SiftPop

Lil Rounds, “The Way You Make Me Feel” – No doubt about it, girl can sing.  I like that she changed it up just enough that I didn’t feel like I had to compare her to MJ.  That will be the trick tonight, keeping us from thinking thoughts like, “Wow, I remember when Michael sang that one.”  Overall a great start to the night (A-)

Scott MacIntyre, “Keep the Faith”– This is the other way to go with such an amazing icon.  Do a song most people don’t even know.  Having said that, I still think Scott has one of the weakest voices of the group and to keep voting for him still strikes me as a bit patronizing.  Also I’m sick of the live audience already. Half the show is spent waiting for the audience to stop overreacting in one way or another. (B-)

Danny Gokey, “PYT” – Am I the only one who finds this song disturbing now considering MJ’s alleged proclivities.  Sorry, couldn’t resist.  All joking aside, Danny Gokey owns the stage and you can just sense his ease with performing. He will be my favorite until someone else steps it up. (A)

Michael Carver, “You’re Not Alone” – Honestly, a much better vocal than last time (not that that was difficult).  Still, I just get the sense that he is out of his league and that in the end he can’t keep up with some of the rest of this crew. (B-)

Jasmine Murray, “I’ll Be There” – I will do my best to give DJ Jazzy Jasmine her fair shake, but I can’t help but look at her and still be bewildered that I’m not seeing Ricky Braddy.  That wasn’t bad, and I’m getting the feeling that everyone is stepping up their game now.  Only problem is that it sounded too much like Michael’s version, and his was better despite the fact that he was only like 11 at the time.  (B+)

Kris Allen, “Remember the Time” – Have I mentioned how impressed I am with this group so far?  Another solid performance and another guy who is simply at ease on stage.  Had a couple notes just north of his range but still well done. Randy Jackson quote of the night, “Very Well Job Done, Baby!” (B)

Allison Iraheta, ”Give In To Me” – She’s got a decent enough voice, but I’m just not buying her shtick right now.  Not a bad show, but my least favorite of the night so far, for sure. (C+)

Anoop Desai, “Beat It” – You can’t pick this song, you just can’t.  Even the best singers would come off as Karaoke with this one.  And he’s not one of the best.  Big mistake. (C-)

Jorge Nunez, “Never Can Say Goodbye” – Jackson 5 again, and once again if you don’t nail it, you have to realize you are getting upstaged by child.  Jorge sang fine, but that was a bit boring overall. (B-)

Megan Corkrey, “Rockin Robin” – I kinda dig Megan’s voice, but the way she was dancing around really kinda threw me off.  I’m going back and forth on this gal, but I think tonight the spinner lands on positive. (B)

Adam Lambert, “Black and White” – I’m convinced in a vocal acrobatics competition Lambert runs away with the trophy.  The dude knows his instrument and knows how to play with it in some pretty cool ways.  Having said that, I wasn’t that much into this particular performance, certainly not as much as the over ebullient Paula Abdul was. (A)

Matt Giraud, “Human Nature” – I was really enjoying this tune until he went into the falsetto part.  Got a little weird for me at that point, not awful, just kinda put me off enough to keep it from being in the top tier tonight. (B)

Alexis Grace, “Dirty Diana”– Pink Streak is back with the closing performance (which at least means the producers thought she would be good).  It was good, but not on the level of Danny or Adam. (A-)

Danny Gokey

Adam Lambert

Alexis Grace

Lil Rounds

Jasmine Murray

Kris Allen

Matt Giraud

Megan Corkrey

Scott MacIntyre

Jorge Nunez

Michael Carver

Allison Iraheta

Anoop and Allison

Well that kind of depends on what the big “game changing” announcement is, doesn’t it.  If it were simply based on votes I’d say that Anoop will likely be safe but that Allison won’t.  I’d probably go with Allison being joined by some of the “middle of the roaders” in the bottom 3.  Some combination of Jorge, Megan, Matt, Kris, or Jasmine I would imagine.  Along with Anoop, I would think that Michael and Scott have too much fan support to drop in there.  Just to be official I will call Allison, Jorge and Megan my bottom three, with Allison going home.  However, if the judges now have the say in which goes home, all bets are off.