They Brought Their 'A' Game

The 2008 Top 10 Idol contestants brought their 'A' game tonight.  I've said it before and I'll say it again-- this season is the strongest season of Idol.  It's getting really difficult to pick the bottom performer and you know I've been looking carefully at the performances.  It's definitely going to go down, as usual, as a popularity contest rather than a singing competition; so the ones who stay have to have an extra edge in personality and likability.  Let's start off in order (as best as I can remember).  Disclaimer:  I am awesome and therefore you should only read if you can handle awesome.  Okay?  Begin.

Ramiele, my secret girlfriend (shhh!) and part time lover (double shhh!):  

I'm a little biased here.  I'm going to like her pretty much no matter what, but she did have a really strong performance.  It was just unfortunate that she had to go on first.  I've been reading round the web, and many will agree that the first slot on the show tends to be the death slot.  If you want a contestant out of the show, just put them in the beginning.  I'm hoping that this week breaks the trend.  Ms. Malubay is just too good to go home right now.  Plus, she's a cute Pinay (Woot!).

Jason Castro the one who phones in all his performances (That's a bad thing):

Jason should be in the bottom three, but he probably won't be.  He still has all the girls' hearts a twitter.  Getting tired of his non-singing and just guitar singing.  You could barely hear him over the back-up singers tonight.  I really hope he's close to done if  not tonight.

Syiesha Mercado (Strong Singer, Forgettable everything else):

Sorry if I spelled her name wrong.  She's still a strong vocalist and performer, but I just can't get pass her averageness.  It seems contradictory.  How can such a good singer be average.  Maybe her personality isn't interesting.  All I know about her is that she makes this annoying impersonation of a crying baby.  I am really sorry for this, but she might have to go bye bye soon.

Chikezie the orange tux guy:

Sorry about the spelling (see a pattern here?).  I really wanted to root for this underdog, but his song choice was horrible this week.  He needed to modernize his performance.  I supported him when he did the oldies a couple of weeks ago, but now it's time to show that he can put his strong voice behind a contemporary performance.  I would not be surprised to see him in the bottom three.  If Castro does not leave, then Chikezie will have to do.  But if Cheesy stays, then he needs to heed my advice.  I want to support him.

Michael Johns the Aussie:

Finally, this Aussie belts out a song like I knew he could.  At least no one can say he peaked in Hollywood week.  After tonight, I'd have to say Queen is his bread and butter.  He should definitely stick to rock ballads and stadium ballads.  You know, the type that gets your lighter out and swaying from side to side.  My gut instinct feels that he should be in the top three.  Hopefully, America doesn't forget about him and he gets stuck in the bottom.

Carly the Irish lass:

Love this girl, but not in the way I love Malubay.  I really liked Carly's performance.  Still one of the better singers in the show.  I really hope she's not in the bottom three again this week.  America messed that one up and she deserves to be on American Idol.  Plus, I loves me some Irish.

David the evil one:

Sorry that I'm hating on Archuleta.  I just feel that many people have prematurely crowned him this season's winner.  Yes, Imagine was a great performance, but he definitely slipped in his other performances.  The disastrous Stevie Wonder performance the other week should have put him in the bottom three and at least on notice.  But no!  His minions of tweens and teens are texting and phoning him all the way to the top.  I guess it's his personality and I'm also just a hater.  But you have to agree that there are other people on the show who deserve more credit once in a while and not just Arch who sounds out of breath from being son damn humble all the time (nothing wrong with humility except when the girls in the front row keep screaming).  Well, he's still gonna be here until the end so I don't know why I'm even talking.

Brooke White the girl next door:

I love this girl too.  Her modesty and humility might start to get on my nerves, but luckily she toned it down slightly.  She messed up the beginning of her performance and had to restart immediately.  Should she be ousted for that?  No.  If the evil one gets a free pass, surely Brooke should be free from that criticism.  I actually agreed with the judges that she should have played solo throughout the whole song.  She didn't blow me away but you already know who I think should be gone this week.  Ms. White should be safe for a while longer.

Kristy the southern gal:

You might think that I love this gal too (yeah, she's cute), but I already have my top three girls.  But tonight, based on her previous performances, Kristy did a decent job.  It's a little unfair to everyone else that she's still on the show week after week of mediocre performances, but she at least had this good performance to justify her staying on another week.  If for some reason she gets in the bottom three and is sent home, she at least goes home on a good note.  God Bless America and Ramiele.  (I had to.)

David Cook the rock guy who takes 80s songs and does weird things to them:

I have to say, I actually really enjoyed Cook's performance.  I never thought Billy Jean could become a slow rock song, but he pulled it of nicely.  I will have to say that he seems to be a little too smug here and there.  It's as if he thinks he's the shit and that he can take any song and turn it into rock gold.  What save him, to me, from becoming a douche was that he actually smiled and showed some emotion when he got positive reviews from the judges.  Thank God.  I didn't want to hate him like I did with Amanda Overmeyer (the girl with the rock voice).  I mean, yes American Idol is a cheesy competition, but most talent/popularity shows are.  Enjoy it a little more even if you feel you're too cool for the show.  No one is above Idol.  If Cook turns into Amanda, then he should be punched in the tight pants.  Enjoy.

Who Should Go Home?  Tie between with Castro and Chikezie.