American Idol: Top 11

**Spoiler Alert** If you haven't watched Tuesday night's show yet, come back after you have had a chance to watch!

Tonight was a tribute to The Grand Old Opry. One of my favorite country stars, Randy Travis was Mentor this week. While I really enjoy country music, I usually dread country week on Idol. Simon doesn't like this genre, and is ALWAYS negative, even when the Contestant does a really good job in my opinion. So I'm already on pins and needles! Here we go:

Michael Sarver started us out this evening with his version of "Ain't goin' down 'til the sun comes up" by Garth Brooks. His performance was okay for Larry and I. The judges weren't all that impressed, and then he made the mistake of talking back to them. PEOPLE! Do NOT talk back to the judges! They are trying to help you! No Vote

The little 16 year old was up next. Allison Iraheta chose Patty Loveless' "Blame it on your heart". WOW! She put a blue-sy twist to this song that I really liked. The judges really liked it too, and all Randy had to say was DOPE! VOTE

Our local boy, Kris Allen chose one of my very favorite Garth Brooks songs. "To make you feel my love" from the movie Hope Floats. I'll be honest, even though Kris is from Arkansas, I've always struggled with enjoying his performances. I've really been on the fence with him. I feel like I SHOULD like him, because of the local connection. Tonight Kris won me over. He came out with no guitar and just SANG. Simon said it was a terrific song choice, and Randy called him a "tender Dawg". All I know is, VOTE.

Lil Rounds was next and she chose "Independence Day" by Martina McBride. She was nervous about her performance, because this isn't really her music of choice. She wanted to honor the music and I really felt like she did a good job. She looked really pretty too. The judges weren't fans of her performance tonight. This is where I have to remind myself that I will not vote for everyone, because it just doesn't make sense. So I initially had her down as a vote, but after everyone was done, there were others I felt more deserving tonight. No vote.

Adam Lambert went with "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash. I don't know where he found this version of the song, but I am not a fan. I didn't care for it, AT ALL. Paula is hitting the sauce again tonight and she apparently liked it, although it was hard to tell what she really meant carrying on and ON. No Vote.

Scott MacIntyre performed "Wild Angels" by Martina McBride. I think he did a good job of making it his own. Paula thinks he needs to not play the piano every time. I like his story, but I don't see him going all the way, so tonight for me it was a No Vote.

"Little Dolly", Alexis Grace performed "Jolene" by Dolly Parton. She changed it up just enough to make it her own. I really liked it. VOTE.

My Favorite, Danny Gokey was next. Going to commercial they said he was going to do a Carrie Underwood song and I immediately said to Larry he's going to do "Jesus, Take the Wheel". Sure Enough! I scared my Handsome Prince (and myself!) with my uncanny ability to predict this correctly. GOOSEBUMPS. VOTE.

Anoop Desai had some serious work to do tonight. Simon told him last week that he didn't deserve to be in the Top 13. He took that to heart and really wanted to prove he DID belong here. I was scared for him when he revealed his song choice was "You were always on my mind" by Willie Nelson. Let me just say: NOOP DAWG IS BACK! (and yes, I did say this before Paula) He did a very good job, and Simon even said that he went "from zero to Hero" this week. VOTE.

Megan Joy Corkrey chose "I go out walking after Midnight" by Patsy Cline. Patsy is one of my girls, DON'T mess with Patsy! Megan has not been one of my favorites, but she actually did a pretty good job. And then I found out she has the flu, and has been in and out of the hospital this week. Great job, but No Vote.

Matt Giraud was the final performance tonight. He chose another Carrie Underwood song, "So Small". Matt was back at the piano and definitely in his comfort zone. WOW! VOTE.


So, to sum tonight's performances up in MY opinion, the bottom two were Michael and Adam. Everyone else did really good and we had "vote" by all of their names at one point. I had to make some tough choices tonight. I have high standards I must uphold! You just shouldn't vote for everyone. So here is who I ended up calling in for tonight:

Allison
Kris
Alexis
DANNY
Anoop
Matt

Do you have a favorite yet? Let's discuss!