With a little help from Barry Manilow, it was a good night for our boys and girls, with some truly fine singing. Most interesting, the worst of the clunkers didn't come from the usual suspects.
The rundown:
Mandisa, "I Don't Hurt Anymore" -- The first WOW! performance of the year. There was a smile on my face from the first note, and chills up my spine by the end. This was spectacular. And she looked fabulous, too.
Bucky, "Oh, Boy!" -- It's a good song choice for Bucky, and his enunciation is better than usual. It's a pleasant performance, but as Barry points out, this should be a joyful song, and in Bucky's hands, there's not a lot of joy in it.
Paris, "Fever" -- Lord, the kid can sing, but she looks like she's been playing dressup in Aunt Billie's closet. I admire her talent immensely, but I really wish she'd stop trying to be 35.
Chris, "I Walk the Line" -- A performance that raises one of the great Idol philosophical debates: What is the purpose of theme nights? Is it simply to provide an accepted list of repertoire, or is it to make the singers show that they have some range? I lean to the latter view, so I was horrified by this performance. There was nothing remotely 50s about it, and it served as Chris's admission that yes, he is a one-trick pony.
Katharine, "Come Rain or Come Shine" -- I didn't care for the arrangement, but Katharine sings the hell out of this song. She doesn't have the stage presence or charisma that Mandisa brings, but Katharine is the most technically gifted singer in the group.
Taylor, "Not Fade Away" -- And the hair darkening, I believe, has begun, with the patch of hair right in the middle of Taylor's forehead looking noticably darker. As for the performance, it's not a very interesting song, and the performance matches it. Blandly competent.
Lisa, "Why Do Fools Fall In Love?" -- Lisa could walk onto this stage and sing this song 20 times, and it would be exactly the same every time. She's very precise, but there's not an ounce of spontaneity or human feeling in what she does; it's mechanical and plastic.
Kevin, "When I Fall In Love" -- This shows remarkable progress for Kevin, and the first half is quite lovely. When he starts pushing in the second half, he regresses a bit; there are pitch problems and that "god, help me" crease in the forehead comes back. On the whole, though, his best performance yet.
Elliott, "Teach Me Tonight" -- Oh, dear. The pitch is never quite stable, and Elliott's vibrato, which is always on the wide and rapid side, is in overdrive tonight. This just wasn't pretty at all.
Kellie, "Walking After Midnight" -- Give the girl a song in her comfort zone, and it turns out she can sing after all. Sure, the low notes at the beginning are a little too low for her, but still, it's a very solid performance.
Ace, "In the Still of the Night" -- Back to sultry and smoldering for Ace, and it's a good thing he's pretty, because if you close your eyes and listen, you begin to notice that his voice is awfully thin and reedy, and that his pitch wobbles on the long notes. But he certainly is pretty to look at, and that'll keep him around for a while longer.
For the night: Mandisa, Katharine, Paris, Kellie, Chris, Taylor, Kevin, Bucky, Ace, Lisa, Elliott.
Overall: Katharine, Mandisa, Paris, Taylor, Chris, Bucky, Kellie, Lisa, Elliott, Ace, Kevin.
Who should go home: Y'know, the overall bottom six are so closely bunched at this point that I don't much care. Let's say Elliott, who is the clear frontrunner for this season's Anwar Robinson Disappointment of the Year Trophy.
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