Bottom Half Shake Up

50's Night truly separated the top of the heap even further. This has to be the strongest top five in Idol history. Most seasons you easily forget everyone but the top two, with a handful of exceptions. This year, five of the contestants are going to have strong careers. Here's my top-eleven. Small change in the top-five (which will probably happen every week, since 3-5 are all VERY close to each other). Big changes in the bottom.

1. Chris Daughtery - Two weeks in a row he has done a performance that could easily be at the top of the charts next week. He is smart, rearranging I Walk The Line to sound like a Chris Daughtery song. Brilliant, as always. Simon complemented him by saying that he is the first "rocker-type" that refuses to compromise himself. VERY True. Simon Cowell - Voice of Reason.

2. Paris Bennett - Other than a small hiccup vocally in the first part of her song, Fever, she was brilliant.

3. Mandisa - She had her "Kelly-Clarkson-on-Big-Band-Night" moment last night. She rocks!

4. Katharine McPhee - Solid as always. I love her voice. To me, and I'm probably crazy, the performance came off as a little to broadway/cabaret/cheese to me.



5. Taylor Hicks - Taylor didn't pick the best song last night, in that, it didn't show off his voice well enough. It was fun, but bland.

6. Lisa Tucker - The perfect example of "Good is not Good Enough." She sang well, but is once again being completely overshadowed by Paris and Mandiva. She is my prediction for who will go home tonight.

7. Kelli Pickler - I have to put her at the top of the crap pile this week, because she had a VERY strong performance, doing Patsy Cline's Walking After Midnight.

8. Elliot Yamin - This guy just bothers me. He has the personality of a rock. The judges said he sang great last night, so the must have had a different performance in the theater than we saw on T.V. I thought it was terrible the first time. After the judges praised him, I watched it a second time (with my eyes closed, so I could focus on the voice) and, while it was better, it still wasn't great.

9. Cletus - He's now 1-for-2 on attempts to put his voice into the selected genre. Why he didn't do a country song from the fifties, I'll never know. HE could have kicked butt with Walking After Midnight, ala Garth. He HAS to try and make it a country song every week, no matter what the genre is. Unfortunately, he doesn't have the musical smarts that Chris has shown, so it's probably going to get worse before it gets better.

10. Ace Young - He sang well last night, but I still want to kick his Ass. Melissa asked me last night if I only hate him because he's a pretty boy. The answer is no. I hate him because he's a pretty boy and his "name" is Ace. C'mon.

11. Chicken Little - Kevin won't be going away anytime soon, which is too bad. He's got the Vote-for-the-worst seal of (dis)approval, and unfortunately, he has a strong legitimate fan base as well. He doesn't appeal to the 8-to-80 crowd, he appeals to the 8 AND 80 crowd. He'll be the only performer to have granny-panties and disney-princess underroos thrown at him on stage. He was so beyond terrible, it's not funny anymore.