I sat down with my iPad, my TiVo, and idol. Heres my thoughts, put down in real time without significant edits:

Naima. Whats love got to do with it.  Pitchy but she’s very comfortable on stage. Moves well, confident. She’s probably not bad enough to go, but she’s not moving forward either. I think the judges are right that the pitch thing is going to get her if she doesnt correct it soon.

Thia. Missed this one because my cable blinked out. I’ll have to cede to the judges that didn’t seem impressed at all. The highlight seems to show they were right.

Paul. Apparently I missed this too. Damn you comcast. The small highlight tells me it was a pretty typical Paul performance, but a better song choice for America. He’ll likely get through this one.

James. I’ll be there for you.  seems to realize that james’ tourettes is endearing to many. I don’t think he’ll have to use the mckibbin card, but it’s there for him. Beats is getting a lot of on camera love.. Wonder how much that cost hp. Bon jovi isn’t his sweet spot. He showed that he lacks the polish that lambert had from day one as well. Boring song, but enough to get thru, which is the key at this point. 

Haley. Im your baby tonight  I thought she was younger, not that 1990 is old. I do like iovine and the other producers involvement, but I’m not sure america gets it. This isnt good. It sounds like Corinne Bailey Rae covering Whitney. No that might be cool. This is karaoke and Simon would say so. The edge in her voice in the bridge is nice, but just nice. She got lipstick all over her face from the mic too. Should be enough to get thru. 

Stefano. If you dont know me by now  Wait milli vanilli and new kids are winners? Credit for picking a hucknall classic, tho it’s immediately something he can’t live up to, has to make it his own. Early I get a bit of Frankie valli from him that I hadnt noticed before. Why does he have a monitor when no one else did? He was pretty good, but not exciting. I’m still not sure who he really is and I certainly don’t love him the way the judges did. 

Pia. Where do broken hearts go. Second Whitney song on the night, but she should carry it. Not a fan of the arrangement but that’s not on her. She killed it. The McPhee comparison is jumping here. She doesn’t have much room for error on demographics, but she hasn’t needed it so far. 

Scotty. Can i trust you with my heart  Um, I’m pretty sure his father is Ricky Bobby. Travis tritt song is smart for him, but iodine is also right that it’s going to seem very safe. I’ll steal randys line and say this is low degree of difficulty. The majority of viewers likely don’t know this tune too. Good enough but not great. 

Karen. Love will lead you back. Her hair can pick up directv, so he’s got that going for her. Her performance is overwrought but I guess the song is that anyway. Id kill to hear her do Gloria Estefan at this stage. The Spanish turn at the end is just confusing. It’s not a bad performance, but I’m not sure it’s enough to keep her out of the bottom three again. 

Casey. Smells like teen spirit. Woo. That’s a weird, tough song pick. Iovine is looking at him Ike he’s nuts. Plus he’s playing bass. Wow. It’s a weird performance, a bit too manic for this venue. Not bad, just … Idol only accepts change to a certain level and I think this might have been a bit much. It’s early enough and he’s been good enough that I think he gets away with it, but he’s going so far out there that one of these weeks, he’s going to crash. I have no idea what Lopez wants with a pleasant nirvana. 

Lauren. Im the only one. I like the pick of an etheridge song. it’s a bit twangier than I expected. My friend points out that she looks like Tammy Faye Bakker, which is true. Again, not a great performance, but she’s one of few really likable contestants so far. 

Jacob. Alone. Another interesting choice of song. He can do it but even done well, it will sound a bit odd. He’s a poppy Antony Johnson. There was some gospel, but he got a bit screamy at the end. I like that he controlled the vibrato pretty well and had a nice controlled ending. Solid work and I really agree with Randy on this one. 

Early guess is that the bottom three will be Thia, Karen and Casey. I’m not solid on that last one. Overall a pretty strong night for everyone and several took real steps forward.