Top 10

Urgh, when is cool Seacrest coming back? The guy who's "been Ryan Seacrest" is too dweeby! Where's the Ryan we love? If Simon can dress the way he does week after week, surely Ryan can go back to inside out T-shirts and sports jackets. Please?

So, Gwen Stefani seems so . . . normal. It was kind of weird. But interesting.

Lakisha - "Let's Dance" by Donna Summer
Well, I have officially forgotten her last name. Isn't that sign #1 of a diva? Um, so, I like her hair. She does seem younger. I've noticed Simon really does remember his advice to them from the previous week and watches to see if they'll follow it. But Donna Summer? Blech. She was great, but the song was just a'aight for me for her.

Sligh - Does it matter any more? But for the record, he sang "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic."
He was out of breath and all over the place. He was off on his rhythm and he's too accommodating of whatever the judges tell him ("Chris, your hair is green tonight." "I know. I should work on that. I'll try to make it less green next time and more some other color that will please you."). You just want to throw a pair of cojones on the stage for him to use next time. So, I'm bored with him now. His voice is too Broadway to pull of anything by The Police. And the echo thing that was going on all night was totally distracting (okay, that's not his fault, though if the judges told him it was, I'm sure he'd profusely apologize and promise America that instead of knitting or crocheting on his down time, he'd talk to those sound guys). I was super uncomfortable for him. And Simon has the same facial expression he's had with Taylor. He dislikes Taylor. And he dislikes Sligh. Simon likes some spitfire in the contestants. I bet Simon wants to toss a pair on stage for Sligh, too.

Gina Glocksen - "I'll Stand By You"
Wow! Great song for her! I love it! Weird outfit, but great vocal! Nice personality, too. She has a lovely smile and such nice teeth! Wow, she got mad praise tonight. I'd like to see her go far and do well. I doubt it'll happen, but hey, maybe it could--I think a Gina-Blake finale would be interesting.

Sanjaya Malakar - Something by No Doubt
Oh. My. Gosh. What in the world did he do to his hair? I suppose since his dignity has been all but flushed down the toilet, why fight it. It gave me bad Nadia Turner flashbacks. You know, the kind of thing where you're grimacing in confusion as you watch the TV, half wanting to fast forward, but too sickly fascinated to hit the button? Yeah, that was his hair for me for him. GREAT comments by Simon. I totally agree. Being totally real about the vocals, though, I kind of liked it! Except for the part where he forgot his lyrics (I'm amazed they didn't say anything, but then again why bother). He was better than Sligh tonight.

Haley Scarnato - "True Colors"
Boring song. Boring performance. And I bet those girls get sick of hearing that Paula thinks they're pretty right after they mucked up a performance.

Phil Stacey - That Stalker Song by the Police
"Every Breath You Take" worked well on Phil. 1. He sounds good on it. 2. He kind of looks like a stalker. I so prefer him with the goofy knitted hats. I'm totally distracted by his chrome dome for some reason. He's good, but he annoys me and I'm bored with him now, too.

Melinda Doolittle - Something else by Donna Summer
Great hair and outfit (despite Simon's opinion). She looks pretty. Boring song. Very good vocal, blah, blah, blah. It's not her fault, but she's good every week. So what is there to say?

Blake Lewis - Love Song by the Cure
First of all, I totally called that he'd sing The Cure. And he even dressed the part (except for no crazy hair, which is fine with me). Cough. Sanjaya. Cough. I love the Reggae arrangement. I'm always glued to his performances to see what he'll do. I love that he teases us by not always doing beatbox stuff. I love this guy. He's contemporary. He's hip. He has a great voice for this kind of thing. He's different. He's unique. He's original. He's daring. He's interesting. He's great. More on this later.

Jordin Sparks - "Hey Baby, Hey Baby, Hey Baby, Hey!" or something like that
It was a little boring and weird for me. The whole naughty school girl uniform doesn't work on her. She's too cute and adorable and likeable. It wasn't "performed" enough for me. It wasn't bad, but I didn't love it either. But I do like her a lot. So, she's forgiven. :P

Chris Richardson - "Don't Speak"
LOL at Gwen Stefani's "vocal olympics" comment! I usually like the cross gender songs (you know, when a guy sings a girl's song and vice versa), but this was just okay for me. He messed up his lyrics, too. Why is no one calling them on this?! When it's the first week on the big stage, the judges jump ALL OVER the contestants telling them that "at this point in the competition, there is just no excuse" yadda yadda. But for the top 10, it's suddenly not an issue?? And BOY was he MIFFED when Ryan interviewed him about Blake being told he's the top guy. That tight smile and "Hey, Blake and I are friends. If he's the front runner, great!" was just soooo believable.

Okay, I have something to say about "style over substance." That's what I'm liking this year. Don't get me wrong, Lakisha and Melinda are great, but a finale with both of them in it and even EITHER of them in it is just kind of boring. I don't know that I'd buy an album by either one of them even though they are technically and vocally AMAZING. Isn't that interesting? And why not? For the same reason we don't buy many Whitney, Celine, and Mariah CDs. They're AMAZING, yes, but that's not our style. It's kind of predictable (not a bad thing) and boring (a bad thing). Blake is not technically as good, but he's INTERESTING. He's different. He's unique. He's contemporary. He keeps your interest. You watch JUST to see what he'll do. He's a phenomenal and smooth performer. And while he may have less substance in terms of vocal ability and perfection, his style trumps that for me. I'd buy his album over a diva's any day. So, there's my spiel on why I like Blake more than more polished singers.

Top 10 performances, best to worst, in my opinion--keeping it real:

Gina Glocksen
Blake Lewis
Melinda Doolittle
Lakisha Jones
Phil Stacey
Jordin Sparks
Chris Richardson
Sanjaya
Haley
Sligh


Bottom 3 (or is it 2 now? I'm confused. Makes you wonder why they didn't mention the 3rd bottom a week ago): Sligh and Haley

Leaving: Haley