Dr. Mark Gives Back

In the spirit of the evening, I've decided I should give back. And I don't just mean that I'm hooking up the power dialer and raking up those dime donations. I've decided to give only positive feedback to the contestants tonight. I'll give comments from the Paula school of thought this week, and it won't include anything about the idols' looks, wardrobes, or charitable tendencies.

RANDOM THOUGHTS: Simon must be giving back tonight because he was in an awfully good mood, and Mr. Tin Man seems to have finally met the Wizard based upon the video clips we saw. So Ryan decides that tonight is the night for facial scruff? Interesting. Did I miss Bono somewhere? Didn't they say he was the mentor this week?

CHRIS RICHARDSON ("Change the World"): Perfect song choice, and he actually did a good job of making it "his own" tonight. Plus, that guitarist is "da bomb!" I always love when they bring him out front.

MELINDA DOOLITTLE (Some inspirational song by Faith Hill): Great song choice and I could definitely hear the Melinda soul come through. She's great, and she's doing so much better with not looking surprised, even if it is tough to do.

BLAKE LEWIS ("Imagine"): So, a predictable song choice, but a great one. There's not much that needs to be done with a song like that. His voice is perfect for this song and he did a very good job.

LAKISHA JONES ("I Believe"): OK, so at first I thought doing another Idol winner song would be a mistake, but Lakisha did a great job. She should have gotten better praise from the judges, in my opinion. No one is Fantasia, but Lakisha's rendition was very good.

PHIL STACEY ("Change"): (I promised I'd be good.) This was an adequate performance, in the long-awaited appropriate genre for him. (That wasn't as hard as I initially expected!)

JORDIN SPARKS (I forgot to take notes, but it was something about being alone, or not being alone): This girl keeps getting better each week. Fantastic performance, on par with her other great ones. She's "in it to win it."

MY TOP 3: Melinda, Jordin, Blake
MY BOTTOM 3: I'll give back by not singling out the obvious
GIVING BACK THE BACKSTAGE PASS: Phil

So, there's my positive spin on the night. It's feels so weird being not sarcastic. I'm genuinely excited for tomorrow's 2-hour show. From the sounds of it over the past few weeks it should be a night to remember. Oh, and maybe we'll see Bono after all!