I think it’s going to be James and Scotty at the end, and it might be best if Scotty wins it. Having to be under the Idol contract won’t hurt him the way it would James.
After last night, I’m contemplating both voting for James and buying his music, two things I don’t ordinarily do.
That, and commenting on Haley’s outfit with “Later we can look up your old address.”
I usually like Paul, but last night’s song choice and performance were awful. He should have been singing the Midnight Cowboy song.
I’m tired of one-note Scotty, but my wife seems to like him each week. Same with boring Stefano and smarmy Jacob.
Lauren did better with the Miley song than Miley does.
Haley seems to me to be the most consistently interesting performer. Her performance last night was a little rough, but I’m baffled that she was the only one who got any criticism from the judges.
Casey’s foray into Mad Men went better than expected. He’s kind of the poster child for “trying too hard” in my book, and the restraint was welcome.
I don’t understand James’s appeal at all. To me, his voice is whiny, and his entire attitude seems comically posed. It’s like Tenacious D if Jack Black was pretty.
I totally missed last night’s episode due to extra schoolwork. How’d my Casey do?
He “did his thang,” as Randy would say. He did a laid back, Nat King Cole song, played the stand-up bass, did some of his scat singing, got a lot of praise from the judges. Randy kept calling him a “true artist.” Good night.
I love Haley. She’s definitely not the most consistent, but she’s entertaining! And that’s not something I can say for singers like Jacob and Scotty, or even Lauren. Haley is gorgeous, she wears awesomely sexy outfits and wild high heels and dances a little crazy, and she puts her heart into it. I just love watching her. She and James got all of my votes last night.
When James told Jimmy and Will that you can’t really tell anything from a few notes on a piano and Will said something to the effect of “Yes you can, there have been plenty of times where I’ve played a few bars for Jimmy and he’s told me the song won’t work” I was really hoping that James would come back with “Well, I guess you’ll never really know, huh”
Don’t get me wrong though, I’m sure Jimmy can hear a song on the piano and know exactly what they can do to it in the studio the same way a photog can see a drab picture and know if they can photoshop it and make it presentable.
I just thought it would have been funny if he’d have said that.
Anyways…I still like Casey and Haley, I thought the duet with Haley was perfect for those two. They’re my two favorites.
I’m hoping what’s his face is gone soon. Tall black guy. Everyone loves him and I guess I can understand why, but I just don’t like his voice… I also can’t stand the Neville brothers.
And I see Paul just left. I think he’s a great singer, but he sounded like horseshit last night. It’s probably for the best. He wasn’t going to win it, and even if he did, his voice was way to much of a novelty to have a lasting career. Of course Rod Steward pulled it off, but I don’t think this generation of teens is looking for that sound in their pop singers.
Also, a few weeks ago there was a big article in People(?) about James having Tourettes (no kidding). Is it just me or has he been twitching a lot more since that article came out? I mean I could just be noticing it more now or it could be the stress getting to him, but at first I was wondering if he was playing it up on purpose.
Well, I can’t say I’m surprised that it was Paul, but I was hoping it would be bug eyes. I was thrilled to see Haley make it another week, and her sense of humor about being in the bottom three all the time is funny.
Next it should be Stefano, then Jacob, then Lauren, Casey, Haley, Scotty, and James as the big winner. It won’t go that way, but I wish it would. I’d love to see Scotty go next, but I guess America lurves country and smarmy Howdy Doody motherfuckers.
Woohoo! Jacob next, America!
Dammit! I should have gone for the show instead of the win, er, the lose.
Oh, honey, when you’re wearing a dress that short, squatting into the camera is not your best choice (unless it was a vote-getting idea).
Yup. They apparently also love oversinging, creepy black guys.
Well I thought Paul’s exit was incredibly graceful. His singing doesn’t really do it for me, but he seems like one classy dude.
Did Jason Aldean have a microphone in his pants, or was he just happy to see Ryan?
I hate it that Paul is gone. 
With any luck, he will move to Nashville and I will get to see him live.
Wow…with the way I’ve been picking 'em this season, I figured I was giving Paul the Kiss Of Life there. Glad to see I was wrong.
(errrr…wrong about being wrong, that is).
I lovedPaul’s performance in Hollywood week.
I wish he had continued to pick songs that fit his voice and style. Some of his performances during the past few weeks have not been good.
Out of curiousity, for people in this thread who don’t like Paul (and there seem to be plenty), what do you think of his performance in the song linked above?
Idol has been putting on some pretty good performance shows this year. Usually I just fast-forward through them to see who’s getting the hook, but lately I’ve been watching them all the way through because they’re just good entertainment.
The duet with Casey and Haley was awesome. Haley made me a fan with that performance. She really delivered it note perfect. She had the moves, the attitude, the vocals… everything just worked. If she performed like that every week she’d win this thing.
Casey got me halfway back on the Caseytrain, but his grunting and growling is overdone and is now officially annoying. But other than that, he’s pretty good. He’s got great phrasing. I’ll bet he could rap if he wanted to.
Paul turned in his best and most endearing performance with his finale. I quite enjoyed it, particularly because he was turning it into a party. Good on him.
Jacob, dude. Stop looking at me. And don’t blubber. No one likes a freakish staring blubberer. Especially one with a tendency to lecture strangers on proper song voting behavior and self recrimination.
Ditto with the teeth snapping.
I have to admit to enjoying Paul’s swan song—energetic, bubbly, and pure upbeat.
If it wasn’t kind of late in the game for new nicknames, I could really see this catching on. 
That was the performance that turned me into a Paul fan. I love it. For his career, he just needs to pick songs that fit him this well.