jlh | Simon is a twenty-first century fox! (Reply)

I'm no fan of the dumb host chat with the singers crap but the gear change to an hour length is tough to deal with. By the way, last week Paula once again scored a Janis Joplin "8". Also since there was no cuteness on that front this week, I will take this space to thank

rymon for voting in last week's polls.

Another underwhelming week unfortunately and as Randy keeps saying it's really all about song choice. We have a talented group of contestants but they really aren't putting it out there. What's going on? I found myself agreeing with Simon (almost) all night.

Lisa, "Because of You". Well, they were right. It wasn't great. It's too bad because I felt like she finally made some kind of emotional connection, but maybe that's just because I really love that song.
Kellie, "Suds in the Bucket". So this is like, the country version of "She's Leaving Home" isn't it? I hadn't really thought about that before, though I have seen the incredibly literal video for this song. Kellie was totally phoning it in this week and she can't do that much longer.
Ace, "Drops of Jupiter." Train, Ace? Really? Because this song really shows us, in stark relief, how NOT powerful your voice is, sweetie. I'm feeling like Matchbox 20 might have been a better choice.
Taylor, "Trouble." First, host chat was lame. Again I agree with Simon that the vocal was strong.
Mandisa, "Wanna Praise You." Simon was right as usual; it was indulgent. Good, but you know, whatever.
Chris, "What If." Ugh, I fucking hate Creed. On the other hand, anything is better than Scott Stapp, so. Also, he's the only one who got what Randy was saying: don't just pick your favorite song, show us how you fit in to, as they used to say, "the music scene of Today." But Simon was right as usual.
Katharine, "The Voice Within." What was she wearing? It was fine, I thought, but not awesome. Best of a not great bunch.
Bucky, "Real Good Man." Well, thank God he's back in his comfort zone. But as Simon said, unimpressive.
Paris, "Work It Out." Okay, here is where I break with Simon, because Paris was amazing, and a huge surprise! I'm not sure really what Simon is looking for from Paris but it's clearly something very specific that I'm not getting.
Elliott, "I Don't Wanna Be." I'm with Simon again—what a fucked up arrangement. But Elliott sounded good and got people up and moving so that's a great sign.