Idol lowlights

Well, that's actually what tonight's show was full of - lowlights, not highlights. It was country night, and the Idols proved that country wasn't really their neck of the woods...all of them except one.

Phil sounded okay on Where the Blacktop Ends, but I am just over the dead-man-walking look. He can't do anything to get me past the creepy factor. He looks like he should be on a slab somewhere.

Jordin sang screamed Broken Wings, and as usual, the judges fawned over her. I found the performance lackluster and forced, and was appalled that Simon told her she had a chance at winning. Puhleez. Even if she does make it to the top three, which to me is plausible, she will not trump Melinda or LaKisha vocally. It's not possible.

Sanjaya the weasel lazed through Let's Give 'Em Something to Talk About, a vocal mess. It was all over the map as far as pitch, and he blew every opportunity to growl and make it gritty. He said at the beginning that he "wanted to do Bonnie Raitt proud," which, if he meant that, meant that he should have left her song alone. When I remarked that there was no growl to it, Jess quipped, "Oh, please. Bonnie's more butch than he is." How true, how true.

LaKisha totally turned me off with her half-baked attempt at the cheesy Jesus Take the Wheel, which was a vocal car wreck...and a very transparent attempt to work her Lord and Savior into her repertoire. Y'know something, don't get me wrong...I am all for faith and conviction, but honestly, let's get real...you're on a show called American Idol, dressing like you're going to take up hooking, and you're going to preach Jesus to the masses? Climb out of the pulpit, girl.

Chris' performance proved his vocal limitations as well as his inability to go effortlessly from genre to genre. He sang the whole song through his nose and just sounded terrible. How he stayed on past Stephanie and Gina is beyond me.

Melinda was the brilliant, shining star of the evening with Trouble is a Woman. Gritty, sassy, and perfectly delivered, she tore it up with looks, moves and vocals that rivaled Tina Turner.

Blake's horrible performance of When the Stars Go Blue, with its bad falsetto notes and terrible breath control, threatened to make Tim McGraw cry and my dogs howl uncontrollably. It may be a country song, but was not delivered in a country style (because Blake is all about changing things up) and every time he managed to finally hit the pitch correctly, he was off of it within seconds. He was visibly uncomfortable and so he was making faces that were really hard to watch. It was baffling to me that the judges liked it. I found it horrendous.

So tomorrow, we will have the final six. Sanjaya "the weasel" Malakar better not be among them. He has to go.

UPDATE: Praise Jebus! Sanjaya is NOT in the top six!!! And I found it verrrrry interesting that LaKisha was in the bottom three (good call, Cincy)...girl better get her act together or she is off soon. Last night that she was behaving like such a primadonna diva when the judges were ripping her performance.