American Idol: 8

We're down to eight contestants, which means we're down to an hour long show. The theme tonight is songs from the year they were born. Did anyone else see the creepy guy from Fringe in the audience? No? Just me? Okay... moving on...

Danny Gokey - Stand By Me
This isn't the Ben E. King version. This is the 1980, Mickey Gilley version. I'm not familiar with this particular version. But it's really good. If Mickey's take on that is nearly that good, it may be worth checking out. I don't think it was Danny's best ever, but it was a pretty great performance. 4.

Kris Allen - All She Wants to Do Is Dance
The judges were talking about the arrangement of Danny's song, but I gotta say, I don't really care for the arrangement of this one. I mean, it doesn't do enough to diminish Kris' actual talent, but it doesn't help him out either. 3.

Lil Rounds - What's Love Got to Do With It?
It almost seems like she's trying to be Tina Turner with this performance. But she's really not pulling it off. I mean, it's not horrible, but there are some pitch issues early on. Toward the end it gets a little better, but not a whole lot. 2.

Anoop Desai - True Colors
You'd think that someone whose team just one the NCAA championship would be a little more upbeat. But this performance is just boring. It's like Anoop is stealing Scott's MO. There at the end he added some color to the song, but it wasn't great. 3.

Scott McIntyre - The Search is Over
Here's a shock. Scott isn't sitting behind a piano tonight. Sure didn't see that coming. In fact, he's playing the electric guitar. I'll say this, the boredom I usually feel in watching him perform is not what I'm feeling now. But I can't necessarily say that his performance is any better. It's just okay. 3.

Allison Iraheta - I Can't Make You Love Me
Her voice is perfect for this song. I think I've said before that I've never really been a fan of this girl. But I can't deny that she has a talent and it really shows with this performance. I don't normally get blown away by a slow song, but that was kind of awesome. 5.

Matt Giraud - Part Time Lovers
This is another that turns out to just be okay. The performance has some good, some bad. 3.

Adam Lambert - Mad World
Okay, I backed up the video three times and still didn't catch the title of the song from Seacrest. He needs to stop announcing stuff among the audience. They start screaming too loudly and drown him out. Listening to the song, I don't recognize it. I assume it's called Mad World. Should I know this song? '82... Sounds depressing... Is this emo before emo was a genre? Once again, this kid's talent can't be denied. 4.

My bottom three are Lil, Anoop, and Scott. Of those three, it's really a toss up as to who should go home. Based on tonight, I'd say Lil, but I think she's got the votes to keep her in. We'll find out tomorrow.