Final Group of Twelve Battle for Three

I found myself trying to explain this afternoon what's happening on Idol these days to someone who has never watched, and it involved a lot of threes, a few twelves, one four, and possibly a nine or ten. I was actually confused by the time I was finished! LOL! All I know is that by the end of this week, we'll have our Top 12 (even though only the top 10 go on tour....okay, we'll tackle that issue another time).

Tonight wasn't bad...in an effort to standardize my 'scoring' I went with the old-fashioned star rating system, out of four stars, starting at the bottom.

1/2 star: Alex Wagner-Tugman, Arianna Afsar, and Nathaniel Marshall. These would have to be my worst for the night, remembering of course that they did make the Top 36, meaning that they made a serious impression along the way singing something....just not what they sang tonight. First of this bunch was Alex, a likable student from CA...and his voice wasn't bad, BUT as Simon reported, his "ridiculous growling" was "stupid" and I, for one, was totally distracted by it. I think he will be singing the blues after tonight's vote (and the Wild Card). And speaking of likable, Arianna Afsar was helping senior citizens in her spare high school time, for Pete's sake, but her performance of an heretofore-unheard-on-Idol ABBA song ("Winner Takes it All") was pageantry and as the judges reported, depressing. Mamma mia, don't think we'll see Arianna anymore this season. Finally, Nathaniel is an interesting cat for sure, and I'm glad he had fun on Idol but he shouldn't have done Meatloaf's "I'd do Anything for Love"...ouch. I could actually see him doing a fitness show, though! the New Millennium's Jack LaLanne! What do you think?

One star: Von Smith. Von (AKA "Shouty McShouterson" per Micheal Slezak at Ew.com) did the best song of the night and reminded me of why Marvin Gaye is so awesome.....his overall vocals weren't bad, but his wobbly lower register and his lack of....well, soul kind of made it flat for me. Simon's comparison to Clay was overdone, IMO. Clay was way cooler at this point in the competition.

One and a half stars: Taylor Vaifanua. I loved her top, and while she wasn't all THAT bad, it just didn't measure up to Top 12 material for me. No star power!

Two stars: Ju'Not Joyner, Scott McIntyre, Kendall Beard, Felicia Barton, and Jorge Nunez. Each of these five singers had something to offer us, and it remains to be seen which of them will make the Top 12. Ju'Not did a reprise of his Hollywood round "Hey There Delilah" and while he said he changed it up, I didn't really notice any difference. Love the guy, but not feeling him. Likewise, Scott has lots going for him in terms of back story, and I can say that I enjoyed his vocal more than lots I heard tonight, but I wasn't feeling it as much as the judges, who said they would be surprised if he didn't go through. Loved the "for real" high five! LOL! Kendall is NO Carrie Underwood, or Kellie Pickler for that matter, but I've got to say, it was a solid country blond performance that I didn't hate. Felicia showed us why she should have been asked back to the top 36 in place of Joanna Pacitti, although she didn't send me into a speeddial fury....and Jorge was really, really good, but the Hispanic thing will push Idol farther than I think the Machine can go this season. I like him, though.

Top performers tonight were Kristin McNamara (shock!) (Two and a half stars) and Lil 'Rounds (no shock! Three stars). First, Kristen. Glad to see her looking somewhat normal although they still criticized her outfit. Although she is a professional karaoke performer (is there really such a thing?) I liked her vocal and her song choice, but as the judges said, we still don't Know Who She Is As An Artist, which is just as bad of an Idol Sin as Picking The Wrong Song. Kristin's vocals are good, but she suffers mostly from a poor likability factor and an identity crisis right now...from all of the Hollywood week footage, she looks like someone who doesn't play well with others....and again, who is she? Don't know.

Surprise! Lil got the pimp spot, and she deserved it. What's not to like about this girl? First of all, she's good....and secondly, she did what others have failed to do...she stuck to what got her to the finals and sang a Mary J. Blige song, to whom Randy originally compared her....didn't try to be original or show her range....just did what she does best, and it totally worked. Good for her, we'll be seeing her for a while.

What did you think? Who will advance to the top 12 tonight, and who might get another chance with the Wild Card?