Naima – What on earth?  Jerky dancing, jerky singing.  You don’t do that to a classic from Ms. Tina Turner!  You are the weakest link.  Goodbye.

Paul – What on earth part two.  We are doing a double elimination tomorrow.  No?  Dang it.

Thia – Didn’t I say the Disney was coming? I called it on March 4: “If Thia starts breaking out Disney soundtrack hits, I’m going to need counseling.”  Yep.  There it was folks and we are only at week two of the finals.  I’m done.  ZZZZZZZZZZZZ. 

James – This felt a bit predictable and boring for me.  I liked him better last week.  Steven was right that his performance verged into pop land.

Haley – Randy’s right.  She has no clue who she wants to be as an artist.  That was clear when she hopped to country last week.  She’ll probably hang on for another week or two.  Not the worst in the group, but she’s not helping herself. 

Stefano – I do think he has a nice voice and he’s quietly moving forward and up in terms of his stage presence and singing.  Maybe it is the song, which I don’t like, that made this a “just okay” performance for me.  He was in the top 3 of performers for me.

Pia – The ballads are going to get old.  She sang well, but I didn’t get the same sense of tapped in emotion as from her earlier performances.  And, um producers, please put away the Casio keyboard techno beats you’ve fallen in love with this season.  She was good enough for my top 3, but needs to change it up next week. 

Scotty – His style of country isn’t my thing.  Could that be why all his songs are sounding like one?  His limited range doesn’t help either.  I know some people will love this and he does have good stage presence, but meh.

Karen – Okay Karen.  What is the point of rambling into a few Spanish lines for sport?  It felt like tossing it in for points versus feelings.  And did you rob a Barbarella exhibit on the way to the stage?  Nothing special about this performance.

Casey – Now he got a handful of points for bringing us some Nirvana “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”  He then lost said points as his voice moved into a strained, animal in distress sound as he entered the chorus.  Then I looked up.  Egad!!!  He looked like a psychopath getting ready to launch into a crowd with a knife in each hand.  What was that grimace, teeth-baring thing?  He likes it when J-Lo says he’s sexy, but dude that was far far far from sexy.  Yikes, I just saw the playback and jumped again. 

Lauren – Too bad they didn’t quarantine her.  I get this feeling from her that she’s playing country star dress up.  Singing Melissa Etheridge’s “I’m the Only One,” I felt no believable passion from her.  Yes, I get that she’s 16, but get some acting skills, tap into some life emotion or don’t sing it.  She even broke in the middle to ask for some audience participation.  Bad karaoke.  What on earth were the judges hearing and pimping?

Jacob – Heart’s “Alone.”  I so did not see that coming from him.  I’ll give him Casey’s lost points for the unique choice since he’s a gospel-rooted singer.  He got a little off-pitch as he screamed higher, but he is example number one of a singer with passion.  I felt and believed what he was singing to me.  The vocal wasn’t perfect, but I enjoyed the performance and he’s in my top 3 of the night.

Update:  I didn’t sleep so well last night and I blame it on Casey and that face.  He looked like one of the rage virus infected from 28 Days Later.  Based on last night’s performances alone, my bottom three would be definitely Naima and Paul with a toss-up between Karen and Haley.  I lean towards Haley because her stage presence was also so awkward.  Either way, I think Naima is going home.