American Idol: The Top 9

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

American Idol heats up even more as the top nine left in the competition sing their hearts out in country week. This week's celebrity guess working with the contestants is country superstar Kenny Rogers. Country is the genre of choice for at least two of the remaining idols, so I was interested in seeing how the contestants would do.

Tonight's show opened with Taylor Hicks singing John Denver, and I just couldn't get into his performance at all. It was just boring to me, and it really didn't show the Taylor we had come to know and love over the competition. The judges agreed. As for Mandisa, the next up in the competition, she sang us some Shania Twain, and this was another performance I just didn't feel very much. The song started out rough, and I agree with Randy Jackson on the last five seconds being the best. Mandisa has a talented voice though so I see this not being a problem for her because she has demonstrated her talent throughout the competition.

Next up was Elliot Yamin with a little Garth Brooks. He did okay for me. I don't know if I'd call him the best of the night up to that point or the best of the night at all. Like Randy would say for me he did alright. I just don't see him as a country singer, and the last few weeks I haven't honestly been able to get into his performances at all. I just don't see how the judges said he has the best voice in the competition in the past.

Paris came on stage next, and now she is the youngest in the competition left. Each and every week she changes her style. This young woman is a chameleon, but that just didn't work for her this week. The song she chose to sing started off very weak, but it did pick up some momentum towards the middle and it finished big. This just wasn't her best performance to date, but she is another singer that has shown she has the talent to make it. i really liked her performance though.

Ace Young was next, and he sang a Keith Urban song. I just didn't really feel Ace during this performance. I didn't connect to him or the song, and I don't think he connected to the song either. Kellie followed, and the past few weeks I haven't been all too thrilled with her performances at all. In fact, I pretty much wanted her gone. I had started off in this competition liking her though, and tonight's performance showed me why all over again. Country is her home, and she did amazing tonight. I really liked her performance.

Next up was rocker Chris Daughtry. He is by far my favorite in the competition, and last week he was asked to change it up and show some versatility. This week he answered that challenge. Instead of rocking out as his style. He sat on stage and he sang a ballad. I really liked seeing this softer side to Chris, and I think he pulled off the song nicely.

Our final two performances are by Katharine McPhee and Bucky Covington. Country is also Bucky's genre of choice, so him doing well was a given here. As for Katharine, I just didn't like her performance at all. I felt like I couldn't understand most of her lyrics. She was almost mumbling and then the tag line of the song came out beautifully.

Tomorrow night we find out who will be sent home. Ace Young was probably my least favorite tonight out of the nine, so he is my pick to go home this week. Seeing in the bottom three wouldn't be surprising at all because he's been there before. We'll have to wait to see what happens tomorrow night. Kenny Rogers will come to perform as well!

Songs performed on tonight's show:

Taylor Hicks: Take Me Home, Country Roads - John Denver
Mandisa: Any Man of Mine - Shania Twain
Elliot Yamin: If Tomorrow Never Comes - Garth Brooks
Paris Bennett: How Do I Live - Trisha Yearwood
Ace Young: Tonight I Wanna Cry - Keith Urban
Kellie Pickler: Fancy - Reba Mcentire
Chris Daughtry: I'm Gonna Love You Like Nobody Loves You - Keith Urban
Katharine McPhee: Bringing Out The Elvis - Faith Hill
Bucky Covington: Best I Ever Had (Grey Sky Morning)