[kevkrom]

I feel like I've entered Bizarro World... Chris was the best singer of the night but needed to work on his stage presence? Taylor was boring? At least Kellie was as awful as I expected she'd be...

1. Chris - The clear winner tonight. First of all, an excellent song choice to match his voice and style. He also performed it well; sure I have some technical quibbles (some diction issues and a dropped phrase or two, mostly early). The only negative comments I have would have to do with Chris' physical performance -- for the first half of the song he looked like he was hiding behind the mic, after he took the mic off the stand, he looked angry not passionate. My Grade: A
2. Elliott - Man, can this guy sing. I'll agree with Randy that the arrangement wasn't great, but that Elliott delivered anyway. He's developing a nice style, and working with Manilow, Stewart, and now Foster is really starting to tech him how to perform instead of just sing. My Grade: A-
3. Paris - Another good "act" from Paris. I just still don't "buy" her as a popular singer, though. She's too theatrical, and her tone just isn't right for these styles. My Grade: B+
4. Katharine - The judges were overly harsh on her, to a degree. It was not a good song selection because of the difficulty and comparison factor. However, with the exception of a somewhat rocky beginning, she sang it well -- if it had not been a "Whitney" song, I think most of the criticism would have been avoided. And, as an aside, Kat can wear that dress anytime as far as I'm concerned. My Grade: B
5. Taylor - This just didn't deliver. There were pitch problems and it didn't have any real connection or conviction to it. My Grade: C
6. Kellie - The only thing that saved this from a total disaster is that she hit the climax of the song pretty well. The rest of it was off-key, poorly phrased, and boring. Even the advantage of the country style to let her slide into notes wasn't helping her hit them. She didn't even look good -- that hairstyle and makeup job was laughable.

Overall rankings:

1. Elliott Yamin (+2)
2. Chris Daughtry (+2)
3. Katharine McPhee (-2)
4. Paris Bennett (-2)
5. Taylor Hicks (NC)
6. Kellie Pickler (NC)

[kevkrom]

BTW... Mrs. kevkrom made a good observation that we would have gotten better performances from both Kat and Paris if they had switched songs...

[silent_jonny]

working with Manilow, Stewart, and now Foster is really starting to tech him how to perform instead of just sing.

That's another thing I admire about Elliot. Where the others might just ham it up with the guests (Pickler), he sincerely makes an effort to absorb their knowledge and use it. And he's used it effectively. Good job.