American Idol – Top 8 Guys Perform

The remaining 8 guys are taking on the 80’s tonight. I’m actually scared to think what’s ahead of us in the next hour. I’m not a big fan of theme week, and in general I’m not a fan of the Idols taking on the 80’s. Maybe the guys will surprise me tonight. You never know.

Luke Menard starts us off with the iconic “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” and the Beek didn’t quite pull it off. Does he have anything besides a falsetto? He looks good, but Luke Menard has yet to impress me. I can’t say that I found anything special about this performance. But it’s not up to me, it’s up to the judges and America. Randy wasn’t overly impressed but he didn’t slam it flat out. Paula is off her meds tonight, it’s going to be a long night. Simon of course hated it. That doesn’t surprise me. Simon went as far to tell Luke that he wasn’t going to win and he probably wouldn’t make it to the Top 12. Tell us how you really feel, Cowell. Eh, I’m with Simon on this one.

David Archuleta is playing a little piano tonight during Phil Collins’ “Another Day in Paradise”. His voice is like buttah. He’s so adorable and obviously talented. I’m not sure this is David’s best performance. I thought the song itself was a little boring, but he did the best he could with it. I’m not worried about this performance at all. The judges all like him, that much is obvious. Simon suggested that he remember his age and try to take on something a little more upbeat next week.

Danny Noriega is up next. He’s such a pretty little girl. Tonight he’s taking on a edgier version of “Tainted Love” and if I close my eyes and forget that it’s Danny then I must say that I was really digging this performance. His voice sounded great. But I just can’t get over him. Yeah, I know it’s about the singing, but it has to be more than that. Simon thought it was horrible and useless. Then again Simon has already decided he hates Danny so I doubt he was going to ever give him a compliment even if it was good.

David Hernandez managed to keep his clothes on while singing my very favorite ‘sing along alone in the car’ song, “It’s All Coming Back to Me” by Celine. I can’t say he sounded as good as when Deb, Roz, Tara, Whit and I take this song on, but he was ok. It was most definitely pitchy and not as good as last week. But I really still liked it. Does that make any sense? Randy and Paula really liked it. Simon didn’t think he was as good as last week, but he thought he was good enough to sail through to next week.

Michael Johns is bringing us all back to Saturday detention with “Don’t You Forget About Me”. This guy is really sexy, but is anyone else thinking he has a rather odd strange presence? He’s a strange dancer. His vocals were strong. The verses weren’t strong, but the chorus was fantastic. A great song. Well done. Randy and Paula really liked it. Simon liked it but didn’t love it. But he made a point to say that he really, really liked Michael, so all around good news.

David Cook is singing a rocker version of “Hello” by Lionel Richie and no I’m not kidding. The song started off a little weak, but when he got into it I loved it.  He rocked the sh*t out of it. Maybe it’s just because I love this song so much but I would even consider buying this on iTunes (if I weren’t so cheap). I could hear that on the radio for sure. Randy completely agreed with me about it possibly being a radio hit today. Paula agreed. Simon loved it. He said it was brave and he took a few risks. Good job, David.

Jason Castro and his dreds are up next with his take on “Hallelujah” covered most famously by Jeff Buckley. Holy hell the boys are picking some kick ass songs tonight. It’s like they went into my most played list on my iPod. Per the judges suggestion, Jason left his guitar behind and he just concentrated on his vocals. Hot damn I thought he was amazing (with the exception of that tiny the fumble at the end). Randy and Paula are in agreement (shocker) in their praise of Jason. Simon thought his performance was absolutely brilliant and told Jason he is getting better, better and better. Wow.

Chikezie finished the night off with Whitney Houston’s “All the Man that I Need” with a few change of the lyrics. Since the Idol’s are talking about embarrassing moments, I’ll share mine and tell you that this was the song that was playing during my first real kiss. I’m not a huge fan of Chikeze but I thought he performed this song well. The judges were digging the song, well the judges that weren’t named Simon Cowell. He wasn’t impressed and thought it was cabaret.

Time to Vote…
Overall a great night for the guys. While of course some performances were better than others even the weakest weren’t that bad. I was really wrong about 80’s night being a bust. I think it was the strongest night all around so far.

My Favorites: Jason Castro, David Cook, David Archuleta
Good enough to stay: Chikezie, Michael Johns, David Hernandez
Not Getting my Vote: Luke Menard, Danny Noriega

Your thoughts on tonight’s performances? Any favorites?