Last night was “Guys Night” on American Idol. How do you think they compared to the ladies? I have to say, at this point in the competition, I’m pretty disappointed with well over half the contestants – male and female alike. But here’s a quick breakdown of the performances last night and, of course, my opinions.

Todrick Hall: “Since U Been Gone” by Kelly Clarkson

I am a big fan of Todrick (loved his audition) and I thought he was pretty clever with this rendition of Kelly Clarkson, but the judges seemed to disagree in a major (confusing) way, telling him he changed up the song too much. I’m inclined to disagree, but I also don’t think the performance was terribly strong so much as very unique. He definitely knows how to perform – I enjoyed it a lot and I’m marking him down as one to watch. I give his performance a B- and hope I see him again next week.

Aaron Kelly: “Here Comes Goodbye” by Rascal Flatts

Just to further confuse me, Aaron Kelly came next, singing a song that bored me so much I actually hit the fast forward button on the DVR. The first time I’ve done that in the Top 12 performances – and then the judges seem to go crazy with love for him. Apparently he has an amazing voice, but I was too busy being bored to notice. C solid.

Jermaine Sellers: “Get Here” by Oleta Adams

This one was pretty bad – my husband downright loathes this guy and I was unimpressed with his performance. I wouldn’t be disappointed if he were gone next week. D+ / C-

Tim Urban: “Apologize” by OneRepublic

I like this guy but YIKES – did he not notice during rehearsals that he cannot hit those falsettos for shit? It was pretty bad, folks, pretty bad. And yet… I kind of hope he sticks around a bit longer. But if this performance is any indicator of his skills in general, he won’t be around for long. Unless the tween girls came out in spades to vote for his looks.

Joe Muñoz: “You And I Both” by Jason Mraz

I liked him a lot – I thought his accent was really nice in song and enjoyed his performance. My husband called it boring and the judges were also a bit lack luster in their comments. It’s hard to tell if I enjoyed his performance as much as I did because all the previous songs were so bad, or if it would have still been that good if the other guys had brought the house down for me already. I’m thinking he’ll be my Anoop of this season – I’ll defend him until the end even if no one else does. B-

Tyler Grady: “American Woman” by The Guess Who/Lenny Kravitz

Tyler appears to be the Danny / David Cook of this season – and by that I mean that my husband likes him a lot and I kind of hate him for no apparent reason. His performance was okay but so predictable that it verged on boring for me. “Wow, no kidding – you mean the blatantly 70′s loving Jim Morrison wishing he were guy can sing American Woman and make some tweens and cougars swoon? You’re kidding – I’m shocked.” Not. He gets the ultimate diss of “I don’t care enough to grade him.” Whatever.

Lee Dewyze: “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol

I like this guy and I thought his performance was pretty good, but not necessarily great. I really don’t have much else to say about him. C+

John Park: “God Bless The Child” by Billie Holiday

This performance was puzzling for him – I loved his voice a lot but the song choice was a bit bizarre and the judges seemed equally confused. It was one of those instances where you can’t just sing a song because you like it sometimes – it has to work for your voice and have the ability to buy votes. I’m not sure this song did that, but I’m still hopeful to see him next week. Cish.

Michael Lynche: “This Love” by Maroon 5

LOVED it. So far he had the best performance of the night, in my opinion, but the judges (and the hubby) didn’t seem to agree with me. I still maintain, this man can do no wrong in my eyes. His voice is just amazing and he nailed the performance. A- cause I know he can deliver even better.

Alex Lambert: “Wonderful World” by James Morrison

This poor boy is cursed with a name that is going to get him compared to a much better performer over and over again for the duration of his career. But if last night’s performance is any indicator, that won’t be very long. His voice was alright but his stage presence was verging on frightening – he made me uncomfortable just watching him and the performance was only okay. The judges said something about needing confidence which could be true, but I don’t care enough to wait for it. C-

Casey James: “Heaven” by Bryan Adams

I don’t get the “oh my gosh he’s so cute” thing that the judges are raving about, but I do get that this boy can sing. I thought he was AWESOME and really enjoyed the performance, even if it did sound remarkably like the original, which I think we’ve decided is a bad thing, but much like Crystal Bowersox’s performance of “Hand In My Pocket” by Alanis Morissette last night, I’m inclined to not care. Also – looking through my impressions of last night and the night before, I’m wondering if the lineup was somehow rigged because the pattern of bad and good seems remarkably similar… Hmmm… Oh, right, Casey – I give him a solid A. James was GOOD to the last drop.

Andrew Garcia: “Sugar, We’re Going Down” by Fall Out Boy

If my observed pattern is correct, it should not surprise you when I say that Andrew Garcia was the hubby’s favorite of the night and thus far. I agree, for the most part. I think he is so talented and I really  enjoyed his version of this song – I liked being able to really savor all the lyrics and loved his voice and and and… But as far as Top Performer, I’m still kind of tying him with my other favorites. I still give him a grade in the A range.

So my Top 3 Guys of the night would be:

1. Andrew Garcia
2. Michael Lynche
3. Casey James

And the Bottom 3 are:

1. Tim Urban
2. Jermaine Sellers
3. Tyler Grady

How about you? Who did you love, who did you hate? Let me know in the comments section below!

Last season I blogged about my American Idol opinions after most of the performances and I thought I’d do it again this year. I thought it was interesting to be able to look back on my thoughts about the winner and top performers overall and see the progression of their performances and my opinions of them. Anyone else remember that Kris Allen was once “seriously what was that guy’s name again?” in my write ups? Good times…

Anyway, last night the Top 12 women performed on Idol and many of you voted in (I don’t have a texting plan personally, so I’m not a voter, just a viewer with opinions to spew) – here’s my take on their performances:

Paige Miles: “All Right Now” by Free

I feel like I liked Paige at one point, but I didn’t like this performance at all. My first comment while watching was, “wrong song choice” and I felt all sorts of awesome when Simon said the same thing. He and I were on the same page most of the night. I’d give her performance a C+ at best – but I did like the dress she was wearing (even if she did have to be sewn into it – yikes!) with the little ribbon around the waist thing going on.

Ashley Rodriguez: “Happy” by Leona Lewis

This was pretty terrible – she sounded sort of like Leona but really at this point, is that a good thing? Like the judges said (numerous times) I think it is way more impressive to sing a song that would be unexpected and put your own spin on it instead of just showing how well you can mimic someone else already recording. We already have one Leona Lewis, we don’t need another one – especially one with such a poor performance. That said, I like Ashley and I hope she continues on and learns from that performance. Another C+ performance.

Janell Wheeler: “What About Love” by Heart

Forgettable. I know I had thoughts about this performance last night when I tried to write this recap (and internet problems galore had me fuming well into the night – did I mention I’m writing this while trying out Ubuntu (that’s linux for the Luddites out there) on my iMac? I know, I know…) anyway, yes unfortunately when it comes to this performance I find I’d rather complain about my computer than prattle on about how I can’t really remember what it was I thought about her. I think I mumbled something about “song choice” and then waited impatiently for the next girl. I was, at this point, a little worried because I hadn’t liked anyone yet even though I could swear I remembered liking all three at one point. Her grade? I don’t care.

Lilly Scott: “Fixing A Hole” by the Beatles

Finally!!! Finally, an artist with originality and, um, don’t slap me for saying so, but skills. I can overlook the fact that I really hate hate hate the blueish white hair thing because I. freaking. love. her. The song was good, obviously, being a Beatles song. But I think she totally made it her own. The judges were all slap happy that somebody actually sang like they deserved to be there and all was well in Idol land again. I give her performance a solid B+ because I liked it but think she could do even better. Cross your fingers that this talented girl makes it through to the next level because… SQUEE!

Katelyn Epperly: “Oh! Darling” by the Beatles

My husband and I were in a minor disagreement about this girl – I loved it, he was indifferent. (If you were wondering about my husband’s opinions of the other girls, just assume that he and Simon are almost always in agreement, except he was even a bit snootier – he liked Lilly more than Katelyn but all in all was still unimpressed in general). The judges (or Kara I think?) made a comment about her “look” but I thought it was great and matched the song if that makes any sense. A strong performance that might have had technical problems but I’m not a technical person so I just really enjoyed it. Another B+

Haeley Vaughn: “I Want to Hold Your Hand” by the Beatles

I really wanted to love this performance because I think I liked Haeley and um, terrific song, but let’s be honest guys – she butchered it. It was probably the worst rendition of this song that I have ever, ever heard. The audience seemed to eat her up and you could tell she was having a heck of a time – grins galore and all that – but even I, with my severe lack of technical knowledge, hated it. It was pretty bad folks, pretty bad. My first D of the night.

Lacey Brown: “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac

And then there was Lacy Brown. I love her look and there’s a quality to her voice that I enjoy, but she took a terrific song and made it severely boring and then made herself look stupid when she failed to understand why with her comment about how, “they can’t all be rock and roll songs.” No, that’s true Lacey, but trust me – I’ve heard non-boring non-rock and roll – and this wasn’t it. C- because she still did better than Haeley even if her audience fell asleep while Haeley’s cheered like mad despite the butchering.

Michelle Delamor: “Fallin’” by Alicia Keys

Another cameo-like performance where it might as well have been Alicia for all I cared – if you blind folded me, I might not have known the difference which sounds like a compliment, but trust me it isn’t. It also bordered on boring. And why does she smile that way? Is it on purpose or does she not know that it makes her look a little bit dumb? Straight up now: C

Didi Benami: “The Way I Am” by Ingrid Michaelson

Love the song, loved her performance, love her – but – if I have to complain when other singers sound like total copy cats, then I suppose I can’t ignore it here either. She won’t go down in my book as a top performer of the night, but I’m still hoping she makes it through to next week so she can try, try again. B-

Siobhan Magnus: “Wicked Game” by Chris Isaak

The first half bordered on just terrible but she hit her stride somewhere and sold it for me. I love her voice but the performance was… I don’t know. I would never have chosen that song but she did sort of make it work. I think she’ll make it through and maybe next week she’ll do better? I’m on the fence and giving her a B- as well.

Crystal Bowersox: “Hand In My Pocket” by Alanis Morissette

I know, I know, stuff about singing songs like the original but in this instance, forgive me (or not) if you disagree, but I kind of think she out-sang Alanis. I enjoyed her harmonica playing, love her voice and find her very, very real – if a little high and mighty about herself. I have a very small reservation here but I think I’m giving her an A- cause I think she’s going places and I loved her performance.

Katie Stevens: “Feeling Good” a la Micheal Bublé

Idol definitely saved the best for last with Katie, who was – HANDS UP IN THE AIR – my husband’s favorite. He practically fell out of his chair and started raving about how she was on a different level and then we both scratched our head a lot when none of the judges seemed to agree. But maybe they were doing that tough love bit when they are extra hard on their favorites because of all that slammin’ potential they see? They had beef with the song being too old for her and wanted her to sing something more her age, but you know what? I kinda disagree. This girl has got some awesome talent and doesn’t need to dumb it down – I think her audience will follow her anywhere, even into the 1920s if she wants to go there. A+

So my top three for the night would be:

1. Katie Stevens
2. Crystal Bowersox
3. Lilly Scott

And my bottom three are:

1. Haeley Vaughn
2. Paige Miles
3. Janell Wheeler

Now it’s your turn – who did you love? Who did you hate?