Let’s start with the third Love List.

• 1. LaToya London- She’s not giving up her top spot. And this week is more her style. Watch out.
  
• 2. Fantasia Barrino- Steady as ever.
  
• 3. George Huff- Big George is winning over that audience. They want him to do well.
  
• 4. Jasmine Trias- She took a step back last week. But hopefully it’s a small step.
  
• 5. Jennifer Hudson- She should do great tonight.
  
• 6. Diana DeGarmo- I’m slowly becoming a fan.
  
• 7. Amy Adams- Finally she’s off my S-list. But if she continues to be annoying, she’s back on it.
  
• 8. John Stevens- Mature for his age, but needs to learn the game of winning over that audience.
  
• 9. Camile Velasco- I continue to root for her, but she’s losing time.
  
• 10. Jon Peter Lewis- He has taken Amy’s place as most annoying in my book.
  

The Homesick

• 1. Leah LaBelle
  
• 2. Matthew Rogers

It’s Motown week. Last year, the Motown show was my favorite. I remember Corey Clarke’s version of the Isley’s This Ole Heart of Mine being my favorite song from the show. There are a few singers who should benefit from this show tonight and others who might be hurt. The Original Funk Brothers (and we’re not talking Terry and Dory) are backing up the singers tonight. Let’s go with it.

To go along with the phantom 4th judge known as The Wife, Ashford and Simpson are the guest judges. And to start off the show, Camile is doing For Once In My Life which slightly has me scratching my head. She’s doing some kind of gliding dance while singing. She actually looks like one of my cousins with her hair in the pony tail. If this doesn’t come off wrong, she’s almost too street for this competition. I think she did ok, but her stage performance is lacking big time. Randall says it was alright for him because of the rough ending. Paula says this was her best performance. Ashford loved it and Simpson says it was great. Simon says it was average and he says she has one more week in the competition. The wife says she needs to learn how to smile without making it look painful. No matter what, I still root for baby girl.

Jon Peter Lewis is next and this could get ugly. But before he gets started Randy says to Ryan that “It’s a beautiful thing” and almost hits a BBOY stance. He had the face going though. Uh oh, JPL is trying to one up my boy Corey Clarke from last year and is doing the Isley Brothers This Ole Heart Of Mine (free Corey Clarke, free Corey Clark). Bobby Brady does a decent job, but this is Motown, and he can’t hit the high notes. He gives a semi-spirited performance, but like I said, this is Motown, and also he can’t hit Ron Isely’s notes. I bet Paula thinks it was great though. Randall says he liked the look, the energy, but the voice was not there. Paula says he was in the pocket and she liked his pitch and he felt it. Simpson did the talking for Ashford and she says he served it up. Simon says he expected someone to shine and if he’s being honest, the dancing was weak, the voice wasn’t there and it was just amateurish. Bobby Brady wasn’t there tonight and the wife agreed and even called him curly. They are trying to get everyone in tonight in one hour, which is good for me, but it makes the show seem like it’s rushed. LaToya is next and she’s singing Smokey Robinson with Ooo Baby, Baby. She has new hair tonight. Not a new haircut, but new hair. She doesn’t look like Jada Pinkett Smith tonight, but she still looks good, even with new hair. It’s not my favorite performance of hers, but even on her average day, she performs circles around folks. I’m glad she did Smokedog though, as it’s a nice song. Randall says he wasn’t feeling the hair, but she brought it home. Paula says she could do no wrong and she’s beautiful. Ashford says it was beautiful. Simon says everything was good except the hair and she has a cat on her head. The wife likes her teeth.

They just showed a preview for the Rock’s new movie, Walking Tall. You know, if I wanted to be anyone in Hollywood right now, the Rock wouldn’t be a bad choice. I mean, the guy has it all right now. The looks, the larger than life personality, and that same large forehead that I have. If ya smell what I’m cookin. Next is Amy Adams singing Dancin’ In The Streets. Vocally she’s pretty good tonight. But she still has that same country sound in her voice from last week. Not sure if that’s going to hurt her or not. I know the midriff top would hurt her if I was voting. Not a good choice to show that bad boy off. Randall says it started off great, but didn’t end well. Paula dittos it. Simpson says she sounded wonderful, but it was too close to the original version. Simon says it was very safe. And then he says she looks like Jay Leno’s sister. And that my friends, is a very bad thing. At least her name isn’t Mavis. The wife says she needs to always wear long shirts. Maybe even long johns. Jon Stevens is singing My Girl. Ouch, this is going to be hard on the ears. He picks it up slightly in the middle, but he can’t find the right note to sing this song in. Might be the worst of the night thus far. But at least he didn’t bare his stomach. Randall says it was rough. He said he was singing right under the note. Paula says it was safe. Ashford says it was pure and innocent and not bad. Simon says it was abysmal. He says there wasn’t a note in tune and it was his worst week. The wife still loves him for all his deficiencies. Wait, what does that say about me? This short show is not working out because they are cutting out Simon’s comments. How can you cut Idol short? What the heck else are they going to show? Does Fox still show America’s Most Wanted or Cops? Come on. The show is so rushed and it’s hurting what people love about it. The dialogue. There’s no dialogue at all between the judges, Ryan, and the contestants.

Jennifer Hudson is singing Heat Wave and I think this is the best thus far. It suits her voice very well. She has a little too much vibrato in her voice for me though. She picks up the energy at the end and that might win her some Simon and Randall points. Let’s see what the judges say. Randall says it was good, but a little over the top. Paula says she was great. Simpson says she hit the big notes. Simon says she was entertaining, manic, mad, but good. It’s funny because Jennifer does look sort of mad when singing. If P. Diddy’s boy DDot can be the Mad Rapper, she can be the Mad Singer. The wife says she shook her lotta booty, whatever that meant. Jasmine Trias is singing You’re All I Need To Get By and George Huff is going to be doing Method Man’s part. Just kidding. It’s not that version of this song. Jasmine really hits it out of the park for me. Very unexpected for her to sing this song that well. At least to me it was. Randall is having issues tonight and is really jumpy and says she hit a great last note, but she was pitchy. Paula says it was effortless and she has control. Ashford, who wrote the song, loves her voice. What a kiss ass. Simon says she was bland last week, but it was the best they’ve seen tonight. The wife is getting sick of the flower in the hair. Actually, that’s incredible strategy. Why not do a song that the judges have either done or written before? Unless Idol picked the guest judges at the last second.

Diana Degarmo’s powerfully soulful voice is next. This week should be one of her better ones. Let’s see. She’s singing Do You Love Me. This isn’t safe, that’s for sure. She reminds me so much of a miny, pudgy J-Lo, with a better voice. I’m not sure I really like it, but she gets an A for effort. The recently booted Matt Rogers was having fun with it in the audience. Idol contestants who get booted off the show and sit in the audience must be similar those annoying friends who overstay their welcome even when you give them every opportunity to leave. You know, you yawn like 12 times and wipe your eyes another 20 times and they say, “Hey, how about some monopoly.” I wonder if the people who are still on the show even talk to those who are off. Like if LaToya or Fantasia even give Leah the time of day. Randall calls it the performance of the night. Paula says she can blow. Simpson says she really did it. Simon says visually it was like a high school production, but she was vocally really good. The wife says she could really mash potato. Next is Fantasia singing I Heard It Through The Grapevine. She hasn’t even started yet, and I’m already thinking this will be great. One thing I’m picking up about Fantasia. She phrases her words very well. She also mouths them very well, but that’s a given with her ear to ear sized mouth. You can just about understand every word she sings and you can’t say that about everyone else. Let’s just say she’s my favorite so far. Randall says it was brilliant and that’s what the competition is all about. Paula says she worked the stage. I think it’s Ashford’s turn. He says she should change her name from Fantasia to Fantastic. Simon says it’s more than having a good voice and her superb performance proved his point. The wife says that she wonders what Fantasia would look like with LaToya’s new hair.

It’s up to my boy Georgie Huff to finish out the show with Ain’t Too Proud To Beg. Talk about the perfect song yet again for his voice. I’m not diggin’ Georgie’s outfit tonight, but the man is simply on a roll. He wasn’t in Fantasia’s league tonight, but he’s right behind her. Randall says it was his night. Paula says he’s a star. Simpson says George has the biggest voice and he doesn’t need a mic. Simon says he takes back the month old comment when he said George was a background Temptation singer. The wife says Georgie Huff would be stealing her heart if he looked a little more like the Rock, sans the forehead. Thanks babe. Three strikes and Seacrest out!

Let’s start with the second edition of the Love List.

• 1. LaToya London- She’s still top dog to me. Simon says she was off last week, but for once, I disagree.
  
• 2. Fantasia Barrino- She’s grown on me. Even though I’m still not a fan of her look, she’s nearly professional on stage.
  
• 3. Jasmine Trias- I’m going to wait until she has to sing something rather than a ballad before she can go any higher.
  
• 4. Jennifer Hudson- There’s one thing that’s always sure. America can screw up in voting nearly every week. She’s one of the best, not one who should’ve been close to losing last week.
  
• 5. George Huff- He’s closing in on the top four. Give him some time.
  
• 6. Diana DeGarmo- She has the pipes and the fun personality. Just needs to lay off the potato chips.
  
• 7. Jon Peter Lewis- He’s not growing on me at all. Just everyone else is irritating me more.
  
• 8. John Stevens- How can you not do Stevie justice? Lately I’ve had the strangest feeling, that John Stevens will get voted off. Not this week, but soon.
  
• 9. Camile Velasco- Baby girl needs to bring her A game to the table. She has the voice.
  
• 10. Matthew Rogers- I’m not impressed with his voice. Great guy to have a beer (or diet coke) with, but he’s not your new American Idol.
  
• 11. Amy Adams- Get rid of the pink hair and maybe I’ll like you. Actually, probably not.

The Homesick

• 1. Leah LaBelle

This week’s show is all about country music. This is going to further separate the entertainers (those who can fake it) from the pretenders. Nobody in this group has a country background. Baby Dean singing Achy Brakey Heart? This is going to be interesting and hopefully amusing. I hope they don’t do schleppy country ballads as it’s easier to do. Make them do real country songs.

Diana is up first with a Martina McBride song I’ve never heard before. I think that’s going to be the norm for this show. Unless it’s some Garth Brooks or some Willie Nelson, I’ll probably have never heard it. At least Diana is twangy. She’s also dressed for the part. Nice jean skirt and ugly top. She only needs a mullet now. I don’t like her performance. She’s done better before. By the way, the wife as the fourth judge is absent tonight so I’ll be making up her comments. The wife says she needs a longer skirt. And I’ll let you know this skirt was to her knees. Randall says it was “incredible” because she held her note for a long time. Paula says Diana is going to have a music career for a long time. Simon says Diana was bred to do this and that frightens him. He says it frightens him because it’s too effortless and she’s not in sync with her audience.

Steve Young is in the audience and if you’ve ever heard him sing, he’s there simply to watch. Georgie is next. I’m interested in hearing what country soul sounds like. Charlie Pride anyone? He’s doing John Michael Montgomery’s I Can Love You Like That. He’s not dressed for the part. Does a brown leather jacket count? He’s turning it into a soul ballad. I don’t know if it’s all that country, but I just love his voice. The wife says George looks so handsome, in a goofy way. Randall says it was good, but lacked energy. Paula says that George has the sexiest voice ever. Simon says George has a connection with his audience, but he needs his own sense of style. Up next is Fantasia Barrino and she’s singing Always On My Mind which is very interesting. But again, it’s very much a ballad. If she gets the Willie vocals on, she’ll get my vote. Thus far, my take on this is that because they are out of element, they are going very safe. And Fantasia is singing the Elvis version more so than the Willie version. It’s good. She’s the one artist who never does simply a cover. She adds more to it. The wife says she has a huge mouth, which is very true. Randall says it was controlled, but it was great. Paula says it was subdued but classy. Simon says she has proven that she’s not a one trick pony, ala Nelly Furtado, but she looks like she’s wearing her mother’s dress. Why does Paula always cut Simon off? Earth to Paula. No one wants to hear you. We want to hear Simon.

John Stevens is next. I would say that this could be fun, but he’s going safe. John is singing Roger Miller’s King Of The Road which I will say I’ve never heard before. It’s the regular John performance, but at least his song sounds like a country song. But still, it’s a country song sung by Baby Dean Martin. The wife noticed that his hair was fixed up slightly. Randall says that even though he forgot the words that he liked him tonight. I thought he did, but I thought he was just skatting or something. He did a good job of covering it up. Paula liked him as well. Simon says he’s coming into his own but is the worst dancer in American Idol’s history.

It’s time for Camile. I’m rooting for her so bad. Camile was born in the Philipines. She also has a white stepdad. I’m trying to think of a joke relating her very Filipino mom and where she found this white man, but not one creeps in my head so I will just not say one. At least not one creeps in my head that is PC. On to my girl. She’s singing the Eagles’ Desperado. It’s the R&B version, by the way. She looks so different with straight hair. I’m actually missing the nappy curls. I think she keeps herself out of last place this week with her performance. She really picks it up at the end and shows some personality on stage. The wife says she looks better with straight hair. Randall says it was all right. Paula says she loves her voice, and she did a great job. Simon says she looks great but has a feeling she was out of tune and thinks her nerves will get to her.

Jennifer Hudson is next, and my friend Blake said that if he saw her in person, he would grope her if she let him. In the package before her performance, they showed her as a fat kid and talked about her diet. Just what we wanted to see on a singing show. She’s singing Wynonna Judd. It starts out shaky, but she starts to pick it up and moves like Wynonna could never do, at least without hurting anyone. It’s a pretty boring song, and that might hurt her. The wife says she looks much better with straight hair. I guess she didn’t like Robin Quivers look. Randall says she started slowly, but he liked it. Paula and Randall say they liked her hair. Paula says her personality needs to come through more. Simon says there are better singers and performers than Jennifer. Ouch. I hope that was just to inspire her. That’s the kind of comment that America picks up on though. It could be curtains for Jennifer.

Jon Peter Lewis is next. They are showing old pictures of him. And he even looks more so like Bobby Brady. Either Bobby or a blond Alfalfa. He’s doing Kenny Rogers. But again, it’s a ballad. And he’s singing it like Elton John. I just don’t get this guy. I guess he has this odd ball charisma, but I don’t even like his voice all that much. Oh well. The wife likes the gap in his teeth. Actually she doesn’t. She says he could fit a whole piece of apple in there. Randall says he wasn’t on tonight. Paula thinks it was safe and pleasant. Simon says his voice is odd, but America seems to have fallen in love with him. He says he looks like John Boy from the Waltons. Jasmine is in. I think Jasmine has the Asian vote. So far most Asians that I have talked to are rooting for Jasmine. She’s singing Faith Hill’s Breathe. Another ballad. She’ll sing the hell out of it, but when is she going to challenge herself? Actually, I don’t like her performance at all. It almost sounds like she can’t keep up. And the reason I liked Faith’s version is because she did the Michael Jackson thing very well. MJ is great at softly singing a song and then hitting the chorus harder. That’s what Faith did. But Jasmine doesn’t do it well here. The wife thinks it’s an ok performance. Randall says it wasn’t her best performance and she wasn’t in the right key. Paula says she agrees with Randall. Simon agreed again. So we all agree that she was off tonight. But she won’t get kicked off. That’s Amy Adams’ role in tonight’s show. I can only hope.

Matt Rogers is next. He’s singing something by a group called Lonestar? His voice seems like it would be better suited for this style, but he still is off in the beginning of the song. He’s even off in the chorus. This is bad. Where’s Josh Gracin when you need him? No matter how off Josh was on some nights, he could sing songs like these. The wife says he needs to grow some more hair. Randall says it was one of his better vocals. Paula says he can be sensitive and intimate. We’ll see if Simon agrees with me. Simon says he likes Matt, but it was nausiating. He adds that it was just horrible. He agreed with me.

What timing I have. I threw Josh Gracin’s name out there and he’s sitting in the audience. And he looks handsome. Wait, the wife said that, not me. He has an album coming out in June. LaToya London is going to sing Josh’s song from last year. The Garth Brooks one where he was running around on stage losing his breath. LaToya does a killer Wanda from In Living Color. Now if she could sing with that face, I don’t know how she couldn’t win. Now this is what I’m talking about. She could’ve gone safe. She could’ve done Shania Twain, even though she’s a better singer than Shania, but she didn’t. She goes Yee Haw! From a performance standpoint, she’s the best of the night. Vocally, she takes her chances when she can, but she can’t really wail like we know. Again, she’s my top pick. Just impressive beyond impressive. And facially she’s starting to remind me of a darker Jada Pinkett Smith. The wife enjoyed it (or she would’ve if she was here). And that’s a good thing. Randall and Paula agree that it was hot. Simon says this performce is what he was waiting for. He says she took a risk and it worked.

And doing the Dixie Chicks is Amy Adams. Damn! She actually sounds good here. It’s perfect for her voice and she’s got the lip thing going on. No way she’s leaving tonight. I have to give her some props. It’s my favorite performance of hers. The wife says the pink hair is not matching the red blouse. Randall says this is her style of music and she should be doing it all the time. Paula says the song choice was great and she could release the song on the country charts and it could go number one. Simon says he for once hasn’t got a clue what to say.

If I was to choose for someone to go home, it’d have to be Matt Rogers or Jon Peter Lewis. But I know America will not make those guys go home. My fear is that poor Jennifer Hudson who is a top 5 singer in this competition is going to get the boot. And it will be unjust. Seacrest, out!

Last year, before every show, I had the Hot List which was a ranking on who I thought was doing the best and had the best chances of winning. This year, it’s now the Love List as I’m not going to worry about what Simon and the gang and America are thinking. I’m just going to go with who I liked. So if I don’t like Fantasia, but the judges love her, oh well.

Here’s the first edition of the Love List.

• 1. LaToya London- To me, she was heads and shoulders above the rest.
  
• 2. Jennifer Hudson- She definitely needs to improve on stage presense, but she has the second best voice in my opinion.
  
• 3. Jasmine Trias- The first of the Hawaiian flavor and she also has a voice that if improved slightly, could sing with the top two girls.
  
• 4. Fantasia Barrino- I’m not fond of the Macy Gray style, but she does have stage presense and seems to have worked a mic before.
  
• 5. Diana DeGarmo- She’s the young spunky type that the judges seem to like, until they freeze up at the end. She’ll get the benefit of the doubt more often than not.
  
• 6. George Huff- I love his voice, but his goofy personality will only go so far. Remember Ricky Smith?
  
• 7. John Stevens- He’s so different from everyone else, that he stands out. The nerves will get the best of him before it’s all said and done.
  
• 8. Camile Velasco- They keep calling her Lauryn Hill. Lauryn had more than just a raspy voice. She has talent. Let’s see if Camille can compare.
  
• 9. Leah LaBelle- The only one that comes into the competition already overrated. Tonight should be in her favor as she sings the R&B songs decently.
  
• 10. Matthew Rogers- His personality and charm got him in. Decent voice, but not great.
  
• 11. Jon Peter Lewis- Talk about an upset. He wormed his way in with that goofy dancing. Who’s voting anyway?
  
• 12. Amy Adams- She has more vocal talent than 3 or 4 in front of her, but she screams annoying and turned me off from word go.

Now I’m writing this before I even watch the show, so these are my thoughts before the first night of the final 12.

Tonight is “Soul Night” or whatever they want to call it. The singers have to sing songs that are R&B. No guest judge tonight. But who needs a guest judge when you’ve got the wife? First off, is the number one person on my Love List, Latoya London. She sings Ain’t Nobody and for someone who has a ton of pressure since she is the leader of the first Love List, she handles it nicely and knocks it out of the park. The wife says she’s tired and won’t be one for comments tonight and says it’s good. Randall says it was hot. Paula says Latoya will be around. Simon says it was an amazing performance. She also looked her best tonight with her hair and outfit looking spectacular. If they ended the show here and just declared her the winner, I wouldn’t mind.

Amy Adams is next. From the number one person on the inaugural Love List to the last person on the list. There’s just something about her. This is evil of me, but I hope she loses tonight so I don’t have to watch her anymore. She’s singing You Make Me Feel Brand New. It was a boring performance but vocally she was pretty good. I have a hard time thinking that she’s going to lose tonight, but I can hope can’t I? The wife says she was ok. The wife is very descriptive tonight. Randy says it was a’ight. Paula says it was a safe choice and Simon says it was boring. Maybe my wish does have a chance of being granted. Matt Rogers who is more style than substance is next. He’s singing Hard To Handle and the guy is entertaining and he has the charisma that makes you want to root for him, but vocally he’s not in the league of most of the singers here. The wife says it was good (see a trend here?). Randy says it was a good performance. Paula says he picked the right song and Simon says sounded like a second rate Tom Jones.

Camile Velasco aka Lauryn Hill Jr. sings Son Of A Preacher Man and she turns in a safe performance. The vocals are fine as I love the husky sound of her voice, but she doesn’t make it her own. There’s no emotion. Lauryn Hill in a singing competition just kills this song. That’s what Camile is going to have to do. The wife says it was good. Randall says it was safe. Paula says that Camile needs to just have fun with it and Simon says she needs to just believe in herself. I think she can turn it up a notch because the voice is already there. Jon Peter Lewis aka Bobby Brady is next with Drift Away. Is this R&B? His dancing is already starting to get cliche and it’s hurting his performance. As he bounces, so does his voice. But let’s give it up as the white boy is at least trying to entertain. The wife goes out on a limb here and says he was good. Randall says he has good vocals but needs to cut down on the dancing. Paula agrees and Simon calls him the darkhorse because of his voice. It would be a Cinderella experience if he were to win this competition.

Fantasia Barrino is next and she’s trying to win me over by singing Stevie Wonder’s Signed, Sealed, Delivered. I think she’s going to be similar to Ruben from last year as her consistency is incredible. And yes, she’s growing on me. When I first heard her, I saw the girl from Total, and I heard Macy Gray who I’m not a fan of. But tonight, she showed me something. Great job. The wife says that she’s going to be slightly more animated here and says she was good. Randy calls her a young Aretha. Paula says her performance was amazing and Simon says she’s the real thing. My boy, Georgie Huff is next and he’s singing Sittin’ On the Dock Of The Bay and I think this is going to be perfect for his voice. He has the most mature voice of the guys and vocally, the other men can’t touch him. It’s just a great performance. The wife says that George rocks. She is alive. Randall says he’s a seasoned vet and it was unbelieveable. Paula says that it was infectious and he’s the best tonight. And Simon says that George even isn’t away of how good he is.

Jennifer Hudson has to follow two incredible performances and is next with Baby I Love You. She really needs to get rid of that Robin Quivers circa 1990 hair do. She might have the best voice in the entire competition. The performance was decent, but it’s hard going after George and Fantasia. The wife is back asleep and says she was good. Randy says this group is the best top 12 from the 3 seasons. Paula says she has focus and control. Simon gets on her for oversinging and thinks she did a good job with a bad song. Randy says Simon doesn’t know what he’s talking about. John Stevens is next and this is outside of his comfort zone. I think he’s going to have issues on most nights with the style of song that he has to sing. He decides to go with Stevie Wonder’s Lately which is interesting. He is starting to remind me of Harry Connick Jr. He sings it well, but there’s no emotion in his voice. Stevie’s song is about having premonitions of his girl cheating on him. His eyes won’t let him hide his feelings because they always start to cry. John didn’t sell me on that at all. The wife says that she loves him. She’s back from the dead. Randall says it was boring as he had no passion. Paula says it was classy but safe. Simon agrees with Paula and says that John is a unique artist and is Middle America. I agree with Randall. I think John could sing The Star Spangled Banner and Prince’s Little Red Corvette and sing them exactly the same way. But hey, he’s a young kid. I admire him just for not passing out on stage.

Leah Labelle is next singing You Keep Me Hanging On and she looks really good. It’s the best I’ve seen her and her performance is nice. I haven’t liked her from the start either. The wife is not sure about Leah but agreed that she looks good tonight. Randall says it wasn’t her best. Paula says she was under on her pitch. I wonder Paula would say that if she sang Rush Rush. Simon tells her to pack her suitcase. Jasmine Trias is next and she sings Inseperable. She starts a little shaky, but she has an amazing voice. The wife says she was goooooooooooooooood. Randall says she can sing. Paula says she’s her favorite of the night. Did she forget about George already? And Simon says she’s superb. And right before the commercial, Ryan says that Simon has chest implants. That was funny.

Diana Degarmo is the last one tonight. She sings Think. She has an awesome performance, but she looks to have gained a little weight. Just a little baby fat. It was a great ending to the show. The wife says she was great. Randall says it was incredible. Paula says it was effortless and Simon says she has a good voice but he was not touched.

Man, what an incredible show. It’s going to be hard to write anything fun as these people are too good. No Carmen Rasmussens here. No Garth Brooks wannabe’s here. I think you have three levels of singers on this show. In the first tier are Latoya, Fantasia, George, Jennifer, Jasmine, and Diana. All of them have fantastic voices. Or as Lionel Ritchie would say, they are outrageous! In the second tier are Amy, Camile, Bobby Brady, and John aka Baby Dean. In the last tier are Matt and Leah. Last year, there were maybe three people in that top tier.

This was also written here.

It has been a long journey. It started a little over a year ago. The goal was to review each and every Wrestlemania before Wrestlemania XIX. I figured I could write about every match and just go by memory. Was I sure wrong. I decided to re-watch every Wrestlemania and write about everything else that was happening at the time in the WWF/WWE. It turned into a great series where I spent more time researching than writing itself. What did I get out of it? Nothing other than reliving some moments I had as a child and another reason to watch more wrestling than I should have access to. What happened is that I started writing pretty long reviews that encompassed more than just match descriptions. They became my own version of what was happening at the time and what I remembered as a child. And there was no way I was going to finish them in a month. I then decided to allow myself a full year to finish writing all the reviews, and I hit my deadline. And now, I’m going to use that material and put together two all encompassing lists. The first one which is below is the greatest matches of Wrestlemania. I will also rank the Wrestlemania’s from worst to best in a later post.

You can find reviews of Wrestlemania from XIX through the inaugural show on my profile page

The 20 Greatest Wrestlemania Matches Ever

(Some matches I considered but just missed the mark: Rock N Sock Connection vs. Evolution from Wrestlemania XX, Steve Austin vs. Shawn Michaels from Wrestlemania XIV, Rock vs. Steve Austin III from Wrestlemania XIX, Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Savage from Wrestlemania V, and Rock vs. Steve Austin from Wrestlemania XV)

20. The British Bulldogs vs. Greg “The Hammer” Valentine and Brutus Beefcake from Wrestlemania 2: The Bulldogs were crazy over as a tag team and this finally cemented them as one of the best tag teams ever in the WWF. The finish was crazy as Dynamite Kid took a bump over the top rope, but the speed of the match was awesome.

19. Hulk Hogan vs. The Rock from Wrestlemania X-8: The match itself wasn’t great, but they had the fans eating out of their hands. You can watch Hogan get himself some security and another chance to hold the strap as he steals the crowd from the Rock.

18. Bret “The Hitman” Hart vs. Rowdy Roddy Piper from Wrestlemania VIII: It was the first time I really noticed anyone break kayfabe (breaking character or the wrestlers’ code of keeping wrestling a secret) as Roddy Piper acknowledged knowing Bret Hart as a child during the build up to this match. It was a passing of the torch in a sense as Piper gave way to Hart who would hold the WWF Heavyweight Championship not too long after beating Piper here for the Intercontinental Championship.

17. Kurt Angle vs. Eddie Guerrero from Wrestlemania XX: Yes, I already have matches on this list from the latest version of Wrestlemania which took place just a few hours earlier than when I published this (March 14th). This was a match that was expected to be one of the greatest matches ever, and it wasn’t even the best match on the card. But, it doesn’t mean it was bad. This match was a slower style match than I expected, but it had it’s great spots including an interesting finish where Eddie faked an ankle injury to sneak up on Angle to pin him and yes, he lied, cheated, and probably stole the win.

16. Triangle Ladder Match from Wrestlemania 2000: This was the 16th version of the show and this was really the only good match on the card. It was an interesting match and really started the great feud between the Dudley Boyz, the Hardy Boyz, and Edge and Christian. It was a spot fest and worked well and set up things to come later in the feud.

15. Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit from Wrestlemania X-7: Wrestlemania X-7 started out slowly. By watching much of the first half of the pay per view, you would never think this was most likely the greatest PPV the WWF/WWE would ever produce. But then this match happened. It was short in time for what they did. Kurt Angle would say that this was closest to Olympic style mat wrestling anyone would ever perform in the WWF/WWE. This set the table for what was a great night.

14. Christian vs. Chris Jericho from Wrestlemania XX: Yet another match from Wrestlemania XX and not the last. This was the first match-up from this show that was classic status. The match was building to a climax in which Trish Stratus would turn heel on Jericho in a quirky ending that took away from the match. But, both guys worked their butts off and went back and forth with both guys kicking out of close pin falls.

13. The Ultimate Warrior vs. Hulk Hogan from Wrestlemania VI: If you knew these two guys were to wrestle and had to think of what the perfect match these two guys could possibly have, this is what you’d wish for. Much like Rock vs. Hogan twelve years later, they had the crowd eating out of their hands. The finish was even more impressive as Hogan went for the leg drop and missed, setting up Warrior’s finishing move and win. We’d never seen Hogan miss his leg drop before. Hogan would steal the light from Warrior by raising his hand in victory.

12. Randy “Macho Man” Savage vs. “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair from Wrestlemania VIII: It’s an underrated Wrestlemania match as far as I’m concerned. I thought it was almost as good as Savage’s match from the Wrestlemania the year before when he carried The Ultimate Warrior to the greatest match of his career. Savage and Flair went back and forth and when Savage scored the upset, I was really surprised and popped hard.

11. TLC II from Wrestlemania X-7: At Summerslam the year before, Edge and Christian, the Dudleys, and the Hardy Boyz put on a great match that consisted of what Commissioner Mick Foley said at the time was, “Tables, ladders, and chairs, oh my.” This match was the rematch and again Edge and Christian won. I thought this was the best of the series of matches between the three teams.

10. Bret “The Hitman” Hart vs. Shawn Michaels from Wrestlemania XII: This is the most overrated match in Wrestlemania history. Yes even more so than Rock vs. Hogan. Here’s the reason. You could’ve grabbed your snack, your beverage of choice, went to the bathroom a few times and not have missed much. It was a nicely put together match, but there were no pinfalls until after the 1 hour time limit. It was supposed to be an Iron Man Match. That means most falls in 1 hour. And there were none. I know some people who are huge Michaels’ fans will think I’m nuts, but I can’t put a match where I was bored throughout any higher than here.

9. Randy “Macho Man” Savage vs. The Ultimate Warrior from Wrestlemania VII: This was the best match that The Ultimate Warrior has ever been in. And it wasn’t because of him. It was because of Savage. It was a “career vs. career” match and his character did everything he could do to beat Warrior and when he couldn’t do it, he was able to understand his fate. And at that time, Elizabeth walked into the ring and she and Savage embraced. There was not a better piece of outside of the ring drama at a Wrestlemania ever.

8. Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania XIX: This was almost the show stealer from Mania XIX. It was Chris Jericho versus his idol, the Heartbreak Kid. There was also another sideline to this story as it was Shawn’s first Wrestlemania match since he put over Steve Austin at Wrestlemania XIV. They tore the house down in a back and forth classic and even though HBK won in the end, Jericho got his heat back. I understand it was Jericho’s idea to put HBK over at the end. Classic stuff.

7. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Benoit from Wrestlemania XX: If you need one reason to watch Wrestlemania XX, this is the reason. Chris Benoit seemed to be on his way to win the World Championship until it seemed Vince McMahon changed his mind and put Shawn Michaels into this match and made it a three way. The match was great as Triple H put his working boots on and even though he looked really out of shape, he did the right thing for the business and put Benoit over cleanly by submitting to the “Crippler Crossface”. HBK was great in this match as he bumped like crazy and hit one of the best “Sweet Chin Music” side kicks I’ve ever seen as it came out of nowhere to break up one of Benoit’s chances at making HHH submit. Great match overall.

6. The Rock vs. Steve Austin II from Wrestlemania X-7. With this match being like a home coming for Austin, you knew the crowd was going to react to him like crazy. But they also booed the heck out of the Rock. The guys went back and forth, kicking out of each other’s finishing holds with the dramatic two counts. In the end, Austin went with Vince McMahon turning heel in one of the biggest booking mistakes ever. But, before business went bad, this match was just an awesome display between two of the biggest stars the business has ever seen.

5. Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar from Wrestlemania XIX: The drama was there. Kurt was wrestling with a broken neck. Brock was on the biggest scene of his career. There wasn’t much room for error. These guys put on a wrestling show going back and forth and even persevered through Brock’s near crippling miss of a “Shooting Star Press” where he landed on his head. Angle with his broken neck was tremendous. Just pure wrestling at it’s best.

4. Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon from Wrestlemania X: The match was maybe the most pioneering match in today’s wrestling. We hadn’t seen a ladder match on television before and to do it on the biggest stage was risky, considering Razor wasn’t really on Michaels’ level. But Shawn put on a masterful performance in taking bumps that wouldn’t be seen as all that outrageous today, but for the time were breath taking. And most importantly, they weren’t put together just to have a high spot, they made sense.

3. Bret “The Hitman” Hart vs. Owen Hart from Wrestlemania X: This was Bret’s first of two matches at Wrestlemania X and he and his late brother Owen, put on a classic performance. It wasn’t known if Owen could keep up with his older brother, mostly because he hadn’t yet got the chance, but for those who had followed Owen knew that he was second to only Bret in the Hart family of wrestlers. The match was even made more so because Owen upset his brother and legitimately made his career in the WWF/WWE.

2. Steve Austin vs. Bret “The Hitman” Hart from Wrestlemania 13: This was the only noteworthy thing on this entire card. It was the match that cemented Steve Austin as a true player in the WWF/WWE and also did two things. First, it turned Austin face and he happened to become the biggest face this side of Hulk Hogan and it also turned Bret heel. The ending was probably the greatest finish to a Wrestlemania match as it was an “I Quit” match and you really didn’t see either guy quitting. Bret Hart put Austin in the “Sharp Shooter” and instead of tapping out, Austin passed out in a pool of blood. Austin’s bloody face was then put on T-shirts and sold tons. Blood of a stone. Ken Shamrock was the guest referee here.

1. Randy “Macho Man” Savage vs. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat from Wrestlemania III: Some people will probably say that this match has slightly aged and might not compare in drama to one of the better matches today. Some people might also say that this match is hurt by the fact that Steamboat had better matches with Ric Flair some two years later. But I don’t care. To me, this is where wrestling started. Yah, Vince went national and had already produced two supercards in Wrestlemania and Wrestlemania 2. But here you had two guys, both being right under Hogan, tear the house down in the biggest PPV of the time. It was the biggest stage and both guys put on the greatest match on one of the greatest shows. The back and forth between them was great and when Steamboat finally got revenge on Savage, I thought I’d just seen the greatest thing ever. It still has that effect on me.

Next: Wrestlemania Ranked From Worst To Best

This is the last show before the final 12 duke it out for the title of American Idol. It’s also the most interesting of the shows because it’s the wild card show. These are the group of kids who just didn’t touch America’s heartstrings in the first four shows, and now they’re back to see if they can make it, or simply lose again. Nothing worse than being a two time loser. There is some good news. Out of the twelve, four will make it. America will pick one via the voting and Simon, Paula, and Randall will pick the other three. That will give us the final 12. How much do you want to make a bet that Simon picks a female?

Here are the 12, and I’ll post what I said about them the first time. My new comments and predictions are in italics.

Elizabeth LeTendre: She (Elizabeth) goes right into Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance. To me, this is the wrong song for her as her voice is much deeper than Miss Crack Is Wack Houston. She tries to bring energy which is good, and overall I think she does a nice job, but the outfit is not good at all. The boots have to go. I don’t like her look, but can’t take anything away from her voice. Even then, there are people with better voices left.

Eric Yoder: Eric does In The Still Of The Night which is interesting because I just heard Boyz II Men’s version of the song today. Eric does sound a lot like Clay, with slightly less powerful vocals. It’s going to be interesting how the judges like him. I think he comes off really strong at the end as he shows off his vocals. I bet Paula loves him. I like him. I might be one of the only ones, but I think he can add something to the show. Definitely a sleeper and is my sleeper pick to get in the final twelve.

George Huff : He goes with Always and Forever, but it doesn’t seem like it fits his voice. Towards the middle he starts to pick it up, but let’s see if it’s too late for the judges. George is my dawg (ala Randy Jackson). He needs a very strong performance tonight. I predict he does it.

Jennifer Hudson: She’s singing John Lennon’s Imagine, which is an interesting song for her. She’s got a helluva voice. I thought she got robbed earlier and she definitely deserves to make it. Great voice.

Jon Peter Lewis: Jon Peter Lewis who looks like a grown up Bobby Brady is next. He’s the pen salesman. He’s got a Ben Folds like quirky personality. I don’t really know the song so I’m not sure how it’s supposed to be done, but he is struggling in the beginning. He picks up steam in the end and finishes it off nicely. Bobby Brady factor aside, I think he can slip in here. He’s different, much like John from last week. I don’t see him doing it, but he might just be quirky enough to get in.

Katie Webber: Definitely a cutie pie. She’s doing a jazz number and actually has a much better voice than I thought. As long as the judges feel the fun that she’s showing, I think she’ll fare well. She needs to be on this show. I have a feeling that unless Simon picks her, that she’s not going to make it. I think she just misses out, but for the sake of SJSU, I hope I’m wrong.

Leah LaBelle: Leah Labelle is a youngster. At 17 years old, she’s still in High School and she’s the one with the mom who was the pop star in Bulgaria and won the first ever Bulgarian Idol. Actually, maybe if they had the show 20 years ago she would’ve. She goes Whitney too and I don’t think it’s very good. She’s singing I Have Nothing and it’s bad. I don’t think she’s good at all. And she has the diva complex big time.

Lisa Leuschner: Lisa Leuschner, the one who Simon said had a big ass, in slightly nicer words, is next. Lisa is singing Sweet Thing. She has that deep voice, but it’s slightly different than what I expected from her. I expected Amy Grant and I get Mary J. Blige. Definitely the best of the bunch so far. She was screwed out of the original eight qualifiers. Shouldn’t even be here. She will knock it out of the park tonight and get in.

Marque Lynche: Marque Lynche is a classically trained dancer and has a ton of charisma. But he still has to follow Diana. Rather than go with something uptempo, he goes slow. And not only does he go slow, but he sings Bette Midler’s Wind Beneath My Wings. I sang that once before. But he’s doing a much better job than I did. He’s ok, but doesn’t measure up in my book to the rest of the group.

Matthew Metzger: Matt Metzger is a substitute teacher. I don’t know if his voice is as powerful as the rest of the group, but he has a fun guy feel about him. He’s singing Walkin’ In Memphis. His look is almost there. It’s like a nerdy Dylan McKay from Beverly Hills 90210. See Marque.

Suzy Vulaca: Uh oh, Tony Braxton cover. I think Unbreak My Heart is a bad song to sing for this competition because it’s so slow and doesn’t get emotional until the very end. She’s definitely got a set of pipes. I hate to say this but it’s her look that will hold her back.

Tiara Purifoy: Uh oh, it looks like she’s doing Whitney Houston. They should ban all Whitney Houston songs from the competition. That bar is set too high vocally. She’s doing I Wanna Dance With Somebody. It’s not bad. She adds a few things of her own at the end. Her look is way bad though. And for a song that talks about dancing, she doesn’t step very hard. I wasn’t impressed the first time so I don’t think she makes it a second time..

There you have it. My picks to make it to the final twelve are Eric Yoder, George Huff, Jennifer Hudson, and Lisa Leuschner. But if Katie Webber makes it, I won’t be sad.