American Idol Top 8

OK...just got back from the first round (played 9) of golf for the season, at Buck Ridge Golf Course (not counting the round in Virginia back in January). I hopped in the "Saints and Sinners" golf league as a sub for when people can't make it (I'm not ready to commit for the entire season). Very fun, and a great group of guys.... Now, for the main event. Top 8!!

Genre: Inspirational week...what does that mean, exactly? Maybe we'll find out.

Michael Johns--"Dream On"--what was the scarf thing? That was weird. Great vocal tonight, up 'til the "up the octave", falsetto part (for some reason, people think that's difficult to do...it's not), which I didn't actually like from him, although the actual notes were spot on. Good song choice, as well. Very inspirational (ha!). (bad chord came from the band toward the end--get it together, band!). Good performance.

Syesha Mercado--"I Believe"--I like her voice a lot (I've said that before, I think). Great song choice, I think. I like her more and more, the more I see her. Her vocal licks were really clean tonight, and although it was a really big song, she handled it great. Her best yet, as far as I'm concerned (and Randy's nuts). This girl nailed it tonight.

Jason Castro--"Somewhere Over the Rainbow"--It seemed like he jacked up the words a bunch (maybe not...just seemed like it). I actually didn't really like the song choice, although I like the original recording of that arrangement a lot. He did a good job for sure, but not great, as far as I'm concerned.

Kristy Lee Cook--"Anyway"--I think she paid the audio engineers to bury her vocals in the mix a little more than usual. Smart. Definite pitch problems. She just doesn't quite have the power needed on a song like that. Not bad, but I've seen her mess songs up way worse than that.

David Cook--"Innocent"--Didn't like his voice at the beginning at all, 'til he jumped up the octave. What a drummer!! I don't know that song, but it's really cool sounding. ("we are all innocent"--what does that mean? we're all guilty) I didn't like the performance that much, really. And the "give back" thing on his hand seemed really gimmicky (although we'll all remember that, I'm sure). Just sing a good song, man.

Carly Smithson--"Show Must Go On"--Great song choice. She is so intense...not as clean a performance as she's done in past weeks. Quite a few "pitchy" spots. She's done a lot better, but she's still an amazing singer, for sure. Not great.

David Archuleta--"Angels"--Great licks at the end. That was the part of the song that I liked. I don't know...I didn't really love the rest of it all that much. I'm not sure if he's confident enough on the piano, really, to focus on great vocals. It was clearly not as good a vocal as it normally is, but very good.

Brooke White--"You've Got a Friend"--What a great song, and certainly "inspirational". She definitely sang from the heart, and did a great job. I really wish it had more originality to it in the arrangement, though. It felt pretty old school to me. That said, I really like her more and more, because she seems so real to me.

Ugggh. It gets tough at this point to guess who's leaving us.... The worst performer there is definitely Kristy Lee Cook. She'll be in the bottom with Michael Johns and Syesha Mercado (although I thought she had one of her best nights tonight). Hopefully KLC will leave, and at that point, we'll have 7 potentially really good performers remaining, to make it interesting for the weeks to come.

I'm looking forward to "Idol Gives Back" tomorrow night. Last year was really cool, and I'm glad they're doing something like that. They really don't have to, but they are. Good for them.