TOP 12 - DIANA ROSS WEEK

It's exciting to be in the new venue, and down to the nitty gritty!

Diana Ross: I appreciated her desire to be a supporter/mentor to the Idols, rather than a critic. They've got enough of those, and I think that that's what the "guest star's" role is - to share their talent and knowledge with the contestants.

BRANDON - He did pretty well. Nerves seem to have gotten the better of him in a few spots. It's got to be hard to be the first in this new phase of the competition. Simon was ROUGH. Paula's right - he knows what he did wrong, he knows he made mistakes. There's no need to kick him while he's down.

MELINDA - Was she made for this or what??? What is so incredible about her is that her talent fills the space. When they were on the small stage, she filled the room, and now that they're in a bigger place, it expands again and just explodes!!! She has definitely got *it*. Amazing!

CHRIS S. - I like that he tried to change it up, make it modern, and make it fit his style. It shows he's trying to be *original* (the exact thing the judges are always telling them) and not just trying to copycat. That being said, the arrangement was a little boring and not my favorite. I still appreciate the effort though. I miss the glasses!

***Is Ryan sitting on that girl's lap???

GINA - She did well! Again, maybe not my favorite, but when you have to pick from Diana Ross, there's only so much you can do.

SANJAYA - Okay, this is the first week I have not been a fan of his hair! Is he trying to channel Diana or what? (And can you even channel people who are still alive?? ;) ) Anyway...I like that he's moving around some, he looks like he's enjoying it more. I think I see some growth - maybe the hair *is* working! He's still not in the same league with everyone else, but I see improvement this week. Paula gave some actual advice, which is much appreciated, especially compared to Randy's "You suck but your hair's a star!" and Simon's "Diana Ross will be screaming in Beverly Hills!". Thanks guys, that's really helpful.

HALEY - Interesting observation from Diana about her having a "recording voice rather than a live performance voice". I can see that. I like her voice lower like that. I didn't like the whole thing as much once she stood up. She certainly stepped up to the task better than I thought she would! Overall I liked it. It's got to be disheartening to know that no matter how hard you try and work and seek to improve, as soon as you're done singing you're basically going to be facing a firing squad. That poor girl! It was nice of Simon to make a point showing that he remembered her name, and to find something to say rather than "it was bloody awful!". I think his critique was *spot on*. She will stay just because Randy and Paula were so harsh with her. But I also think she deserves to this week. And quite honestly, I want to see her do well...I love a good underdog story!

PHIL - I thought he started it off well, you can tell he's worked on that! I really liked it! He did a great job. He enjoyed it and stepped up in the new environment. Quit complaining about the songs, judges, you're just 'dissin' Diana Ross! :)

LAKISHA - She looked great! Fantastic job as usual! She's a star.

BLAKE - I don't like techno music, I don't like hip-hop, but I like Blake! I appreciate that he tried to make it "his own", even though again, I'm not sure if it worked. I would have liked to see a little more *feeling* out of him, he seemed to be concentrating too hard on the *performance*. Good job though. He seems to be pulling every trick he has out of the bag for every performance, rather than surprising us with something different each week, and I think it would help him if he *saved some for later*.

***Ryan's definitely sitting in Paula's lap! ;)

STEPHANIE - Her vocal was really good! I was a little bored, but I attribute that to the fact that you won't see me out buying tickets to a Diana Ross concert.

CHRIS R. - He did well! He was out in the audience on the first performance on the big stage, wow! I appreciate, but don't totally buy what Simon was saying about "take away you, your personality, etc. and just listen to the song on the radio, and people would be changing the channel as fast as possible". Even if you just hear a song on the radio, you still take into account the person singing it, etc. A lot of stars out there don't have the best vocals in the world, but we think of the whole package as we listen to their songs.

JORDIN - I liked seeing the slower, softer side to her. Another GREAT performance! I really really liked it. She is so impressive!

TOP - Without trying to sound like a broken record - MELINDA, LAKISHA, and JORDIN.

I also liked PHIL and HALEY.

BOTTOM - Giving marks for improvement (thereby not putting a certain person into the bottom) I'll say BRANDON. Then I have to put someone else, so I'll say BLAKE, but if I put him I feel like I should put CHRIS S. as well. That could start a domino effect, so I'll just stop there! I don't know who will go now that we're voting for guys and girls at the same time, but I really think it will be a guy. I'll say Brandon.

We'll see tonight!