Tonight’s performances were by the male contestants and overall proved to be lackluster. I said it last week and I still think it, maybe one of these guys can really compete against the ladies, the rest are in real trouble unless there is a lot of improvement.

Notes of interest: Carrie Underwood will be performing on Thursday. Also, Ryan Seacrest has promised a “never before” announcement on Thursday.

Here’s a run through of who sang what tonight and some notes from the judges.

Blake Lewis: 311 - All Mixed Up
- None of the judges knew what song he was singing! That’s kinda bad.
- Blake did a lot of his usual, personal touches with creative live mixing
- He needs to stick to singing and leave his comic routines at home
- Randy loved the modern hip-hop
- Paula: “felt interested”, huh?
- Simon: “I didn’t understand a word you said”

Sanjaya Malakar: John Mayer - Waiting on the World to Change
- like to hula dancing, not ideal of such a feminine boy
- Randy: wasn’t impressed
- Paula: thinks he is out gamed by the other men
- Simon: asked about his “Paula hair”

Sundance Head: Pearl Jam - Jeremy
- He blamed his crying last week on Chris Richardson
- Randy and Paula were pleased
- Simon: felt he sounded like a “generic bar singer”

Chris Richardson: Keith Urban - Tonight I Want to Cry
- Simon thought he was holding it back, “playing it safe”
- All judges were satisfied though

Jared Cotter: Stevie Wonder - If You Really Love Me
- Seacrest mocked his “face mask” move
- Randy: “solid performance”
- Paula: “needs to color up the performances”, too plain
- Simon: “wasn’t original… lost in the mix”
Brandon Rogers: Rare Earth - I Just Want to Celebrate
- he taught himself to play piano by ear
- Randy: “not jumping up and down, but solid”
- Paula: “pretty phenomenal… proved why you’re here”
- Simon: “not representing yourself well… not memorable”

Phil Stacey: LeAnn Rimes - I Need You
- well that was a bad song choice right off
- Randy: “lower parts were pitchy”
- Paula: agreed on low parts, “odd song choice”, not his best
- Simon: “the whole thing just appeared very odd, very strange choice of song”

Chris Sligh: D.C. Talk - Wanna Be Loved
- my wife said, “he’s the best”
- Randy: “you get the vocal prize of the night”
- Paula: “not my favorite performance… you were middle of the road”
- Simon: “struggled through… not one of your strongest”
- I agree with Randy and my wife

Judges’ summary for tonight: Only 4 of the guys are worthy of going on to next round.

American Idol 2008 Updates