The Top 7 perform

It is getting interesting now. After this week there will be just six remaining. At last, too, we have a 'moment'. Two actually.



Competitors' Picks is the strange theme where each one picks a song for their competitors. Luckily each gets to choose from six and Randy Jackson should ensure fairness. Otherwise the opportunities for sabotage are all too evident! So unless all six really really dislike one of the others all should be well.

Family Tree by Kings Of Leon was Alex's choice for Caleb. Alex does know his music so should have chosen well for the big rock man. It's missing a hook. Caleb performs well enough but it's not one of his best. A good effort but maybe Alex was looking a little too deep and this might be one of those tracks that grows on you after a few times. Here, though, tonight, Caleb has just the one. Hope the voters get it.

Anyone who comes from a town called Slapout gets remembered. Sam chooses something called Gunpowder and Lead for Jessica. I think it's by Miranda Lambert. It's one of those hard hitting Country numbers that might have been written at the same time as Blown Away. Similar vein, but not as good, nowhere near as good. Jessica, though, is very good on stage, working well with the band and seems totally at home. Nice job, That should pull in a good number of votes from the Country states which will keep her in.

Unlike what the panel says to Caleb, Jennifer and Harry, in particular, spend a long time giving advice to Jessica. It's not so much that they don't like her but really want her to win but need her to take notice and improve to do so. She takes it all well but must have been a bit upset to have several minutes of advice still coming trough in front of everyone at this stage.

Demi Lovato appears on stage - no adverts for X Factor USA, though!

Sam & Alex have a duet. Passengers' Let Her Go is another great track that I think we can credit Alex for choosing. That suited both of them very well and should do them no harm whatsoever. Their fans will have enjoyed that.

Caleb chooses Gravity for CJ. Again, this ought to be good. Yes, that's what CJ needed. Really suited him. Not a stand-out track by any means on its own but that will have helped him considerably. He may well stay in and make the Top 6 now and should be thankful to Caleb for that.

CJ chooses a bluesy Country Mutterly Creek Water (I think). Now CJ knows Dexter well so I expect him to know what he's doing. This was OK but whilst it will keep his Country fans happy enough I am not so sure it will bring the votes flooding in. Harry wanted him to make it his own song and, if this year's American Idol is going to be more than a karaoke act then they have to more than sing other people's stuff well.

Caleb and Jena have a duet. The Rolling Stones, Gimme Shelter. Great. Not at all easy. It's not really a track to fit into 2 minutes but they produced a first class effort and as Jennifer points out immediately that could be a 'moment'! Good performance and Caleb was, for once, actually outsung by Jena. For her, a really much needed uplift and she looks a lot better too. They work well together. I got the impression that Caleb was staying back just a little to help highlight Jena. Just a brilliant choice and Sir Mick can count on her if he needs someone on stage with him for that number. I'd back her to last the full 10 minute version too!

Alex has an Ed Sheeran number chosen by Dexter. The A Team is a pleasant number. It's another sugary version - well structured and very friendly. Huge audience response. They liked that. As the panel each point out, that was a perfect track for him and Harry has it as his favourite performance so far. That'll delight Alex, who may get another week with that job.

Jessica chooses Sail Away for Sam, a David Gray number. A very impressive vocal performance indeed, but I am not so sure he 'connected' as well as he might, something that the panel have been going on about for week after week.

Jessica, CJ and Dexter are singing together. They have a similar background and get on pretty well, understaning where each other fits in. Doing Lady Antebellum's Compass. A simple enough track and they get through it OK. Nothing spectacular though.

Jena winds up the show. Caleb has chosen Creep for her and that could be amazing. These two have taken over the show tonight, big time. Fantastic interpretation and some brilliant notes in there. Finally something to remember someone by - twice in one show. Her odds to win this thing have just dropped remarkably. Thank you, Caleb.

Top 8 Take 2

Sam was saved last week so there are still eight contestants left. Ryan looked more delighted than Sam at the news! I guess that, after being in the lower part of the voting results list since the start of the Live Shows, he must be getting resigned to the fact that others are more popular.

I would not have put him at the bottom but it is so difficult to tell with this show. So many Country fans out there tend to dominate the voting and make it difficult for anyone not in that genre. They also keep some people in who really are not likely to score heavily in the main Billboard charts or break into Europe. Anyway, let's see how they get on this week on 'Eighties Night'. That's music from before when all of them were born!

David Cook comes in to mentor them. My God, he looks old. I suppose it was a long time ago when he won - one of the few, in fact, who won without playing the Country card. He should be able to give them good guidance as he was brilliant in his choices and interpretation.

First up is Jena with I Love Rock And Roll. She looks like someone who would sing this well and certainly has the right attitude. Can she transmit that on stage? Great start, slowing it right, right down. When she gets up and moves around, though, the mike seems a bit quiet. I know she would have been wanting to start quietly and build up but it still needed to be louder. Eventually it seems to have more volume but by then she has started to sound a bit urgent or desperate. A good try and, with some more rehearsal and a bit more control, that could be good. Something was missing - it needed more 'roar' from someone who can 'roar'.

Dexter next. He has another good ol' boy song Keep Your Hands To Yourself with lyrics that are more like something from the 40s than the 80s but that's his good' ol boy style. He did a good job of this, neither fantastic nor bad, just good ol' boy average and I still don't see him filling halls or arenas. Pubs, village halls and clubs maybe. He's a nice, likeable fellow, probably missing his tractor now. I would have thought he'd have been back on it by now but no, the voters are right behind him in a big way. I have no idea how he's going to do.

Alex and Sam get a nice track to perform as a duo. The Girl Is Mine. This is a gentle sing-a-long sort of track that not even Paul McCartney or Michael Jackson could do a great deal with. It starts and stops. They blend well but that's not going to be replayed a great deal.

Malaya has a Chaka Khan number. That should suit her. Through The Fire was not a huge hit so there is an element of risk with this not being a Dexter anthem or classic 80s number. She doesn't seem as comfortable at all with this. The notes are slightly off and her tone is getting tinny and, surprisingly, her timing is poor. This was quite painful to listen to. She has done much better and we all expected a lot more from her. Keith says she should not try so hard - it's like she wasn't being natural and when she is then that's when she is at her best. Jennifer also starts by saying 'We know how talented you are' which basically means that she isn't going to comment adversely. Harry also remarks that she was over-conscious of what she was doing but she didn't think she was. Anyway, that was pretty awful but I wouldn't be surprised to see her make it to next week, regardless.

Jena & Caleb are the second duo with It's Only Love, full rocks socks on. Jena looked much better for this performance and was great, as was Caleb. They worked really well together.

Harry walks into the audience and joins a bunch of teenagers while Jena and Caleb perform. He gets one of them sitting on his shoulders and she's still there when he returns to his seat. It's a bit odd and the girl does look a bit uncomfortable after a while. Keith's off the cuff remark, which I won't repeat, and Harry's reply have already been commented on by a reader and I have to agree with her - something went wrong there but I don't think any offence was intended and Harry is just unpredictable anyway.

Jessica took on Blondie's Call Me. She's good. She looks fabulous, getting better each week. This ought to have been an ideal number for her but she wasn't sexy enough in how she delivered it. Jennifer says the same and wisely suggests that if Jessica doesn't feel comfortable doing sexy then she should pick different tracks. My guess is that Jessica will carry on. I hope she stays. She deserves to and I reckon she delivered the most commercial track of the night so far.

Sam must be really worried. It doesn't show, though. He performs Time After Time really well. I like his pacing with some youngsters around and just the one backing singer to remind us of Cyndi Lauper. That was an excellent job and if that doesn't get his fans voting then nothing will. Good job, Sam. It may be that many of his fans just thought he'd be safe and didn't bother but last week's shock may now have made them sit up and take notice. I had him down as a potential winner. Harry tells him to look at a Ricky Nelson video on YouTube. We should check that out and see what he has in mind.

Malaya & CJ are #3. That should be interesting - one desperate to hit those big notes and one so laid back he's almost asleep. George Michael and Aretha's classic I Knew You Were Waiting is a great track. Malaya doesn't start terribly well but soon picks up the thread and she makes up for her previous efforts, virtually taking the whole song over! CJ is more like a backing singer. A pleasant performance. Not stunning or memorable and it'll just get an average number of downloads but really nothing very spectacular. That is a bit worrying from a quarter of the set for this Season.

Alex has the Police number Every Breath You Take. He and David Cook will have understood each other well. Now that was the performance of the night. Fabulous version of the song - quite diverse from Sting and how great that was. Alex's voice is crystal clear and the contrast with people like Malaya's tinniness or strained tones tells a big story and hopefully, for him, will take him a long way further through this show. Harry distinguishes between him being a performer (brilliant) and entertainer (not so good). That's a fair point but Alex reminds me of someone like Paul Simon who was no entertainer either. I think he can get away without entertaining. Jennifer didn't like it that much - she missed the insistent beat of the original which was a class song but Alex totally transformed it. The lyric was originally sinister - Alex cleverly brought it round.

Jessica & Dexter play the Dolly & Kenny act. I wonder if Dexter will ever sing anything other than some huge Country classic?! Islands In The Stream is one of The Biggest Songs. They do a good job with this but it is just a karaoke sort of performance really. It pleases the crowd so I suppose they have the 'entertaining' factor! Harry would be pleased but he has disappeared into the crowd again. Keith too this time! Probably hoping to divert attention from their earlier remarks.

CJ goes for Free Fall by Tom Petty. This is a cool song. He ought to deliver this really well. It's his style and the sort of track I would expect to see him doing in the world outside. Some important notes at the very start aren't quite there but he will probably get away with that. It was OK, nothing like as good as I had hoped he would be. He ends very well, though, and will not have done himself any harm with that. I don't know how much support he has out there, though. I think he may be vulnerable - he needs a moment. As Harry, says, though, he does make a connection with the audience. Harry And Keith also spot the tuning mistakes. Not something we reckoned on for this guy.

Finally, we have Caleb. Expecting something a bit special to close the show. Ryan teases us before the break - a Journey classic. I'd forgotten that Randy Jackson was part of Journey. Faithfully, as David Cook says, is a major 80s anthem for anyone from those days. He can't afford to mess it up. He will, though, give him a chance to show how he can be gentle and handle lyrics not just belt out heavy stuff at pace. He does the track proud. Another fine performance from this unlikely looking Idol. Standing ovation from the judges and crew.

CJ and Malaya may need some extra fan votes to survive this week, against such excellent competition. Jena may be the one to go.

Someone has to come 10th. And we meet Royal Teeth.

The production team give us a nice glimpse of the Top 10 after the show eating some food and joking around. For all their weirdness, they do seem to get on pretty well although one or two were noticeably not involved.

Randy is working pretty hard in the background and seems to be doing a lot of what Jimmy Iovine used to do. He guides all of them well and summarises well, too. Obviously he doesn't talk of anything being pitchy any more and Harry Connick Jnr has totally taken over the technical accuracy.

Dexter is the first in the Bottom Three. That's as I expected. Jessica, I am pleased to report, is the first person saved and Malaya joins her. Oh well. Majesty is in the Bottom Three again. Caleb gets through. I would have put them the other way round. So that leaves Jena, MK, Sam and CJ. I should think that CJ will be safe and Sam ought to have appealed as the only young, good-looking boy. So if MK survives she's done very well indeed. Jena was a bit heavy-handed but I reckon she'll still beat MK. If she doesn't it'll be like several similar artists who have bitten the dust at this stage in X Factor USA and last year's Idol.

Royal Teeth do the stage performance. A band I haven't heard of before who are pretty infectious with a number that grows really well. Nice job, introduced and promoted by Harry Connick Jnr. They're worth listening to again and are in the video below.

Yes, it's MK with Majesty and Dexter in the Bottom Three. Majesty does get to survive - that's good - and it's Dexter who came 9th, leaving MK to have to sing to be saved.

She does a superb job of All Of Me and the crowd sounds desperate to save her. The panel seem to be close to agreeing but one says no. I can only imagine that they're holding out to save someone else if necessary. So she goes. Sad because I think she had a chance of giving the others a good run for their money and had a chance to get to the Top 3. Still, she's in the Summer Tour and will be well remunerated come what may.

The Top 10 Perform

The full show is included in this post. Ryan Seacrest starts us off with a terrible 'selfie' - the track from The Chainsmokers being the link to all that stuff and that is taking off here too.

MK has chosen Perfect, the Pink song that may not quite reach as many votes as she needs. It was competent but I feel she yet has to let herself go, If she were to do that then I think we would have a moment and there would be someone to watch grow. As it is, she's good but that special star quality isn't coming across on screen. She has a nice solid fan base and is looking good too so I think she might survive - unless everyone else does really really well. I like this girl and wish her well.

Long, long comments from the panel. All sensible stuff, though. Harry is pretty intense but very accurate.

Dexter I am surprised to find still there. He just is Country and only Country. They're picking tracks from 2011 on which got to the top something. Pink's track made No.2. For Dexter's the camera had to pan the billboard charts to the Country section but I did actually recognise it - the one about windows down. Good song but surely this guy isn't going to win this thing? I suppose Taylor did. It was a very lazy performance. I guess that's to his credit that he didn't appear nervous or anything and all the notes were in the right place. Not something we're going to remember much, nor will everyone be downloading it. They might as well just get the real thing and, to some extent, the same could be said for MK's.

So far neither has shone nor messed up so le's see how it goes from here. It's an opportunity for someone to mark their mark.

Jena is going Clarity by Zedd and Foxes. No, nor had I. It suits her and she has quite a bundle of personality that comes across. Otherwise, though, this was neither one thing or the other. She sort of stopped to ask the audience to wave their glowsticks in the air. That didn't sound right. I don't know how you're suppose to shout out in tune but she didn't quite get that right. She does look good and has benefitted greatly from the makeover teams efforts. I don't see her getting many votes. So we're still waiting for something special.

Alex is the odd one in this Season. He is very talented and smart - not mainstream but he is so natural. He's doing a 1 Direction song! Now that's brave and good luck to him, being completely out of his normal zone. However you can never know what he'll do with songs. The Story Of My Life is a good example - he strips it down nicely and I think that worked well. It needed every note in place and they were there and he even got some emotions across. He just doesn't look like a star but he is most definitely an artiste. The audience loved it and the panel give him some great reviews. So what will the voters think? I hope they go for him and keep him around a bit longer.

Ryan tells us as they go to a break that there is a limit of 50 votes per method. That's interesting. I was going to say that would prevent any major fan buying a place by just voting all the time but I suppose if they are that rich they can just get a load of others to vote 50 times.

Malaya hasn't yet managed to get through to me. She is a bit too loud and 'in yer face' for my taste without really showing any talent. Bruno Mars' If I Were Your Man is a great song and she starts well, softly and very much in the right tone too. As it grows, though, she starts to wail and the tinniness in her voice at the top end and the masculinity at the bottom end both annoy. In the middle, and at the very end, she was impressive, though. At 16, and seemingly no experience of a relationship at all by her own admission, her lyrics were simply not credible. Harry says she was sincere and I go along with that in that she tried. She is pretty good and gets great reviews. So I shouldn't be too hard, I suppose. X Factor USA had 14 year-olds.

She gives a little away about her level of confidence when Ryan gibes her some flowers and when reading the note attached she is totally in control, including getting everyone to wait while she read a last bit. Interesting.

Caleb is singing Lady Gaga. That should be good. We need something to enliven this show. He chooses Edge Of Glory which is a super track. He can sing really strongly and in tune too. This was good but it just sort of started and stopped. He set off in top gear and stayed there. Not that interesting or as memorable as I had hoped. I still think he was better than all but Alex tonight so he ought to be safe. Keith was spot-on with his comments about how he is absolutely in tune vocally but there was no variation in feeling. The song is huge and he did just seem to be showing off vocally, as JLo said.

CJ chooses Hunter Hayes' Invisible. Do I know this? I should. It's a lovely song. CJ has surely taken the favourite spot after this performance. That was a quality act indeed. I felt that there were a couple of places where he missed something and wobbled. Keith said he was shaky, despite being perfect in rehearsals and blowing everyone away. I agree. But I have a feeling that he'll be well safe for all that. He was really the first to bring emotion across properly. (Alex probably could have done as well but not with a 1D song!)

Three to go: Jessica, Sam and Majesty.

Jessica has Pumped Up Kicks which brings out her Country style well and this is a very commercial track that she does well. That was excellent and she has a tone that is just right. She looks lovely, a great job from the makeover team and she is establishing herself as a genuine future star. It was a little easy-going and Harry does call her a bit one-dimensional, she was smiling when she perhaps should have been serious. He was right but she has a certain style that appeals to me. Keith calls it 60s style pop, ignoring the lyric. Hope she survives.

Majesty was in the Bottom Three last week - or even the Bottom Two. I had her down as a potential winner so that was a surprise and I am not too sure what she did wrong. This week she has chosen really well with Avicii's Wake Me Up, a tremendously commercial track. She sounds a bit nervous but hits the notes and has some clear emotion that I never noticed in this song before, She made me listen to the lyrics and all credit to her for that. For me, this was almost the best of the night, it could have been a lot better but I still think she was that good and could be even better. Harry calls her 'complex' - a good word for her as she has that sort of talent to work with what she has and do something interesting with it. She has a good look too, less doll-like and more like a performer. Nice.

Sam winds up the show tonight. Another Bottom Three person. He chooses We Are Young by Fun. This could drag a bit if he's not careful. It is a popular song, for sure, but he needs to do it well. I like his style and his voice is great. He does try hard to make this a bit special and he succeeds in places when he doing the slow, quieter part. He might have been better transforming it and keeping those quiet parts. The panel is rushed to comment so they don't get much chance! After the lengthy ramblings for all the others that was quite odd. I liked it but the 'Toni-i-ight' bit wasn't as strong as it should be.

Predictions? Hmmm. I think Dexter and Malaya and CJ may be at risk.

At least Ryan Seacrest is still around.

So the auditions are over and the producers, if not the judges, 'cos no-one is too sure who they are yet, have chosen who we'll be seeing more of from the July and August auditions.

Spoilers aren't appearing in the usual places I find them yet but as soon as I do find something it will be published, with a warning, of course.

Jennifer Lopez and Keith Urban seem more or less confirmed as judges with Scooter Braun hovering around. It's a brand new production team faced with pulling back what some say were 30% less profits in Season 12 than Season 11.

Something I have never understood was why Simon Cowell didn't develop the American Idol brand of which he was part and grow that instead of there being two competing shows. X Factor USA has worked and found some good people but generally, apart from giving groups an opportunity or rescuing some by putting them in a group, the format is pretty much the same. Identifying the differences is more suitable for a PhD thesis. Looking at how the public have loved the groups that have emerged - 1D, Fifth Harmony, Union J and Emblem3 all doing well at the time of writing - including a group facility in Idol wouldn't have been impossible.

So it seems reasonable that there would be some loss of revenue as advertisers either shift to X Factor USA or fees, based on potential audience, fall a bit. My guess is, though, that both companies are still making a handsome profit, just not as much as some greedier people may have desired. If the massive fees that some say were awarded to judges had been a little lower then the profits would have been higher too.

Nicki Minaj turned out to be an excellent judge of ability and fairly entertaining on screen but one season of her is probably enough. Mariah was really not good and very disappointing all round. And disappointingly all round too which may have appealed to a limited fan base but not music fans.

We're losing the dog, Randy Jackson. He had probably come to the end of his vocabulary anyway and was beginning to get very repetitive. He'll still be coaching performers, I read, in place of Jimmy Iovine who really should not be going but seems to have done. His advice was so good. He'll be missed in the background and also as a fearless foil to the judges' rambling on occasion.

Now, remind me who won... ah, yes, Candice Glover. Well, we've certainly heard a lot from her in the last few months, haven't we. No. In fact, none of the Live Show contenders have made much of a mark at all. That should be worrying someone somewhere. For now, I shall not pursue that line and put it down to their all being heavily involved in the Idol Tour and the stress of trying to keep calm when Lazaro Arbos gets the notes wrong or forgets the words.

I say bring back alumni like Adam Lambert and others who will not cost a fortune and could give great advice and also pull the show back to centre on the contestants. If Idol don't then there's an idea for you, Simon. Oh, you've brought Sharon Osbourne back for X Factor UK. And Louis. Right, that'll be nice and modern then. I can see why you're sticking with X Factor USA.

The one where Angie Miller stakes her claim to the title.

So far the results have been pretty much as predicted but this week is more difficult. If Kree hadn't been in the bottom two then I would have put Amber in 4th place with American voters (2nd in mine, incidentally) but now, who knows?

Amber starts with The Power of Love. Nice track. More Jennifer Rush than Celine Dion, Ryan. This is very 70s, though. She looks like a Three Degree and this is not one of her best performances, being rather bland and without character. Keith seems to think it was a perfect song choice. Eh? Keith normally talks sense but I think he was doing some promotional stuff there. Nicky and Randy go pretty much in the same direction, Mariah too but not quite as crazily. Mariah is back in dresses that make her look gigantic again.

I have seen good reports about tonight's show on Twitter. 'One hit wonders' later, with some interesting and surprising choices.

Jimmy noticed some voice strain in Amber's performance but seemed to think she'd be hard to beat too! Oh well, looks like I'm very much in the minority there then!

Candice picks a track I didn't recognise. As always, she is note perfect and delivers a first class performance although, similarly to Amber, this is not memorable or stunning. More like a B side or album track. She is also looking very wide tonight. Nicky is spot on with the old-fashioned comment but then so too was Amber.

Kree is back on top form with a bluesy-Country Hurts So Bad. Well, I thought she was because I had this down as another track entirely that has the line hurts so bad in it which would have suited her really well. This was OK but, apart from looking great, and certainly appealing to her fans, I'm sure, not anything outstanding either. An intriguing night. Have they all relaxed and stopped competing? Angie currently has an open door...

The judges weren't ecstatic either. I think I detected the 30 second editing being used as Nicky (quite rightly) suggested that Kree take little notice of those who were blowing smoke up somewhere! Jimmy agrees with the judges - with some quite strong criticism this time.

Angie looks like the 80s Susie Quattro! That's My Home or Don't Lose Who You Are? I'm not sure what the title was of the Jessie J track but this suited her brilliantly. She sat at the piano again and you can't help but admire her efforts. That was easily the best of the four - by a long, long way! The straight hair works for her.
Very impressive stuff. They still mention her diction which, this time, I thought was genuine and not as if she was in the West End or Broadway. This was Angie's moment. Ryan even brings her grandma on the stage.

Jimmy has her 'neck and neck' with Amber,

Next come some duets which we can probably ignore. Rumour Has It is a great track for these two to sing to each other! Quite a good production with some massive drums. Kree led quite a lot of the way but that doesn't mean Amber wasn't any good by any means. However, as Keith asked - it would be great if they'd cut loose a bit!

Angie and Candice is quite a mixture. Doing Stay from Rihanna's songbook. These two were competing as if this was the deciding track for the whole competition! They were both damn good! Angie certainly was not drowned by Candice either and they came out even, working together and performing excellently and very credibly. In fact I'd put Angie slightly ahead and, if she's getting some of the Kree vote too that could be quite - no, very - significant. This could be the week that Angie stakes her claim to this Season's title.

Amber plays the Donna Summer card with MacArthur Park. She looks right and pretty much sounds right. A bit dated again but there could be a market for this. I'm not so sure it was that impressive but she gets great reviews. Nicky makes a great point when she says that of all the four girls, Amber is the one that people would want to get to know. Randy says he'd sign her right now. She's giving confidence, says Mariah. To be honest, I think she's playing it well.

Jimmy disagrees big time! Interesting. Not with her chances but with the song being that great.

Candice sings Bee Gees. That's a good idea - she ought to match well with their range. She could have chosen better than Tears On My Pillow or whatever that one's called. A song from the Streisand-Gibb Guilty album would have taken the place by storm. Never mind. She should get through - but she hasn't excelled tonight apart from the duet.

Keith makes a good point - every song so far is quite old! So true. Apart from the Jessie J track.

They get Jimmy up on the stage and it all gets a bit confusing but, basically, he's making a fair point - the judges do seem to get a bit carried away!

It's beginning to emerge who is supporting who. Mariah is a Candice supporter. Nicky backs Amber. Randy has switched from Candice to Angie this week. Keith backs Kree.

A Whiter Shade Of Pale - Kree knows how to appeal to my vote for sure with this 1967 number from Procol Harum. Cut ridiculously short, the lyrics made even less sense than they did in the 60s. A reasonable job. She can sing and may have puled some votes back. Keith says she hasn't pulled people in with the 'middle ground' tracks and needs to do something special next week. Nicky actually says 'if you leave tomorrow...'

Angie closes the show. What will she choose? So far she's had an excellent night and hasn't got much to beat to survive - but she has to keep those new found fans with a second cool and memorable performance.

Cry Me A River is even older! But nicely done - that's Angie in her zone and produced an elegant (nice word from Mariah) performance. Nicky says that tonight was her night. Randy agrees, hands down! Very true.

Ryan says there'll be a surprise twist in the competition tomorrow? What on Earth is that about? It seems a little late for twists - maybe no-one's going home and all four will be in the Final. Or Finale. I can never figure out which is which for Americans.

The one where you realise how old-style this Series seems!

How much we need the Jimmy Iovine summary! He talks such sense and cuts out a lot of the rubbish that the judges (Keith Urban excepted) deliver after the performances.

Amber gets the Seacrest invite but it's only to run a recording from rehearsals when she was giggling at the ridiculous smoke machine making her performance impossible. It's ad time so she has to sit down again. If she were top 3 material this week then he should have told her. That was not well handled.

Next, in fact we get one of those forgettable sing-a-long spots with the 4 guys doing a crap version of Gotta Get You Into My Life.

Paul Jolley gets pulled back. He has some silly Name Day certificate presented to him and also the news that he is in the bottom three..

Casey Abrahms shows the guys what they should have done with a great and refreshing version of I Saw Her Standing There. He's looking strange but there's talent all right!

The five remaining girls show how good they are by avoiding disaster with Here There And Everywhere which was a brave shot requiring absolutely precise tuning.

Deven is also in the bottom three.

Lazaro really ought to be joining Paul and Deven. This feeling sorry business is getting a drag. He is not in the bottom three, though. Lovely character but I can see his continuing story taking so much time and space away from the others.

Jessica Sanchez returns to the Idol stage and presents her single with Ne-yo. It's nothing like as catchy as the brilliant Jump In whihc never did get released but that'll do well and was an interesting reminder, following Casey, of just how straight, respectable and nice the current competitors are. There are some fine voices and talent but the mix hasn't yet shown us true originality to stand out. If anything, whilst Kree and Angie get the credit for singing and writing, it's Janelle and Amber who have the personalities and are coming over best. (Candice wins anyway.) This is the year of the serious, planned assault on the show, to win and make money, have kids, retire. No Casey or Jessica here this year.

Time for the votes:

Paul's out. That's wrong. Amber was also bottom three which is also wrong.

Paul does a good, sold version of Alone which is ideal for his range and style. It won't save him, though.

The one where Charlie and Aubrey get another chance and Nicky doesn't go home.

Ryan starts by saying there'll be a sing-off between one guy and one girl. I'm hoping I didn't hear that correctly. Not that it matters - it will be a guy going tonight, however they work it.

Another odd tweak by the producers has Ryan telling them how many votes they got in their home territory. I'm not sure how useful that is. More interesting is the announcement of who is in the Top 3 each week - a bit like X Factor USA's ranking but without a more specific rank.

He starts with Deven, Janelle and Candice. Candice is in the Top 3. Deven and Janelle aren't. I thought Janelle might have been but imagine two of the other girls must have pushed her out.

My last article ended with: So, who will America throw out in Week 1? I would put Lazaro, Curtis and Deven in the Bottom Three but suspect it will be between Paul and Deven. I don't know if we'll get a Bottom Three as such now - it looks like we will get the 4-10 ranking with the 10th going home.

Some huge bloke comes on and gives Kree a key to some place in Texas. So will there be some award each week for the others? That was odd, especially as his back, covered in some equally gigantic tan coloured jacket almost filled the screen. Kree is also the second person in the Top 3.

Eh?? Now I'm confused, Charlie is back!!?? Oh, the 'sing off' Ryan was talking about appears to be between one girl and one guy who were rejected at the Top Ten stage. God, this is confusing! He sings Sky Blue Diamonds beautifully - a straight act from this guy with a stunning tone and that was extremely good, far, far better than any of the guys last week. That was his own song too - a brave move and it would be so good if he does get on to the Live Tour.

Oh boy, my other favourite, Aubrey Cleland, is the other contestant for this spot, On My Own she delivers nicely - and I do like her voice and looks - but she gets some notes wrong and it really doesn't match Charlie's performance. She does pull things back a bit at the end but I fear that she won't get back in. Now, I am still assuming that someone will be going home tonight, with 11 going on the American Idol tour instead of ten, including whoever gets kicked off tonight.

Last year's winner, Phillip Phillips does his new single Gone Gone Gone. He hasn't had any success over here in the UK but he sounds remarkably like Mumford & Sons who are now really popular here so perhaps he could break through now. It's a professional and naturally great performance. I still think Jessica should have won and would have been a more internationally successful representative of this show but the guy certainly has his fans over the water with 'quadruple platinum' for Home based on USA sales alone.

Lazaro and Angie. One has made it into the Top 3. Angie is the third member of that group. Three girls in the Top 3. That figures. I'd have five girls in the Top 5 from last night's efforts. Lazaro apparently beat her in Florida. Interesting. Presumably he's polled well across the States so won't be in the risk zone this week.

I am still trying to figure out what's going on. I guess the judges will be deciding between Charlie and Aubrey for the Idol Tour space but will they also be back in the Live Shows? The judges will also, presumably, be deciding between the two lowest ranking on the votes list too, with one going home.

4th Lazaro! Good Grief - that makes him the #1 Guy, even with a very average performance

5th Amber 

6th Janelle

7th Burnell

8th Paul!

So it's Deven and Curtis in the bottom two, which was what I'd initially thought but I reckoned Curtis would have had a lot of gospel support.

9th Deven!

10th Curtis!

Wow. I didn't expect that. So now I figure out how this works: the bottom performer will sing again but will only get to continue if all four judges use their one and only 'save' in the series to keep him in. Nicky has already said that she's going home if he goes home. My guess is that they'll agree to keep him, recalling all the OTT comments they made in the past, especially Randy's, and that will be the end of their ability to save anyone else. 

I was wrong again. Randy says that they were not unanimous! Nicky wants extra time but she doesn't get it. I am expecting at any moment a change of mind or even rules but no, he's gone. It wasn't a great version of the annoying I Believe I Can Fly. He had bags of passion but the fact that the public haven't taken to him does say something and all credit to whoever did vote against him to preserve that valuable option for someone who really could win but trips up one week.

I was also wrong again about the Charlie - Aubrey thing. Maybe there's a vote going on for them which we'll find out about next week.

Let's Hear It For The Boys

This is American Idol with the God Factor. Beware, by the end of this 2 hour show you may be converted or will be spending so much time thanking the Lord that you may well miss the tunes.

Elijah Liu has a lot of fans out there, being one of the few young and modern contestants in the whole show. I Want You To Stay was a first class performance. That worked, He has a good range of styles and brought the gentle ballad one this time. He's marketable, as Nicky said, and that seems to count for a lot with the judges. Randy used the 'm word' too. Mariah is giving much more in depth reviews at this stage and talking sense too. Maybe they are all feeling freer as the decision is down to those with the mobiles and sufficient spare cash to pay for the calls.

This guy should go through based on that but, of course, there are nine more to come yet.

Cortez still has to prove he can get the notes right every time. He has the looks and he's not the old-style big gospel and run round the notes wailer like so many. Bruno Mars Locked Out Of Heaven is a great track and he attacks it and really gets most of the song right. Unfortunately, he is a poor second to Bruno himself and just doesn't make the standard that we need at this stage. He says he likes to dance but there wasn't any that I noticed. The high notes were out of his range. Randy makes the point too. That spoilt things. Good to see up-tempo stuff, which this competition needs. I don't know - he could well have a good following building up that could save him but more mistakes like this and no amount of styling will make much difference. He'll have to wait to see whether there's another four to take those valuable five places.

I like Charlie. He is so natural. Entertaining and a damn good singer too. This week he does a Genesis track that I can't imagine many people knowing. That performance could be released today and I am sure it would hit the charts both sides of the Atlantic. It was over way before it should have been and I'd like to have seen it develop. Nicky makes a reasonable point about the way he's presented himself. Keith says he would see him in front of a band. Mariah is very cautious and struggles to  say much at all. Randy was pretty down on him. That was a tough time for him as everyone has been pretty cool with him so far and I get the feeling audience felt they'd been a bit hard too. I guess they just didn't get it.

Ryan makes a good job of handling a clearly upset Charlie and shows why he's so damn good at this job. Normally I would have put Charlie straight through - no question. But now? Another query.

Nick Boddington has a great higher range voice and delivered a good audition song I Just Want You To Know Who I Am, possibly the best so far tonight. That suited him and, at the piano, he was a great deal more comfortable. He has done himself a huge favour with that. Last week I wouldn't have put him through but he has proved that he deserves to be here. Will he get the public votes, I wonder. This is getting impossible to predict! Good reviews from the judges but each has their but...

Burnell was one of the stars last week so we're expecting good things and it looks like he has a good chance with a couple of Top 5 contenders on less than top form. A track i don't know - there have been quite a few of them. This one has a religious theme and this is his original audition song. I guess he felt confident with this but I found it tedious. Keith gave him a standing ovation for this - he likes that sort of thing, I guess. He's right about the voice having a signature and certainly can sing really well. I can see him going quite a way in this competition. Randy makes a good point about grabbing attention with the first few notes which many miss out on. Basically, all the judges are well into this stuff and love him. I am quite glad there is a public vote as, at the rate they're going, we'll have four gospel singers at least going through. Of course, maybe the voters will put through five! I'd say he's through.

Paul Jolley is as close to Country as we're likely to get tonight. Something like I'm Just A Fool For You. And that wasn't country after all! It was a great track and he delivered it immaculately. I was impressed. Keith asks what genre he wants to be and he says 'pop country'. That could work and he sees himself as the male Carrie or Taylor. He is talented. Nicky didn't go anywhere in her review, just talked about Keith's. Randy and Mariah are all over the place in their reviews, from which we learned nothing!

Ryan presses them to say what they think and even he fails! Shame, as I think he needs that boost from the judges to get through. I'd definitely have him in the Top 5 after that.

Lazaro. Now, if he doesn't perform as well as Paul and the judges applaud him and give him all the amazing reviews then it will be a bit annoying. Feeling Good is a classic, of course. He does a good karaoke version of this and, yes, he looks great and the camera loves him and his cute expressions in a way that Paul should get but doesn't quite manage. He's so popular with the crowd. Keith picks up on that and on the 'connection' thing, despite the less than amazing performance that was very much beaten by the X Factor USA 14 year old. You know when people ask how you feel you did that they don't want to break any bad news, hoping you'll break it to yourself instead. Mariah is the only one to recognise this but still compliments him in the end.

He'll be though on votes alone and could be around a while.

Curtis Finch Jnr ought to be the leader of this pack. He's mature and can sing brilliantly. I hope the gospel thing is played down, though. Oh boy, it's the I Believe I Can Fly song. That was the ultimate karaoke. Pretty good and with a huge amount of extra stuff thrown in for good measure but that was just plain tedious and the sort of thing I'd retune the radio away from. All four give him a standing ovation which more or less confirms the influence of the Church on this part of the competition. Nicky is talking about someone on high and blessing and calling and how much 'we' need this. Hang on, we've got it. R Kelly gave it to us in the 90s if not the 80s. Curtis Finch Jnr is a great singer but if we need this we can dig out some old albums, not dig out a Curtis Finch Jnr album of old stuff. Jesus! Randy asks that we all praise the Lord too and Curtis is holding his hand up. This is crazy. You have to feel a bit sorry for any atheists in the audience.

The guy will be through but please, folks, put a cap on the worship in this programme will you.

Deven is an odd one. He has a stupid hairstyle. But he sings very well indeed. Striped shirt, big black bow tie and bright red V neck jumper over too short white trousers. Val Doonican would have been proud. Once again he slips into Spanish for this big Eurovision-style ballad. It's Impossible was the title. Yes, you've heard it before. Well, your grandparents have. The judges give him rave reviews and, despite it not being a track I can imagine many teens rushing out to buy or download, he most definitely can sing and sing well. That was the best so far. This is a weird competition with the boys this year.

Vince Powell doesn't look like a star. He looks quite old, compared to all the others. He has tendency to chew the words a bit - nothing like as much as James Arthur, thankfully and the tinny resonance can be a drag. The End Of The Road is a 70s number that he re-performs. He gets all the notes right. I just didn't like it much. The judges didn't like the song either. They all say how great a singer he is, Mariah noticing some areas of brilliance, but none were that complimentary and all hoped that he survives.

So if we assume Lazaro, Curtis and Deven are through, who are the other two? Burnell and Nick or Elijah.
My choice would be Elijah, Charlie, Burnell, Paul and Deven but I expect to be at odds with the American voting public on this one!

Kree, Candice and Angela Stake Their Top 5 Claim

This week the Top 20 perform and it's down to the voting public to decide which five survive. That's a brutal cut, but better than previous years when they didn't really get that much chance to shine and many may have been left out when the judges played with the cards on a table. But were their off camera deliberations a better solution than the public vote will be?

Zoanette kicks off doing her Tina Turner impression. She certainly puts her all into What's Love Got To With It but I think I'd rather she hadn't. The makeover people had worked hard to make her look a lot more reasonable. She wasn't anything like as bad as I'd expected but it's still a old style act and she'd have to come up with something different to move on. She would have to be as extraordinary as she has been in the past to continue in this competition. As a cover, it didn't work and it wasn't original enough to make anyone rush out and buy it. And that has to be the key - we need an artist who will sell records and fill a stadium and this woman doesn't seem to be going that way.

Breanna gets another reference to busting the windows out of my car from Ryan who, currently starring in a soap opera on another channel where that may well be the sort of thing that's on the menu, is clearly intrigued by this girl. She was lucky to get through last week so has a lot to live up to. If we're to divide the pack in two tonight then she is almost certain to be in the lower half as things stand. So this is a pretty important performance if she is to stand any chance of unseating one of the stars who have stood out.

This is a nice performance. That's Why I Love You (I think that's the title) suited her voice and and her style. The makeover team hardly seem to have touched her - she's pretty already apart from the eyes. Great control and a very relaxed attitude. Nicky didn't like that at all. I did. Whether that was actually enough to appeal, though, I don't know. Randy and Mariah make the point that they could see that as one of the tracks she might do at a show but it hadn't got that instant grab factor that will make people pick up their phones.

Aubrey Cleland is someone else who doesn't need a makeover team. Hers is a gentle track, plenty more appeal to the guys watching. Me Myself And I is nicely commercial and she brings it across well, although not brilliantly, missing some notes on the way. Nice girl. She gets a better review than Breanna, who must be seen as her main competitor. Everyone comments on her beauty which is understandable but sometimes you wonder if they heard the singing as much as maybe they should. She stands a chance but will need to do more.

Janelle seems so experienced and this was a great choice for her. Blue jeans, simple clothes and straightforward delivery of If I Can Dream. Damn good choice but she's always up against Elvis with this one. Half of this was excellent but the other half was decidedly dodgy and serious notes missed. I'm surprised that Keith didn't mention that. The judges seemed very impressed and she has been one of the 'stars' so far and could well be one of the five. With that massive Country vote, she's in a good place.

Teena has transformed and lost a good many years. Apart from a badly designed dress she's looking good. A slow number by Faith Hill. Her voice is different, with a certain timbre that could be tinny but isn't. She can express emotion well and that hit more right notes than Janelle. Whether she's got the votes, though, is the question. Randy gives her due credit for not over singing. So many usually do and this evening has been mercifully clear of that. Well, let's not mention the first act! I wouldn't be confident of her survival.

Angela Miller is up there with the best. She can sing brilliantly, and play. I Was Never Gone is a strong song and she put everything into that. It was written by Colton Dixon, interestingly enough, from last year. There's something I'd still get the makeover team to fix about her hair and the teeth need taking down a few shades - she looks too cheerful when she shouldn't be. Only 18, but looking 25. For all that, she has been one of my tips to win from the start. The early betting odds didn't have her as the favourite - so she does need to keep up the pressure and we all know what happened to Carly Rose Sonnenclar! If she makes 2nd place then just who has the talent to come first?

Amber looks and sounds like a ready-made star as she starts on the stage. Unfortunately, something goes wrong after that and she is running up and down the scale in a way that seems totally unnecessary and of no value to the song at all. In fact, I have no idea what the song was and it certainly didn't make me want to go find out either. Now that's odd - the judges gave her a standing ovation! Weird. They must have heard something quite different. Apparently that was a |Whitney Houston song. Randy gives her the In it to win it line. Well, I wonder what the public will make of that?

I've already put Aubrey, Janelle and Angela in the Top 5 so adding Amber would leave room for only one more. But I reckon there are two definites to come so something has to give.

Kree is another very natural girl. From the very start this was a pure and totally accurate performance, becoming stunningly good. Stronger gets Keith on his feet, but only Keith. That was so much better than Amber's performance so I have no idea why the others didn't show that extra appreciation. Maybe they're not so fond of her Country vibe. She has to take one of the Top 5 spots and gets another Randy In It To Win It. She has the edge over Janelle but maybe not quite as Country-appealing as her. It'll be intriguing if they're both through.

Adriana Latonio
This is the pretty little girl from Alaska. Husky, attractive voice but this performance starts all over the place - maybe nerves got the better of this girl. Stand Up For Love is not her song but she pulls it back and, reminiscent of Jessica Sanchez, ends well and may have helped her chances. However, it didn't strike me as Top 5 material. She is. The song wasn't. Nicky actually suggests she comes back next year and is probably absolutely right. The word pageanty appears again this week - a word I wish I'd thought of when reviewing Pia Toscano last year. Disappointing, as so far the girls have been going for the older, less interesting market and at this rate the American Idol 2013 will be more like 1983.

Candice is last on and there is, in my view, a space in the Top 5 remaining for her if she wants it. Last week she didn't live up to the earlier expectations we'd had from those excellent auditions and you wonder whether she's OK with the familiar, well rehearsed items but how will she do in the glare of the camera and maybe a less regularly sung track? If she's sensible, she'll deliver one major, well-known and not over-demanding song, play it safe and get through. Or maybe she will demonstrate something special after all?

Ordinary People was an excellent choice and she was pot on throughout. Definitely one of the best singers, if not the most immediately lovable, tonight. Standing ovation from three tonight for that.

Randy says that they might have to talk to the producers about getting a wild card or something! I guess he sees that there are more than 5 who deserve to be in the Live Shows. I think I agree with him.

Listening to the decent length playbacks and not watching, Breanna stood out more than first time. Tough to choose between her and Aubrey. Janelle was very off. Teena a bit desperate and not that impressive. Angela perfect. Amber still sounded odd to me, albeit a bit less so than before. Kree not as perfect as first time but still very good. Adriana no improvement. Candice excellent.

So my choice: Breanna, Aubrey, Angela, Kree and Candice.

My guess is that Janelle and Amber will be in, though, with two of my choices out. That'll be very tough as, logically that's both Breanna and Aubrey.

Top Twenty Decided. Now they need to build their fan clubs to survive!

The last ten guys with a chance of reaching the all important Top 20 and a chance to win the public vote are

Bryant Tadeo - the Hawaii one
Burnell Taylor - the old-looking young one
Cortez Shaw - the Nicky reject one
David Willis - the preacher one

Gurpreet Singh Sarin - the Turbinator one
Joshua "Josh" Holiday - the unknown one
Lazaro Arbos - the girls' (and probably boys') favourite one
Mathenee Treco - the cheerful one
Nick Boddington - the odd-looking one
Vincent "Vince" Powell - the old one

Mathenee Treco starts the show with the Elvis number A Little Satisfaction. He puts plenty into this and it works well, although he sounds very tinny at the top end, like so many seem to do. We get a shot of Zoanette in bright pink and yellow in the audience jumping up and down in support which is a worrying sign of what's to come. Nicky finds him cheesy and karaoke and has a point - it wasn't exactly this Century music but he is entertaining and confident. I wouldn't see him surviving against the five already through, though, even if he is lucky.

Gurpreet Singh Sarin in yellow and black is cheerful and putting on a bit of a show with some track I didn't know. A jazzy number that suits him but I found his voice just average. He's a nice guy but I don't see him going far in this competition. He is someone I would expect to get through from this group but Randy says it was terrible - that was a surprise!! He usually beats around the bush or gets all fired up for his favourites. So it would be one leap of faith if the judges do put him through.

Vince Powell just comes on, sings and you know he knows what he's doing. Another track I'm not familiar with but it has so much more going for it than Gurpreet's and totally puts that performance into perspective. He is very good and, whilst not an ultimate Idol, he sure deserves the standing ovation from three judges and he'll be through for sure. That's how you audition. He may struggle for fan votes but he's got another week on the payroll for sure. We even get Randy's first (I think) In it to win it.

Ryan picks up on the Zoanette thing as she's at it again for Vince who she calls Papa Smurf. I can see that the producers see plenty of viewing points in keeping her up front but you do have to wonder if they've taken leave of their senses. Maybe they are determined not to have another Phliip squared.

Nick Boddington is having another go, having got this far last year. He looks better with the hat. This is a cool tune Say Something Nice suits his style and voice but it's not perfect. Quite good, and maybe good enough, but, like several others in this group, he's not destined to go that far. The judges seem apologetic, as if they're looking to let him down gently. He would be disappointed not to get through. So far he's second best, however, so let's see what the others bring. He may survive after all.

Nicky is getting all the limelight in the adverts in the UK for the show. She is really good now, having settled and not competing with Mariah nowadays. Ryan's cracking a joke as we return about Mariah's jewel 'bungee jumping'. She is enormous in places.

We get what I reckon is the first intro to Josh who got picked up from a cattle farm on the Idol bus tour. He does a track he's written himself, sitting at a piano. The girls will adore him and not just for his looks - he can write and sing too. He sounds a bit limited in range and this song has faults that Angela Miller's didn't. However, all credit to him and my guess is that they've kept him away from our screens to give the others a chance. The judges are critical but I think he'll be through and so pushes poor Nick down to #3. Randy says he doesn't know and hands over to Mariah who uses the 'whatever happens' line which is often a sign. I'm still backing him, though. Just less confidently after that review.

David Oliver Willis gives us Fever. With guitar and nice casual approach he comes across very well. Sings great, albeit within just one octave. He's a nice clean-looking, God-fearing lad and that was a faultless audition. Uninspiring but very likeable. Pretty wife. Nicky sees him as a bit of a robot. I don't know what to think after that review. Ryan also spots a debate coming on this one.

Bryant Tadeo sings with a pained expression on his face. New York City Mind is a gentle strolling song but not easy to sing. He does this well and with feeling. You get the feeling he's been practising this at a million karaokes in the past. Nice job. No errors and a bit more pzazz than Nick or even David. I put him through at the new #2, pushing Nick down to #4, assuming Nicky loses her fight to ditch David. The judges make the point that the song never really went anywhere but seem to be supporting him overall.

So far this is a pretty lacklustre bunch. Even those I expected to get the crowd behind them haven't done so - only Vince is going to give the first five something to worry about and he's not going to win either. Burnell, Cortez and Lazaro to come. Assume Lazaro will get a place, just for the ratings, whatever he does. Cortez is quite capable of out-whining Mathenee and out-looking pretty David so he stands a great chance and expect Nicky to be converted.

Burnell looks so much older than he is. I remember him in baggy yellow and white shorts and now he's in a suit. Nice voice - better performance than Mathenee by far, and David and Bryant too, with All Of Me. The crowd like him. He's the new #2. Keith says he sounds original and that's what we need. Nicky's a big fan, offering to pay to hear him sing, calling him the best by far! Randy's a supporter too. Lots of compliments. Nice job.

Lazaro is taking on one of Keith Urban's songs. His eyebrows seem independent of each other. He rather mangles the words, breathing heavily and it's not really very easy listening at all. He's a popular kid, though, so what can they do? They're all very nice to him. He's got Nick's spot.

So, it's down to Cortez to push Bryant or David out. He's got a crystal clear voice. Titanium is not an easy song to deliver and, in places, he didn't. There's talent there and I'd like to see him get a chance to do better. He didn't swing open the door on his entry to the last ten with this but he's still got a chance. Keith and Nicky support him. Randy almost says pitchy but someone in his earpiece must have reminded him that the words banned so he rephrased that. Mariah is a supporter too. They're very understanding and look to be voting for him, despite all the faults this time.

Prediction: Vince and Burnell straight through, with Lazaro as there'd be a riot if they didn't. Then Cortez and .. and who? Josh is the one act that I'll be disappointed not to see make it through and I'm going to say he makes it and David and Bryant don't.

David gets the bad news. No debate either.

Bryant, too, goes and that surprises the audience.

Vince next - sure thing, he's first through

Mathenee - no

Lazaro - well, we know, don't we - he's through

Cortez - yes

- ad break - after the oh so positive review Burnell has to be a certainty, Gurpreet will go so it's between Josh and Nick. I see Jimmy Iovine choosing Josh.

No, that's not the way it goes.

Josh is up next and is dropped. That's a shame.

So, looks like Nick isn't poor Nick after all.

Burnell gets the news from Randy who tries to sound down but not for long. He's there, of course.

Nick and Gurpreet on the couch and then, while we watch their extracts, they're dragged back to the stage. It has to be Nick of these two. Mariah doesn't need to refer to Jimmy Iovine either and Nick makes it.

Las Vegas Round 3: Five More Girls

Doubling down? Is that like halving in Vegas-speak? What Ryan Seacrest means is that the last ten girls will become five who go home and five who finally get to be approved or rejected by the public in a week's time.

Performing will be Melinda Ademi, Candice Glover, Juliana Chahayed, Jett Hermano, Cristobel Clack, Aubrey Cleland, Rachel Hale, Breanna Steer, Janelle Athur and, oh dear, Zonette Johnson.

Melinda is first and, once you get past the bright lilac tights there's a very attractive and marketable girl on stage - like Katie Melua with caffeine. Nobody's Perfect was a going nowhere track for her but she's good and has a gentler touch to her that most others haven't shown as well as an excellent presence. Judges not that complimentary which seemed a bit harsh. Nicky very short and almost delivering a coded 'No' but I have a feeling Keith will fight for her.

Candice Glover has been one of the favourites since the start, especially with Randy. Natural Woman is very 70s and quite restrained compared to what she's blasted us with to date. She's good, not someone I'd want to hear on the hour every hour but she has to be in with a good chance and that was a flawless, albeit uninspiring performance. Everybody seems very happy so we can assume that, whatever they say, the four judges will be putting her straight through.

Juliana Chahayed was someone who really impressed me in the last round. She's quite different and stands there in a simple cream dress with a guitar. Spell-binding stuff. Her version of Skyscraper, totally stripped bare, was excellent and she has real control. That was a 'moment'. Lukewarm crowd response who clearly must have come on a bus with Candice. She's 15. Love her originality. Nicky says she's timid and seems to be saying that will not help with so many belters in the likely competition. I disagree and, for a change, liked Randy's confirmation that she is different and actually that could be to her distinct advantage. Interesting. I think she'll get through and, even if the Vegas audience aren't big fans she will appeal to a large fan base and do well in the public vote thereafter.

Jett Hermano. Now that's an Idol type of name. Great version of Only Girl In The World. Sitting at a piano and looking very classy this a one serious contender. Again, she is original and very professional. In fact she could cost Juliana her place but Nicky and Randy don't seem to get it. Mariah is in one of those width-emphasising dresses again.

Cristobel Clack is not attractive and has a rough voice but she knows where to find the notes and what to do with them. Terrible backing and earrings. She worked hard with the song - not one I recognised - with runs almost everywhere as she realised she needed to do something at the end but I still wasn't sure she fits my idea of an Idol winner. Keith was impressed. Nicky wasn't. Randy yes. Mariah makes the point that this girl has already sung all over the world and, strangely, bigs up the backing singers at precisely the time when they deserved the opposite. She seems to want to keep her but I wonder? If Cristobel stays then that's trouble for Jett, Juliana and even Melinda.

Aubrey Cleland is lovely. The crowd love her too but I'm not so sure, apart from the marketing image (cue obviously male camera guy to pan from shoes up a slender tanned body in a nicely very non-pc way!). We hear a lot about the 'package'. Her version of Beyonce's Beautiful Nightmare goes down extremely well with the judges and it was nice but not exceptional. I get the distinct feeling that she's through, More trouble for the original artists, I fear. I would like to see her in the final Top 20 but in place of Cristobel.

Rachel is good solid Country with soul and they need someone for that audience which comprises a huge amount of advertising revenue and voting dollars. Not a song that worked for me at all but no doubt Keith will have loved it. She's a bubbly and cheery girl from a small town and just seems to enjoy performing. It was neither here nor there, though, and he picks up on that. She has Janelle to contend with, coming up next. She drops the religious thing on us by telling Nicky she's been praying a lot and that gets Randy on a zealous let's all pray mission, followed by Mariah who also seemed to want to keep the gospel viewers who will have been doing the Lordy thing on their sofas in Chapel Country. Maybe merging Country and Chapel may get her through but it won't be on that performance. I just don't think that would have reached the Billboard Top 100 whereas several others tonight would have hit the Top 40 with a bullet.

Breanna Steer has escaped my attention for a lot of the previous weeks, apart from the tight black leather. She looks quite harsh tonight but has one of the more modern performances with something about Bursting The Windows Out Your Car. That could be taken in more ways than one. Different again. A difficult night coming up. Nicky suggests she form a group with Aubrey Cleland - that tells me she doesn't expect her to go through. Randy would sign her today. Does that mean he's voting for her tonight or looking to pick her up a bit more cheaply if she goes? Mariah genuinely doesn't know what they're going to do which is a nice bit of honesty.

What a pair to leave us with! Janelle is the Country girl in my book. Wobbly start, though, to Kiss Goodnight which simply didn't come across at all well. She was off-key and never was able to recover, despite attempts to do so. That could be a great shame as she is absolutely stunning - the classic American girl who could sell records just by being on the cover. Keith says he felt for her and seems to have noticed that. Nicky also was upset by this lacklustre performance but, for the first time tonight, says who she's voting for. Randy is all over the place as he starts but says how she's his favourite Country girls and seems to be willing to forgive and forget. Mariah says the same. I can see them putting her through so she looks like being one very fortunate girl tonight, especially when she looks at the rerun!

In complete and utter contrast is Zoanette Johnson. Oh boy, what's she going to do? Play it down and serious or do something bizarre? She's a fun character and, yes, may initially be good tv but I really think she has to go now or she'll be occupying space that one of the others needs and is likely to more with as things progress. So whatever she does, that's going to be my verdict.

Plug for Liberia and I guess her homeland will have heard this. She starts off in what I assume is her native language with a remarkable African-theme version of The Circle Of Life. In places she's good. In places she's dreadful. Goodness only knows what they'll do with her. I fear the worst, though. Nicky gets quite emotional. Randy nails it with his comment about people asking 'What the hell are they doing keeping her in?' and then justifying it. But is all this emotion and representation of people like her really a good way to decide who will be in our charts, on our screens and on our radios later this year? Put her in a show or something but no, not Idol. It's been fun but let the others get a chance to shine now, even if they don't have quite the personality or 'cause appeal'.

Janelle and Candice I put in the definitely through category. Then I would choose Juliana and Aubrey with Jett just getting in. Cristobel and Zoanette may get the judges' vote, though. So two excellent girls could suffer.

There could well be a Jimmy Iovine moment coming up. No. Not necessary.

Zoanette is first to get the news - probably best to get this over with, one way or another! Oh dear. she's one of the five.
Melinda doesn't. Shame but understandable.
Julianna doesn't. Now that is disappointing and is the casualty I was most concerned about.
Aubrey is second to get through. Deservedly so.
Cristobel doesn't.
Candice is third through. Predictable.
Jett loses out to Breanna - I wasn't expecting that.
Then it's between Rachel and Janelle and it's Janelle that wins out.

Let's hope the public vote sorts them out next week. A tough night for this group - those left now really have to prove they can justify the faith put in them.

Spanish, Gospel, Mexican-Chinese, Nice Guy and Charlie Askew.

It has just occurred to me that one of the reasons X Factor USA Steve was so bad might have been his height. He was a tall guy. The two real presenter stars of this type of programme have to be Ryan Seacrest and Dermot O'Leary who are both comparatively short. Memories of Dermot standing next to Rylan Clark spring to mind. The dreadful Khloe was also huge now I think about it. Ryan slightly overdoes the This is... bit tonight, perhaps attempting to make up for the dull background and steel-like set design views we get at the start.

This was a grey start visually to the first instalment of deciding the Top 10 guys, 5 tonight and another 5 in a week's time. Yet another reminder about how good the girls are and when asked for some advice for the boys waiting to perform all Mariah can say is effectively 'don't bother - the girls have got you beat already'. This is getting silly.

Paul Jolley wants it so bad and says he's worked so hard. I don't recall sob stories for the girls but I guess some will come next time. Nice gentle start to what I thought was going to be Hero (but was Keith Urban's Tonight I Wanna Cry) but maybe just a bit too heavy on the pretend emotion. Good ending and his voice has a good timbre. Keith won't be voting for him as he started with If you go through.... Paul's a good, almost too innocent-looking guy and immensely likeable. Nicky gives him a one sentence - neither one thing nor the other - so she's not on his side either. Randy goes on and I have no idea what he really said or where he was going. Mariah similarly totally confuses us all. My guess is that they're not seeing him as the next Idol winner. No enthusiasm at all which is a bit of a shame but understandable I suppose.

Johnny Keyser may well be seeing this as his last chance but thankfully doesn't bank on about it. This is another lovely fellow who can certainly sing and, actually, he could entertain too. Vocally, Paul has the edge but Johnny comes over as reliably professional and relaxed. However I Won't Give Up was a tedious track that didn't do a great deal to show his talent or ability. Keith was short and sweet. Nicki wants to know if he has a girlfriend. He hasn't. No-one asks the obvious next question. She likes him and may vote for him or maybe she's just being nice. Randy is spot on with his comments and I reckon he's not sure he should be in the final 20 anyway. Mariah tells him to 'be around'. Whatever that means. Basically, I have no idea what anyone really thought of that. I reckon he's reached as far as he's going to get.

JDA is something else completely. Think Marc Almond and Divine. He's been kep off our screens pretty much which is a pity as he's entertaining and visually impressive. Rumour Has It starts strangely but once he gets into it he does a cool job of the track. He's wearing a dress and won't get the Texas vote and I'm not sure how far he's going to go. Original and another likeable guy/guyess. Keith's not impressed. Nicky criticises the voice and is really so accurate in spotting all the things that he did well and she 'gets' him. She's an excellent judge. Randy and Mariah focus on the lack of vocal talent and they're right. He is the third that won't make it through so that's got to be good news for the next 7, with 5 spaces still available.

Kevin Harris gets interviewed - cue kiddy photos then gets into a very confident but rather tinny version of Everything I Do which would even have put Bryan Adams to sleep. This is a good singer but way up high in a register no-one really wants to hear that song in. The song is a classic but that interpretation wasn't. Slow, slow vocal with no real feeling or impact. Keith's not bothered. Nicky's impressed and, quite surprisingly, he's the first boy that she's voting for. Randy was bored and I can see where he's coming from with that. "Not blown out at all." I think he meant 'blown away' but this is America so who knows whether he'd been out to a large lunch or not. Kevin really shouldn't be through either so, in my predictions, I'll be in big trouble trying to decide should the next 6 not have the Top 5 amongst them.

One thing for sure - had the producers mixed the girls and boys then, from what I've seen so far, even the best boy would just be at No 11.

Chris Watson is the one with a bandanna. Another we saw little of in the audition rounds. Now that's different - Otis Redding's Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay. But, that is not a cheery rock track, Chris! He treats it as just an excuse to perform. Now he certainly can perform but wrecking that track ought to be unforgivable. That was not good. Heavens, if he's out then the last 5 have it in the bag. Keith didn't like the voice, nor the interpretation but credits the performance and the guy has character. Nicky is way over the top and wants to marry his vibrato and says she loves him and he's the most beautiful guy she's seen. I think she was serious too so he's got her vote. Randy hated the whole thing but, again, recognises his charisma but that's all. Mariah was critical too - wrong song choice. I don't know - there is something about him that, given a better track and production, could work. He has a screen presence that I think Nicky has spotted and I may, like her, be prepared to forgive tonight and give him another chance. Odd. His fate depends totally on what the next 5 do, as does each of theirs as the door to the Top 20 public vote is wide, wide open still.

Devin Velez next. Straight in. No intro. This is a serious, slightly stiff, act and he runs into Spanish, Polish or whatever that was. Possibly the best vocal so far but still not stunning. Keith likes him and that's one vote. Nicky is polite and reckons he made a smart choice of song. In reality she's not a big fan. Randy liked it a lot. Once again, Mariah follows Randy and she'll vote his way. That's the first one I can be sure of.

Elijah Liu also goes straight in. Now, Asian contenders usually feature as joke acts like Heejun but this fellow is young and sweet and, despite a dodgy few notes, is different enough to make it further. Talking To The Moon suited him. As Keith points out, that was a shaky performance but it was a current and relevant performance. Nicky wants his babies. She says she'd sign him today and that's fair comment. I would too as he can be marketed easily and will soon have one big fan club. Randy can't really follow that, nor can Mariah but both recognise, in between the lines, his market value and want in on the act if he starts selling records. Nice guy - yet again - and No 2 through. This fellow could also steal some places in the Top 20 from the girls too once the public gets voting.

Charlie Askew is a cool guy. Yet another very decent guy too. Elton's Rocket Man and that suits him so well - in many ways. This is a highly intelligent contestant who has a near perfect pitch. He takes this track into places even Elton didn't take it and that was great. Standing ovation from Nicky and well-deserved too. This is not the way an Idol should look but everyone seems to love him and I'm so pleased that he'll make No 3 through. Most interesting, smartest song choice, agrees Nicky. All the adjectives are right. Love this girl's commentary. Randy has no idea. "Good. I like it!" returns Charlie. He likes him and that's about as far as Randy gets. Mariah lives for his song choice. Eh? Never mind, he's through anyway.

Jimmy Smith is another nice guy. He's the young Country singer that we haven't had yet. Pray That It's Raining On Sunday or whatever it's called is a boring track but who cares? He's got the fourth slot and will look good on TV with that great smile, tan and ripped blue jeans. The makeover team will love him. That was also another Keith Urban song so you know he'll vote for him. Nicky was bored. Randy wasn't so sure about him. Mariah, again, must be sharing Randy's notes at the start of her comments but she adds that he has something that America will want to see more of so he's number 4.

Curtis Finch probably has the best voice of the guys this week and shows off a lot in his version of The Carpenters track. In places, great. In other places, a bit weird. He's the only gospel type in this bunch, incidentally - normally we have a few more. Curtis will be through, despite all the 'see what I can do' stuff we see this week. I'd prefer he just sings straight and that he could do well. He may not necessarily give us anything that different but he deserves his place and everyone loves each other afterwards. Praise the Lord.
He gets the fifth slot.

So that's my prediction. Quite easy: Curtis, Jimmy, Charlie, Elijah, Devin.

Oh, wrong about Jimmy. So who gets his place? Paul, thanks to Jimmy Iovine's casting vote.

Las Vegas Round 1 The first five girls through to the Top 20

Ten girls. Five will go through to the Top 20. Ryan's in his suit in Las Vegas where the judges make more cuts to get just 10 girls and 10 girls over the next four weeks. Then the public will vote to get down to the Top 10 for the live shows. If the judges split 2-2 then it's nice to know that Jimmy Iovine is the one deciding if necessary. He's smart and talked so much sense in the last series.

There's another pointer on the telepronter for Ryan to mention how strong the girls are. Last week we had it in huge letters at the outset. I wonder what we'll get next time.

Jenny Beth Lewis

Tenna Torres

Adriana Latino

Brandy Hotard

Shubha Vedula

Kamaria Ousley

Kree Harrison

Angela Miller (big cheer from the crowd)

Isabelle

Amber Holcomb

Jenny starts. A good choice as she seems pretty experienced and confident to isn't likely to mess up in front of a very big audience - so very different to all the rounds so far.

She does good ol' fun Country and does it well. Keith notes the confidence but I didn't get the impression that he was convinced. Nicky didn't like it. Nor did Randy and Mariah spoke almost as much as she has done throughout the series. That doesn't sounded too hopeful and I think everyone must have felt that that was some pretty damn harsh judging. Maybe they've been watching the others rehearsing and know what's in store from the other nine? To me, she didn't quite look the part and lacks a likeability factor at this stage - but that doesn't mean she can't establish it - but the performance seemed first class, in tune and, if you like that sort of thing, eminently recordable. I wouldn't see her winning, though, even if she did make it through.

Teena Torres is a promotional model. 28, so it's her last chance at Idol. Husky start and nice tone to her voice in the emotional number she performs that I hadn't heard before. Missed a couple of notes along the way but clearly making an impression and that was an excellent and perfect song for her. Keith points out that it was a rarer Natasha Bedingfield number. He doesn't give much away but I reckon he's a fan. Nicky was spot on about the hair style which was definitely a bit outdated, not that she was probably to blame for that. Randy and Mariah are clearly big fans. 

Adriana is from Alaska. I don't know that we've seen her before so maybe she's one of the expected definitely going somewhere other than home contestants. She has a big voice, bluesy but the number doesn't do much for me at all nor show her capabilities. I think the song was called Ain't No Way and had a big finish but kinda stumbled along. Keith loved this and recognised the fact that this was not a commercial number, nor was it an easy one to do. Nicky was impressed too. Randy has also decided she's through. Mariah tells us that that was an Aretha Franklin number so I have to hand it to the tiny Filpino for the corage to take it and her on. Seems like we'll be having a follow-up for Jessica's home-nation fans this year.

Brandy is quite harsh-spoken and has that pretty, slightly chunky, all-American-girl look that is quite endearing and you can see the posters with her looking fabulous. The start was excellent but she went a little off as it went on and I rather lost interest. Nicky used a brilliant word - pageant -  to describe that performance. Very reminiscent of Pia Toscano in many ways. She could sing the National Anthem at games but she's not the next American Idol, I'm afraid. Randy is pretty straight about not being impressed. Mariah, too, compliments her on her looks but won't be voting for her.

Shubha Vedula has a name that sounds like a star - but maybe so do Teena Torres and Adriana Latino now I think about it! She's just 17 but comes across as much older. I seem to recall that she won some competition in Israel but I may be wrong. This was the first commercial number tonight - Born This Way. Plenty of passion in a strange version of the Lady Gaga number, against which she couldn't really have competed any other way. The audience loved it - and that was the first major response from the, Keith quite correctly says that she was trying to put too many examples of what she can do in one song. Nicky warns the audience to be prepared to boo again and says the same as Keith. This girl's confident but confusing and, if she gets through, would need to settle on one or other style to move forward. Randy was impressed and, like Keith, I reckon he changed his review based on the audience reaction. Mariah probably won't be voting for her but recognised her talent. She's another doubful.

Kamaria says she has been in the music business backing some smart names so should know what she's doing on stage. She's another I don't remember from early rounds. This was not a good performance - off key almost all the way through and quite painful to listen to. Even if she had been in tune, I don't like her voice or style of performance with a lot of quite over the top efforts. I expected a lot better and can only guess that she got this one wrong and may well have to stay in backing groups. No. She's out, for sure. Judges were polite. Randy more or less said what I said - just shorter and he would have been entitled to use the pitchy word. Mariah was almost forgiving but she won't be voting for her.

Kree Harrison, 22, works in the Nashville music industry so, again, should know what she's doing. Here's competition for the other Country contestants. Nice tone and emotion from the very start. So often performances start badly or weakly but that's something none can be faulted for this time. Complex song that lost me completely but for fans of the genre my guess is that they will love her. Indeed, second biggest applause of the night. Keith's on her team, very complimentary and, yup, he's voting for her. Nicky recognises her talent too and says the other Country girls should be afraid. That's true. She may not have star looks (yet) but is totally natural and they like that. Randy's going to vote for her too. And Mariah, I wouldn't have predicted this at the start but I reckon Kree's in the first Top 5 with Adriana so far.

Angela Miller started off a little pushy but totally redeemed herself and has won over many hearts, minds and votes in all her performances since, now regarded as a front runner to win the whole thing. Tonight she is fabulous again. yet another song I don't recognise but I don't need to. It was excellent, if too short! Nobody's Perfect was the title but her voice and stage performance certainly are perfect. Keith needs to say little. Nicky: your an artist, period, congrats. Randy: this girl's the real deal, she's going places. Mariah: keep writing, phenomenal etc. etc. etc. I would just ask the makeover people to go easy on the teeth-whitening.

Isabelle appears not to have a surname. She's a tall, impressive figure, tightly wrapped in a white mini-dress. Following Angela would have been difficult but she does a reasonable job with God Bless The Child in an earthy, strong style that gets applause from the judges. Some notes went wrong in the middle. Keith and Nicky seemed keen but Randy and Mariah aren't that sure. She's on the edge but may just be heading to land on the right side against the other uncertain ones tonight such as Jenny.

So far it's Angela, Kree, Adriana and two of Shubha, Teena or Isabelle. Will Amber make the cut? There is a big hole where commercial pop music would fit. If she can fit that or do something modern she'll stand a chance. Otherwise she needs to beat Jenny at the Country game or someone else at the ballad game.

Amber is one of the best-looking of this group. It's a moody ballad - so she's up against competition with My Sweet Valentine. She also tries just a bit too hard to throw everything into a song that would have been better just sung. That was actually pretty good and, whilst old-fashioned and occasionally not exactly easy listening, she will have put several others out of the competition.

So my prediction is: Angela, Kree, Adriana, Amber and Isabelle may just beat Teena but if Jimmy gets involved we may still see Shubha survive. That fifth place is a tough decision. Personally, I would give Jenny Beth another chance as she was note perfect and real Country style as opposed to several balladeers.

Teena survives and is first through to the public vote.

Kree takes the second stool.

Angela - well, there would have been a riot if she didn't! - takes another stool.

Amber takes stool four.

Adriana gets the fifth.

This was quite an impressive night and I like the way the Series is allowing us to see a lot more of the Top 40. It's pretty similar to the suggestions I made for X Factor to work better - we need to see far more of the contenders and not just hear them doing full performances at the Live Shows when one dodgy song can see them go. I may still have doubts about how the American public seem heavily biased towards Country and that makes it tough for others to win but this year there may be enough talent - Carly Rose Sonnenclar ten years on - to beat Texas.

Hollywood: Tough decisions but some clear leaders emerge as the Top 40 is decided. I think.

Angela Miller
With an original song this girl sets the standard for the others to meet. A brilliant original song sung marvellously well. Randy rabbited on all the way through.

Candice Gover
Good strong and she's confident performer but is she anything we haven't seen before? I don't know. Clearly a favourite with Randy but she was pitchy in places but no-one said anything.

Janelle Arthur
Very safe and traditional but lovely and she comes across with such a nice personaility that the voters ought to love.

Zoanette Johnson
Oh boy. She's on the drums. 20 years old? Good grief? This woman is bizarre, with some strange number she comes up with an invents as she goes. What an extraordinary performance! No way do I want to see her in the Live Shows but something tells me she'll keep going for the silly entertainment factor. Mad.

Jett Hermano (did we see her?)

They're all through.

Shubha Vedula
Experience shows. She knows what she's doing and does it well. Just not sure how the voters will take her.

Juliana Chahayed
Lovely tone and nature. We've hardly seen this girl at all so far and don't get much of a shot this time either.

Kez Ban
Her original song is not a good one, nor is the guitar work. Very short, a bit indulgent. Nicki is clearly not impressed and just delivers the end of journey line there and then. Kez exits nicely, though, appealing for a job on the show so all's well with the world.

Shubha and Juliana go through, although I didn't see it happen but presume it did. Strange editing in this programme.

Ashlee Feliciano
Not making a good impression and seems to annoy Randy. Even her remarkable final high notes were off.

Melinda Ademi
Straight on without any nonsense and delivers Price Tag excellently which made the judges happier which won't do her any harm at all.

Kree Harrison
She has managed to survive against all the odds as she hasn't exactly shone in the rounds so far, Randy even rejecting her at her first audition. This time she excelled and was in exactly her element, coming across really well, if not absolutely spot on the high notes. Serious but attractive girl. Nice job may have justified her being there. We gather that it has been Keith and Mariah that have recognised her talents and this time Nicki spoke up well for her so that should be good news for her and will have made her day.

Sure enough, Kree and Melinda are through with Lauren who we didn't see perform. Breanna and Serena join Ashlee in being cut. Cue a while wathcing Serena cry.

So it's down to 24 girls with another 4 more to go. Lauren, Holly, Arial get sent home at this really upsetting point. There's one more to go. Stephanie is the lovely girl with the big Dolly-blonde hair and big smile. She comes across brilliantly and sounds different to so many others that I'd love to see her survive. Shie is up against Rachel Hale, the very accomplished Country singer and she has Nicki backing her. Such a shame, as on that comparison I would have chosen Stephanie but she's sent home.

We could do with an official list as I have serious doubts about one or two, including Aubrey Cleland and Kamaria.

Now, back to the boys. they have several to get rid of. Adam Sanders is a cool, fun guy but he does wail. He acts very professionally, getting the band on key but the wailing is disappointing. I guess he was trying to impress.

Josh Holiday. First time I've seen him, I think. He's a good singer. Pity about the white jeans - wearing them, I mean, not splitting them as he did! Very professional-looking guy with one great voice.

Called out are Peter Garret, Marvyn, Devon Jones, Kenny Harrison, Will white, Tony Foster, David Leathers and Adam Sanders. That's it for those guys. Some pretty disappointed and David Leathers is cut at the same point as last time.

They're all off to Las Vegas with a live audience and the judges choosing, presumably, just 5 out of twenty. Boy, now that's going to be tricky!!

Hollywood: The Girls Pt 1

Everyone's been saying that the girls are much stronger this year so this should be interesting. The fact that few of the boys have made a big impact may be witness to that but who knows what will really happen once they get down to the best 5 in each category? For now we're deciding the Top 40 - and 20 of tonight's girls will move forward.

This is another of the dreaded 'group' days. Well, it will after the acapella bit when there's a need to get rid of a few.

Angela Miller introduces herself as The Next American Idol. That put me off a bit but she is good and I hope she gets through and settles down so that she doesn't need to do the intro bit again. We also see Mariah and Victoria but neither were that impressive. Luckily we don't get too much coverage of those not making it. I guess there are so many that we also won't even get that good a look at those that do either.

Two Country girls. Rachel Hale has an accent you'll remember and either love or hate. Definitely talented but I wouldn't want to listen to her for long the way she was singing in the acapella round. In contrast, Janelle was much more pleasant. They should both go through a bit further and they do. Glimpses only of loads more. A lot of talk in the background about Candice Glover. She does the usual stuff that girls like Candice Glover do. Megan Miller is far more interesting but it's Candice that gets through. So far there has, thankfully, not been many of the big gospel crowd on screen. I feel that genre's time has been and gone now. The girl's solid and clearly experienced but I want something just a little different. Not that 'different' wins, though. Remember the big Country vote, folks - they'll be voting Rachel.

Isabelle has been one of my favourites and did a beautiful version of Summertime. Not sure what her surname is but I guess we'll find out eventually. She is perhaps the first real stand-out for me. Kez Ban is getting plenty of screen time - she's the masculine one who has a natural carefree talent - and moves forward with what we're told are another 72! It is so difficult to judge anyone really from just a line or two and with so many just shown as through there's little to compare each of them with.

OK. It's group time now. If I were them the one bit I would ditch the choreography and just get the tune and words right. Who cares whether they can dance? It seems to cause a lot of stress for no good reason. Anyway, there are plenty of problems with Kez Ban who really is a pain for the others to deal with and it's a credit to them that they stayed cool. The odd Zoanette Johnson seems to be having trouble with the group choice of Knock On Wood but I have a suspicion that she'll pull something out of the hat later.

Melinda, Ameni, Candice and a couple of others put on a good show to start off with.

Brandy Hotard led and stood out in the second group we see who also all get through.

The third lot were not too bright, with just someone called Dayja getting through. Savannah had worked pretty hard to get them organised but gets cut and isn't so happy. Yes, she seemed the more confident on stage but she looked a bit harsh and older than an Idol might be expected to which may not be a good reason for cutting her but she wasn't that brilliant anyway. I don't see the one that did go through getting much further.

Next Kriss, Janel Stanley, Cristabel Clack and a fourth whose name I missed surprisingly get through. Nicki describes them as the best audition by a group who forgot their words and rescues Janel from what seemed certain cutting to the surprise of virtually everyone, especially Keith and Mariah.

Next Sumedha, Sarina, Aubrey Cleland and Shubha.  Sumedha and Sarina are pretty useless. The other two clearly lead the way. Now this is odd as I thought Aubrey was easily the one who sang well and looked good with a certain something that is needed in this competition. But it looked as though only Shubha gets through, however, which doesn't tie with the rumours I've heard either. Maybe there will be some second chances?

Jett, Seretha, Tenna and Kiara. Seretha doesn't make it but the other three do. Kiara must be relieved as that was pretty bad and Nicky makes her view clear that she would have not have given her another chance.

Now it's the Zoanette Johnson group. She's with Erin and Lauren who were a bit weak and another Country girl (who?) They had finally managed to work out something for Knock On Wood which wasn't exactly inspiring but enough to get the big Z and Erin through. Z had a terrible hairstyle and I am beginning to think that she's going to be there just for the tv ratings, I would have dropped her by now as, whilst she's reasonable, she is way over the top,

Courtney, Alicia Dixon, Liz Shira Courtney and Liz were OK. Alicia, despite being Colton Dixon's sister, is cut and that song didn't suit her anyway. Shira comes back for some feedback. She doesn't look attractive and can hardly question all four judges who quite politely said she was useless. That was a bad audition and the only one getting through was Liz Bills, a music teacher, who seems to have done her own thing which may have been just as well with the three she was accompanying. Courtney may have been worth another try but no great loss.

Last minute morning change by some nice mannered girls Stephanie, Alex, Kalli and Holly Miller. I liked Stephanie and Kalli but it was Holly who joined Stephanie to go through.

Haley, Kree, Brittnee and Brandy did a pretty good job despite not sleeping or rehearsing much. Haley, Kree and Britnee get through. Haley was quite a surprise after getting a big telling off from Nicky who clearly was not impressed that she had gone to bed at 2:30am while the others stayed up all night. Personally, I would prefer to get some sleep and perform reasonably awake than attempt to impress without any sleep but the hand writing thing was silly. Either learn the words or make something up. Brandy Neale was the one sent home and she took that in really good humour - an attitude that many others might learn from.

Kez Ban has been quite annoying. Breanna Steer Angela Miller Janelle Arthur were all fabulous, Janelle particularly - now beginning to be my favourite. Kez Ban did behave in the end and they all get through more easily than any others so far. With the possible exception of Candice I suppose. Angela Miller is another contender that's emerging too and I think we see her doing something exceptional in the next section to be screened tomorrow.

I think the awkward stages for commentary are over now. The next show should resolve all the Top 20 Boys and Girls. I would like to know what happens to Aubrey Cleland and I really don't recall seeing Adriano Latonio and Amber Holcomb who are supposed to be doing well but why aren't we seeing them? Odd. Unless they were two of the ones I missed tonight. Watch carefully tomorrow. All should be revealed.