So this week, the theme is 'inspirational Music', care of Idol Gives Back. Last year, the show was surprisingly good - and even better for the contestants as no one was eliminated that week. This week? Not so much. Someone's going home. Let's see if we can figure it out...

Michael Johns , who finished it off last week, starts it off this week. His choice of song? 'Dream On' by Aerosmith.

The Good - Perfect song choice for him. He took the risk of hitting that high over octave 'A flat' note, which only a few people can pull off.

The Bad - He didn't completely connect on said 'A flat' note, though. VERY pitchy. And don't go arguing with Randy, who out-argued him. And Paula needs to shut up. A special boo to the instrumentation, who was threatening to drown Michael out if he didn't scream out the money note.

The Verdict - The problem with that performance, and I'll agree completely with Simon on this one, is that while musically nice and safe, it's a pale imitation of the artists who sang that song. The fact is that Michael will get knocked out sooner than expected because the other contestants are making the songs their own - something that Michael is not doing. Safe this week, but when he leaves in a few weeks, that will be why.

Last week, I warned Syesha Mercado to pick a song that she can vocally handle, after stalling a little on a song done by Miss Diva Whitney Houston. So what does she do this week? Violate another unwritten Idol rule and go after 'I Believe', a song my famous by Idol Season 3 Champion Fantasia Barrino. Syesha, Syesha, Syesha...

The Good - Where the heck did THAT money note come from? Wow. Great note, and she sang it really really well. I actually like her tone better than Fantasia's, so I liked the song better than when Fantasia sang it.

The Bad - We can't say that about the rest of the song, which like Michael, was pitchy all over the place. I'm still looking for the sass and attitude that we saw in the first few weeks of her performances. Where did it go? Did Ramiele stick it in her high heels before she left the show?

The Verdict - This is the show that we get the start of new people tuning in to vote. Syesha made a good choice on the song, and she will pick up fans with that performance. Will it be enough to keep her out of the bottom three? Time will tell...

Jason Castro decided to go back to his roots and sing...Somewhere Over The Rainbow? Wha?

The Good - I like the fact that he went for the cover that isn't a well-known one. If he did Judy Garland's version, I wound have contacted Glinda to drop a house on him. He executed the song very very well, and bonus points for me not thinking about The Wizard of Oz at all.

The Bad - I know why people vote for him. When he squints up into the camera and closes his eyes, he looks like Kermit the Frog. I was expecting him to break out a version of The Rainbow Connection.

The Verdict - At the beginning of the night, I was planning on putting him in the bottom three. I'm taking him out of the bottom three. I don't know who will be there yet, but it won't be Jason.

Kristy Lee Cook is trying to get out of the bottom. Will Martina McBride's 'Anyway' be the thing that keeps her out?

The Good - I'll give her credit to something that she did that Syesha didn't do - she sang actually emoted into the camera. Syesha needs to take lessons from what Kristy does and incorporate it into what she does. Good choice of song.

The Bad - Flat, flat, flat. And the song was good...but not great. She needed to be more mainstream. We know you have the country vote, but you have to get more mainstream vote with a recognizable song that's not just in the country stream. That...wasn't it.

The Verdict - You know that piece of paper that says 'Kristy's Seat' that you showed Ryan last week? Keep it with you. You're going to need it again tomorrow.

I still have David Cook unheard of song 'Little Sparrow' song in my head. This week he's singing...another obscure song. This one is called 'Innocent' by Our Lady Peace. Will he do any better on it this week?

The Good - ........I liked the Penmanship he used when he wrote 'Give Back' on his hand with the sharpie?

The Bad - What? Was? That? Horrible pitch, horrible spacing, And the 'give back' writing on his hand was mega-cheese. And the white jacket looked like he is ready to be sent to the asylum - which is what my eardrums are ready to be after enduring 90 seconds of that crapterpiece.

The Verdict - This reminds me a lot - in a bad way - of Constantine Maroulis' performance the week he was booted. This is the second straight week of an underwhelming performance, and if I'm David Cook, I should be visibly concerned about tomorrow night.

Thanks to the major gaffe by Cook, Carly Smithson is now in prime shape to grab some rock votes. Can she do it with Queen's 'The Show Must Go On?'

The Good - She looks well-groomed this evening. She also finally gets the wardrobe correct...sort of. At least she doesn't look like The Bride of Frankenstein.

The Bad - Instead, she looked like she was going to a pool party - and she sang like she was in the pool, which was also occupied by 3,000 electric eels. I was waiting to say this to Syesha Mercado. I'm going to say it to Carly instead. The song was way too big for you. And there were at least three noticeable major gaffes in the singing which made her sound like one of those eels got into her bathing suit.

The Verdict - Absolutely terrible. She needs to take a piece of Kristy Lee Cook's notepad and write down 'Carly's Seat', since she will be sitting in one of those three ugly stools.

David Archuleta had problems picking out an inspirational song...because he's done one every week. Kidding...sort of. This week's selection by dadd...I mean David is 'Angels' by Robbie Williams.

The Good - David + ballad + second half = cash money, baby. David just does not screw up the finale of a slow song, which is beautiful. And he can play the piano.

The Bad - Very shaky first half. I don't know if that piano brought anything to the performance. I know the song didn't - it's a nice song, but on a night where a lot more people are watching, he has to pick a better song than a UK classic. He's not on UK Idol.

The Verdict - Probably the best performance of the night (I don't expect Brooke to outsing him), and since some of the other top competitors faltered, he's in a prime position to grab a lot of new votes. The strong just got stronger...

Brooke White finishes the evening with some Carole King. 'You've Got a Friend' is the song. Will she have a friend in the form of the voting audience?

The Good - She leaves someone else to play the piano, which is a good move. It gives her a chance to focus on the music, which she does a much better job on this week. Actually, it's one of the best 'last' songs that have been done in a while.

The Bad - For the second straight week, she does nothing from a vocal range point. I don't think it hurts her this week, but she has to find something that's more vocally challenging if she wants to hang with the big voices in the upcoming weeks.

The Verdict - She gets outsung by Jason Castro, but with the bad performances this evening, all she needed to do was be semi-competent and all of her fans would come dialing to save her so she woudln't fall in the bottom three again. Mission accomplished.

The Final Verdict - Clearly not as good as last year's Idol Gives Back. You still had some good performances in the form of Archuleta, Castro and White, who would have been safe anyways because her fans were given notice last week. This week is a bit tough to try to figure out, because the singers who did the worst have fan bases and the singers who did well do not have good fan bases. Hence, I'll put in a few of each...

TROUBLE - Kristy Lee Cook, David Cook, Carly Smithson

It wouldn't shock me if Syesha Mercado or Michael Johns makes their way down there, but David Cook was bad enough to be sent down there and Kristy Lee Cook just doesn't have the fan base to get out of the bottom three. However, the surprise will be when she isn't in the bottom two, leaving the rockers to battle it out. Quite frankly, 3 rockers in the top 8 is too many historically, and we have to start weeding out genres. So which rocker leaves? The male one who was awful or the female one who was awful? I'll go with the one who has already been in the bottom three and who will see her fan base this week move over to Brooke White, leaving her with nothing to save herself with.

OUT - Carly Smithson

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