Top 9 - Dolly Week

I ended up watching the show at a friend's so I'm doing this a little late. Let's just jump right in and you'll get my thoughts for tonight.

Brooke - "Jolene" was the obvious choice for her (in my opinion). It was the perfect song choice, she was able to utilize a small band, and she was able to really connect to the emotional aspect of the song. It's what she's been doing all along that works so well. This is the type of song that she should be focusing on for her album. I thought it was a good performance. A bit predictable but that's starting to be what we expect from Brooke now. Grade B

David C. - "Little Sparrow". I have never heard this song but I'm pretty sure it sounds nothing like what he did tonight. The fact that he was able to make Dolly Parton sound like that shows how talented he is. Still, I was only mildly impressed with him. I guess he just wasn't rocking around as much this time. Grade B.

Ramiele - Once again, she's disappointing. She has so much promise with that big voice of hers, but when she gets out on stage she seems to only use about half of it. I thought the performance was boring. She was moving around faster than the beat of the song so that was a little off putting as well. Overall, it sounded ok but there was nothing special about the performance. Grade C

Jason - "Travelin' Thru". You know, I really liked this performance. Finally Jason seemed to really be taking things seriously. He was engaged in the song, he showed some emotion, his voice showed a little range. I thought it was good (although the song really isn't). Grade B-

Carly - She was simply awesome tonight. Her voice sounded so strong. She looked like she was having fun, yet still expressed the emotion of the song. This was a great performance for her and the best of the night so far. Grade A-

David A. - Then along comes David. This performance through him back up to front runner status. His voice was full of emotion, yet his performance was subtle. It was truly a glorious performance and I loved every minute of it. Grade A

Kristy Lee - "Coat of Many Colors". It was a nice performance. Her voice fit perfectly with Dolly Parton and country songs. However, there wasn't much else to her performance. She was still pretty bland, but sounded sweet. Grade B.

Syesha - "I Will Always Love You". This was the most obvious choice coming into the week. You just knew she was going to be doing this song. I was just glad to see that she tried to stick with the Dolly version more than the Whitney version. I liked that in the end she mixed a little of both to make it her own. I thought it was a great performance. Grade B+

Michael - Not sure what the song was but I loved his gospel bluesy take to it. Combining that with last week's performance and Michael is finally living up to his potential. Grade A-

Bottom 3 are Kristy, Jason and Ramiele. If all goes well, Ramiele will be going home tomorrow night.