The Night Randy Jackson Warned Against

The leader of the Dawg Pound has always warned contestants not to do Mariah....but last night, everyone broke the rules. Of course, that's because Mariah was our mentor of the evening. Now, I've never been a Mariah fan. I know she has pipes, but she just was never my cup of tea (and I still swear "Without You" will always be a Nilsson song...yeah, I'm one of those...). But I'm not here to talk about Mariah; I'm here to give you my rundown on the seven finalists. And here goes....

My showstopper award goes to David Cook. I mean, wow. He definitely made "Always Be My Baby" his own, taking risks and singing the heck out of the song. He's had a lot going on, if you haven't heard (see Joy's article about David's brother below) but he really made those emotions work for him. I stood up with Randy, Dawg.

A far second - but still raising her game - was Syesha. Her vocals were beautiful and restrained, and I hope it buys her another week. Fingers crossed for you, girl!

Right behind her I'd put Jason Castro. His laid back style is so appealing, and I loved his twist on "I Don't Wanna Cry." I'll put it in writing right now - I can never see him becoming the American Idol - but I'd definitely buy his record. Or at least download it.

David Archuleta ended up in the middle of the pack. I was just...so what? It was a typical Archuleta performance (which, by the way, is the only kind my husband watches...he's a fan). But he hasn't mixed it up or raised the bar or brought anything new in weeks. C'mon, kid. America's rooting for him....please bring something we can get behind.

My bottom three prediction - Simon had it right. The guys rocked the night. My former favorite Brooke White started out okay on "Hero," but fell apart on the bridge and never regained her footing. Carly covered up the tattoos....and covered up most signs of that incredible voice in a so-so performance of that Nilsson song (you know the one). And Kristy Lee Cook keeps getting better, but she really doesn't have the same level of talent the rest of them do. She should be going home, based on the body of work, not last night's performance. But I'm going out on a limb and saying Carly will be celebrating herself home.

A word about last week - WHOA! Not only was last week the first I missed the bootee, I didn't even have Michael Johns in the bottom three. I stand by my prediction - Michael definitely should have lasted, maybe even into the finals. I saw him on that show with Justin Guarini today, and he said Dolly Parton called him to express her amazement at his elimination and to say she still wants to work with him. See, she really is a guardian movie star - and has decent taste in upcoming young talent, too.

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The Night Randy Jackson Warned Against

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