Latin Night on Idol

Ryan starts out the night with the quip "American Idol - the show that YOU control." Yeah, right. We all know the producers manipulate the votes however they want. The man doth protest too much, methinks.

Anyway...

I have to admit that I was expecting Jennifer Lopez to be completely useless, but she wasn't too bad. Maybe I'm going soft, but I thought she was really cute and sweet. She is a better actress than a singer, that's for sure.

Melinda started us off with "Sway". I'm very frustrated with Melinda. Come on. Give us something. I really was hoping for something contemporary. Her dress and hair weren't Latin at all, and she has a stylist and hair girl. And I swear I thought I was watching a 50 yr old Chita Rivera, except not as exciting. Bo-ring. But, she has her fans and she's staying put. At least I think...

Lakisha was next with "Conga." I gotta tell you, I picked Lakisha to be in the bottom 3 PRIOR to the show. I just feel like her time is drawing to a close. She never takes the advice of the mentors, and she has been boring me to tears. Wait... did I see some eyebrow movement from Lakisha this week? Has she been reading my blog? Ha! I honestly thought she was a bit awkward and the song is soooo tired. Of course, she didn't sing bad. She never does. Observation: I don't think Paula likes Kiki.

Chris was one of my original favorites, but has been letting me down lately. Tonight, he did NOT disappoint. I thought his performance was one of his best. And ok, J-Lo had something useful to contribute by suggesting he change the key. Yay. The song really showed off his range and was great for his voice. It was the Chris R of old. "Smooth"? Oh yes, it was smoooth. Me likey.

Haley. Haley, Haley, Haley. Simon said what everyone was thinking. "I think you have a very good tactic at the moment, Haley: Wear the least amount of clothes as possible." It's the only thing keeping her in this competition. Her little kick of the heel as she walks move is getting old. It's the third week she has used that move. If I'm being honest, Haley doesn't have the worst voice and I actually think she has improved over the weeks. She used to really lose it at the end of every song when she would try to improvise. However, I do not LIKE her voice. It's so Ethel Merman. There's no place for that in pop music today. I really really really want her to go home. On a totally shallow note, her makeup was not flattering.

Phil is wearing a hat! He has a hat on for J-Lo and a hat in his performance. I was really hoping he would do some Jon Secada, but instead he did Santana - and I love Santana. Phil sounded amazing on this song - even with the enormous crack at the end. Big deal. He handled it. What bugged me was that he didn't get "nasty" enough with it. I wanted to see him get down and dirty with it. He sounded good, but played it too safe and nice. Ah, I'm voting for him anyway because I want Haley to GO HOME.

Jordin looked beautiful tonight. She's gorgeous. But WHY oh WHY did she pick this God-awful song? It did not fare well for her voice, in my opinion. I was ready for her to bust it out tonight. She had the weird goat-vibratto going on again. And there were a few pitchy places... but she's 17, she's adorable, she had fun... so who am I to complain? I like her.

[Paula seriously acts like she took one too many pills tonight. She's. So. Lethargic.]

Blake. Oh, Blake. I would SO buy his cd right now. He is such a breath of fresh air - for this show, if for nothing else. Great song - "I Need to Know" - perfect for him. Great performance. He remains interesting week after week and has proven himself to be a star. Thank God he didn't moonwalk. Again, me likey.

Sanjaya - I can't believe I'm going to say this... but Sanjaya wasn't bad tonight. I actually wouldn't have minded it if he didn't have that gross facial hair going on. That just creeps me out. But vocally, it was actually nice. I have to agree with Randy that Sanjaya is one smart cookie. He played the gimmick long enough to get people's attention and get a following. Tonight, he changed it up and stayed put and sang. Brillliant. He knows how to get people talking around the water cooler, you have to admit that. I'm not a fan, but I will give him his props for tonight.

Hang on to your pants. I'm going to rank tonight's performances based on what I THINK and what I think only. I'm not dumb enough to think that this is the way America will vote.

1) Chris R.
2) Blake
3) Phil
4) Sanjaya
5) Melinda (yes, you read that right)
6) Lakisha
7) Jordin
8) Haley

In my opinion, Lakisha, Jordin, and Haley had the 3 worst songs. For that alone, they deserve to be in the bottom 3. But beyond that, I didn't think their performances were anything spectacular, either.