Once again we’re at the Top 6 performers for American Idol Season 6. In case you missed it, no one went home last week from the Idol Gives Back charity performance. So to make up for that two people will get sent home this week. Tonight it looks like a lot of the previous contestants are back in the audience, including Gina Glocksen and Antonella Barba.

Jon Bon Jovi and the band’s keyboardist, David Ryan, are going to be the musical coaches so all the musical selections are going to be from their band’s history. This should provide for a lot of fun tonight as Bon Jovi songs are usually pretty fun songs and easy to enjoy with some energy. I read an interesting interview blurb with Jon Bon Jovi where he admitted to having never watched American Idol before Gwen Stefani’s week.

Phil Stacey: “Blaze of Glory”
Jon thought Phil had a big voice for a big song like that. Phil was pretty psyched to get to work with Bon Jovi as he grew up a fan. I think Phil is continuing to really shine here as the show progresses.
Randy: “That was your best performance ever on the show… That was the bomb… I love it man, I love it.”
Paula: “This is the best opening we’ve had all season long.”
Simon: “I thought it was okay… I didn’t hear any authenticity… I don’t think you’ve done enough to last till next week.”
Vote#: 1-866-IDOLS-01 <- Primary Number
Vote#: 1-866-IDOLS-07 <- Secondary Number
Text: “VOTE” to 5701

Jordin Sparks: “Living on a Prayer”
They must have all been fighting to get this song. I don’t think Jon is too impressed with her from his comments and facial expression during her practice. He noted this is a very tough song to sing. All of Jordin’s comments about how much her mom loves him sure can’t make him feel young. Jordin seems to have picked up the hair torch that little Sanjaya left behind. Wow, this is not Jordin’s song. It sounds like bad karaoke to me. That’s really disappointing. Maybe I’ve heard too many drunk voices trying to carry this one and it almost reminds me of that. This is the first time I’ve wanted her to stop mid-performance.
Randy: “An interesting one for me… Definitely not the rock girl… Those verses were a little rough… Wasn’t your best.”
Paula: “You went for it knowing it was a little bit out of your range.”
Simon: “Let’s cue the boos in advance… The look, it was like something out of the Addams Family… The singing, it was just out of control… Verging on shrieking… Absolutely, completely lost control.”
Vote#: 1-866-IDOLS-02 <- Primary Number
Vote#: 1-866-IDOLS-08 <- Secondary Number
Text: “VOTE” to 5702

LaKisha Jones: “This Ain’t a Love Song”
LaKisha says she’s seen Jon Bon Jovi on Oprah, but she’s never heard his music. Jon is very confident that she’s picked a great, soulful song and she won’t be going home singing this song. The best thing that could have happened for LaKisha this week turns out that she got to follow Jordin’s performance. LaKisha is a little boring here, but relative to Jordin this feels much better. The second half of this performance she started to come alive and really bring back the LaKisha Jones that got her into the top 12. Much, much better over the past few weeks.
Randy: “LaKisha is back this week… You proved one thing tonight…by the middle of the song…you blew that out the box.”
Paula: “You did give everyone a little something, something.”
Simon: “I could actually kiss you after that… on the lips” LaKisha ran down and planted a big kiss on Simon “You rose to the challenge… You absolutely nailed it… You are back… Nice lips.”
Vote#: 1-866-IDOLS-03 <- Primary Number
Vote#: 1-866-IDOLS-09 <- Secondary Number
Text: “VOTE” to 5703

Blake Lewis: “You Give Love a Bad Name”
Damn Blake, what is wrong with you? Why the heck do you insist on modifying classic songs?! Jon Bon Jovi says this very risky because people know this song and don’t want it changed. Jon said he doesn’t know how this is going to highlight his singing abilities, 16 measures without singing. He’s saying that Blake won’t actually have to sing very much, so how does that count as a singing performance. This is awful. Blake is live dj mixing the song. He’s taking a big dump on a classic song. Here he goes beat boxing through the performance. I hated it. Stop pissing on music Blake.
Randy: “Most original version of a song on American Idol… That was hot.”
Paula: “This was amazing.”
Simon: “Half the audience will hate it, half will love it. I think it was the right thing to do. Massive risk. This is what’s going to keep you in the competition next week.”
Vote#: 1-866-IDOLS-04 <- Primary Number
Vote#: 1-866-IDOLS-10 <- Secondary Number
Text: “VOTE” to 5704

Chris Richardson: “Wanted Dead or Alive”
Jon Bon Jovi wants Chris to really embrace the blues aspect of this song to help it along. His performance wasn’t too terrible, but I still think he’s nearing the end of his path here on American Idol.
Randy: “You did your thing… You put a little R&B… I liked that.”
Paula: “You did your thing… Good job.”
Simon: “This is not your style of music… Whether it’s good enough to stay another week, I’m not sure.”
Vote#: 1-866-IDOLS-05 <- Primary Number
Vote#: 1-866-IDOLS-11 <- Secondary Number
Text: “VOTE” to 5705

Melinda Doolittle: “Have a Nice Day”
Melinda is really nervous about singing rock, but Jon Bon Jovi promises to teach her how to do it. He’s very enthusiastic about her performance by the end. For someone nervous about doing a rock song Melinda is doing a great job.
Randy: “A great performance again.. A little Tina Turner attitude in there.”
Paula: “How’d it feel to be a rock star… You’re a rock star.”
Simon: “Like a young Tina Turner… In a different league from everyone else tonight.”
Vote#: 1-866-IDOLS-06 <- Primary Number
Vote#: 1-866-IDOLS-12 <- Secondary Number
Text: “VOTE” to 5706

The phone lines will be open for 4 hours tonight instead of just 2, likely due to keep things even with last week, and you can use both the primary and secondary numbers for each contestant. Check back Wednesday when I’ll share my vote-off predictions where I’ll rate the best, the worst, and who I think will be going home and then follow that with a Results Show recap.

Update (5/2): Read about my predictions for the double vote-off results show tonight.

Check out the rest of our American Idol coverage.

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