Idol Top 7: My Take (It or Leave It)

I was really skeptical about last night's show. I'm not a fan of her music, and I thought that the contestants were kind of being set up for failure. A friend summed it up best in an e-mail to me when she predicted that the comments would go something like this:

Randy: I don't know, man, it was just all right for me.

Paula: You look beautiful!

Simon: Bad choice of song. That song is too big for you. You just can't compare to Mariah.

To be sure, there was a lot of that (especially the beautiful comments from Paula [who, thank goodness, was not in danger of falling out of her top this week, although she did look like she was headed for the prom]). But overall I was pleasantly surprised by the performances.

Let's break it down.

David A.: OMG, were you wearing leather pants? Black leather pants? Seriously? You sang the heck out of that song, although it was a bit of the same ol', same ol'. The wardrobe change was nice and I love your voice, but I'm ready for you to break out of the mold.

Syesha: Talk about same ol', same ol' . . . every week you are good and every week there is nothing special about what you do. Bottom three.

Kristy Lee: Please go home, OK? I believe that Simon described you as wallpaper one week: just a little something nice in the background. I couldn't agree more. Is is me, or were you groping Ryan Seacrest and looking at him with googly eyes after your performance? Bottom three.

Carly: I liked the restraint at the beginning and I like that the eyes were not a-poppin'. I thought this was one of your best performances.

Brooke: You were charmingly nervous. I thought the acoustic vibe really worked, and in fact I've been listening to your performance on YouTube. I fear, though, that you could be in the bottom three.

David C.: I have to confess that last night I didn't really get this performance. But I've listened to it a few times this morning and it gave me chills. And the tears at the end! That felt genuine to me. You pretty much have this competition wrapped up and won.

Jason: I think Mariah was grossed out by your dreads. As for your performance, I'd eat poi to go to a luau where you perform. 

Here's David Cook's performance of "Always Be My Baby."