[So Cal Rocket]

Song spoilers for tonite, hi-light to read:

Michael – Miss You
Didi – Play With Fire
Casey – All Over Now
Lacey – Ruby Tuesday
Andrew – Gimme Shelter
Katie – Wild Horses
Tim – Under My Thumb
Siobhan – Paint It Black
Lee – Beast of Burden
Paige – Honky Tonk Woman
Aaron – Angie
Crystal - You Can't Always Get What You Want.

[So Cal Rocket]

Unfortunate choice of song by Casey... Bad Omen

[kevkrom]

My recap... I'm not going to rank them #1-#12 because that will make some of them seem better than they actually were. On the whole, my predictions of having to suffer for several weeks is bearing out. Order within a group is performance order, not to be taken as ranking.

Bringing Down The House, i.e., folks who delivered a start performance -- NONE.

Solid, i.e., folks who came out and did OK, but not stellar -- Michael (nice modernization, but performance felt contrived and over-rehearsed), Didi (probably the best upside performance of anyone for the night, but still lacking star quality), Casey (solid, well within his defined style, but "safe"), Siobhan (beginning was rocky, ended well; passable performance but she can do better), Lee (see Casey), Crystal (see Lee)

A'ight, i.e., nothing really bad nothing really great; folks in this group need to pick it up soon or risk being voted out -- Andrew (just seems to be out of sync with the guy from auditions and Hollywood), Katie (great voice, but seems to lack performance instincts), Tim (I'll be listening to this on my next Caribbean cruise), Paige (she gets extra credit for fighting through the laryngitis, but that only brings her up to this level), Aaron (why do the judges insist on pushing skinny 16 year old boys who aren't ready for prime time?)

Go Home, Now -- Lacey (interpretation was awful, voice is starting to grate on me)

Overall Standings:

1. Siobhan - pipes + personality + looks. Consistency could be an issue
2. Crystal - second by default. Generic "bluesy" singer.
3. Casey - knows who he is, does it well, but does he have broad enough appeal?
4. Didi - holds a lot of potential, and I think she's improving. Probably over-placed at the moment, but I'm projecting ahead.
5. Lee - Pleasent, somewhat generic. Plays it too safe. Could move up via attrition up top.
6. Michael - Has a good following, so will last longer than probably he should. He does have the talent to move up this list, just not seeing him deliver at the moment.
7. Tim - Not a serious contender, but should stick around for a while due to weakness behind him.
8. Andrew - So much hope, so little delivery.
9. Aaron - The fact that he's this high is a testament to how weak the field is.
10. Katie - May be the best natural talent of the lot, but it's very raw and she needs much work on performance skills. anyone's guess as to which direction she goes.
11. Paige - Improvement this week, but mostly on sympathy
12. Lacey - Please leave before I actually start truly hating you as a person.