1. Phil Philips: What a great song choice for him. And how great to see him without his guitar. I enjoyed this. I don't know how long ago his surgery was, a couple days or five, but he seemed in fine form.
2. Jessica Sanchez: I was worried about the song choice, but damn if she didn't nail this. This one wasn't about sounding pretty. It was about nailing those rat-a-tat lyrics and working the stage. And *that* she did 200%.
3. Hee-Jun Han: Okay, I'll cop to it. This damn Richard Marx song is a guilty pleasure. It takes me straight back to college and late nights in the dorm and...well, I have very fond memories of this song, lol. I thought Hee-Jun was a little breathier than normal, and I can't say that I liked how he mixed it up a little, but it was still pretty.
4. Elise Testone: Much better than last week. That rasp won't get her to the finale, but at least she's proven she belongs here.
5. Deandre Brackensick: I still don't like this kid. And this song feels like cheating because it wasn't originally out that year. Yuck.
6. Shannon Magrane: While this seems a better performance than last week, she's not Mariah. Now, I am *really* not a Mariah fan, but even I prefer the Mariah version to this.
7. Colton Dixon: Okay, fangirl in me is kind of squeeing that my favorite this year has a fan in one of my favorite AI contestants ever. Daughtry and Colton together? How fab is that. :) And you know, this would've been smack dab in the middle of college and I do not know this song. I don't think that'll hurt Colton this week, though. His fanbase will enjoy the performance. I sure did.
8. Erika Van Pelt: I like her voice, but I really didn't like the arrangement. It felt all over the place.
9. Skylar Laine: Bonnie Raitt is a good fit for Skylar, and she did well with this, but it just wasn't very wow. She's not going anywhere.
10. Joshua Ledet: I don't like this song, I'll admit, but...damn. Joshua made me love it. I think shedding his coat was kind of hokey, but man, he just *blasted* that. My favorite of the night.
11. Hollie Cavanagh: Not surprised it's a big ballad again (and can I say how glad I am that I was right about her parents not being American, lol? I've been arguing with Alicia about her accent for weeks now.) It was a solid, enjoyable performance, very mature. A good way to end the show.
My top 3: Joshua, Hollie, Colton
My bottom 3: Deandre, Shannon, Erika
About Jermaine...I'm sad, I'll admit it. I liked him. So disappointed this happened, but rules are rules.
I'm off tomorrow to San Antonio for the weekend. It's a writing con but I plan on relaxing and having fun. I'll get online when I can to keep up on stuff. :)
