Get Ready! Idols Do Motown

I read a few comments this week by people tired of the Motown "theme" on Idol and complaining about Idol being too out of touch, and not current....well, I disagree. Who among us didn't sing along with each and every song performed this week, if not most of them?! These are classics that will forever be current, IMO, and I loved hearing them again on the Idol stage. Four of the eight guys wore ties! Paula was on her feet for most of the night! Simon got busy coloring! And did you spot Olivia Newton-John in the audience?

Best vocals of the night belong to Anoop, Adam and Allison. I agree that Anoop's delivery of "Ooh Baby, Baby" was a little sleep-inducing, but he sang it so sweetly I was mesmerized. I haven't been a fan of Adam to date, but I warmed a little to his stripped-down version of "Tracks of My Tears" and was digging on his outfit and hair, and gotta admit....he was great. And Allison? Okay, Miss Bottom Three moves promptly to Pimp! Whoa, Nelly. This girl is on the move. We know she all deserves mad respect, with her smoking "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" like I've never heard it. Maybe the Idol Powers that Be wanted to increase her chances of getting more votes and sticking around. Whatever it takes....the girl is amazing. I'm just sorry her much-overdue accolades were disrupted by Paula/Simon/Ryan antics. Not fair!

And while not the best vocal, I just heart Danny more and more each week...who can argue with his spirited rendition of "Get Ready"? Some complained he jumped around the stage too much, but I loved it, and I really liked his gal palling with the BGV's...just showing respect and having fun.

Middle ground for me tonight were Matt, Kris and Lil. Yes, the two guys jump-started this evening with solid performances, both of them, of "Let's Get it On" (Matt) and "How Sweet It is (to Be Loved By You)" (Kris). Each played his own instrument, but I'm just having trouble connecting with Matt, to be quite honest, and they clearly don't favor Kris, as he keeps getting put in the middle of the pack in terms of performance order. I just don't think this will help him much. And like Allison, Matt goes from Pimp! one week to Opener the next....there has GOT to be some manipulation of viewers with this sort of product placement, no?

Like the judges said, we all expected great things from Lil this week with her big voice, and especially after the emotional build-up of her time in Detroit. However, Lil (wig alert!) was tipped off that the judges might not be fanning themselves from her "Heatwave" when Randy started his comments off with the dreaded "So, how you feelin'?" question, which is his version of Paula's "You look lovely tonight." In both cases, this usually means, Not Good. It certainly wasn't bad, but it didn't win her any new fans (not that she needs them).

The bottom three are quite easy to spot this week: Scott, Megan and Micheal. I know you can't disagree with me here. Scott has just reached his limit, I'm afraid, delivering another snoozer of a performance of "You Can't Hurry Love" that sounded lots like everything else he's done. Megan was gorgeous as always, but is in way over her head, too...her voice just couldn't keep up with "For Once In My Life" and her dance moves were childish. Micheal seems like a helluvaniceguy, but he, too, has peaked on Idol. The only question is, which of them got the fewest votes? Will Scott have enough fans to keep him in? Will Megan squeak by another week on her good looks, great legs and interesting fashion sense? Or will Micheal bring the NASCAR vote out in force?