[kevkrom]

Well, the guys were better than the girls this week. Then again, fingernails scraping a blackboard would have been better than the girls this week. My snarky judge comment for the night would have to be about Simon's "you need to be confident which will lead to confidence which will make you more confident" riff to David... was Simon perhaps drinking from Paula's cup without realizing it?

Anyway, as I saw and heard it (and I'm ready from the backlash from the "Ace" fan club):

1. Elliott - What a pleasant surprise... Elliott doing a "standard" and doing it quite well. It was a very pleasant sound, and the only knock I have is that he needed more intimate interaction with the audience. My Grade: A-
2. Will - What I like about Will is that he takes songs that are so well known and tied to a particular artist, and yet he makes them his own. As with Elliott, he needs a little more work relating to the audience, but with a song like "Lady", he could get away with it a little better. My Grade: A-
3. Gedeon - Yeah, the smile is creepy, his performance is too "affected", and he has some diction issues... but man did he sing that well. I had written it before the judges mentioned it, but they were spot-on -- he is a throwback to the 60's soul/R&B singers. My Grade: B+
4. Taylor - I'm still waiting for Taylor to take advantage of the spotlight to "wow" us. And waiting. To use Randy's vocabulary, this performance was "a'ight", not great. It was good to see him try something a little outside of his "comfort zone". My Grade: B
5. Chris - It's very hard to judge this performance because of how un-melodic the song was. So, it's all about the performance, which was energetic and (note my first use of the year of the "C" word) convincing. But I still have to mark down because it wasn't great singing. My Grade: B
6. Ace - Sounded very nasal, especially in the first half. The falsetto was not particularly good (overdone, strained, and not in tune), and it didn't match his natural voice well at all. I actually thought it was kind of dull. My Grade: B-
7. David - As if measuring up to Will wasn't going to be hard enough, Elliott showed earlier what a "crooner" should sound like. David comes off as an impersonator, not a unique talent. Nice voice, nice kid, yada yada yada... My Grade: C+
8. Jose - Better than last week, which is pretty faint praise. Noticeably lacking in power, this was a passable impersonation, again not a unique sound. At least it wasn't all in ghastly falsetto again. My Grade: C
9. Bucky - Again, better than last week, and again, that isn't saying much. Diction problems, pitch problems... I just don't "get" Bucky. The number started OK and got worse as it progressed. My Grade: C-
10. Kevin Covais - A really bad song choice for someone who has as much soul as a piece of Wonder bread. Seriously, this wasn't a competitive performance, it was a joke. Sure he (mostly) hits the notes, but so what? It was like a high school talent show number, not American Idol. My Grade: D+

Overall rankings:

1. Will Makar (+1)
2. Ace Young (-1)
3. Elliott Yamin (+3)
4. Chris Daughtry (-1)
5. Gedeon McKinney (NC)
6. Taylor Hicks (-2)
7. David Radford (NC)
8. Jose Penala ("Sway") (+1)
9. Bucky Convington (-1)
10. Kevin Covais (NC)

It should be Bucky and Kevin going home, but I'll say Bucky and "Sway".

[silent_jonny]

Kevin Covais - A really bad song choice for someone who has as much soul as a piece of Wonder bread.

Ha!

It should be Bucky and Kevin going home, but I'll say Bucky and "Sway".

Pee Wee is at least likable. Sway has zero personality and his "singing" stinks.

My picks are Sway and one of the crooners, probably David. But I wouldn't be surprised to see Bucky go, too.

[Palladin]

kev, I agree with your critique more than anyone else's today. TG I am not the only one to find Chris Daughtry's vocal quality less than sensational. And his appearance--well, let's just say he's a mini-Bruce Willis.

IMHO, Elliott has the superior voice. He just needs coaching with his presentation and confidence level.

Gedeon needs a little more polish, but again, his voice is much better than Daughtry's.

Will has a fine voice and a good personality. He should make top six.

Taylor impresses me as a borderline personality. Nice but quirky. That shouting out and the herky-jerky movements detract from his performances.

Ace is just another pretty face. Too tentative and too girly.

David, Sway, Bucky, and Kevin will all be going home, either tonight or next week.