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Great American Songbook... definitely a chance to see who can really sing, and who can't. Not that there were many surprises on this score, but hopefully some of the voters will see through one or two of the weaker (*cough* Sanjaya *cough*) singers based on this.

It was no surprise to me that Melinda, Lakisha, Blake, and Jordin did very well with their songs. Clearly the top tier for the night here.

In the middle tier, we have Chris, who sang what I personally saw as a mess (where's the melody, dude?) but seemed to get rave reviews from the judges. I did like the stage presence/personality he put into it, though. Phil, the other middle-tier contestant last night, sang much better from a technical sense, but the song was dull and had none of the emotional response it should have.

On the bottom tier reside Haley and Gina. Haley is playing up the "sex kitten" angle, but she just doesn't have the chops (it really showed in the tempo change, where she sounded like she was floundering); give her credit for working the audience abut 100 times better than Sligh did a few weeks ago, though (what a difference eye contact makes!). Gina, admittedly not in the best style for her, was inconsistent and didn't deliver on the emotional response either.

Of course, below all that is Sangria... er... Sanjaya. He didn't sing it well, and he didn't look good moving around. Dancing with Paula was a nice touch to please his 12-year-old girl fans, but it hurt his singing even that much more.

Bottom 3 prediction: Haley, Gina, Phil
Who will go: Phil or Gina