Once again, thanks for the comments and emails from you guys. Here's my opinions on what you've wrote in:

1. One of the reasons why Idol got out of this format after season 3 is that the people with the camera time got on the show, regardless of what they did during this session. Now they are back to it, and like you guys, I hate this also. They need to go back to Top 24 and what made them successful. Or if they must go 36, do it this way:

Week #1: Group 1: Top 3 males and females get in
Week #2: Group 2: Top 3 males and females get in
Week #3: Group 3: Top 3 males and females get in
Week #4: Remaining 18 people: Top 6 males and females get in
Voila: Top 12. And you get even more Idol time on FOX while giving the singers more exposure.

2. I'm not a Jamar Rogers groupie. I don't think he would win the competition. But I do think that he was good enough to make the Top 36 - especially given what we have heard so far. If I'm the producer, I put him in the Wild Card show, but if I'm Jamar, I work on my vocals for another year (since I would still have my Idol eligibility) and come back next season, where I would be a vocal powerhouse and should easily get in the Top 36 and make a legitimate run to win the whole thing.

3. And I have gotten some flack for the Allison Iraheta/NIkki McKibbin reference.

Here's a pic of Allison:
Now here's a pic of Nikki:
You be the judge.

One more thing: A website I'm a part of, GameShowNewsnet.com, is looking for people to vote for their favorite game shows on this year's game show awards. You can vote here: http://www.gameshownewsnet.com/extra/extra020809.html.

So going into this week, we see that of the Top 12 I predicted in the Primer, 8 of them are in this group - and as a reminder, only 3 of them are guaranteed to get into the Top 12. Way to completely mess up my predictions, guys. But that also means that tonight should be a hot night - much hotter than the vocal arsenic we've been tasting for the past 2 weeks. Once again, Jason Block will be joining us this evening. So let's get on with it. Will we have a Simon Cowell week, where Simon picks the songs? Not this week, so we get to see the contestants select the weapons of their own musical destruction.

We start the show with Von Smith who wants to continue to improve his musical stock. Will singing a little Marvin Gaye help him counter the rapidly deteriorating market?
The Good - The song is good because it shows off a vocal range. Von nails the second half of the song and hits the high notes, and he shows tremendous vocal capability.
The Bad - He was a little pitchy to start the song. And although I thought he did a good job with the song, I'm wondering whether or not it was mainstream enough for this level of the competition. And it looks like he's singing in flannel pajamas.
The Jason - The vibrato seems off...and he seems out of tune. Not a good start for me. I think he is oversinging it. I don't see where or what the judges are looking at.
The Verdict - I think it's a really strong performance to start the show. If he's in Group 1 or 2, he gets in easily with this song. The problem is that this is Group 3 and it's LOADED. Based on what we have heard so far, he easily locks up a spot in the Wild Card round if he doesn't get in. We'll have to see what everyone else does before seeing where he places in it.

Where will Taylor Vaifanua place? She's full of tears in her recaps, but she has to be amazing tonight with Alicia Keys' "If I Ain't Got You", or there will be tears tomorrow night for a different reason.
The Good - She does a competent version of the song. Although she's in her teens, she makes love to the camera and emotes in a professional manner. She has a beautiful tone to the song, and she teases us with a nice little grace note at the end.
The Bad - Like Von, a little pitchy to start off the song. I liked the song, but if this is something that she sang in Hollywood Week, she should have cranked it up a few pitches upwards, to show her vocal range, which she didn't do. Agreeing with Simon here, the result makes her look bland and boring. And the bottom half of her dress looks like a giant trash bag.
The Jason - Two things wrong with this performance...one, she was out of tune. Two: She didn't stand still...she seemed like she had a nervous tick.
The Verdict - Competent is good enough to get past groups #1 and #2. It will not be good enough here, where Kristen McNamanra and Lil Rounds, both with powerhouse voices, are lurking in the wings. She's going to have some massive problems tonight.

Someone else that may have a problem this evening? Alexander Wagner-Trugman, who has decided to listen to the internet boards and lift weights to get less dorky. He also decides to vocally workout with "I Guess Why They Call It The Blues" by Elton John, dedicating it to whoever he is having a long distance relationship with.
The Good - That's actually a great song selection. It may have been what Von Smith should have selected - and the swanky suit and tie wardrobe should have also been what Von selected. It's a great match...
The Bad - ...until the chorus started. He may have sounded like Joe Cocker in the audition, but the vocal tonight clearly gave him the vocal tone of Weird Al Yankovic. Trugman was growly and incredibly off pitch all over the place, and if I'm the microphone stand, I'm suing for assault and battery.
The Jason - I had high hopes...but this is self-indulgent dreck.
The Verdict - Apparently, Alex's long distance relationship is with Nick 'Norman Gentle' Mitchell, because he went the same route as Nick, which is visual performance over audio performance. And like Nick, Alex's effort is going to put him in the same place where it put Nick - looking for employment elsewhere in 24 hours.

Arianna Afsar is cute and she can sing during Hollywood Week. She continues to be cute with 'The Winner Takes it All' by Abba.
The Good - Great choice of song. It's a beautiful well-known song that has a nice vocal range that can be exploited.
The Bad - Unfortunately, the execution is not nearly as good as the promise. She starts off pitchy and continues to miss both the notes and the words. This is also not musical theory class, where every musical run has to be trilled out and frilly. And I have to seriously question the style and pace of the arrangement, which deserves just as much blame. She should have sang the club mix to this song. The quick, hipper, rendition have gotten the youth vote, and having to hold on to the notes for a shorter amount of time would have given her less pitch problems.
The Jason - I liked the performance...but I didn't like the runs during every verse. Too much vocal trickery. But she has a set of pipes.
The Verdict - She actually had a good song choice. The problem lies in the performance, which will cost her dearly this evening.

We are still looking for an R&B singer to make this year's Top 12. Will J'Not Joyner be the one? he certainly hopes so, as he used his kid to get to Hollywood, and his vocal to Season 8. His song to try to advance to the Top 12? "Hey There, Delilah", by the Plain White T's.
The Good - He nicely made the song his own, crooning a sweet R&B rendition of a song that's usually heard in a different style. The arrangement was beautiful and it was a smooth delivery.
The Bad - We've already heard him sing this song during Hollywood Week. And we heard him sing it better, when he wasn't vocally shaky, which he is here. And he suffers from Archuleta syndrome, in the fact that he kept his eyes closed during the whole performance. Keep the eyes opened! And if the kid brought you to the Top 36, you have to bring him to the live show.
The Jason - LOVED this arrangement. This is where R&B arrangements of a rock song work. Love it, Love it, Love it.
The Verdict - I don't think he wins the men's vote. I do think he's a strong contender for the Wild Card, and is definitely a lock for the Wild Card show.

Now it's time for the dueling group. If you remember, Nathaniel Marshall, Kristen McNamara and Nancy Wilson were in the same group during Hollywood week and had a fall out, leaving Wilson out and the other 2 singers in. It's time for the other 2 in the group to prove that they belong in the Top 12. Kristen McNamara goes first with "Give Me One Reason" by Tracy Chapman.
The Good - With the blond hair, she now look likes a singer instead of a punked out skunk. I like the choice of song and the spunk she brought to the performance. It gives you plenty of access to rock out and for us to hear that amazing high register that made me fall in love with her during Hollywood week.
The Bad - And I'm still waiting for it. What happened here? This is supposed to be the venue that she brings out her vocals and instead, she plays it way too safe. No rocking it out. No blasting the high notes. I expected 'I'm singing for my life and here's what I got' and instead I got 'Here's how the Karaoke machine works and I'll be your hostess for the evening.' Blah.
The Jason - Where I loved the arrangement in the last song, this was a horrible arrangement of a horrible song choice. What a disappointment. This is a KARAOKE performance.
The Verdict - A amazingly good performance would have locked up the Wild Card. Instead, I think she just gave the Wild Card to someone else.

Nathaniel Marshall is the other in the group of 3. His song choice is "I would Do Anything For Love", by Meat Loaf. It's never been done before, and after the next 90 seconds, we'll see if it warrants to ever be done again.
The Good - It's not a bad song selection, though I'm not sure that his voice can handle it. He is nicely groomed. The earrings are a nice shade of blue.
The Bad - The second he opened his mouth. Pitchy to start and it goes downhill from there. And the gyrations combined with his non-powered vocals makes it seems like he just finished up a stint in Kristen's Karaoke bar as a warmup before jogging over to VH1 to audition in a revival of Olivia-Newton John's video of 'Let's Get Physical', 1980's and all.
The Jason - Self-indulgent crap. Sorry, Nathaniel.
The Verdict - In 24 hours, Nathaniel and Kristen can hang out together at her bar and sing whatever they want, away from the cameras.

Next up is Joanna Pacit....no wait, she's out of the competition. Aw. Next up is really Felicia Barton, who gets in thanks to Joanna being DQ'ed. She hopes that unlike the title of the song ( "No One", by Alicia Keys), that everyone will vote for her.
The Good - She does justify the judge's choice of selecting her to go back into the competition. She brings the fire, the same fire which has been missing in a bunch of contestant's performances these past few weeks. And the leather jacket / black outfit combo makes her the best dressed chic chick.
The Bad - Unfortunately, the pitch does not justify her getting into the Top 12. She's pitchy all over the place and the song was a 'Sing it back by the numbers' performance that we'd find her closing out Kristen's Karaoke bar with after Nathaniel performed.
The Jason - Her voice sounds like Natasha Bedingfield. Joanna Who? I thought I would like this a lot...except for the pitchiness in the middle. I like it.
The Verdict - With no visible face time in a sea of people who already have fan bases, she needed a perfect performance to get in. She didn't get it.

Scott MacIntyre got a lot of face time. Too bad he didn't see any of it, because he's visually impaired. He hopes to do with our ears what he can't do with his eyes - make us see through his music with Bruce Hornsby's "Mandolin Rain".
The Good - I love this song, and it's a great selection to sing. He brought a fire and a spark that we haven't seen in this competition tonight. I also love what he did to it in the second half of the song, and he nailed the money notes at the end - maybe the first time tonight that the money notes were nailed. And the stationary target for Ryan Seacrest to hit the high 5 was a classic.
The Bad - However, I have to be fair. It's great that he faced a lot of challenges to be here, but the first half of the song was an audio mess. He needed the song to sound that good in the second half to bail out his weak performance in the first half.
The Jason - I liked it, I didn't love it. I don't know why this didn't click for me.
The Verdict - Not the best performance of the night, but his personality and his back story (not to mention the ton of air time) will advance him through.

Kendall Beard comes to us from the world of country. Her choice of song is "This One's For The Girls", by Martina McBride, which is appropriate because the only people that have been getting the Wild Cards so far are guys.
The Good - I like the fact that she's taking a risk in a genre that's not being represented well this season. And the nice blonde hair reminds me of Carrie Underwood.
The Bad - The performance, however, reminded me less of the vocal talent of Kendall Beard and more of the vocal talent of retired NBA star Kendall Gill. The pitch was terrible and the song is a dreadful choice, because it has a limited range and she did not deliver the spunky energy that this song requires. What also needs to be retired is the outfit, which makes her look like a giant lemon chiffon meringue.
The Jason - Thank you. This one is country, and not ashamed to be. Fun and personable.
The Verdict - She's trying to appeal to the country chicks (and guys, too) to vote. They will. I just don't know if her vocal was convincing enough for the mass that she needs to get her into the Top 12.

Latin singer Jorge Nunez is working on that accent. Can he make the judges forget about his accent and Hollywood issues and make them remember "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" by Elton John?
The Good - Wow. Amazing set of pipes on this kid. I know why he's in the Top 36, and I thought he'd be a dark horse, but what an amazing vocal tone and voice he has.
The Bad - That being said, you could not have picked a worse song to sing. The song choice makes a great set of pipes forgettable. I'm being stereotypical, but if this is someone who's from Puerto Rico with an accent and wants to get the vote, then he needs to pick something that gets him that Latin genre. Any song from the Jon Secada or Marc Anthony catalog would be screaming to be sung by this guy, and where as Anthony's "She Sang To Me" would have been the perfect choice, I don't know if "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" is the song that's going to get votes for him.
The Jason - I was totally shocked on this one. The kid had a set of pipes. And he emoted in the right points.
The Verdict - He has a great vocal set, but the song choice killed him. I think he's a lock to get in via the Wild Card show, but I don't think he's getting in tomorrow night.

We end the evening with Lil Rounds, who hopes that we can't be without her. That is, as she sings "Be Without You", by Mary J. Blige.
The Good - You knew she was coming out with fire, and she did. She has a great sense of attitude with the song. 'Call This Show If You Can't Be Without Me, Baby!' is one of the best vocal changes I've ever heard. That's the attitude and fire that allows a contestant to go very, very far on this program.
The Bad - She had a few vocal and spacing problems, but it's not her fault. I hated the arrangement, and the backup band made a few visible flubs which caused 'Lil to lose her place. And Mary J. Blige may want to go after the wardrobe consultant, who made her look like a giant Yield sign.
The Jason - She might get through, but this wasn't her best performance...I thought she oversang this a lot.
The Verdict - Best female performance of the night. She's a lock to advance to the Top 12.

Overall Verdict - This was a real solid show. You have 6 acts competing for 3 spots, and shame on the producers for setting up the Top 36 in this fashion, as you will have at least 2 people not getting in The Top 12 who should be there, while 2 other people who are already in are currently living on borrowed time.

One of those singers who will not have to worry tomorrow is Lil Rounds, who should be a Top 12 lock. As much as I like Taylor and Kristen, neither of them were strong enough to grab the Wild Card spot, which once again will go to a guy. But which one? If it's based on performance, then the 2 people in should be J'Not Joyner and Jorge Nunez, but it's not, and back story (along with internet fan base) does matter. I think Scott McIntyre gets the men's spot, and because I'm sensing an R&B splitting of votes between Joyner and Rounds, I think Von Smith will edge out Joyner for the Wild Card. But I think we see a lot of these people on Thursday, vying for the final 3 spots.

Picks: Lil Rounds, Scott MacIntyre, Von Smith
Bubbling Under: J'Not Joyner, Kristen McNamara, Jorge Nunez
Invited To Wild Card Show if they don't get in: Lil Rounds, Scott MacIntyre, Von Smith, J'Not Joyner, Kristen McNamara, Jorge Nunez

The Jason's Picks: Kendall Beard, Scott MacIntyre, Ju'Not Joyner
Bubbling Under: Von Smith, Felicia Barton, Lil Rounds, Jorge Nunez
Invited To Wild Card Show if they don't get in: Kendall Beard, Scott MacIntyre, Ju'Not Joyner, Von Smith, Felicia Barton, Lil Rounds, Jorge Nunez

Join us in 24 hours to see who gets in, then tune in for a special Wild Card Recap, where the final 3 candidates will be selected by the judges on Thursday.