AI Season 9- Top 20 Guys Performance

It was supposed to be the Gals tonight, but Crystal is in the hospital, so they scheduled the guys at the last minute. I hope Crystal feels well enough to perform tomorrow night (and if not, that she's given a pass).

Randy's wearing a golf sweater and a pastel blue watch. Ellen is in Safari Togs. Kara is overdressed with windblown hair and a one-shouldered prom dress. Simon has another half-buttoned white shirt, this one with pin tucks.

Tonight we're telling secrets. Big Mike played football in school (no surprise there), and was also a Theater Geek. We see a totally hilarious clip of him dancing on stage, and then an even hilariouser clip of him curling Aaron (not ice-and-broom curling, weight lifting curling). Mike, in black on black, has stepped up his game. I don't know the name of this song, but I like it a lot. His voice is rich and soulful, and he's performing the hell out of it. Randy gives him a Standing O, and the rest of the judges unanimously agree.

John speaks English as a second language, and his band is called Purple Haze. He's singing Gravity, and sitting on The Stool of Seriousness in a white tee and jeans. He sounds much better than he did last week. 1000% better, though the judges are ambivalent at best. Simon thinks he's going home.

Casey never watched American Idol because he doesn't have a TV, which means that he didn't know that I Don't Wanna Be is pretty much considered the private property of Bo Bice. His hair is very soft and clean and pretty, and his black shirt looks like it was randomly heat-shrunk. He does a good job with the song though the judges don't think he changed it up enough. Thankfully, they dropped the Drooling Kara portion of the commentary. In fact, she is unnecessariliy and illogically harsh in her critique. I think she's overcompensating.

Mullet Boy, Alex, made up his own language as a kid, and he tends to throw up before performances (I thought he was pretty close to it on Elimination Night last week). He's wearing a plaid jacket over a blue shirt and jeans, and he's singing Everybody Knows. Ooooh, this starts out weak, which is too bad because I like the kid. There are a few good moments though, and when he finds it, he has a nice voice. Even with the flaws, this is a definite improvement over last week. Simon seems to believe that he's going to make it at least another week.

Todrick's very name annoys me. The shiny silver jacket doesn't help. Nor does the goat vibrato, or what he does to Tina Turner's What's Love Got To Do With It. I don't like him so I'm not objective, but that whole performance seemed pitchy, dawg.

Is it my imagination, or is Kara turning into Paula?

Jermaine's secret is that he wears dinosaur footie jammies. All's fair in love and cold houses. On stage, his getup is equally odd- a pink and black polkadot shirt, plaid bow tie, a too-small gray cardigan with the cuffs pushed up to his armpits, jeans with a baggy butt, and a hair tumor. And he's Lounge Lizarding all over What's Goin' On, one of my favorite songs of all time. Oh Jermaine, no (for everything but the footie jammies- those I want). Also: shut up.

Andrew has a nose stud, and he break dances. He's wearing a gray wool jacket that is too tight, and which looks itchy and hot. Oh my, this is his worst performance so far. It's nowhere near good enough for a guy with such a huge talent. There were a lot of pitch problems, and I am genuinely worried about whether he'll survive Thursday or not.

Aaron's camera has a big honkin' lens, and he likes to take pictures. He's singing My Girl, and he's far more confident than he was last week. He also has the goat vibrato, and I do wish he'd just sing the notes, but this performance is head and shoulders above last week's. He's a sweet boy. Simon evidently thinks so too- his critique is gentle, and I hope Aaron listens, because he does have a good voice. He just needs to showcase it, and himself, better.

Tim has four brothers, five sisters, 1976 hair, and he puts me in mind of a young Patrick Duffy. He also prays just before going onstage. He's wearing a coral tee and tan slacks. This performance is a huge improvement over what he did last week. I wonder if he said a little prayer before singing this song about sex. Randy didn't like it, Ellen was not impressed with anything but Tim's Adorability Factor (admittedly high), and Kara concurs. But Simon disagrees with the other three. I'm with Simon.

Lee had a troubled youth, but a good teacher who got through to him. He's singing Lips of an Angel, and doing a very good job with it despite having no clue what to do with a mike stand. He pulls his jeans up at least twice duirng the song. They're called belts, Lee.

As a whole, tonight's performances blew last week's right out of the water. The Best: Mike (by a mile), Lee and Casey. The Worst: Todrick, Jermaine, and I am so sorry to say this, Andrew.

Who's going home? Last week I was 0 for 4 on predictions, so I'm not even going to guess.