Season 8, From 11 to the top 10!!!

YESSSSS! A night at home without anywhere to be or anything to do! I get to watch AI semi-live (because I pause it to write this here blog... that's my country-speak for the night) and that makes me happy!

My first bit of attention goes to Megan Joy. Did anyone else catch her look as she was walking on stage?

Well, I had to pause and put the kiddos to bed and missed now I'm almost an hour behind now. Oh, well. The cutest thing happened when putting the kids to bed. I'll try to put it on my other blog or in my Facebook notes.

Anyway... we're off! Michael Sarver kicks us off tonight with Garth Brooks. I could've guessed as much. He's so sweet. The song sounds a step or two too low for him. It's hard to sing fast when you're in that bottom register. But he's having fun... and apparently so is that harmonica player!!!! Man, that guy is having convulsions. Does it take that much energy to play the harmonica? Anyone know? Hold on... it was Michael's artistic ability to take a harmonica player? Huh? Oh, Paula...

You know, WHY do they pick country music week if they're going to slam the song choices non-stop??? Crazies!

Allison Iraheta is next. Man, this girl has such a neat voice... but are we sure her parents didn't freeze her for 5 or 10 years? She certainly seems older than 16! Funny thing, even when she's singing a semi-twangy country song, she still sounds like a rocker. I really don't like this song. Must she hold up 2 fingers every time she says 2-timing? I do LOVE her outfit, though. Kickin'.

Ah, here we go with Kara again. "You can sing the alphabet and sing it well." I suppose I should be thankful she didn't say the phone book.

Ooo, I get to vote tonight! Yay!

Kris Allen is going to sing Garth's "To Make You Feel My Love". He sounds really good, and he's a cutie... even if he looks like he has Bell's Palsy when he hits his big notes. Kris is really smart. You know he is playing on his "cute guy" status by singing this love song. 12 yr old girls across the nation are probably going wild. And it was a nice break from the first 2 hyperactive songs. Aw, his dad is crying. I like Kris because he is straight-up. He's not gimmicky.

"I didn't even know that it was Opryland" - Kara. Oh, girlfriend is NOT letting me down tonight!!!!

"Tender Dog" - Randy

Ok, now I am loving Lil Rounds dress tonight. Cute, the only country songs she's heard are on movies. Me, too, honey. Oh, wow. "Independance Day". Really? So overdone. Ok, let's hear her sing. She is starting out pitchy, dawg. Sorry, but she is. Is it just me, or is this tempo just a little too... peppy? I don't like it. At all. She's under pitch. It doesn't sound natural. Nice ending note, but that's it for me. I maybe just became an un-fan. Sorry - I know she is a fan fave. But not for me.

"We all know you're a great singer. You'd have to be DEAF not to know that." - Kara

"Look, Little." - Simon

Adam Lambert is going country... or is he? Sitar? Really. This, I gotta hear. He's scaring Randy Travis. Hilarious. "I'm guessing you're not going to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry in the next week or anything like that." AND "For me, I don't see men wearing nail polish that often." Great quotes. Ok, so here's the deal. I LOVED this arrangement. I know A LOT of people are going to disagree with me and think I'm cuh-razy. But I absolutely loved it. His falsetto is amazing. And I truly appreciated the fact that he didn't scream the entire song as he has done in the past. I don't know... I just liked it. I might even buy it. Great control of his voice.

"The fire, the egyptian thing..." - Kara (Did she miss the part where the Sitar is an Indian instrument?)

You know what I've noticed? When Kara goes first, she doesn't EVER know where she stands!!!!! That's what kills me! She's clueless...

And now we have Scott MacIntyre singing "Wild Angels" by Martina McBride. Ha, Randy took the words right out of my mouth. Scott got a haircut. Well, crap... I picked Scott to go home tomorrow night, but it seems like he's gonna do alright tonight. Unless the judges throw him under the bus, he should stay in dance and go on tour. I just don't like his style. It's too sugary for me. I like his look tonight... no pun intended. Ha, Paula's talking to him like he's dumb, not blind. Paula is way off-base... and Scott had a great comeback. Simon was right to call her comments stupid. Billy Joel leads from the piano and connects. It's his crappy song choice.

Well, dern. For once, Kara said something very intelligent in her feedback to Scott.

I will say that Scott's pretty smart, too, to say that he will drop the piano but won't tell us when. Ha! Sly sense of humor, that one.

Ooo, I love me some Alexis Grace. Love that girl's voice and soul. Don't know so much about her personality... she's a little Carrie Underwood stand-offish. However, I do not like her singing this song. She's definitely having trouble with it... and I don't like some of her phrasing. Hmmm. Her stage-presence is lacking tonight, too. Usually I like her... but not tonight. And darn it, again I'm agreeing with Kara again. The song came off a little flat. Paula doesn't care about pitch problems? Well, that's obvious from her records. Ha! Simon must've smoked crack on the commercial break to say that she sounded like Dolly. She so didn't.

Hmmm, so Danny Gokey is singing Carrie Underwood. That's surprising. Please don't jump the shark, Danny. Ooo, it makes me nervous that he kept messing up. Why did he pick this song? I will say, though, that his version is very different from Carrie's. Mmmm mmmm mmm. Dat boy gots some soul. I couldn't imagine liking this song at all... but he made me like it. Love his riffs. I'm so thankful that he doesn't just do a karaoke version of songs. Thank you, Simon! Danny's jacket is not good. Polar Expedition, indeed.

I want dessert.

Ok, moving on! Anoop! Anoop! Anoop is on fiiiiiire. Well, maybe not. What will you sing for us, Anoop Desai? Let's find out. Yes - Willie! I think Anoop's gonna tear this up! He CAN sing. And come on, let's face it. It's India's year. ;-) Whoo, sliiiide on up to that note, noop dawg. It might've been funny for Scott to have done this song. Anyway... Good job!!!!! Loved it. Anoop has redeemed himself. Hilarious! Paula says "Anoop is BACK!!!" and no one appluaded. Ha! I think it threw her for a loop. Anoop threw her for a loop. If I'm not mistaken, my dear friend Penny's dad co-wrote this song, too. I enjoyed this performance. He's gonna stick around for a few more weeks, anyway.

Some bad news... I've been voting for Alexis for awhile now and getting through every time. Uh oh! I just want to see her go a few more weeks at least!

Megan Joy is next. Can we count on more animal sounds tonight??? Gosh, I hope so! Not. "I Go Walkin'" is a good song choice for her. It will suit her voice realy nicely. Beautiful dress. She is so pretty. Lincoln is with me and had been acting pretty hyper, but when Megan started singing, he calmed right down. Ha! It's my personal opinion that even though Megan has done better tonight than last week, she still may not appeal to the masses with this performance. Oh, she has the flu. No wonder she had that cranky look at the beginning. Ha, Simon just accidentally flipped us all off. She did good, but she still could be in danger.

Oh, my man Matt Giraud is next. What will he sing? Something good, please!!!!! Last week was so nice. Hopefully he'll be at the piano, to. A Carrie song? wow. Not sure what I think. Is Paula SMELLING Simon's arm? Gross. OK, back to Matt. Wow. I loved it. I know he had a few vocal bobbles. But dang, he is so attractive when he plays those keys. And I love the suit. "Authenticity," Paula. Man, he can pound on those keys. I didn't move while he was performing. I just watched. That's a good sign.

The best of the night goes to Matt, Anoop... and Adam! Sorry. Danny was a VERY close 4th.

I can honestly say I have NO idea who is going home now!!!!! The weakest performances were by Lil and Scott in my opinion. Well, Michael's was very forgettable, too. He could very well be in danger.

We shall see!!!!!! Thanks for reading, people!!!!