performing to loosen up his voice. Maybe he should try some other approach as this approach is surely not working. Jermaine sings Marvin Gaye's "What's Goin' On" which is such a Kereoke song. Who hasn't heard this in college a zillion times on an Open Mic Night. Come on Jermaine. You have millions of people watching and you destroy this song? His voice was all over the place and it was just off. He didn't put any emotion into the song and it was like he was just going through the motions. Hey Jermaine...what's going on? What's going on? Yeah, What's going on? Jermaine needs to go back to his church to do some praying as he's on the bubble this week.

Andrew Garcia is up next singing James Morrison's "You Give Me Something" and puts a bit of his own spin on the song. It wasn't my favorite Garcia performance but it was more than enough to keep him in this competition. He needs to pick a better song but he still sang the song great and has a unique voice. The judges keep on talking about how good his "Straight Up" was but he's not going to sing that song again. Let's get over the whole "Straight Up" thing and judge him based on what he did. And compared to most of the evening's contestants, he was still one of the better singers despite not being one of his better performances.

We then get to hear Aaron Kelly. He chooses another Kereoke song in the Temptations' "My Girl." I actually didn't agree with the judges saying he was better this week. I thought he was much better last week. He totally sounded like Kevin Covias this week and that's not that great. I still think he has that little girl vote, the same girls that make the pathetic Justin Bieber a star. So, Aaron Kelly could squeak by this week but he needs to get much better in next week's pivotal performance.

We then get Tim Urban who somehow survived over Tyler Grady last week. When I watch Tim Urban, all I see is Dirk Diggler. When I hear Tim Urban, all I think of is when the song is going to end or when I'm going to hit the fast forward button on the DVR. Ellen even said to Tim that he would be good on Glee. PLEASE...that better NEVER happen. The Glee singers could sing circles around this guy. Simon shockingly, actually liked Tim's performance thus shocking Tim after his rendition of "Come On, Get Higher" by Matt Nathanson. I surely didn't get it so maybe I need to get a Q-Tip and clean out the ear wax.

Finally, they saved Lee Dewyze for the end. Lee is a total dark horse as he got so little play in the auditions but for two straight weeks, he was one of the more dominant male singers. He went with Hinder's "Lips of an Angel" and it sounded like it could totally be on the radio right now. He needs a little work on the stage but as for his voice, he's this year's rocker and could battle it out later in the competition against Casey James. A great way to end the show.

So, based on the night, I'm going to say that Jermaine Sellers and John Park are going home.

Until tomorrow night, Birdman Out.

First 4 Eliminated

In the biggest upset in the first elimination in Idol History, Ashely Rodriguez gets the boot. She was not only one of my favorites to go deep but the Vegas Odds Makers had her going to Top 5 as well. WOW ! A total shocker ! As for the other 3, I'm fine with even though I thought Lacey Brown was much worse. Until next week...Birdman Out !