So last week Brandon Rogers went home and we saw Diana Ross stop by to mentor the contestants. This week we’ll lose another contestant (Sanjaya, Sanjaya, Sanjaya!) to form our American Idol Season 6 Top Ten. The theme this week is the British Invasion where pop music flooded into the United States from “across the pond” starting in 1964 with the arrival of The Beatles (thank you Rock History 101). This week’s mentors are Peter Noone and Lulu to help the contestants along.

Haley Scarnato: “I Know Something About Love”
I’m really torn over whether Sanjaya or Haley should go home. Is there any chance we could get rid of both?? Please?
Randy: “That was the perfect song for you. Haley is back in the competition.”
Paula: “A perfect song for you… You performed it tonight. Good for you.”
Simon: “You naughty little thing… It was fun, young, a bit shrieky in the middle… I think people will be talking about more than your singing tonight.”
My wife: “A little stripper-ish. It was her best performance so far.”

Chris Richardson: “Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying”
I suspect chris isn’t too bright when he comments that Peter knows that era. Sigh. Yes Chris, that’s why he’s here.
Randy: “That was another great performance… It should a different side to you… It was beautiful.”
Paula: “The arrangement, the acoustic, the whole thing was very sexy, very charming.”
Simon: “I think that was your best performance ever… Your control on the song was excellent.”
My wife: “It was good but it wasn’t thrilling.”

Stephanie Edwards: “You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me”
Everyone seems to disagree with me here, but I think she did really well.
Randy: “A little pitchy for me…” He also made up a new word: “Rythymical”
Paula: “You’re a great singer. I want you to go back to having fun.”
Simon: “I think you’re losing your edge… A bit nightclubby… It was a cabaret performance… I miss that passion from you… I wasn’t crazy about it.”
My wife: “Sounded off pitch to me.”

Blake Lewis: “Time of the Season”
Lot of people love this guy. I am not one of them. And I’m wondering whose grandpa Blake killed to steal his pants. I think Blake was doing a little bit of the Robot up there too.
Randy: “Massive Yo! Factor… Much props to you.” Randy, could you form a real sentence?
Paula: “You have really, really raised the bar… I felt like I was at a concert.”
Simon: “A million times better than last week… This week you chose the right song… Strongest performance so far.”
My wife: “It was entertaining.”
I hope you didn’t miss Ryan’s performance there with his dancing and brief singing.

Lakisha Jones: “Diamonds Are Forever”
Lulu pushed hard to get Lakisha to perform “You Are My World” and make it her own. The show makes a big deal of it and then she goes and performs “Diamonds Are Forever” instead. Nice. I really think Lakisha could have done better. She’s better than this performance tonight. The song is too boring because there are like, what, three words to it?
Randy: “Yo yo yo… I think it was a good choice… I didn’t feel enough Lakisha in it… It was alright for me… just alright for me.”
Paula: “I think you picked the right song.”
Simon: “This was Lakisha in fifty years time… It was like seeing you in fifty years time… It wasn’t my favorite performance.”
My wife: “I thought it was good. I liked her diamonds. I want her diamonds. Buy me her diamonds.”

Phil Stacey: “Tobacco Road”
I’m glad someone was willing to do something a little more rock-ish.
Randy: “A couple of pitchy spots, but in the end I always like your upward versions… It was pretty good for actually.”
Paula: “I think it was a real good choice of songs… I liked hearing the various ranges of your voice… I thought you had a good performance.”
Simon: “I wasn’t crazy about it… A third division bar performance… I didn’t hear any grit in your voice… I think you’ve got a problem right now… You’re being outsung by a lot of the singers… You might have a problem tomorrow.
My wife: “It’s just noise, but better than when he did Leann Rimes”

Jordin Sparks: “I Who Have Nothing”
I think that’s the best performance tonight we’ve seen.
Randy: “Check it out Jordin… Very controlled… One of the best performances we’re going to see tonight.”
Paula: “A good singer is a good singer and you’re also a wonderful performer.”
Simon: “You sang it beautifully, but I feel like jumping off a bridge… It was sooo gloomy… It was a bit depressing [the song] but you did sing it beautifully.”
My wife: “Wow. She’s really good.”

Sanjaya Malakar: “You Really Got Me”
He should have gone ahead and changed it to “Boy, you really got me.” Cause no one is going to believe “girl”. Whoa! Did anyone else see the little girl in the audience that was crying?! He had a child in tears, he’s just that much of a monster. If you watched the show you couldn’t have missed that whole thing. They spent more time on her during the performance than they did on Sanjaya.
Randy: “You shocked me tonight… You came out of your shell tonight.”
Paula: “I hope you had fun out there tonight.”
Simon: “I think the little girl’s face said it all.”

Gina Glocksen: “Paint It Black”
I really like this song. How can’t you like this song?
Randy: “You’re our resident rocker… A little pitchy in spots.”
Paula: “Miles better than last week… I think you’re going to have even more fun when you let loose.”
Simon: “Gina, there were moments of complete torture… It was so off melody it was just horrible… It was just not very good. It was style over content… Vocally, not good enough.”

Chris Sligh: “She’s Not There”
Randy: “Check it out baby, check it out… It’s like a concert… It started out a little rough for me… A little ahead of the beat.”
Paula: “Dressing much nicer… I thought your vocals were really good.”
Simon: “I think you did your thing… I think you did a lot better than last week.”

Melinda Doolittle: “As Long As He Needs Me”
Randy: “Saved the best vocal for last… You have great relative pitch… You are a pro up there.”
Paula: “You tell a story with the song… It’s not forced… It’s beautiful.”
Simon: “I thought it started very boring but you made the second part sensational.”

Forget the performances, the story of the night is that crying little girl. She was there at the end of Doolittle’s performance again! Maybe they’ll make a spin off show just for her. Well they pulled her up on the American Idol stage with everyone at the end of the show and she was just sobbing. I hope she was just really excited and not terrified by Sanjaya’s terrible performance.

American Idol 2008