Top 9

Well, in case you missed the results show last week, as I predicted, Naima went home and Thia went home. Paul was in the bottom three, which was slightly surprising for me.

I don't have time for a full run-down of last night's show. It was rock week, and really all of the contestants did well. It was hard to pick a bottom three and hard to pick only three for a top.

Top 3:

1. Casey--best performance of his of the season. Really well done. 
2. Paul--it was a lot of fun and enjoyable.
3. Scotty--Really fun and showed some fun personality. 

Middle Pack:

1. Pia--Nothing wrong, just not as much of an improvement as Casey and Paul. You were slightly uncomfortable on stage, which is why Scotty won you out. 
2. Lauren--Very nice. I love that country is always present in your voice. Nothing wrong.
3. James--Good to see you take it down a notch.

It should be noted I voted a lot for the top five listed

Bottom 3:

1. Stefano as the worst. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. It was "eh" and the only "eh" of the night, so he gets to be the worst of the night. 
2. Jacob as second worst. I loved that he stuck to his morals, but the song was just okay. The only "okay" of the night, so here he is.
3. Haley as the third. Her song was good, but there got to be too much growling in it. I am not interested in listening to people growl. If there had been less growling, I wouldn't have put her here.

Predictions:

I really have a hard time calling this one. The pack is great right now. I would obviously like to see Stefano go home based on talent. Nice guy, but without a doubt the least talented of the people there. But you never know how many teenage girls are in love with him...so who knows. I also wouldn't mind seeing Jacob go, but I do think he has more talent than Stefano. I just hope it won't be Scotty, Pia, or Lauren. 

Top 9

Dear Top 9 (the second): My Reactions This Week

Dear Top 9,

Well, I put off writing about it. Here it is.

My top three favorite were Lee, Crystal, and Mike. Lee, you are fabulous. You are really good and sound effortless.

My middle three were Casey, Katie, and Tim. Yeah, I said Tim. I can't believe he actually sounded good. Tim, your next thing to work on is your phrasing. You don't join things together at all and it was driving me crazy, but other than that, you did a good job.

My bottom three were Andrew, Siobhan, and Aaron. Oh Andrew! I was so worried. I voted! I voted a lot.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Then the results night came. Andrew left. Can I just comment on how much class Andrew has? He left with so much class last night. He was upbeat and happy. Naturally, I will have much more in a proper good-bye.

Then Tim and Katie found themselves as the bottom two. And who should leave?

Not the guy. No. It was Katie. I don't feel too bad about it because I don't think she was one of the better singers up there. BUT I must say she improved vastly over the course of the season. She is obviously humble and a hard worker. She has great potential.

Kind of brings you back to wondering "what if" certain people had made it to the top 12 (people named Katelyn, Alex, and Lilly).

Are you wondering who I will be voting for now? It will be Lee. Lee is my new favorite.

Sincerely,

PS--Can I just say I am WAY over the sitting behind the judges thing? Can you all please stop that? Thanks.

Dear Top 9 (the second): My Reactions This Week

Dear Top 9: My Reactions

Dear Top 9,

First of all, Didi gets to stay in the picture for a bit. Second of all, you all did well last night. No one was totally awful. But I also think no one was totally awesome. There wasn't one performance that I will be seeking to purchase off the over-priced iTunes (do you like how I threw that in there?). Here are my reactions and predictions:

Aaron: I didn't like the song and there were some pitch issues. The good thing is that you showed your country edge to your voice, so that will please your country crowd.

Katie: Before you started singing, I told my husband, "This is the song Brooke White sang. There is no way she can top that." When you were done, I declared that you had done really well. That was definitely your best performance ever.

Andrew: First of all, I loved how all the guys said you were their best friend. Everyone's best friend. You sounded good, but it wasn't my favorite performance from you. I won't be buying it. I think I would have liked it better without the horns in the background.

Mike: I really didn't like it. Not much to say beyond that.

Crystal: You did quite well. I was happy to see you be more of yourself. Last week was so strange with the heels and all.

Tim: I fully expected you to blow it as usual, but you sounded good. Randy totally insulted you as he tried to compliment you, but like Simon said, I think you did well even compared to the other contestants.

Casey: So my neighbor, who is a good singer and Beetles fanatic, thinks you did the best last night. I disagree. You did well. You sounded good. But I have finally figured out what I don't really like about you. It is your vibrato. It is too fast for me. If the vibrato was gone, I think I might be able to get on the Casey train. But don't change your vibrato just for one passenger.

Siobhan: Hmm. I didn't like it again. You get so nasally. You swallow your sound unless you are either really high or really screaming. I don't like that at all. Maybe you just need some voice lessons to pull that out.

Lee: You did awesome and were once again the best of the night.

So, what are my rankings?

Top 3:

1. Lee
2. Crystal
3. Katie

Middle 3:

1. Andrew
2. Casey
3. Tim

Bottom 3:

1. Siobhan
2. Aaron
3. Mike

Now for the tricky part. Who will be in the bottom 3?

I don't really know. I have been saying (and seeing) Tim and Katie for weeks now. I think Tim will land in the bottom three just because he needs to, but I don't know if Katie will. Based on last night, she shouldn't. But at this point, things aren't necessarily based on one night. And they shouldn't be.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Aaron in the bottom.

I am going to say (with little confidence): Tim, Aaron, and Siobhan.

Sincerely,

Dear Top 9: My Reactions