"American Idol": Kellie Chokes Again

For the first time, a guest arranger got harsh with the contestants as David Foster took a few of them to task (I’m guessing Ace is glad he’s gone.). And one of the contestants choked for the second week in a row. Not that it will make a difference.

To the scorecard…

Katharine McPhee, “I Have Nothing”: 23 (out of 25)
Wow! The judges were seriously harsh; but I actually liked the intensity of the performance. I agree with Paula that she was pushing it, but I thought it was still solid. And she had a lot of pressure on her because Andrea Bocelli loved her.

Elliott Yamin, “A Song for You”: 23
The judges and I are totally out of sync tonight. I thought Elliott’s performance was good, but not as good as they thought it was. It was nice to see Elliott so calm and cool, but those runs he adds are his downfall. And after all that work, I don’t even think he did David Foster’s change.

Kellie Pickler, “Unchained Melody”: 18
You just know this was the song Ace was going to sing. It was gutsy for her to sing one of Simon’s all-time favorite songs, but that country arrangement guaranteed he’d hate it. And it didn’t help that she didn’t sing it very well. She started in a lousy spot in the song that was too low and then (just as David Foster warned) she didn’t show any emotion—even when she hit the high note.

Paris Bennett, “The Way We Were”: 23
Boy, the band was strange tonight. Andrea said she was spectacular. I don’t think it was that good, but it was good.

Taylor Hicks, “Just Once”: 21
David Foster said he had the most charisma, but he really didn’t show it with this one. He brought it home at the end, but he missed a lot of notes along the way.

Chris Daughtry, “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman”: 24
Of all the rocker love songs out there, he chose this one? But it did work and man, did he look good. Simon said it was very sexy.

So who’s going home? I think it’s obvious that Kellie gave the worst performance, but as I just texted to a friend of mine, there is no chance she’s going home. People love her. So, in my opinion, that leaves Katharine and Paris. Katharine got blasted by the judges for singing a well-known song and Paris seems to have worn out her welcome. I’m guessing of the two, Paris is the more vulnerable.

Don’t forget the results show will air tomorrow at 9 and will include a performance by Andrea Bocelli.