America Idol 3/28

This is actually going to be a pretty hard one - I can genuinely (for me) say that everyone did a really decent job last night... The judges returned to their week 1 roots and pretty much loved anything thrown their way, with very few exceptions. To be honest, that's probably what the contestants deserved as no one did poorly at all. This probably has to do with the absence of Shannon, but I'll leave my snark in my back pocket until it's really necessary.

Before I rate the contestants and make a scarily accurate prediction, can I just say J Lo is so amazingly beautiful and I wonder how people can be in the same room with her and not faint. That is all.

Oh, Deandre. While his flowing golden locks never fail to win me over, the whole falsetto thing just doesn't do much for me. That being said, he performed better than he ever has (even if he thing Eric Benet is worthy of idol-status) and he deserved the accolades he got. He still could be in danger in my mind, though, because he's been in the bottom three in the past, always a good predictor.

Skylar Laine performed well, a good but not great performance for me. I love her energy, but the song didn't feature her vocals enough, it's too upbeat and loud. She also could be in danger, having performed 2nd, meaning she's forgettable.

Colton opened the show with some song about Jesus (at least I think it was Jesus, maybe it was God) that to me, little cynical me, just seemed a ploy for the Christian vote. The performance was great, but tearing up about God just feels forced... Especially because it all seemed perfectly choreographed. Whatevs, he's safe.

My biggest disappointment was Hollie, who I think performed admirably but not amazingly. It's time for her to step it up, because even though she has a great voice, she has to diversify a bit and show us what she's got. Jesus Take the Wheel sounds like everything else she's tried, and I don't want her to fall victim to the Pia curse, when a balladeer thinks she can skate by on her pipes without putting in real effort.... Could be at risk.

Jessica was, of course, near perfect. The arrangement of Sweet Dreams was amazing, she was amazing, she's staying, enough said.

I haven't always been on Team Joshua, either, but he effing blew it out of the park for me. It mildly irked me that he referred to Without You as a Mariah song (if you want to go with her as your idol, sing HER song not someone else's) but man oh man can he sing. His tears at the end seemed the opposite of choreographed, he seemed genuinely overcome with emotion. Yay Joshua!

I'm finally solidly on team PP. His song last night was perfect. Go Philip.

Heejun also hit one out of the park for me. Perfect pitch, perfect song, perfect Heejun. And I still think he's hilarious, especially after he realized his joke was throwing to commercial before Ryan could show his numbers. He's adorbs, but could still be in danger, since he's not been well received in the past.

Aaaand Elise. I thought it was pretty great, maybe not as great as the judges did (not sure I'd pay to see that in concert, mainly bc her bellbottoms were just too awkward) but I think it should get her enough votes to be safe. I don't think she has quite enough appeal to be a winner, but I've been wrong before. She's kind of the Haley of this season, who was also in the bottom 3 a lot at the beginning of the season, but managed to eek into a 3rd place spot. But I liked Haley a lot more, and called her my dark horse of last season. I just don't feel that about Elise.

So, I think our bottom 3 will be Deandre, Heejun, and Skylar, with Heejun going home.