Top 11 - British Invasion Night

Here we are again. I was out of town last week and couldn't comment on the performances (no real surprises though). Now we're at the Top 11 for British Invasion night. What are the questions going into tonite's show: Will Melinda continue her dominance? Will Blake and CRich continue to be original? Will Haley be able to save herself with the performance of her life? Will Sanjaya stop sucking (and what the hell is he going to do with his hair)? Well, we're about to find out. As always, I'll be commenting while they sing so you're getting my initial response.

Haley Scarnato - "Tell Him". Wow, I'm actually very impressed with her tonite. Her voice has a nice clarity. She's having fun with the performance. She's able to transition between the low and high notes easily. She has definitely embraced who she is as a performer and isn't trying to be like Melinda and LaKisha. This was a really good performance from her, probably her best one yet. Good job! Grade B.

Interestingly, Lulu commented on her voice as not being a power voice but still having a place in the competition. I've always said that it's harder for women with the lower voices to do well because the belters always steal their thunder. While Haley doesn't have one of the lower voices her voice still isn't as strong as the belters. And yet, there is definitely a place for her here. She's the only one that has this kind of voice. There's a very pleasant clarity to it that makes it nice to listen to. It will be interesting to see if she can outlast any of the other women.

Chris Richardson - "Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying". I'm glad he tried to do a really simple ballad today. I was thinking that he needed to prove he can connect and sing a ballad since all of his best performances have been uptempo songs. This performance is ok, but a tad boring. He sounds nice and controlled, but it seems a little too simple. He needs to let loose a little and really connect with the song rather than just sing it. The last couple of notes were really pretty. Good way to end it but overall a bland performance. He'll be safe though. Grade B-

Stephanie Edwards - "When You Tell Me That You Love Me". I've loved this song since I first heard it in Season 4 when Nadia sang it. I'm excited to see how she does. Well, it's a little softer than I would have thought she would do. I don't know that I believe the longing that the song is supposed to convey. It does become more believable in the chorus but she's also starting to miss some notes here and there. Overall it was just ok. I think Nadia performed it with a lot more emotion and feeling. Grade C

Blake Lewis - "Time of the Season". I've never heard this song before so it'll be interesting to see what I think. Oh, I have heard this before. He has a talent for picking slightly obscure songs but making them work. The beatboxing is worked in but doesn't distract from the overall song. His voice was on during the whole song. Overall this was a great performance. I really think that he's going to end up being in the finals against Melinda. Grade A-

The interesting thing about Blake is that I feel like I still don't really know what his voice sounds like. All we really know about Blake is his beatboxing but I don't know if I could pick his voice out in the crowd when the guys are all singing. He's really going to have to pick a song that lets his voice really shine.

LaKisha Jones - "Diamonds are Forever". Once again, she sounds amazing but is still lacking something in the performance. She doesn't have that emotion that she did during And I Tell I'm Ain't Leaving. This is real "cabaret" performance (as Simon would say). She always sounds amazing but there just isn't that pizzazz that the others have. She needs to really have fun with a song again. If she continues this way she's going to be out right around 7th place. Grade B-

Phil Stacey - "Tobacco Road". Phil sounds great on this song. It's a good choice for him. However he seems to want to do the rocker thing with it and it's not really coming off correctly. Chris Daughtry would have really rocked this song out. But Phil's voice really works nicely with this song. He finally back to the vocalist he was during the semi-finals. Grade B

Jordin Sparks - "I Who Have Nothing". Jordin is getting stronger and stronger each week. Wow! She's putting a lot of emotion into this song but everything is so controlled. She is tearing it up! Damn! Jordin is quickly jumping into the front runner position. She's finally picking the right songs to show off what she can do with her voice and it's blowing everyone away. This was awesome! Grade A

Sanjaya Malakar - "You Really Got Me". What was with the shot of the little girl crying while Sanjaya was singing? That was funny. I can't believe he went for a rocking song. There's no way he can pull this off. Oh God this is so horrible! There really are no words. And why is that little girl crying? I am more interested in her than his performance. That's not a good sign. Grade F OMG, she's crying because she lurves him?! WTF! Then again, she's a young Marsha Brady lookalike. She doesn't know he's a gay homosexual.

Gina Glocksen - "Paint It Black". Good choice. Very rocker song. Ah she sounds great on this song. It's rocky but still has some singing elements to it. I love her look tonite. She really chanelling her best Ryan Starr with this performance. I feel like she's losing a little steam towards the end though. She needs to keep the rock going and didn't really do that tonite. It was a good performance. Grade C+

Chris Sligh - "She's Not There". Sligh has a very smooth voice. It's pleasing to listen to and can work in many different genres. He's doing a good job tonite. He's having fun with the song and performing. His voice doesn't sound strained at all. Everything is very easy for him tonite. Good performance. Grade B

Melinda Doolittle - "As Long As He Needs Me". I am not a fan of her new haircut. She looked much better with the longer hair. I love her gentle performance so far. It reminds me of something similar to Barbra Streisand or something of that nature. This was a very different, controlled performance from her previous ones. It showed a softer side of Melinda. Amazing job once again. She just continues to wow every week. Grade A

I loved the guests today. Unlike Diana Ross they actually had some good critiques and helped the contestants really improve. I hope the remaining guests will help out the same way. I actually liked tonite's theme. I didn't think it would be that great because I didn't recognize a lot of the songs but there were a lot of good performances. I hope that the contestants are realizing what they need to do to win and are going out there fighting each week.

Well the best performance of the night was Jordin (two weeks in a row!) Melinda came a close 2nd and Blake was 3rd. I think the weakest and my bottom 3 for tomorrow are Stephanie, Gina, and Sanjaya. I would LOVE to see Sanjaya go home tomorrow but I'm scared that won't happen until next week so that just leaves Gina and Stephanie. Of the two, I think Gina has the weaker performance but Stephanie will be the one going home.

I can't wait to see what happens tomorrow!