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This is the dumbest "theme" they've ever had. Why even announce it as a theme if it is basically wide open? And if the idea was to give them the opportunity to do something contemporary, why did so many of them go with old songs?

ANOOP - This song exemplifies everything I hate about contemporary R&B. THERE'S NO G-D MELODY! I honestly have no idea whether Anoop did a good job with it because I simply can't imagine a good version of such a shitty song! I doubt that I'd like Usher any more on it, so by that measure, I guess Anoop was a'ight. In any case, he was better than the background singers who were WAY out of tune on this one! One thing I will say is that Anoop needs to vary his expressions. There has to be some sort of middle ground between "sensitive" (the last two weeks) and "HOSTILE" like he looked tonight...

MEGAN - Megan's vocals this week weren't nearly as bad as the last two weeks, but that is faint praise, indeed. I think I've isolated what makes her vocal quality "unique", and it's actually a matter of bad technique - she is singing from her throat and pushing vowel sounds with a glottal shock. Yes, it sounds interesting in a weird echo-y sort of way, but it doesn't allow for any real resonance or power. Beyond that, she doesn't have the control to even harness her unique voice into an intentionally good performance (although she seems to accidentally hit good moments here and there). Also, she's starting to get on my nerves talking two weeks in a row about her "fans". Tone down the ego, girl, until you actually do something to be proud of!

DANNY - I didn't enjoy the beginning of the song at all. The rhythm was so repetitive and became a bit droning. I don't recall that portion of the original enough to know what Rascal Flatts do differently to make it work. When he hit the chorus, he got a lot better. From then on, the song sounded good. In fact, I heard more of that Joe Cocker sound that originally made me love Danny's voice. It wasn't nearly as pleasant to watch, though, as he was just doing too much facially. And when he spit all over the stage, it took away from the seriousness of the vocal and made it comical. If this had been on the radio, I would probably be quite enthusiastic about it. On TV, it was more off-putting than uplifting…

ALLISON - When I first saw Allison's costume (and let's face it, it was a costume), I could only assume that she would be singing some Cyndi Lauper and the look was some sort of misguided homage. The judges - Kara in particular - were right on in that she doesn't have to try so hard with the look and can just be herself. However, if they REALLY want to help the girl, they need to tell her to stop doing anything that keeps us from understanding the lyrics. All of the breathy aspirants in the verse made the words totally incomprehensible. If she could fix that one little problem, she'd be a million times better, as she sounds pretty good.

SCOTT - This was definitely Scott's best performance so far, and thank Mandisa that song kept him mostly in the lower part of his range. He sounds so much better down there than when he tries to shriek out high notes! Still, his voice is just so shaky and he shows no confidence vocally. Yes, it was his best, but it's not like that is such a high mark to beat... I'd also like to lodge a complaint about how the way the song was edited completely eradicated the meaning of the lyrics. The words he sang just didn't make sense because of the lines he cut!

MATT - First of all, I have to say that the decision to forego the stage entirely and do the song on an island in the middle of the mosh pit may be the single most indulgent moment this show has seen since Bo Bice's crucifixion spotlight. I couldn't have been more irritated. I'm also not entirely sure what language he was singing in. Perhaps it was English, but if that is the case, how come I couldn't understand any of the words? In an abstract aural sense, I guess he sounded more or less convincing as a singer of a mediocre contemporary rock band (I don't think I know anything about The Fray other than that one overplayed song from "Grey's Anatomy"), and I could imagine him as a front man for one of them. They're all fairly un-distinctive and interchangeable, which plays right into Matt's persona. And in many cases, their lead singers can't sing well at all, particularly live. Matt's vocal abilities at least qualify him to sing at that level and perhaps have a career. I think the judges are on the wrong track, though. Instead of focusing on what you think the contestant SHOULD be singing, how about just critiquing them on what they do sing?!

LIL - The thing about Celine Dion is not first-and-foremost that her songs are vocally challenging - it's that they require a bombastic, almost operatic display of passion to make them play. Without that, they have no raison d'etre. Lil stood up there with dead eyes and a lazy cadence and belted out notes. She didn't sound bad, really, but there was just a huge "so what" to the whole thing. She looked wholly disinterested and beaten down (which would make sense if she wasn't one of the more praised contestants on the show). Also, her evolving look isn't doing her any favors. Lil hasn't ever established much of an identity or a persona, so by changing up her look, it just adds to the confusion and makes me ask "who is she?". Quite literally, when they have introduced the idols these last two weeks, I've had to remind myself who she was because I had forgotten her and I didn't recognize the girl in the weird wig…

ADAM - Adam's Broadway baggage is really starting to get to me. Everything he does on stage seems SO thought out and SO rehearsed that there isn't much life to it in the moment. Yes, there is a lot of creativity going on, but it all happens in the days leading up to the performance - the moments onstage come off as sterile reproductions of what may have once been vibrant in rehearsal. I've compared Adam to Constantine, but what Constantine had that Adam lacks is a quality of being in the moment. For all of Adam's skills (and this song was very well-sung before he began shrieking in his falsetto), the song wasn't alive to me. Until he can make the moments happen spontaneously on stage, I will remain unmoved… And if Adam claims to be making an old song contemporary, WTF is with the pompadour and the bell bottoms?! Come ON!

KRIS - Kris is easily the most consistent singer this season (and perhaps in any season). Even his worst performance has been okay. He's never crashed and burned. On this song, I really did like the "artistry" he brought to it, but I mostly admire the way he made it organic. I also love the fact that he's one of the only singers on the show who is not afraid to sustain a note (and that he manages to stay on key from beginning to end). Kris doesn't NEED to do the melismatic gymnastics because he can actually sing. For me, this was easily the best of the night. In fact, I've ranked Kris #1 for three weeks in a row. I don't recall if I've ever ranked the same idol on top three weeks in a row (probably not since Kelly). Still, despite the fact that he is clearly at the front of the pack for me, I have no feelings of fan-dom for him, nor do I particularly care where he winds up in the competition. Despite frequently loving his performances, I've never had the slightest urge to vote for him. I think he's just lacking a certain je ne sais quoi, and that keeps him from rising above good singer to STAR.


1. Kris (the only really good one of the night, IMO)
2. Allison
3. Danny
4. Adam
5. Scott
6. Lil
7. Matt
8. Anoop (mainly because the song was so bloody awful)
9. Megan