accessAtlanta

Kenny Rogers was aboard to coach, Paula was surprisingly tough and oddly, Whoopi Goldberg and Chris Rock were in the audience. And Simon got to joke about Ryan’s date with Teri Hatcher: “I’m not trying to look like someone out of ‘Desperate Housewives!’ “

We had some surprisingly robust performances by Chris and Katharine, who moved up a few notches after almost losing last week. Ace, another frequent bottom dweller, did well enough to stay alive. Mandisa and Paris didn’t bring it. And Taylor definitely disappointed. But he’s probably still safe.

(Theme next week, according to idolonfox.com is Queen! Thank you bloggers for finding that out. You’re making my job easy! :) )

The bottom three? I’m guessing Paris, Mandisa and Bucky. Who will go home? I think Paris might be in trouble this week but maybe the Bucky fans will assume he’s safe tonight and he’ll finally get the boot. My prediction: Bucky will go home by a spur, ironically on country night. I’m taking the complacency theory. I noted this before I checked dialidol.com, which currently has Paris, Mandisa and Elliott at the bottom with Mandisa going home. Bucky is ranked No. 5 out of 9. He’s just outside the supposed margin of error to be in the bottom three. Dialidol hasn’t been correct the past couple of weeks but it does show the enduring powers of Kellie, Taylor and Chris and the improvement in Katharine’s voting patterns this week. Voting is still going on the West Coast and that might change things a bit. I’ll check in the morning.

Chris Daughtry (Keith Urban’s “Making Memories of Us”) — He’s going for one of Keith Urban’s best songs ever. His voice is a bit darker than Keith’s but that helps the song, which is full of wistfulness. Rock on Chris! Randy: “Every week, we hear you do the rocker thing. It was good for you to change it up. I really enjoyed it.” Paula: “You showed versatility and still stayed true to who you are.” Simon: “It was great to see a different side of you. The two weeks, you as contestants have chosen boring uninteresting songs and the audience at home deserves better than that.” Simon always hated country. Who cares!
Katharine McPhee (Faith Hill’s “Bringing Out the Elvis”) — She opted for sultry over pure country and it’s a wonderful fit. She’s showing confidence and a dose of sexiness. And she actually picked a passable outfit, too. Randy: “Kind of bluesy country. I liked it. You sang it very nice.” Paula: “That is your style, your niche. Sexy, hot, cool.” Simon: “That song was so peculiar.” “You just don’t like country,” Katharine says, rightfully so.
Kellie PIckler (Reba McEntire’s “Fancy”) — She actually sounds a lot like Reba on this one. She does a far better job with this than Sara Evans last week. And she ends it with an exclamation point. Her best in awhile. Randy: “Finally, you’re in your element. I thought it was great.” Paula: “This is a great night for you.” Simon: “It’d be a shocker if you didn’t do well tonight. I hated the song personally but I thought your performance is very good.”
Elliott Yamin (Garth Brooks’ “If Tomorrow Comes”) This certainly doesn’t sound very country the way Elliott approaches it. Again, he places his souful spin on a tune and it’s quite heartfelt. Randy: “Right now, I’m sitting here. I love this song. Finally, the competition has started. That was hot!” Paula: “You are such a breath of fresh air to this business. You are humble. You are understated. You know you’re great, but you have that careless, reckless abandon.” Simon: “I thought it was a good song choice. It wasn’t a great vocal. It was a bit hesitant, like you were nervous. I didn’t feel that same confidence. You’ll have to do better than that in the future.”
Ace Young (Keith Urban “Tonight I Wanna Cry”) I’m a huge Keith Urban fan and he is tough to sing. But this song is a great fit for Ace’s voice. Sure, since it’s Ace, it’s a much wimpier version of the ballad. He’s a bit unsteady at points but for Ace, one of his better performances. Randy: “These are hard songs to bring personalities to. It was nice, but really boring for me. Good thing. At least at the end you showed your falsetto.” Paula: “I think Ace you have a knack for picking up a song for your voice. That’s who you are, a contemporary nice take on the song.” Simon: “I think the last couple of weeks, you haven’t chosen the right songs. Tonight, you did. Very good.”
Bucky Covington (Gary Allen’s “Best I Ever Had’) - Pop fans might remember Vertical Horizon’s version a few years ago so it’s not that unfamiliar. He’s so ordinary in a bar band way. It’s not memorable but he’s comfortable. Randy: “It was alright. Started a little out of tune, then you got it out of your tune. Good song choice for you.” Paula: “This is your element. Wear that hat proud.” Simon: “It sounded okay to me.”
Mandisa (Shania Twain’s “Any Man of Mine”) - Definitely won’t be a karaoke version. She didn’t forget the lyrics. It was good but not great. It didn’t quite work. Randy: “Weird song choice for me. The beginning wasn’t hot for me. You were finding your lower range and it wasn’t quite connecting. The good thing is the last four bars, you got it together and showed some personality.” Paula: “You can sing the phone book. The song, I don’t know.” Simon: “I thought the song is horrible. [Why is it I get booed for being constructive?] It was fun. It was cutesy. I liked the four seconds afterwards.”
Taylor Hicks (John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Road”) — It’s a pleasurable, kind of kitschy, light song for Taylor. He works it out okay. Still kind of on cruise control. Randy: “It was probably a pretty good choice for you. The vocal wasn’t all that exciting. I didn’t see you exude your personality.” Paula: “I feel like you are so full of life. The song choice didn’t allow you to shine.” Simon: “I thought it was safe, boring, lazy. It sounded like you chose that song 10 seconds ago. Didn’t do anything for you.” Agreed.
Paris Bennett (LeAnn Rimes “How Do I Live”) Yawn. I hate this song. What a bore. And Paris doesn’t improve upon LeAnn’s version. She starts surprisingly weak. She gets better on the chorus but this song is such a stillborn, I don’t think Aretha Franklin could save it. Randy: “I could tell this was a tough song for you to do. People might htink country might be easy. Great melodies are hard to sing… just alright for me tonight.” Paula: “You have a powerhouse voice. I don’t feel you connected with the song. And you struggled to find that place where you own the stage like you always do week after week.” (Paula gets booed!) Simon: “I disagree with Paula. [In a first!!]. I thought it was very good, an excellent choice of song. Reminded me of early Dionne Warwick.” Where did that come from???