American Idol: Four

Ryan Seacrest opened the show by telling me that I had to vote tonight. I don't like being told what to do. So I'm specifically not going to vote tonight. You know what, my vote doesn't really matter at this point. The same 45 million people who voted last week and the week before will vote again this week for the same people. Those 45 million have picked their favorites, and that's all there is to it.

It's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame week. Like last week, two songs per contestant.

David C - Hungry Like the Wolf; Baba O'Reilly
I'm not sure what to think about his first song. All I hear is him singing. It actually sounds like the band and the back-up singers are only being picked up by David's mic. That being the case, it's hard to critique the first performance. The live audience heard it all better than we at home did, I'm sure. No one made mention of the lack of accompaniment. Second song is exponentially better than the first. Overall score from me is 4.

Syesha - Proud Mary; A Change is Gonna Come
I thought she was doing better with the song when she was going slow at the beginning. She kicked it into high gear with the quicker tempo and the choreography, but in doing so she sacrificed vocal stability. Not sure the risk was worth the reward. Second song isn't horrible. I mean, she starts off pretty well. But at the end when she went a capella, she lost her pitch. That made it hard for the band to come back in and compliment her. Overall, 3.

Jason - I Shot the Sheriff; Mr Tambourine Man
He's playing up the dreads on this one. Fitting for a Bob Marley song. Not impressed with this one. He's done the thing where he gets to the chorus and lets the back-ups do the work. That's just lazy to me. In his first song, he had his guitar, but it just hung down at his side. He didn't play even a chord. For the second song, he's actually playing. But he forgot a lot of the lyrics. Nice job Jason. 1.

David A - Stand By Me; Love Me Tender
I really need to try and be nice about this kid. Because it's possible he's going to win. Just because I don't like him doesn't mean he's not talented. But this is one of my favorite songs, so I'm a little weary of him. He did okay, I didn't like the arrangement, but it was okay. His second song is an Elvis song. And he admitted to not knowing it well. Really kid? It's Elvis. I know I said I'd be nice. So I refrain from comments. 3.

Jason's going home this week. No question. Find out tomorrow night.