Sorry so late with the update but my TiVo tanked and I had to searh out the performance online. Amazing how easy that is to do…now, thanks iTunes. Well we have arrived at Country Week earlier than usual this year. I guess Simon wanted to get it over with..Country week is notirious for claiming an early favorite, will this year be any different? Only time will tell.

Danny Gokey-Jesus Take the Wheel- Nice to hear Danny sings in a softer voice, His tone is perfection to me. The song is not one of my favorites but somehow when he sings it I like it. Actually I’d buy his version.

Matt Giraud- So Small- Matt at the piano again, he stepped it up a notch this week. Seems more comfortable and kept the vocal runs down to a minimum. Matt is the first contestant on Idol that I feel playing an instrument actually enhances his performance. He became a viable contender this week and he is my dark horse pick for the season

Megan Joy- Walkin After Midnight- Well when I heard she was singing this I already hated it. I just don’t think she has the attitude to pull this song off. It’s supposed to be sultry and smokey; and I don’t see her going there. She of couse missed it and went for cabaret and it didn’t work for me. Still she was better than last week, but it’s not hard to beat that “Caw caw” thing she did on Rockin Robin. Also, her tone was off for me. I think she was going for bluesy on those riffs, but missed.

Anoop Desai- Always on my Mind -Now this is one of my favorite tunes, and, Anoop breathy though he was, did a really great job on a standard that everyone knows. In fact this week’s performance went a long way in getting last week’s debacle out of my head. You know with all the word plays on his name I actually forgot that this guy can sing. I think he should stay on the serious side for a few weeks and he will stick around. Another singer with a great natural tone, he is growing on me.

Alexis Grace-Jolene- I love this song and Alexis is like a chameleon, an new look this week more mature. I love Alexis’ voice, most of the time, although she didn’t pull of the high notes in the middle of the tune, at least to my ear; for me it seemed too contrived, not natural. But other than that she was strong this week. Listen, like I said last week. For me it’s between her and Lil. The only strong female voices this season.

Scott MacIntyre- Wild Angels- I could not find the video for Scott before I did this review. But I have heard the audio. Did he loose the lyrics for a second?. Scott is stronger every week but still not there. I think he can sing but honestly, I’m not over impressed with his vocals as of yet. At times he seemed a little off pitch or flat. I don’t agree with Paula, I think he should stay behind the piano, it gives him more confidence.

Adam Lambert- Ring of Fire- Brave Adam taking on the “Man in Black”. Right from the beginning I’m anticipating the performance. No other Idol this year makes me feel that way. Like the performance almost eclipses the actual song performed. David Cook did that last year and two years back Hicks, and Daughtry had that magic as did Fantasia before them. For the first time this week, listening to and watching Adam, I thought Freddie Mercury. I don’t know if the kind of performance Adam gave this week will win him any fans it was defiantly not mainstream textbook pop. But I liked it more than last week, in fact, I loved the way he used his voice. I guess if I had one complaint it might be that he was too theatrical this week, at least by Idol’s standards, but I enjoyed it thoroughly .

Lil Rounds- Independence Day- Lil looks beautiful this week. I like her outfit much more than last weeks. I’m worried about her, because, Country week always takes a favorite away. She was totally out of her comfort zone and almost kind of spoke the first verse. She picked up a bit in the chorus but it was nothing spectacular. For Lil I think the right approach would have been to go for a soulful country sound. Wynonna Judd would have been a good model. But honestly I have not heard her do that yet. I have heard her sing R&B but not old school “Muscle Shoals” soul music. This would have been the time change the arrangement on this tune and to break that out. I hope she makes through.

Kris Allen- To Make you feel my Love- My initial thought was, no guitar for Kris this week and I hope that he gets more close-ups than last week. Kris was really a welcome surprise with this weeks performance , he sang a nice tender soulful ballad, great tone to his voice and a great falsetto at the end, his stock just went way up. And, as I had hoped for in last weeks review, he got the Jason Castro close-up camera spinning treatment. And it worked.

Allison Iraheta- Blame it On Your Heart- Country week would have been a good time to slow it down a bit. But Allison went for a faster paced song, kinda Honky-Tonk sounding tune. Vocally she seamed to be straining in many parts and it didn’t work for me. Plus I didn’t really like the song it was too old for her.

Michael Sarver- Ain’t goin down til the Sun Comes Up- I like Michael and this is a good genre for him. Although I know he has that soulful vibe he could be the darling of the Idol country fans this year, as there is no real country singing Idol for them to root for. All things point to success for Michael tonight but he kind of played it satirical to me; and actually his country sound isn’t as strong as his soulful sound. Kind of sloppy as Simon pointed out. Still he may have gained a fanbase. He will be safe.

Who will go home this week? I don’t know but maybe Scott or Allison