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!

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