It’s Latin Night! Jennifer Lopez is your guest mentor for the Top 8 as the performances take a latin flair, and the contestants try to win your vote…this is American Idol!

So let’s get things going tonight…I thought the show itself was great…the performances were better (overall) than the judges gave them credit for. You really can’t sing a Latin song without it sounding un-sing-songy. And I thought there was a clear winner and a clear loser of tonight’s show…so without further delay, the review!

Melinda Doolittle - “Sway”
This song was originally composed by Pablo Beltrán Ruiz in 1953, and recorded by literally dozens of artists over the years, most notably by Dean Martin, Michael Buble, and most recently by The Pussycat Dolls. A nice choice for Melinda here, very subdued and I enjoyed the performance. Her vocals are always spot-on, and they were again. I didn’t fall in love with it though, it’s just good for me, not great. You could see Simon’s comments coming from a mile away…try to surprise me, Simon, I dare ya!
Rating - 7 out of 10 Matties.

LaKisha Jones - “Conga” by Gloria Estefan
This song (and genre) are totally against what LaKisha is comfortable doing, and while I think she’s still safe, I think she’s also showing you why she won’t be the American Idol 2007. It’s funny because early on, she was getting my vote into the final 2 or 3, but now, I don’t see her lasting but maybe a week or two more. She’s not very versatile, and I think this is going to cost her in the weeks to come.
Rating - 6 out of 10 Matties.

Chris Richardson - “Smooth” by Santana
Nice performance by Chris here, he handled himself well. I do think it’s a bit of an unfair advantage having a couple of musicians on-stage with you flanking you as you perform. To me, that lends itself to helping you out because it sort of takes away from just the vocal. Nobody else got to have musicians up there, even though there were percussion instruments featured in many of the songs. This is not a knock on Chris, I’m sure it wasn’t his call, I’m just saying, it might end up playing in his favor. Great choice for his voice and nice performance.
Rating - 7.5 out of 10 Matties.

Haley Scarnato - “Turn The Beat Around” by Gloria Estefan
Wow…okay, first off, I have to mention the comment Christy made tonight…”How much more mileage is she going to get out of those legs?!?” I laughed my butt off, and initially when I saw her, I said something like “Probably enough to get her into the Top 7.” But after seeing the performance, I have to say, that was about as bad as any Sanjaya performance (until tonight) that’s been on the show. It was horrible, the vocal was crap, and honestly with the red lipstick and the thrown-back hairstyle, she looked more like she just stepped off 5th Avenue turning a trick than someone who is aspiring to be a professional singer. Bad performance.
Rating - 3 out of 10 Matties (hey, they are good looking legs…)

Phil Stacey - “Maria, Maria” by Santana
Another Santana joint…I love his new music (and old music) so this is a nice choice for me personally. And again, as has been noted in the past, there are songs he does well, and ones he doesn’t. This is one he did well…fairly well. I won’t say I was blown away, but it certainly isn’t horrible. That said, he’s clearly out of his league with the top 4 performers, and so for that, he will be soon gone. No more shots of his loving and doting wife in the crowd. I’m sure Christy will be thrilled. Not a bad performance really, just not spectacular.
Rating - 6.5 out of 10 Matties.

Jordin Sparks - “The Rhythm Is Gonna Get You” by Gloria Estefan
I’m a documented and confessed Jordin fan. This can’t be said enough. I thought when she did the Gwen Stefani number, it was cheesy. And I think there’s something to be said for her “too smiley all the time” vibe. But she is definitely one of the hands-down most talented singers that’s ever been in this competition, and being in the top 3 last week, I don’t see her losing any momentum going into next week’s show. Good performance, but again, not awesome.
Rating - 7 out of 10 Matties.

Blake Lewis - “I Need To Know” by Marc Anthony
Now it’s time for Blake, and since Gina’s departure from Idol last week, I know my good friend Gina here in town is pulling for the Blakester…and he pulled out the Performance of the Night with this Marc Anthony number. A great choice of song for him, best performance of the evening with this rendition. This is my favorite Latin song, and he did it well. Blake has done a lot in the last few weeks to show me he’s more than a trendy hip-hop beat-boxer. He actually can sing, and sing well…and he picks songs that accentuate that fully. Great performance.
Rating - 9 out of 10 Matties (hey nobody’s perfect)

And finally…

Sanjaya Malakar - “Besame Mucho”
This song was originally composed in 1940 by Consuelo Velázquez and it’s been performed and recorded countless times, by such artists as Andrea Bocelli (an Idol favorite), Frank Sinatra, and Nat “King” Cole. Okay, so Frank Sinatra it wasn’t…but it’s time for Mattie to come clean…I have to say it wasn’t bad. Sure, it was very much like a song sung at a junior high school talent competition, but if that song were sung at my junior high school talent competition, it would win hands down. I hate to admit it, but Sanjaya is NOT the worst performer of the night. And damn it, the guy picked a good song.
Rating - 6 out of 10 Matties.

So there we have it. The reviews and ratings as I see them happening. And now, the rankings, from worst to first!

8. Haley Scarnato (time for Haley the Hooker to go)
7. Phil Stacey (nice job this week but Idol you’re not)
6. Sanjaya Malakar (gag…he actually didn’t suck this week, does that mean he’s in the top 3?!?)
5. Chris Richardson (decent week for him but with the talent in the top 4, he’ll get thinned out eventually)
4. Lakisha Jones (I hate putting LaKisha down this far on the list, but it’s gotta be done…I just don’t see her topping the top 3)
3. Melinda Doolittle (Doolittle’s act of “oh my god, you love me…you really love me!” is getting old…but she might make it this far without much fanfare)
2. Jordin Sparks (Hands down, in my opinion, the best pure singer in the competition…what a show it would be if it were her and…)
1. Blake Lewis (…in the final! Blake threw down this week and I think his stock will continue to rise)

So there it is! A great show and I hope you enjoyed the review. Feel free to send me your thoughts via the response section here or send me an email…my email is mattplanet (at) gmail DOT com. You can figure it out. Thanks for reading…results tomorrow night!!!