Top 5 Recap

Carly-free at last, it's time for the Top 5 of "American Idol", this time featuring a mentor I'm more familiar with. I was unfamiliar with several of the songs sung tonight, but it was better for me than Dolly Parton, Mariah Carey and Andrew Lloyd Webber weeks. I actually enjoyed the show tonight more than I have in a while. Ryan acts sad when mentioning Carly's departure last week, which confuses me. Is he under the impression that anybody misses her?

This week they're doing things differently. In order to pack ten performances into one hour the judges won't comment until after each contestant's second performance.

Getting the death spot is The Code Man. His first song is "Forever in Blue Jeans". My mother can only laugh at this performance, saying it's "way too weird". It's the same old Jason thing for me. It's nice, but not something I'd buy if I had iTunes. Yeah, you heard me, "Idol". You're wasting your time telling me to download these performances.

Up next is Combover. He's doing "I'm Alive", which is apparently an obscure song. I don't know it, but then again, I don't know many of Neil Diamond's songs that weren't played on the Oldies station when I was growing up. Combover's jacket has the "AC" from the AC/DC logo on it, apparently serving the same purpose as the fraternal initials that adorn his guitar. The vocals aren't the best, and my mother thinks he's trying to impersonate Neil Diamond. I think the song is sort of catchy, but because of the jam-packed nature of tonight's show the performance seems way too short to have any sense of completeness.

My girl Brooke White is next, and she's doing "I'm a Believer". All right! Finally we get the first Monkees performance since Rodesia Eaves' horrific "Daydream Believer"! With a guitar in her hands and a groovy purple and green backdrop behind her, Brooke rocks out for the first time. I'll admit it's not outstanding, but it's fun, doggone it. I love The Monkees, I love Brooke, and so far I've enjoyed this performance best out of the three we've seen so far. Rock on, Brooke!

Next up is Mini-Carmen. He's doing "Sweet Caroline", probably Neil Diamond's most well-known song. With all the bandwagon jumpers who joined "Red Sox Nation" in the last five years, this song has suddenly become one of America's most cherished songs. I hate the Red Sox, but I like this song. Mini-Carmen sings it well, but there are a few too many vocal licks for my liking and this chopped up arrangement doesn't work. Too much of the verse is cut out, which doesn't allow the song to build properly. This was a solid performance that could've been much better had the singer had more time.

Last (and arguably least) is Snoha. Her first song is "Hello Again". I don't know the song, but Snoha surprises me by actually singing it very well. If you can make an unfamiliar slow song interesting and somewhat memorable to the viewer you know you're doing something right. I still don't like Snoha's personality, but I'll give her credit for a pretty good performance here.

Ryan tries to get the judges to do a quick recap of what they thought of the first round of performances. Randy says Code Man was just OK, Combover was very good, Brooke was better than last week, Mini-Carmen was the bomb and Snoha was strong. Paula then gives us the most hilarious moment of the night when she says that she liked hearing the lower register on Code Man's first song, but the second song left her cold and she didn't think he seemed like he was fighting hard enough to make the Top 4. Two song comments for the price of one! For those who think the judges' comments are scripted, you may have something to make your case. Simon says Code Man was forgettable, Combover was just above average, Brooke was a nightmare, Mini-Carmen was amateurish and Snoha was too old-fashioned. Onto the second round.

Code Man gets his chance to leave Paula cold for real now with "September Morn". This guy apparently either wants to go home or just doesn't grasp the concept of picking songs strategically. Picking a slow song where you don't have the voice to give it anything special isn't the way to "wow" people. My mother says she's ready for him to go, and with the death spot that's a very real possibility. I don't think this performance is horrible, just very nondescript. Randy says it was just OK. Paula says it was too safe. Simon says it was forgettable, and that he doesn't recognize him anymore. Honestly, this guy hasn't done anything that interested me since he played the ukelele three weeks ago. I'd have no problem with him leaving.

Combover gets another turn at bat with "All I Really Need is You". The arrangement isn't quite as grungy as Combover's songs have been in the past, but it's just about as boring. I get a slight classic rock vibe from it, which I like, but overall I'm just not feeling it. Combover's voice sounds like it's wearing out, as it's grittier than usual. I'd say this performance was only slightly more memorable than either of Jason's. This is apparently another obscure song. My mother points out that he's smart to pick this obscure stuff, because not many people will compare it to the original. I guess when you're a frontrunner you can take those types of risks. Randy says he rocked the house. Paula says she feels like she's looking at the next American Idol. Simon says it was brilliant. I say "whatever". Interesting bit of trivia: The person who's performed second in the Top 5 has always gone home on "American Idol". Something tells me that will no longer be true after this week's results.

Brooke is doing "I Am...I Said". I know of this song, but I couldn't sing it for you. My knowledge of it is mainly from a really funny Dave Barry article where he makes fun of the line "And no one heard at all/Not even the chair". Dave Barry is a genius. Brooke is playing the piano this time, but she still has the lyrics written on her hand in case she forgets them like last week. I don't know how she'll be able to look at them, but perhaps it makes more sense than it appears to. Brooke seems a lot more confident behind the piano, and she really makes this song her own. It's very enjoyable, and Brooke is two for two tonight in my opinion. Randy says it was one of the tougher songs to sing and that it was nice. Paula says it worked. Simon says that it wasn't incredible, but it was a million times better than the first song. I'm nervous for Brooke's safety tonight as usual, but if she goes home this week I'm glad she'll be going home on a high note. Of course, it seems that they're trying to get rid of Jason, so perhaps Brooke needn't worry.

Mini-Carmen is next with "America". I don't know this one, but judging by the lyrics it would seem that he chose it because it was the closest thing to "inspirational" he could find in the Neil Diamond catalog. I enjoy this one much better than the first one, perhaps because I don't know the original and therefore am not comparing it. He seems to connect with the song better this time too. So yeah...this performance is cool. Randy says it was another good performance. Paula loves it. Simon says it was good and a smart song choice. I think Little David has another week of safety in him.

I was hoping Snoha would go home this week, but the producers decided to spare her by giving her the pimp spot. She's singing "Thank the Lord For the Night Time", another that I grew up hearing on the radio. She completely rearranges the song and gives it a more soulful rhythm with handclaps added in between the lines in the verse where the guitar riff usually is. My mother thinks she's really good, and I begrudgingly have to agree. Though the bad notes are there as usual, Snoha's finally showing some personality and originality in her performances. Randy says she's finally realizing who she is. Paula loves it. Simon says he liked it, but she may be in trouble tonight. Sorry, Simon. Her strong performances and the pimp spot will keep her around for another week. Of course, he was probably just trying to get her sympathy votes, since Jason seems to have fallen out of favor with the judges and he has a much bigger fanbase. I understand why Snoha got the pimp spot this week. The other four have all had it more recently than her, and she's performed early in the show the past three weeks. They owed her one. Still, I'd have no problem if she went home and broke Anthony Fedorov's record for "earliest pimp spotter to be eliminated".

I won't bother with the tiers for the predictions this week. At this point the only real shockers would be either of the Davids. I was pathetic enough to spend an hour and a half voting for Brooke, and I hope it's enough to save her.

Bottom 2: Jason, Brooke
Going Home: Jason

The 5th place finisher has always been the opposite gender of the eventual winner. If Jason goes home this week it means Brooke could possibly win this thing, which is an exciting thought for me. If Brooke goes home, things will probably go the way everyone's been expecting. Yawn.