SPOILER!!! Top 6 - Idol Gives Back/Songs of Inspiration

So I was lucky enough to get tickets to tonite's taping of the Top 6 show: Songs of Inspiration/Idol Gives Back. Because of the super 2-hour results/concerts on Wed they will be using Tuesday's normal slot as rehearsal time. So for this week only they filmed the regular show on Monday to air Tuesday night. So I got to see the show before everyone else, and I gotta say it's going to be AWESOME! Personally, I think it's the best show of the season so far. There were great performances and, mixed with the clips of Africa and the US, it's going to be a powerful, great show. I am going to go ahead and do my normal critiques of each performance. If you want to go ahead and be spoiled just highlight the rest of the text. If not, then wait until you watch the show tomorrow and then come back and see what I thought.

Chris - "If I Could Change The World". He chose an uptempo song which I thought was a little odd since it's supposed to be inspirational but when I heard the lyrics I got it. Chris started out just sitting on a chair but by the 2nd verse he was up and doing his normal thing. This was a great song choice for him. He nasality was nowhere to be found and his voice sounded really strong. He had fun with the song and seemed to connect with the lyrics. I thought he did great. Grade B. Judges comments: Randy - Finally the real competition has begun (assuming because Sanjaya is gone). He picked a great song and sounded good. Paula - loved the sexiness he brought to it. Sounded great. Good job. Simon - thought it was a great song choice, no nasalness, finally lived up to the potential they first saw in him at the auditions.

Melinda - "There Will Come A Day" This is a Faith Hill song but I've never heard so not sure if it's more country or pop. If it's supposed to be more country then Melinda really made that song her own because there was no country in it whatever. Instead, we got an amazing vocal and wonderful performance. She was singing her heart out. It was awesome. Grade A. Judges comments: Randy - showed them how to sing. Paula - amazing as always. Simon - loved the 1st half, 2nd half was fantastic. It was a masterclass performance.

Blake - "Imagine". I love Imagine by John Lennon. It's a beautiful, simple song that's meant to be emotional and heartfelt. However, the song does not lend itself to singing loudly and powerful. This both helps and hurts Blake. He sounded fine on the song (however, he's still need to drop his head. He raises his head at the end of every phrase and it stops him from singing fully) but we never get that "amazing" performance. However, his performance was full of sincerity and that definitely showed. Grade B-. Judges comments: Randy - It's hard to live up to the original and not be compared to it. It was good but didn't blow him away. Paula - agreed at first but then realized it's more about the emotional and Blake was full of sincerity so made the song very enjoyable because of that. Simon - agrees with both. It was ok vocally but his sincerity really lifted the performance from just being ok.

LaKisha - "I Believe". When I heard she was singing Fantasia's "I Believe" I was like 'why are you singing another Idol's song? You're gonna get kicked off!'. But then she comes out and has a little shaky start and then really turns it on. She sang the hell out of that song and blew the roof off of the place. Fantasia always performed that song with so much emotion and I think LaKisha did the same. It sounded a little different but the emotion and feeling was there. The audience went crazy for her performance. Grade A. Judges comments: Randy - It's not her best performance. He preferred Fantasia's version better. Paula - So many great singers Celine, Whitney, Chaka, etc. that are so unique. Fantasia is one of them. Hard to take her on. She preferred Fantasia's as well. Simon - Still thinks she's shouting through her song.

Phil - "The Change". Phil chose another country song since that seems to be where he's fitting in the best. He was a tiny bit off on the first few bars but then got into the groove. He improved as the song went on and ended well. However, his song choice is the weakest of the bunch. While I personally love the song, when you throw it in with the rest that have been done it's easily the weakest. Therefore his performance suffered because of it. He sounded good but he was missing some of the spark and connection he had to the song last week. Grade B-. Judges comments: I can't remember what Paula and Randy said, but Simon said that he needs to go back to putting some of the "country" in his voice that he had last week. If he does that and sticks with it he could go far in the competition.

Jordin - "You'll Never Walk Alone". I really only know this song because Kelly, Ruben and Fantasia sang it for the American Idol Christmas special after Season 3. I loved it. Kelly and Fantasia go off on that song. I was excited to see what Jordin would do since we know she has a big voice. Well, she didn't disappoint. She started out softly, had a slow crescendo and then unleashes her huge voice. She was full of emotion and her vocals were top notch. The audience was going crazy about midway through her song. Easily the best of the night! Grade A+. Judges comments: Randy - OMG, amazing! The best performance on Idol EVER! I couldn't hear what Paula said. Simon - Fantastic.

So there you have it, all of tomorrow night's spoilers. I am very excited to actually see the show again. I'm curious to see how LaKisha's performance is because the crowd absolutely loved it and the judges hated it. That was the big dispute of the night. I'm curious to see if she'll sound the same on TV or if she's actually screaming.

My bottom three would be the 3 guys because the women killed it tonite. But, if America follows what the judges say then the bottom 3 will be LaKisha, Blake and Phil. Either way, I think Phil may be going home.