So it’s another week on American Idol!  I know you’re ready for it, so let’s get right to it!  Gwen Stefani was the guest helper this week, and I could’ve used a bit more Gwen to be honest.  :)  To the review!

LaKisha Jones – “Last Dance” by Donna Summer
LaKisha kicked it off right, she was unreal and nice to see her back into the genre of where she seems younger (as the judges said).  I do feel as if she’s playing it fairly safe, but we’re still not at a point in the competition where individual performances will simply blow you away.  I think she did enough to stick around.  Good but not great.

Chris Sligh – “Every Little Thing She Does (Is Magic)” by The Police
Okay, I agree here, the tempo was off, but I thought vocally it was sound.  This happens to be one of my favorite Police songs.  I actually liked the vocal, his vocals are always pretty darn good.  I think that where he will eventually fail in this competition is simply not being unique or good enough to make it out of the top 5 or 6.  Good performer though, just not very memorable.

Gina Glocksen – “I’ll Stand By You” by The Pretenders
Unreal performance from Gina here…she picked probably the PERFECT song for her and I know Gina here at home is loving that performance!!  She was amazing, and she has catapulted herself into the top 4 for me personally…more on that in a bit.  Really spot-on performance here from Gina.  Her vocal was strong, but not too strong, she looks amazing, and she’s right on pitch.  Nearly flawless performance.

Sanjaya Malakar – “Bathwater” by No Doubt
Are you kidding me?  It’s getting to be sort of funny that this guy’s still in the competition.  This is unreal…the song was awful, the hair is awful, and if he gets through, it’s just proof positive that the system needs to change.  We need a “judge’s override” in next season’s results.  This whole “vote for the worst” deal is now getting out of hand.  Just axe Sanjaya already and let’s be on with the competition.

Haley Scarnato – “True Colors” by Cyndi Lauper
Haley is turning into one of my favorites, but it might be because she’s channeling a little Katherine McPhee in her mannerisms and dress.  That’s not a bad thing, she was in the finals for not just her voice last year.  Since the top 12 shows started, she’s come out of her shell tremendously.  I think she’s more than safe.  The judges weren’t in love with it, but I do think she’s well on her way to making the final 6.

Phil Stacey – “Every Breath You Take” by The Police
Okay, this is a song that needs to be done right to the song…as Gwen says, stick to the melody.  Let’s see if he does it…pretty good I think.  I would have to say in all fairness that Phil more than held his own tonight.  There have been nights where he’s been trying to get too rocker’ish, but tonight, I think he just sung the song, and that’s what he needed to do.  Looking back on it now, I think he did a great job.

Melinda Doolittle – “Heaven Knows” by Donna Summer
One of the frontrunners here…the comparison to her and Dione Warwick is a great one, I also think Anita Baker is a great comparison.  She’s a fantastic singer, and should be around a while.  This song is a nice for her…upbeat…hits her range…lets her do the runs she likes.  Melinda is old school…the comparisons stand on their own really.  That could be her downfall in the end though…being too old school.  We shall see.

Blake Lewis – “Love Song” by The Cure
Okay, another song covered this time by 311…sensing a pattern?  :)  I won’t go off on Blake because Gina will crucify me.  Let’s just say that I fail to see how versatile Blake could be.  But he’s got a nice performing style, and I think he’ll be around…for a while.  The song itself was a nice arrangement, and it actually reminded me more of the 311 version of the song rather than The Cure’s version…wonder why that is.  Blake is (by a pretty wide margin) the best male vocalist left in the competition, but I still don’t think he makes it to the top 3.

Jordin Sparks – “Hey Baby” by No Doubt
Not bad…Christy loved it.  The problem with doing a song like that is that it doesn’t really give you much of a chance to show your vocal range.  She ended up shouting a bit there in the chorus a few times and well, that annoys me.  Look, Jordin is one of my favorites, both personally and from an artistic point of view, but I don’t think she helped her cause tonight.  I don’t think she’s in trouble, but I don’t think she helped herself all that much singing that song.

Chris Richardson – “Don’t Speak” by No Doubt
Nice advice from Gwen here…”vocal Olympics” I like that…is that a Members Only jacket he’s got on there?  Okay, Chris is okay, but really, talk about pushing your vocal.  Again, not the best…Chris was in the bottom 2 last week, so he’ll be close I think.  The song itself was a decent choice, but he didn’t sing with any passion at all.  It’s like the antithesis of Gina Glocksen.  Every time Gina performs, you know her heart is on the line…every time, she’s fighting for the right to stick around.  Chris here just doesn’t do that.

So with that…let’s get to the rankings…worst to first…

10.  Sanjaya Malakar (It’s time to go…America…do us all a favor!)
9.  Chris Richardson (Again, no passion in what he’s doing…just doesn’t seem to have his heart in it.)
8.  Chris Sligh (Wow, I guess in the end, it’s 3 guys at the bottom…)
7.  Haley Scarnato (Of the girls left, she’s probably the weakest, but that’s not saying much because she’s pretty good.)
6.  Phil Stacey (Surprised?  So am I actually…)
5.  LaKisha Jones (By far, the biggest dropper of the week…but this has been coming.  LaKisha needs to refresh her act a bit.)
4.  Blake Lewis (I’ll repeat the judges determination…best male vocalist…still not in the top 3.)
3.  Melinda Doolittle (Someone who has the potential to win it all, needs to make herself younger next week if possible.)
2.  Jordin Sparks (I’ve liked her a lot up until this week, but I think she’ll stay near the top.)
1.  Gina Glocksen (Totally blown away by her performance this week…honestly, you can’t argue with it.  Energy, passion, desire, talent and she’s damn sexy to boot.)

So welcome to the top spot, Gina Glocksen!  Pretty good show overall, although I so hate the hour-long ones that cram so much in so fast.  I wish they could’ve slowed down a bit, maybe made the songs a bit longer and gone 90 minutes instead.  Oh well…results tonight!  Let’s see who gets the boot.