Praise God, It's Idol!

Hallelujah! Can I get an "Amen?"

It was some kind of religious revival for Carole King night on Idol (who knows?).

Steven saw God and Randy was channeling his inner Jesus as he kept telling all the contestants that they were turning the other cheek. What? He didn't even use the phrase correctly. What he meant was that they took constructive criticism well, but that would be too erudite, and not jive enough, to say.

So, they sang Carole King and Babyface mentored. Yeah, I thought it was totally random, too. Calling it "eclectic" would be too complimentary.

And though they only have 6 singers remaining, they absurdly made the show 90 minutes long and tortured us with 3 duets. I think that was part of the whole "God" theme. It got everyone praying, "Please! No more!"

Jacob rummaged through my brother's 1960's closet, particularly through the boxes of clothes he wore for his elementary school pictures. He found a bow tie, a bright shirt, and a plaid suit jacket, none of which matched. Then he got to sing after Jimmy Iovine's intro said, "He's the one in the most trouble tonight." Nice. Thanks, Jimmy. Great intro. Jacob's not my favorite contestant but I feel for the kid. His schizophrenic judges and mentors are all, "Do riffs. No, don't do them. Wait, do them. Belt it out! No, rein it in!" Then they dressed him like a used car salesman, gave him an underwhelming intro, and made him sing first. Sabotage much? So, Jacob broke out his church boy singing and did a really great job, truthfully. I already don't remember it, but I remember that I liked it, so that's got to count for something. However, I do think he's in trouble, but mostly because the Idol producers seem intent on making everyone hate him and not because he's the worst singer remaining. That dubious honor rightly belongs to one of 3 other contestants.

Whereas Jacob was slammed with criticism, Lauren was given the surprise of meeting Hannah, er, Miley Cyrus, who, by the way, has the voice of a chain smoker. I thought it was random to bring Miley out like that. I think it had less to do with surprising Lauren and more to do with Jimmy making amends for telling millions of people that an AI contestant sings better than she does (he was telling the truth, but I'm sure that was some kind of industry no-no). Despite the fact that she challenged herself with high notes (and then got praised for her voice cracking when she didn't hit those high notes, I kid you not!), she was just okay for me. She did pull out some random guy from the audience, sort of danced with him (thoroughly confusing him and the rest of us watching), had him sit on the stage, and then left him sitting there like a tool while she sang to the judges. It was weird. Her confidence does seem stronger, but I'm not convinced it's enough. In fact, I'm sure it's not enough to win.

Scotty sang all intimate and soft like, but I didn't love it. He did a good job, but I wasn't hearing church choirs or angels or God or anything. Randy got a little overly enthusiastic about it, so maybe he did. Steven might have, too, but that could simply be side effects or after effects or general hallucinations.

James was phenomenal and I'm so glad he's reining in the cocky edge. Someone's been reading online comments and doing his homework. He's still sporting a gigantic bandana (that honestly makes me think of a Giant with a cold or bad allergies who needs a humongous hankie), but in all other ways, he's listening to fan feedback. He slowed it down and it was awesome. He has a great voice and he nailed the whole dang thing. I think it's totally unfair how JLo proclaims a "best of the night" before she's heard everyone (like it really irks me), but he did do a fantastic job. He can be very endearing and I love when a true rocker can slow it down like that and show us, when they're not hiding behind drums, guitars, or, say, flaming pianos, that they can really, truly sing. He was great. (But it was really stupid --and incredibly awkward -- when Ryan made him hug Randy).

Casey got praise but deserved way more than he got. He was AWESOME. And I loved when he sat down and played some jazzy piano while he sang. What! Dude has mad talent. He is so much fun and he is crazy talented. He's so uber-geek that it's massively cool. Hi De Hi, Hi De Ho, He is mother-loving awesome.

Haley, I must admit, is getting better each week. She still sort of bugs me in a way, but I do like her voice. Maybe if I just didn't look at her? I don't know what it is. But she has definitely figured out that she should be singing blues and jazz and that her voice is just better suited to that genre and style. That has helped significantly. We think she's turned a corner. Randy thinks she's turned the other cheek.

I'm not even going to comment on the duets other than to say that Jacob and James took theirs to church and, like Steven explained, even though it was weird, God knows they can sing.

Bottom 3 predictions: Scotty, Jacob, and Laura
Going home: Jacob (Duh, because God the producers clearly want him to go find his choir).

Amen.