[kevkrom]

Three songs in 6 days, and two of them chosen for you. Can you deliver three solid performances and show the improvement necessary to be the next American Idol?

At this stage of the competition, it's pretty much all about the nit-picks, so before any of y'all say I'm nit-picking, I am. My scorecard:

1. Bo -- My biggest criticism about Bo all season is that while he's a great "performer", I didn't think he had the vocal chops. Well, at least for tonight, Bo put the lie to that. I thought the first song could be trouble on range... no problem for Bo. The second song, done a capella, was a nice risk, though I will note that without the band for reference, it's harder to tell if he stayed on pitch -- I think there were some pitch/key problems toward the end of the middle third -- he also ran out of steam on the very end. There were some minor technical problems on "Satisfaction" (muffed the opening note with the big entrance, lyrics issue at one point), but I thought he did very well... my only real problem with the performance is that it is impossible not to compare that to the original, and I don't care who you are, you're going to come off a little badly in the comparison.

2. Carrie -- I've had two consistent technical criticisms of Carrie: stage presence and the ability to sing strongly in the lower register without getting muddy or swallowed up by the band. She left some room for improvement on the former, but the latter was a big improvement this week. "Crying" was a little too reserved, but very nicely sung. The middle song had issues with being a little "over-sung", and Carrie fell back into her two-step shuffle in lieu of any real "performance". Finally, the transformation from "Sandra Dee" to "Sandy" was completed for "Man, I Feel Like A Woman" -- better movement, good work in the lower register, could maybe use just a tiny bit more energy. The fact that she did so much better on the songs chosen for her underscores the issues she's had with song selection recently.

3. Vonzelle -- Inconsistency has been her bane all season... when she keeps it in control, she sounds like the second coming of Whitney Houston, when she doesn't, it's more like Sam Houston after a night of binge drinking. Not surprisingly, she was a little inconsistent last night. She had the pitch surrounded, but not quite captured on the first song, and as is her habit, she tried to cover it by over-singing. "Chain Of Fools" was a much, much better performance... she looked good, sounded good, was in control... the Vonzelle I thought could win it all five or six weeks ago. "On The Radio" was an interesting judge's choice -- it let her go out and "perform", but it really didn't let her show off her voice to it's fullest.

[bigsigh]

I think Bo and Carrie will sell records. She's clearly suited for a career in Country and Western. Needs some dance and movement lessons, but don't need a lot for C&W

I agree with your comments on Bo. He also has soul in the vein of David Clayton Thomas and Michael MacDonald, even if he's not quite as distinctive as they.

Von needs some singing coaching. She's fine on the dance and upbeat songs, but sometimes flat on the ballads. Can't hang with Whitney (the old days)and Dionne Warwick, but who can.

[silent_jonny]

Bo was clearly the best. Carrie so-so. And Vonzell was a mess, IMO.

I don't think that one judge should pick one song for one performer--it leaves the door wide-open for sabotage. Instead, all three judges should unanimously choose one song for one performer. That seems fairest to me.

Great scorecard, btw :)