Absolutely Blown Away

Oh my goodness. "Idol" was fantastic tonight. Absolutely fantastic. I am just blown away at how talented some of these people are, and I am so envious of their courage and drive. I wish I had the stamina and the sense of self and the confidence to stand up in front of the country and give this very intimate part of themselves to all of us. God bless each and every one of them and their families. Just wow.

OK, here's my recap of tonight's "Great American Songbook:"

Chris: Absolutely beautiful. I had no idea how (if?) he'd be able to pull off "What A Wonderful World," but he sang it with such poise and beauty. He was just brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. He's Curt's choice to win, and if I weren't so head-over-heels-in-love with my Taylor, he'd be my pick as well. Oh wow. He took my breath away.

Paris: Our beautiful little Paris. The tiny girl with the great big voice. She is just amazing, and she didn't disappoint tonight. Well within her element and completely and totally at ease. She was just wonderful.

Taylor: My Taylor. My magnificent gray-haired crooner and the Soul Patrolman of my heart. His performance was pure magic. Just magic. Every note was perfect, and he entertained us (in his purely Taylor way) completely and totally. "You Send Me" would not have been my choice for him, but boy was it ever a good selection. I agree with what Paula said about "doing Sam Cooke proud," and I too am proud and thrilled to be one of many in the Soul Patrol.

Elliott: Talk about a perfect song choice. Elliott is so full of life and has an amazing, amazing set of pipes. For Simon to say that his performance lacked "personality" was wrong, wrong, and wrong. Elliott did a wonderful job, and I love him more every week.

Kellie: It wouldn't be "Idol" without a train wreck performance, and tonight's trophy-for-terrible goes to Miss Pickler. She is my choice to leave us tomorrow night.

Ace: YOWZA. The boy cleans up nicely. And he is SMOKING HOT. SMOKING. DAMN, to be single and ten years younger.......OK, where was I? Ace seems like a genuinely sweet soul, and I think that he can really sing, but he's not been one of the stronger performers this time around. And his focus on the falsetto is NOT the "good thing" that Randy and Paula seem to think it is. That said, I think he did better tonight than he's done in a long, long time. The middle of the song was his strongest point. The start and end were shaky, and what the hell was up with that VERY FLAT falsetto? Zoikes. All in all, probably his best performance in the competition. And God DAMN, the boy is HAWT.

Katharine: Beautiful, beautiful voice, but she was flat and pitchy throughout (yet again). I wish she'd done something a bit more flirty or sexy. She did a good job and it was a good way to end the night.

My vote to leave us this week? Kellie. Who will join her in the bottom three? Probably Ace and either (unfortunately, and it kills me to say this) Elliott or Paris. (I'd rather Katharine be in the bottom three, but something tells me that she won't be.)