American Idol 2009 - The Top 8

So, what's with that bald-headed doofus sitting in the audience like a statue? As of the entrance of the Top 8, the camera has looked at him three times, so he must be someone important (to somebody else, 'cause I sure wouldn't waste my time on some pretentious twit like that). So anyway ... songs made popular during the contestants' birth years, eh? I've always (well, if you can count last year and this year as "always") kind-of liked the idea of this theme. And they're not wasting any time in getting into it, are they? Here we go....

Danny ["Stand By Me" by Mickey Gilley] -- Never heard that Mickey Gilley recorded this one ... pretty nice! This is actually the first time in quite awhile that I've enjoyed hearing this song ... perhaps not the most impressive showing by Danny, but any Danny Gokey is better than most of the rest of the contestants, so I won't complain!

Kris ["All She Wants To Dance" by Don Henley] -- Hmmm ... I've always had a soft spot for this song, and I'm open to fresh takes on songs, but for some reason I wasn't quite blown away by this performance. Just as is the case with Danny, any Kris Allen is good, but it felt like something was missing. Aha, Randy hit the nail on the head: the singer got a little lost in the song.

Lil ["What's Love Got To Do With It" by Tina Turner] -- Ooooh, she's taking on a big song, and that makes me a little scared for her. Fairly decent, but I can hear the judges now: if you're gonna do an artist's signature song, you've got to slay it, and she didn't. She can sing, there's no denying that, but she too has left me a bit cold.

Anoop ["True Colors" by Cyndi Lauper] -- Now things are looking up! I'm liking Anoop's rendition of this nice song as my favorite performance of the night so far ... and it's not just 'cause I like him more than I like Danny. Anoop would be a great, soulful, primarily-ballad-based recording artist, and this performance (among most of his others) shows that any record company would be silly to pass on him.

Scott ["The Search Is Over" by Survivor] -- Wow! Just when I'm ready to kiss a contestant goodbye, he pulls what may be his best performance out of his hat! He's still just about my least favorite amongst the guys, but he's inching closer to winning me over.

Allison ["I Can't Make You Love Me" by Bonnie Raitt] -- 1992?!? Gosh, these kids are getting young. ... Ah, yes, that's why she's my favorite of the female competitors ... gorgeous! It's about time we heard her softer side, and I'm loving it as much as her rocking side! I'm more convinced than ever that she'll be the last lady standing this year ... and now I'm wondering if she could even come from behind and win it...?!

Matt ["Part Time Lover" by Stevie Wonder] -- And to think I was worried about him trying to take on Stevie Wonder ... silly me. Like Justin Timberlake, Stevie Wonder is right up Matt's alley, and he absolutely nailed it!! This one just might be my favorite of the night, in fact ... but then, we still have Adam to go!

(Looking up on Wikipedia which song Adam's going to do....)

Adam ["Mad World" by Tears For Fears] -- Uhmmm ... now I'm a little worried ... he has pleasantly surprised us before, but I have a lot of trouble picturing him actually pulling off this song.... Well, it was excellent, though not his best ... nice to see a subdued Adam again, since we see his theatrical side often enough ... but he needs to scale back the falsetto thing a bit (thank goodness it never reached the "screeching" level it usually does). For once, I'm not sure if it's my favorite performance of the night. I was shocked that Simon liked it enough to give him a standing ovation, though!

Who I think will be eliminated: Lil.

Who I think should be eliminated: Scott.

Who else I think will be in the bottom three (besides Lil and Scott): Anoop (much as I hate to say it, I think he's the least loved of the guys besides Scott).

I must say, it's getting tough to pick my favorites already, and we've still got seven weeks to go in the competition!! Things could start to get ugly....