Digital Brainwaves

Starting the liveblog, a few minutes behind.

• Idol Gives Back will air tomorrow night. As it’s not related to the competition, I probably won’t blog it.
• They haven’t done an ordered intro in a while… they made it so much easier to know what order in which they were performing.
• Tonight’s theme: inspirational songs.
  1. Michael Johns - “Dream On” - Solid performance, but not substantially different from the original Aerosmith recording. Impressive falsetto at the end, though.
  2. Syesha Mercado - “I Believe” - You’ve got to be really good to do a song by a previous Idol. Just my personal opinion, but I like Syesha’s voice better than I ever did Fantasia’s, so that’s a huge mark in her favor. Some pitch problems, but nailed the super high note at the end.
• Randy’s getting lots of screen time this week.
  3. Jason Castro - “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” - I think I’ve heard this version, though I don’t know where. I like. I’ve thought Jason’s been in danger the last several weeks, but he should be in solid shape tonight.
  4. Kristy Lee Cook - “Anyway” - Martina McBride’s song fits Kristy well. Not sure about some of the notes; she seems flat in spots. Good overall.
• How can Paula breathe in that corset?
  5. David Cook - “Innocent” - I didn’t recoginze this song at first, but remembered it later. I don’t know about technicals on this one, but it’s a decent showing. The “hand writing” was a cute touch.
• Did Randy just say he liked David’s package???
  6. Carly Smithson - “The Show Must Go On” - I’m not sure about this one. She doesn’t look as tense as she did a couple weeks ago, but I’m not sure I’m hearing her best performance tonight. Some wild and wacky pitches in there, I think.
  7. David Archuleta - “Angels” - David’s in his usual form tonight, and sings a spot-on show, as good as any he’s done this season. Nothing else to even comment on.
  8. Brooke White - “You’ve Got A Friend” - When Ryan mentioned that Brooke would be doing Carole King, it was a no-brainer that this would be the song.She sounded like she was breaking a little bit in places, but it was a really nice performance.

I’m voting for: Michael (1), Jason (3), David A. (7) and Brooke (8).

Predictions
Bottom three: Syesha, Kristy and Carly
Going home: I’m waffling on this one. Either Syesha or Kristy.