Idol Chatter: The Top 10

I was very excited when I heard that the Idol's were going to be singing from the songbook of Billy Joel. I love his music, and got myself ready to be thoroughly entertained. *Sigh* Why do I get my hopes up like that. First of all, if you're doing the music of Billy Joel, what on earth would make you think that the perfect fit mentor would be Sean Diddy, Daddy, Puffy Combes? Seems like someone missed the mark with this one.

So, on to the contestants:

1) Deandre: "Only the Good Die Young" -- I just don't know about this kid. His voice was all wrong for this song. He just has too much of that wannabe gospel singer breathy vibrato tone to it. His dancing looked forced and awkward. He did nothing to really modernize the song at all. It I have to side with Randy Jackson on this one. It wasn't absolutely horrible, but it essentially fell flat on every point for me.

2) Erika: "New York State of Mind" -- HOLY CRAP!!! I LOVE the hair makeover. She looks fantastic. This girl definately has some pipes, but she also picked the wrong song. I think this song is really quite boring, and wish she would have picked something a little more upbeat or edgy to match her new hairdo. But she's got solid talent, so I don't think this put her in any danger of going home this week.

3) Joshua: "She's Got a Way" -- Another contestant I'm getting tired of listening to. There were too many unnecessary run, the song didn't suit his vocal style at all. He was visibly uncomfortable with the song, and seemed to really struggle until the choir kicked in. I was stunned to hear that Steven Tyler "didn't know the song". Seriously??

4) Skylar: "Shameless" -- The first half of the song was too low for her voice, so she got lost in the music. The rest was mediocre and forgettable. I was actually more entertained at the fact that Randy Jackson thought that Brad Paisley did the cover of this song instead of Garth Brooks. But either way, I think her performance fell short for country fans.

5) Elise: "Vienna" -- Initially, this was not my favorite song choice for her, but I love the vibe of her voice. I thought the performance was great....right up to the end where she tried some crazy run sequence with the low ending. That's where it went off the rails for me, but the rest of the song was fabulous.

6) Phil: "Moving Out" -- Interesting. I still don't know what to make of this guy. I mean, I don't hate him, but he's strange. It was a pretty good Dave Matthews-esque performance (like all the other songs Phil has done), but I really wish he would have heeded the advice to leave the guitar behind. He has a marginally interesting take on the song, but after weeks of hearing him toy with songs and sing them in his raspy voice, his limits are starting to show. Good performance, but it doesn't do a thing for his long-term prospects.

7) Hollie: "Honesty" -- Why does this girl sound flat in every song she sings? It's really annoying. It was a boring song, boring performance, boring outfit. The pitch problems are becoming more noticeable now that we've gotten more familiar with her. She faltered coming off her big note, at which point we were all put out of her misery.

8) Heejun: "My Life" --FINALLY!!! Someone is trying to capture the spirit of the competition. Admittedly, Heejun is a bit of an odd duck and he definately had some pitch issues tonight, but good on him for doing it how he wanted. Everyone but Steven seemed to get what Heejun's point was, and I thought he was a bit of a douche about the whole thing, but I guess if Heejun goes home tonight, he goes down in a spectacular flame of awesome.

9) Jessica: "Everybody has a Dream" -- I literally fell asleep part way through that performance. I didn't really care for it, and I honestly don't get all the hype surrounding this girl. She's NOT all that fabulous, and she still oversang it at the end. I wanted to hi-5 Diddy when he said, "Tricks are not going to get you to that superstar level." He critisized her vibrato and called her performance unbelievable. Truer words were never spoken on that show last night.

10) Colton: "Piano Man" -- I really think they saved the best for last. The piano melody was simply beautiful, his vocals were great. He changed it up just enough to make it fresh without taking anything away from the original song. I loved it, and I loved how he wasn't afraid to bring God into his comments at the end. That may have just won.....or lost him the competition. But I LOVE him.

So my predictions for bottom three are Deandre, Joshua and Probably Hollie......but I think as much as I give Heejun credit for his crazy, he could be in trouble too.

Idol Chatter: The Top 12 Girls

Alright, here's my thoughts on how the girls did last night.

1) Chelsea: "Cowboy Cassanova" -- She was flat and nasally through the entire song. Another mediocre start to the night.

2) Erica: "What About Love" -- OK, I just have to say this. Her mouth is HUGE. Anyway, she has this odd Cher-esque vibrato sound to her voice. It wasn't terrible, but I thought she got swallowed up by the music a bit.

3) Jenn: "One and Only" -- Again, gutsy move to take on Adele. Not the best song choice though. I thought that overall it was boring. That being said, I have to give her props for the big sustained note. Well done.

4) Brielle: "Dock Of The Bay" -- First verse was too low for her, and watching her "make love" to the camera was awkward and annoying. I don't like this girl. I've been rubbed wrong by her "Jersey Shore" persona from the beginning of the auditions. She and her "Real Housewives" mother need to disappear and never be on TV again.

5) Hallie: "Feeling Good" -- This song is so bloody overdone that I didn't really even want to listen to it. It felt a bit forced and unnatural to me. Not her best performance.

6) Skylar: "Stay With Me" -- I didn't care much for this one either. She was too growly and couldn't just sing it "straight". I found it annoying and really distracting.

7) Bayley: "Amazed" -- Boring, pitchy and too slow. 'Nuff said.

8) Holly: "Reflections" -- So, she was okay. A little nasally and completely devoid of passion (despite what Steven Tyler said), and for me, music without emotion is pointless.

9) Hayley: "Sweet Dreams" -- What was with that weird "Twilight Zone" performance. The eyeballs on the screen behind her were creepy. She sang like she was possessed by the devil. I'm wondering if Wes Craven was choreographer and voice coach on this one. I'm with Randy on this one......what a total nightmare.

10) Shannon: "Hold Out Your Hand" -- That was a lovely talent segment of the Miss America....oh, wait....wrong show? My bad. Don't get me wrong; I thought her voice was phenomenal (my favorite voice of the night). I just thought the song choice was a big campy.

11) Jessica: "Love You I Do" -- She's got power when she belts it out, but if she's not belting I can't really hear her. And what's with all the girls trying to be "growly" this year? I get a sore throat just listening to them.

12) Elyse: "One And Only" -- So two girls sang the same song tonight. Weird... A billion songs in the world and a dozen girls can't come up with 12 different songs? I don't think either girl did Adele justice, but this girl was definately better than the other girl. Well done.

So I guess I think that Shannon and Elyse were probably my two favorites and the only ones that I'm pretty certain are safe. Guess we'll see tonight!