This Week In Tonight In American Idol: 27 February 2007 Edition

We're back. 10 men and 10 women remain. Tonight, the men perform.

8:01 PM: Ryan sends a shout-out to Jennifer Hudson on her Oscar win on Sunday nite. Yeah, it was all us. HEAR THAT J.HUD??? YOU'D BE NOWHERE WITHOUT US!!!

8:02 PM: Ryan introduces the judges. Any advice for the men this week? Randy: "I know they'll be better than they were last week". It would be hard not to be better than that steaming pile of shite. Paula: "Just have fun". Simon: "Let's leave it up to the singing".

8:03 PM: This week's performances are "dedicated to the people who inspire us".

8:05 PM: First up is Phil Stacey. Phil dedicates his performance to the fine men and women who are protecting us overseas. Very nice. Phil performs John Waite's "Missing You". He nails it. Randy calls it "hot". Paula says "I can hear you right now on the radio". Simon says "I'm not jumping out of my chair". The audience groans. Simon calls Phil "completely unoriginal", "not unique", and "good karaoke" but predicts Phil will be back next week.

8:13 PM: Next up is Jared Cotter. Jared dedicates his performance to his Mom and Dad. Jared performs Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On". I'm not really digging it. It sounds like he's struggling to hit the right notes. His range seems to be limited. Randy says "it started rough" and calls it "pitchy", but he liked "the face move". Randy and Paula joke with each other, and Paula can't keep it together, especially after Simon tells her "you were funny there, for once". Paula completely trips over words but manages to tell Jared "you looked good". Uh oh. Simon takes over from the giddy Paula and says it "reminded me of the Love Boat", a "cabaret singer on the Love Boat". Randy says "that would've been a great Love Boat".

8:17 PM: Next up is A.J. Tabaldo. A.J. dedicates his performance to his Mom and Dad. A.J. performs Nina Simone's Michael Buble's The Pussycat Dolls' "Feelin' Good". Jimmeny Christmas, how many times are we gonna hear this song this season??? A.J.'s performance seems a little shaky but good. I didn't catch all the comments, and none of the judges are crazy about it, but the judges gave him credit for going out of his comfort zone. Simon liked it but was not crazy about it. My sister says, "nice try", which she thinks is bad news.

8:27 PM: Next up is Sanjaya Malakar. Sanjaya dedicates his performance to his Grandfather. Sanjaya performs Irving Berlin's "Steppin Out". He rocks a fedora. I'm not digging the fedora or the performance. He seems flat. His voice is too thin. Randy's not digging it either. Randy calls it "like a bad high school talent show" performance, and thinks it's an odd choice. Randy also says "I like you". Paula thinks it's a bad choice too. Paula thinks he should stick with songs that reflect his youth. Simon calls it "ghastly", "weird", and "like a lunch where after lunch the kids all dress up and sing". Sanjaya is in big trouble.

8:36 PM: Next up is Chris Sligh. Chris dedicates his performance to his wife. Chris performs Ray Lamontagne's Taylor Hicks's "Saved By A Woman". Chris nailed that! Randy liked it and encourages Chris to "return with your big voice". Paula likes it but calls it "pitchy" and warns him "not to get ahead of the music". Simon says, "we passed you through because you were a good singer. Tonite, you were a good singer". All judges think it's the right choice for Chris. I thought it sounded very Taylor Hicks, and Ryan reminds us that Taylor did indeed perform this song last season.

8:46 PM: Next up is Nick Pedro. Nick dedicates his performance to his wife. Nick and his wife were apart on Valentine's Day, and he wants his song to be her VDay gift. Nick performs "Fever" by a hundred different people. I'm not really digging this. Randy says "that's the Nick we fell in love with" but also calls it a little "pitchy". Paula also says "that's the Nick we love" and that he should "go for it". Simon says he lacked "charisma". Simon says this is Nick's biggest issue. Ryan tries to bait Simon into a kerfluffle about how Simon would restyle Nick, but Simon is not in the mood for it.

8:55 PM: Next up is Blake Lewis. Blake dedicates his performance to his parents. Blakes performs Jamiroquai's "Virtual Insanity". This is completely off. His singing is way wrong. His record-scratch and Michael-Jackson-dancing are nice touches. But it's now very clear that he is not the second coming of Justin Timberlake. Randy loved it, but I think Randy gave him extra points for degree-of-difficulty. Paula calls him "unique". Simon will savage him. Here it is. Simon called it a "copycat performance" and "out-of-tune". Only the middle section was "original". Simon: "I was very disappointed with you this week." Ryan and the other judges all gang up on Simon. They all want Blake to stay because he is unique and cool. Simon refuses to back down.

9:05 PM: Next up is Brandon Rogers. Brandon dedicates his performance to his Grandmother. Brandon performs Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time". Interesting choice. Cyndi Lauper had some great songs -- if you could only get past that voice. Brandon reconstructs the song as an R&B slow-jam, and pulls it off well, though it is a little boring. Randy thinks the song didn't show what Brandon had. Brandon disagrees with Randy, which might not be a good strategy. Paula agrees with Brandon -- the sentiment was beautiful. Simon agrees with Randy. "This is a singing competition. That was rubbish." Simon warns him the competition is not about the feeling, it's about the singing. Brandon still wants to fight, and he wants to emote more. Simon makes fun of him. Brandon will be either in the top 3 or the bottom 3 this week, depending on how America feels about how Randy and Simon reacted.

9:11 PM: Next up is Chris Richardson. Chris dedicated the song to his Grandmother. Chris performs Jason Mraz's "Geek In The Pink". I don't like Jason Mraz, so my opinion may be biased. I don't like this at all. IMHO, Chris underwhelmed. Of course, I must be wrong. Randy says "Chris is in it to win it tonite". Randy said it was better than the original. Paula also loved it. Simon calls it the "best performance of the nite". I am very confused. I didn't like it at all. Are the judges pimping Chris because they want him to go deep???

9:19 PM: Last up for the guys is Sundance Head. Sundance dedicates his performance to his 2 1/2-month-old son, who was born after the auditions began. Sundance performs Wilson Pickett's The Commitments's "Mustang Sally". Sundance channels Taylor Hicks's spastic energy and gives the most dynamic performance of the nite. Randy loves it: "you dropped a bomb on them nite". Paula calls it "the best vocal we ever heard from you" but warns him that he can't have any more off weeks. Simon calls it "the Sundance we love" but says "I actually think you can do a lot better".

9:27 PM: The judges all agree that everyone was better this week. Even Simon is smiling.

9:30 PM: I know this does not match up with the overall tenor of the judges' comments, but "my" bottom four [okay, I'm cheating with five] tonite were: 7) Jared Cotter or Nick Pedro; 8) Nick Pedro or Chris Richardson; 9) Brandon Rogers; and 10) Sanjaya Malakar. Which means that all of them are safe, of course.

[UPDATED 1:30 AM:] dialidol.com has the men in the following order: 1) Sundance Head; 2) Sanjaya Malakar; 3) Chris Sligh; 4) Blake Lewis; 5) Phil Stacey; 6) Jared Cotter; 7) A.J. Tabaldo; 8) Chris Richardson; 9) Nicholas Pedro; and 10) Brandon Rogers. Figures that Sanjaya would do so well despite the fact that his performance was so crappy. He seems to have developed a fanbase based solely on the fact that he's "the young cute one". My sister calls him "this season's John Stevens".

*****

Tune in Wednesday for the top 10 women!

ciaobaby