Here’s my thoughts on tonight’s episode… (Michael Jackson night)

Lil Rounds: Lil Rounds was my favorite going into tonight’s episode.  She sang “The Way You Make Me Feel” tonight.  Though it’s a popular song, it’s definitely not in my top-10 MJ songs (and, I’m a fan of MJ’s).  Lil sings very well.  She doesn’t miss many notes but I didn’t think tonight it did anything to gain her any ground.  Randy, Kara, Paula (aka the dancer/clapper), and Simon all thought she did a good job so I’m alone on the complacent-towards-Lil island.

Scott MacIntyre: Ema thinks AI is exploiting Scott’s blindness as another feel-good victory story.  She’s probably right.  But, if we’ve learned anything about American reality television trends, we love crazy people and feel-good stories.  I haven’t been blown away by Scott’s voice yet (though I feel bad for saying that… because… well… you know… he’s blind and I feel bad for criticizing anyone with a disability). Scott didn’t pick an MJ song that many wouldn’t be familiar with (Keep the Faith from the Dangerous album) and he did a decent job.  Like Simon, I wasn’t a big fan of the song so it was tough to really judge his performance.

Danny Gokey: Danny’s story is a sad one; wife died a few weeks before he auditioned for AI.  He’s got sympathy from me.  Danny sang “Pretty Young Thing” from Thriller (a great album).  At this point (only three people in), he’s been the most impressive.  Nice vocals.  But, seriously, if I had a nickle every time Paula faux-cries, I’d have a lot of money.

Michael Sarver: He’s an oil-rigger and has a butt chin.  Those are two things I don’t mess with.  I’ve got to admit, when “You Are Not Alone” came out in 1995, I loved it.  I knew every word.  Actually, I still do.  It’s a good song.  You and I both know it.  When Michael sang the song, it was what I imagine a Rodney Carrington/Michael Jackson love child would sound like.  I want to like Michael Sarver (he seems likable) but I wasn’t impressed by his performance tonight.

Jasmine Murray: Simon called her the most marketable of the contestants.  I agree.  She’s 17 and has a very contemporary teenage image.  She sang “I’ll be There”, a Jackson 5 song.  I think, thus far, she’s picked the best song of the group.  It’s probably the most recognizable (esp. considering Mariah Carey’s repopularizing the song in the mid-90′s).  Though the song is a good song, her performance wasn’t anything extraordinary.

Kris Allen: I didn’t think he’d make it this far.  Other than the group episode, he wasn’t featured much.  He’s very good, though.  Kris chose a great song, “Remember the Time” off the Dangerous album (does anyone else remember the video with Magic Johnson?).  When he has his guitar, he’s better.  He definitely doesn’t have the strongest vocals but he’s one of a few that I might actually listen to after AI is over.

Allison Iraheta: She’s young.  Only 16.  I haven’t really bought into the hype surrounding her yet.  I’m not a huge fan of the lower register singing females (usually in the rock genre).  But, some people really dig that.  She sang “Give In to Me” from MJ’s Dangerous album (which is apparently a favorite tonight).  The judges liked her, I wasn’t that impressed.  By this point in the show, quite honestly, I haven’t been that impressed with many of the contestants.

Anoop Desai: I like Anoop.  When he sings R&B, it reminds me of when Michael Bolton rapped in his car in the movie Office Space; they did the job very well but it just didn’t seem right.  There’s some endearing about Anoop, though.  Tonight he sang one of the best MJ songs, “Beat It”.  Vocals (his strong suit) were only “ok”.  Nothing exceptional about his performance.  I still like him.

Jorge Nunez: My wife really likes Jorge.  He’s lovable enough.  But, have you noticed that he’s got the “make love to the camera” thing down?  I bet he lettered in it.  He sang “Never Can Say Goodbye” by the Jackson 5.  I’ve never heard the song.  I didn’t really like it all that much.  It was very Brady Bunch, 1970′s cheesy and boring.

Megan Joy: I think Megan is very marketable, too.  She doesn’t have the greatest voice and I think imitates the Duffy’s of this world but I don’t totally dislike her.  I just don’t know if she’s really going to fit into the AI pop mold.  She sang “Rockin’ Robin”, a perrenial favorite among 5 year olds.  I think her image will get her through this week but it won’t be because of her vocals.

Adam Lambert: Adam seems like one of those guys that wants to fit into the Pete Wentz crowd but secretly knows the whole song library from Bette Midler.  He’s very theatrical.  I don’t know, I could be alone but I’m just not totally buying the image he’s selling.  Tonight he sang “Black or White”.  I used to be a Macaulay Culkin fan.  Loved this song.  I think the guy from Cheers was in the video as well.  Paula Abdul had a bout of faux-tears when she talked about Lambert.  He was good.  The best of the night so far.  He’ll be here next week.  He might grow on me.

Matt Giraud: I like Matt half of the time.  At times he sings songs that I like.  Other times he butchers Coldplay songs.  His voice lends nicely to Michael Jackson songs.  He sang, “Human Nature” off of the Thriller album.  It was solid.  Not really my favorite song of the night but he did justice to it.  He should be back next week. 

Alexis Grace: Ema cheers for all the moms in the competition.  When she became a mother, she entered into the motherhood clique where you swear loyalty to mother’s in reality TV competitions.  Alexis sang one of my favorite MJ songs, “Dirty Diana”.  This song has such an infectious rhythm to it.  She did very well (though Simon and Randy disagree with me).  I think she competes with Lil Rounds for the best female in the competition.  Though, tonight, she was the best.

Who would I vote out?  Jasmine Murray & Jorge Nunez.