Will Sanjaya make Top 6?!!

Bleh...I hope not...but I wouldn't be surprised, sadly.

What I want to see is more sparks between Simon & Ryan!! I think they should let Ryan & Paula switch places for the remainder of the season, in fact!!

Last night was country night...and it's always interesting to see how the contestants will fare when they're thrown into a genre that's so completely different from what you've seen them tackle otherwise. So how did they do? One addict's opinion...

1. Phil Stacy ("Where The Blacktop Ends")


So ok he actually did a great job. And after having it pointed out and agreeing that this is his genre...the question is begged...WHY has he not been doing country all along then? This guy *still* has no identity.


2. Jordin Sparks ("Broken Wing")


So for those who don't really follow country music...taking on a Martina McBride song is like...well like taking on a song by one of those one-name divas...you know...Whitney, Mariah, Celine, Christina...the chances for crashing and burning b/c you can't *possibly* live up to the source material are about 99%. All I can say about Jordin's performance is WOW...it just absolutely gave me chills. Seriously amazing...she's still only 17, right?!


3. Sanjaya Malakar ("Something To Talk About")


Why does he insist on "singing" girl songs? Why is Ryan semi-defending him to Simon?


4. LaKisha Jones ("Jesus, Take The Wheel")


She should've asked Jesus for help with a song choice instead. This song was a huge hit that won tons of CMA awards and Grammys because Carrie Underwood is a brilliantly talented singer who knows how to capture the emotion of a song with her voice. Kiki needs to stop playing the single mother card and start picking songs she can actually connect to.


5. Chris Richardson ("Mayberry")


Ok well...honestly I didn't think it was *that* bad. I mean it wasn't *fantastic* but I didn't think it was as bad as the tearing up he got. Rascal Flatts was *clearly* a great choice of artist that suited his voice well..and Randy & Paula just made no sense. WTF were they saying? Bringing in the whole VT thing though...you know...imo bad taste to do it the way he did...right in the middle of the snip-fest with Simon. To me that entire response from Chris marred any good there was in his performance.


6. Melinda Doolittle ("Trouble Is A Woman")


I had never heard this song...but of course once again Melinda shows she can sing *anything* excellently. I love that Simon told her to not act surprised before he complimented her. If she could just lose that, she's golden, imo.


7. Blake Lewis ("When The Stars Go Blue")


I love how week after week he manages to take on song after song and make them all seem fresh, contemporary, and his own. If I could choose the two I think should be going into the finals right at this moment, it'd be Blake & Jordin.


So who goes? My prediction for bottom 3...Chris, Phil, & Sanjaya (though I think it *should* be LaKisha instead of Phil). I think Chris is history.