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You know Brian, you and I are tracking pretty closely on this one. I thought this was the worst overall night in at least several weeks.

I loved your comment: "Worst 3: This was competitive.. because everyone sucked so bad"

The only stand-out performance was by Syesha and I think the judges had cotton in their ears tonight. I disagreed strongly with a couple of their comments. How they can lay into David Cook because he had one bad song choice, but let yet another boring and geeky-looking performance by Brooke slip by with hardly a negative comment. It simply shows who they're trying to push. Here's my blow by blow:

1. Michael Johns - one of the better (least sucky?) performances of the night. I do agree with the judges on this one: he has an "authenticity" issue. Although he sang the notes and walked the walk, he just didn't seem genuine to me. He simply wasn't believable. I think he needs to look directly at the camera more or something...

2. Syesha Mercato - my fave of the night. The judges just don't like her and thought she was pitchy - but totally missed David A.'s pitchiness tonight? I thought she did a very good job and only heard one or two notes that were slightly pitchy.

3. Jason Castro - I actually thought this was one of HIS best performances. However, since I don't think he's got much of a range and hardly any dynamics, it only means that he did a decent job. I will say that he has a pretty good sense of pitch, but I don't see him as an Idol.

4. Kristy Lee Cook - everyone's favorite underdog. She is very nice to look at, and with autotune, she could sound pretty good on a record. She's been pitchy on every single song I've heard her do live except for Amazing Grace. She's the only performer left that has that "cringe" factor with pitch - especially in her lower register.

5. David Cook - probably his worst performance in several weeks (maybe since the auditions). It was simply not a good song for him.

6. Carly Smithson - she took Simon's advice and improved her wardrobe and had good makeup tonight. Unfortunately, she forgot to smile at all during her Queen song and it came off as angry, not as inspirational. She also had some big pitch problems in the middle - probably the worst I've heard her sound since the auditions. She still won't cover her tats. It may cost her dearly this week.

7. David Archuletta - This was so boring I wanted to get up and get a snack in the middle of it. Usually it takes Brooke to get me that bored. He also had some pitch problems. It was obvious to me that playing the piano distracts him from concentrating on his voice. He should stick to singing without an instrument.

8. Brooke White - She picked the "sing-along" song of the evening, "You've got a Friend". She still is pitchy and looks awkward on stage. I just don't get her. She's sweet, but has zip, zero, na-da stage presence. I hear better performers than her every time I go into a local singer/songwriter cafe or pub.

There will be a plethora of superstars on Idol Gives Back tomorrow. We'll see...

I think either Carly or Syesha will go home this week. Syesha has been low on the polls for several weeks even though she's one of the best singers, and Carly has been losing ground over the past several weeks. I find it curious that the two best TECHNICAL singers (Syesha & Carly) are not getting higher ratings and mediocre (at best) singers like Kristy, Brooke and Jason get better poll scores.