Idol Thoughts (Top 10)...

I've got a feeling about tonight. Tonight may just be the night I give my first A+. It has to happen sooner or later, right? I could be wrong, but it just seems like eventually someone has to hit it out of the park. Send up the first batter Mr. Seacrest.

Ramiele Malubay, "Alone" - You just get the sense that she is out of her league. Not a very good showing, often flat and almost shouting instead of singing. You do almost feel sorry for her, cause you just want to root for her, but she's just not that great (C-)

Jason Castro, "Fragile" - Wife of Dice thinks Castro's a one trick pony, and I tend to agree, except it's a trick I think works for him. He absolutely does need to bring a bigger performance soon, because he will become forgettable if he keeps doing the middle of the road stuff. (C+)

Syesha Mercado, "If I Was Your Woman" - Someone help me out, is this another adultery song? Cause if it is, I'm taking another letter grade off just on principle. Having said that, WOW, that was a great vocal. Syesha is coming on strong and is now on my radar. (A-)

Chikezie, "If Only For One Night" - Everytime I think Chikezie might be worth paying attention to, he goes and does a lame song like this and makes me question my own judgment. I absolutely hated this performance even though the vocal wasn't the worst I've ever heard. (C-)

Brooke White, "Every Breath You Take" - Nice recovery. She obviously wasn't ready for some reason when she started, but she managed to put it behind her pretty quickly (something that Archuletta couldn't do a couple weeks ago). My broken record on Brooke is that she has the personality to win this season easy, but her talent may just be one step short. I still really liked that. (B+)

Michael Johns, "We Will Rock You/We are the Champions" - If you don't nail a song like this it is automatically karaokish, he definitely didn't nail it, and I'm clueless as to what kool-aid the audience and judges were drinking. I thought it was lame, Saturday night, drunk at he bar, karaoke at it's worst. (D-)

Carly Smithson, "Total Eclipse of the Heart" - An off night for Carly as she struggled to get the right notes, yet still managed to make me feel like she is a born performer. Still, not a great one and the end was pretty bad. (C)

David Archuletta, "You're the Voice" - Not great, but not completely awful. I'm still not an Archuletta fan, and this one didn't do much to sway me. (B)

Kristy Lee Cook, "God Bless the U.S.A." -Well, what do you know, KLC can actually sing. OK, so there were a few off notes, but that was the first decent performance she's done on that stage and I think she deserves the props for it. (B+)

David Cook, "Billie Jean" - Ladies and gentleman we have a new front runner. That was absolute genius, and I finally, FINALLY, have my A+, have to rewind and watch again, jaw dropping performance of the season. He was already my favorite, but now he might just be THE favorite. Watch out Archie there's another David in town. (A+)

My personal overall ranking:

1.) David Cook
2.) Brooke White
3.) Carly Smithson
4.) David Archuletta
5.) Syesha Mercado
6.) Jason Castro
7.) Chikezie
8.) Michael Johns
9.) Ramiele Malubay
10.) Kristy Lee Cook

Going Home:

I think a guy goes home tonight, and though I'd probably lean Chikezie, Jason Castro had the exact kind of performance that sends you home on a night like tonight. If it's a girl, it will likely be Ramiele.

Winning:

The obvious thing here would be to change my pick from Brooke to Cook, however, DC may have just set himself up to be the surprise third place boot, cause I don't know how he manages to top that as the season progresses. So you guessed it, I'm sticking with the White girl.