The first half of the night was especially dreary, as everyone seemed intimidated by the thought of singing Stevie Wonder songs; there wasn't a lot of personality or charisma on display, and performances were on the cautious side. But things did pick up with the last few singers, and we finally got some decent entertainment.
The blow-by-blow:
Ace, "Do I Do" -- On the plus side, there was a lot of energy, and the audience certainly seemed to be enjoying itself. But right from the start, the high notes were strained and pinched, and when Ace got to the rapid-patter section midway through, he wasn't even trying to hit the right note. Worst of all, every phrase ends with a little explosion of air -- "Do I DoAhhh!" -- that's almost as annoying as Taylor's whoops and hollers a few weeks back.
Kellie, "Blame It on the Sun" -- I thought the judges were a bit harsh on Kellie; given that she's not an R&B singer, she at least had the sense to choose a song that she could do a passable job with in her own style. Like most of the women on the show, she's weak in her lower register, and she's having problems with some of the trickier melodic lines. It wasn't a very interesting performance, but it wasn't wretchedly awful.
Elliott, "Knocks Me Off My Feet" -- The timbre of Elliott's voice is somewhat similar to Stevie Wonder's, so I had high hopes for him tonight. And he wasn't bad, really, but he seemed awfully cautious and never really turned his voice loose until the very end, when he gave us a nice flourish.
Mandisa, "Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing" -- This was not Mandisa's best night, and the beginning was especially weak; it was too low for her, and she was a bit hard to hear. But the last 2/3 of the song was much better, and even though it lacked the pizzazz we've come to expect from Mandisa, she's a strong enough singer that Mandisa coasting through an off night is better than most of the field at its best.
Bucky, "Superstitious" -- Here's the pleasant surprise of the night. Yes, his enunciation is horrible and I couldn't understand half of what he said. But he was having fun, he seemed a lot less intimidated by the song than most of the singers did, and that raspy voice of his suits the song very nicely, as does the hint of New Orleans in the way he drawls "supersti-SHAWWWN."
Melissa, "Lately" -- I didn't even notice the lyric bobbles that the judges were so amused by, though I did notice a bit of insecurity with the melody here and there. The song suits her voice, though, and she sounds a lot better now than she did in the early weeks of the competition.
Lisa, "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" -- Where is all the personality, the charm, the flair that Lisa once had? This was a perfectly competent, terribly polite performance with no oomph to it at all. And the straightened hair was a big mistake.
Kevin, "Part Time Lover" -- He's improving, god love him; his pitch is good for the most part, and there are even a couple of moments where his voice relaxes enough to lose that strangled tone and you can hear the possibility of something really interesting. But he's so far behind the field to begin with that he can't possibly improve fast enough to be a credible contestant.
Katharine, "Until You Come Back to Me" -- Finally, someone shows some personality and individuality. This was an absolutely lovely performance. You can hear that she's a trained singer; where most singers scoop up to the high notes in the phrase "THAT'S what I'M gonna do," Katharine hits them as discrete pitches.
Taylor, "Livin' for the City" -- Another really fine effort, especially the first verse and chorus, which are a little quieter and a lot more relaxed than we've heard from Taylor. The spastic, slightly manic Taylor is back when the band kicks in, but that's who Taylor is, and it works for him.
Paris, "All I Do" -- Like Mandisa earlier in the night, Paris has enough raw talent to carry her through when she's not at her best, which she's not tonight. It's a perfectly professional performance -- pitches are all in place and so on -- but Paris never really connects with the material and takes it from professional to exciting.
Chris, "Higher Ground" -- Eventually, there will come a theme week that Chris can't find a way to shoehorn into his rocker talents, and when that happens, he's going to crash and burn very badly. Until then, though, he does what he does very well indeed.
For the night: Katharine, Taylor, Chris, Paris, Mandisa, Bucky, Melissa, Elliott, Lisa, Ace, Kellie, Kevin.
Overall: Katherine, Mandisa, Chris, Taylor, Paris, Elliott, Bucky, Melissa, Ace, Lisa, Kellie, Kevin.
Most deserving of the ticket home: Kevin, though I would not be crushed if Kellie went before him.
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