This week's theme is songs from the year you were born. For Haterade, it's 'One Bad Apple' by The Osmonds. For Jason Block, it's '(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay' by Otis Redding. For the other Idolists, we're hoping it's more the theme of 'Dance to the Music' and less of 'Cry Like a Baby'.

After getting the obligatory baby photos from the judges and the host, we get to the pictures of the contestants. We start with the oldest contestant, Danny Gokey, who was born in 1980 and who sings Mickey Gilley's version of Stand By Me.
The Good: I do like the gospel-ish/r&b/bluesy version of the song. He dressed like a professional for the first time in the competition. He really turned the song up in the second half and put on a nice performance. Danny had a near 'moment' with the end of that song.
The Bad: It's a good thing he improved on that song in the middle, because the beginning was really pitchy. The first half felt like the a recreation of the classic Stephen King movie 'Stand By Me' with Danny's musical pitch being drained by the pond leeches.
The Jason: Good song choice....is channeling Taylor Hicks (in a good way). Great way to open the show.
The Verdict: You never want to be the first singer on a show if you sing something forgettable. This was very good and Danny should be ok, assuming that we get our traditional 3 singers who stink up the joint.

Kris Allen decides to go to the beach and the ferris wheel and tells Adam Lambert that the guy operating the ferris wheel says hi. Boring. Let's hope 'All She Wants To Do Is Dance' is less boring than what I just had to listen to.
The Good: It was a nice performance. He stays in pitch, and the vocal arrangement was pleasing to listen to. He didn't do anything egregiously wrong.
The Bad: He doesn't do anything wrong, but he doesn't do anything right, either. This is a real boring interpretation of this song, something I could hear in a casino while I'm playing Pai Gow Tiles and winning another $250 on a table (which is something I did this past weekend. Go me.). This is not something that I would perform if I wanted to showcase myself in a vocal competition. And the group of females threatening to envelop him is an eerie analogy of the blandness of the song enveloping him.
The Jason: Didn't like the up tempo jazz arrangement. it was too upbeat and happy, given the song subject. The judges were spot on tonight.
The Verdict: What's missing? The fire that was in his performance last week, which made this a sing by the numbers performance tonight. And unfortunately, yes the song WAS as boring as Kris' opening speech, when he talked about wanting to be a taxi driver when he grows up. He may want to start updating that driver's license.

Lil Rounds and her family want you to know that Lil is her real name. It's short for Lilly, and not a stage name. It's not Little, and neither, she hopes is her performance of Tina Turner's 'What's Love Got To Do WIth It'.
The Good: She hits some really nice notes during the belting of the song. The arrangement was nice, and overall, it was a good, solid performance.
The Bad: The judges were right on in their assessment of Lil. It's a very good copy cat performance, but it's Tina Turner-lite, and not Lil. And the faux Tina Turner walking around the stage made me wonder if she is trying to hide a run in her stocking.
The Jason: Perfect song choice. It was a great comeback from last week. She was back. I believe the judges were wrong.
The Verdict: I actually agree with both Jason and the judges. It was a very nice performance. That being said, it was not original at all, and we're getting Karaoke Idol instead of beautiful artistry that people like Adam Lambert and Danny Gokey have been giving us. This reminds me a lot of last year's Syesha Mercado - great voice, but no potential based on bad song selection. It also reminded me of Alexis Grace's copycat 'Joleen', but unlike Grace, Rounds sang this song very well. I think the good performance keeps her safe, but if she keeps the same path of singing other people's songs well but not creating her own spin on them, she's looking at 3rd or 4th place.

Anoop Desai is happy that his UNC Tar Heels won the title on Monday. He is unhappy at his own behavior last week and apologizes for snapping at Kara (which I think led to him being at the bottom). He decides to atone for his mistakes and sings...Cyndi Lauper's 'True Colors'? Really?
The Good: Like everyone else tonight, the second half of his performance really overcame the first half. He did make the version of this song his own.
The Bad: The first half of the song was so pitchy that my eardrums ran to the bathroom to show the true colors of what I had for dinner last night. And if he's a UNC fan, why in the world is he wearing a sweater that's green and white? What school colors are also green and white? Oh yes, the team that UNC defeated on Monday. That's right, Anoop's a UNC alum wearing a traitorous Michigan State colored sweater. The Tar Heel fans may be ready to sacrifice him on the Altar of Rameses.
The Jason: Interesting, risky song choice. While Kris' arrangement was a detriment to the song, this was an enhancement. I liked Anoop's softer side.
The Verdict: I hated this performance. I've heard this song performed better in previous seasons, and I did not like the risks that he put into it. More importantly, Anoop is becoming less likable per week, and unless he pulls out some really good songs in the next few weeks, his time to leave may be coming sooner rather than later.

Scott MacIntyre wanted to play with trains in 1985. He does get points with me for dressing up as Mortal Kombat's Scorpion for Halloween. Will he score points with America for 'The Search is Over'?
The Good: Scott shows us that he is gifted on using more than one instrument skillfully with his hands. We're talking about a guitar (Mind. Out of. Guitar...I mean Gutter). He does listen to Paula's advice and steps away from the piano with a guitar, and I will give him points for attempting something that difficult.
The Bad: If playing the guitar means that he is going to be out of pitch, mutilate the enitire money section of the song and be as emotional as cardboard, then he needs to go running back to that piano as quickly as the ex-head of General Motors ran to his golden parachute. Scott should not be arguing with the judges at all after that train wreck - he is as punky as white bread, which made the performance that much moldier. And I would let him dress up as Scorpion and spear my tv set's audio instead of listening to that dreck again.
The Jason: Bad song choice. It just was out of place. He missed a ton of high notes. I think we know who's search is over.
The Verdict: The 'Search is Over'...to find someone who will be in the bottom three.

Allison Iraheta is the only 1990's baby in the group. She needs to bounce back from her second trip at the bottom last week, so she selects Bonnie Raitt's 'I Can't Make You Love Me'. Will America love her?
The Good: This is a perfect song choice not only for her, but it's a perfect fit for her vocal tone and range. She performs the song smooth and effortlessly. And the wardrobe designer from last week either atoned from the Singapore-styled caning she must have received or was replaced via bodily donation to the Saw movie franchise.
The Bad: Bonnie Raitt's 'I Can't Make You Love Me' has only been performed 18,069 times on this show. Feel like you're in trouble and need a good song? Then select 'I Can't Make You Love Me', which goes along with 'Saving All My Love For You' as songs that need to be banned as rebound songs for people who need votes. Do you really want to be an American Idol? Then sing something new and challenge yourself instead of a cop out song.
The Jason: What a major comeback from last week. This was just great stuff.
The Verdict: Randy says that Allison reminds him of Kelly Clarkson. I say she still reminds me of Nikki McKibbin. Either way, her audience knew she was in trouble and will bail her out due to her strong performance tonight.

Matt Giraud, who was born in Michigan in 1985, shows us scenes from his acting career. Can his singing career on American Idol continue with 'Part Time Lover'?
The Good: Like Scott, I'll give Matt points for making the song his own. He was daring on the microphone. He has really nice rifts during the song, which begs to be altered. Fortunately (and unlike other singers during the past few weeks), the vocal changes that he made to the song worked.
The Bad: This praise was for the second half of the song. What was up with the lethargic beginning, where it felt like I was looking for a part time lover to keep myself awake? The opening was terrible. Bad arrangement. Bad attempt to keep the song in tune. Bad bad bad bad bad.
The Jason: Liked the arrangement. Basically sang in his wheelhouse. Good, solid performance.
The Verdict: I didn't like this nearly as much as everyone else did. But if you can ignore the first 25 second blip of the song, this was a fairly decent vocal. Standing Ovation Worthy? No. Good enough to keep him out of the bottom? Probably.

Finally, Adam Lambert wants to give us some sanity for the evening with Tears for Fears 'Mad World'. Will we be fevierish with joy or just outraged?
The Good: The most impressive part of this performance is that for all of the extensive pyrotechnics and outlandish costumes that Adam has used previously, all he needed for what basically accounts for his most impressive performance ever is him sitting down on a chair, standing up, and limited movement, with full attention to be paid to his vocals. Great work.
The Bad: So the intention is to make it dark around him, not to completely obscure his face, so boo for that. And an additional boo to the Idol Producers who made the show run past it's scheduled time, which prevented million of people from seeing that performance. Then again, maybe the producers wanted to shield us from Adam's last note, which made some raccoons outside my apartment go mad.
The Jason: I don't think anyone outside of video gamers who saw the Gears of Wars 2 ad would realize that the performance was absolutely fantastic. This is the third week in a row where Adam Lambert has stolen the show. I am predicting it now. Lock him in the finals. He is one of your final 2.
The Verdict: Forget the musical dropsie. It was far and away the best performance of the night, if not the whole season. If Adam was clearly not the front-runner before, he is now.

Overall Verdict: So tonight, you had the 2 rockers...and everyone else. Danny Gokey was also good, but after that, you have potentially 5 people to put in your bottom 3. I think Lil and Matt were both good enough, so I think the worst 3 is pretty much self-explanatory here:

Trouble: Kris Allen, Anoop Desai, Scott MacIntyre

Anoop knows his fans are on alert because he was in the bottom last week, and I could see Anoop not being here and Matt replacing him instead, but I think that Anoop's fading charsima and actions of the past week keeps him in the bottom for at least one more week. I don't think he falls in the bottom 2 though - Scott and Kris will. Scott's fans, however, know that he was in danger, and they will call to bail him out.

That leaves us with Kris. He didn't sing good enough to get votes. Worse, he didn't give the impression that he wa s in danger, which means that people won't vote for him. The one thing that's worse than being bad is being mediocre. And the round of 8 is usually when bad things happen to mediocre people - just ask Michael Johns. Add a very early opening slot where his performance got overshadowed, and I think you have your first upset of the season.

OUT: Kris Allen

The Jason: To me, it is obvious who is going home. While I liked Lil Rounds performance a lot more than the judges did, this will be her first time in the bottom 3. Kris Allen's arrangement of 'All She Wants To Do Is Dance' was pathetic at best, and Scott MacIntyre, well...he tried.

Trouble: Kris Allen, Lil Rounds, Scott MacIntyre

So who goes home? Lil Rounds is the only R&B Female out there and has a huge fan base. She stays. Kris Allen has a fan base of all the Ashley Perls out there. That leaves only one person - the man who unfortunately tried to go out of the box and failed miserably doing it.

OUT: Scott MacIntyre

Join us in 24 hours to see who will be retracing their childhood years back home.