I'm not really sure if the guys were better tonight than last week but some of them were... either due to better song choices or simply because they'd decided to go for uptempo rather than keep to slow, droopy ballads. However, I did miss the first fifteen minutes of tonight's episode because I thought the show's telecast was at 830pm when it was actually at 8pm. Furthermore, somewhere between Scott Savol and Travis Tucker's performance, there was a call from someone who was conducting a survey on hospice awareness in Singapore -- Being the nice guy that I was, I decided to layan him abit and answered all his questions as succinctly as possible... (In reality, I was simply muttering a "yes" or a "no" on occasion, and my eyes were glued to the screen the entire time~!)

The GuysI don't know much about the song Mario Vasquez was singing but I've noticed that he has an endless array of hats -- And I thought hats were sooo yesterday until he came along... Well, just like last week, Mario was cool and slick with all the right moves. Too bad I can't say the same for Anwar Robinson cuz' he looked all legs and two left feet on stage, despite his good vocal stylings on What's Going On. He showed yet again, a weird taste for jackets (remember last week's ghastly yellow one??); this time, its an XXXL camouflage thingy. Still, at least he did better than either Joseph Murena or David Brown, both of whom, though improved from last week, were still as unimpressive as ever.

Constantine Maroulis wanted our trust that he is a true rocker and he proved his point well... but was all that tuneless screeching really necessary?? Thankfully, Scott Savol managed to ease my ruffled nerves with a smooth delivery of Never Too Much, replete with honeyed falsettos in the chorus. His new image was quite a shocker though; that guy is in dire need of a fashion consultant... Travis Tucker exhibited a few moves which looked kinda suave, but his cover of Lionel Richie's All Night Long was only mildly decent when compared against Nikko Smith's Let's Get It On -- This guy can sing!

Anthony Federov wasn't to be outdone, and he managed to impress with a passionate I Wanna Know What Love Is -- a far cry from last week's maudlin performance. Nonetheless, the best was saved 'til last; the other rocker, Bo Bice, literally brought the house down with a super-charged delivery of Whipping Post, as if to tell Simon Cowell, "You want charisma?? Take THAT, you asshole!!!" ;p

The GirlsUnlike the guys, who were either much improved or consistent in their performances, the girls didn't fare so well. I have a feeling it is due to a lethal combination of a lousy sound system and overwhelming band music... Most of the time, the girls' voices could hardly be heard over the din and thus, those with loud, uptempo numbers were sorely at a disadvantage.

Aloha Mischeaux kicked the ball rolling with an uninspiring rendition of Alicia Keys' You Don't Know My Name; I bet if she ditched her maternity clothes and that silly flower in her hair, she'd do so much better. My fave gal, Lindsay Cardinale didn't disappoint me with her breezy, uptempo number, but like the judges, I believe she has yet to demonstrate her amazing potential. Jessica Sierra managed to win the judges over with a solid delivery of Broken Wing but I was more amazed with Mikalah Gordon's simple and straight-forward vocals on God Bless The Child; it was unexpectedly brilliant~!! Unfortunately, I couldn't say the same for Celena Rae's performance, which was remarkably... forgettable.

Nadia Turner's song choice was abit odd but she managed to pull it off. And it wasn't awful... just odd. On the other hand, Amanda Avila finally showed us her Vegas-showgirl roots with an exuberant Turn The Beat Around and I really loved it~! I also love Janay Castine's pop-ish vocal tone but her performance was almost lifeless and lacking in sparkle... She didn't do justice to Blu Cantrel's fiery Hit Em Up Style at all. Similarly, Carrie Underwood stumbled at her attempt to pull-off a pseudo-country-rock number but then, I believe she has a higher chance at making it to the Top Twelve than Janay... Vonzell Solomon closed the show with a sufficiently good version of If I Ain't Got You; Needless to say, it was NOT awesome and I think Jaclyn Victor (from M'sian Idol) performed it so much better than her.

SO that's it folks, MY take on American Idol's top twenty finalists. Which two guys and two girls will be eliminated tomorrow night??? Well, I'm not tuning in to find out...

 1:20 AM