We'll Be The Judge of That! - American Idol 4, April 26

Our Idols have a limited song book to choose from this week – they can only pick from tunes released since the year 2000. The six remaining singers should be able to find a song they are familiar with, unlike Broadway week, but will the lack of musical heritage help or hurt?

By now, you’ve read the recap on RealityNewsOnline, so you know what Randy, Paula, Simon, and Sting7 think. But what do our judges – David Bloomberg, Brian Towers, Bruce Barker, and Gil Sery - have to say?

Carrie Underwood, “When God Fearin' Women Get The Blues”

David: Oh great, Carrie is back to country again. Yeah, that was sarcasm. As I’ve said before, I guess she’s good as far as country singers go – but I’m just not a big fan of the genre. And she told the audience to stand up. Bad Carrie! Anyway, I guess she was okay, but it was hard for me to judge her voice on a song like that. I think Paula, of all people, actually had a good point when she said that the song didn’t show Carrie’s vocal ability.

Brian: Carrie always does best when she’s in her comfy country roots, and there was even a hint of personality coming through this week. The backing vocals and band threatened to take over at times. Nostalgically, in memory of Anwar, she missed some of the earlier notes but nailed the last one! I’m just not sure a country singer can win this thing, but we know she’s safe for now.

Bruce: The song was played just the littlest bit too slow and it sapped Carrie’s ability to really tear into the lyrics and melody. It also had the unfortunate side effect of making her vocals seem forced. I don’t honestly know how much of it was her fault, but the entire performance suffered as a result of the poor arrangement. 5

Gil: What in the name of all that’s holy was that? I know the contestants are restricted by permissions, but geez, you’d think Carrie could have chosen a better song — even a better country song. What about something from Shania Twain (like “Up,” released in 2002) or Faith Hill (like “The Way You Love Me,” released in 2000”), both of whom have songs that combine Country with Pop? Just about anything would have been a vast improvement over this. Her performance also wasn’t that great. She had some good high notes, but then that is her specialty. She also lost points with me for doing a song she already knew. Doesn’t she want to grow as an artist? Doesn’t she want to win? D

Bo Bice, “I Don't Wanna Be”

David: Like Carrie, Bo definitely picked a song that showed who he is. The difference is that I liked Bo’s song choice because, well, I like that type of music. Plus, Bo really knows how to put on a show! He did a great job and had an awesome performance. To think that just a few weeks ago, he was actually in danger!

Brian: Bo’s looking cool this week in his shades. I wasn’t overly impressed with his song choice. The performance seemed to lose a little zip around the point where he returned to the stage – the nearly-spoken part. I doubt he gained many new fans this week. Simon said he was the strongest contestant so far – but he was only the second one to sing! Probably safe, though not making headway.

Bruce: When I heard what the theme was going to be I had some strong feelings of foreboding. I wondered what Bo would pull out of his hat and was surprised he chose this song. He began strong enough but I could see that he was forcing his vocal and I knew he would run out of air in the middle of the crescendo several seconds before it happened. After that it was more of the hard sell as Bo tried to overcompensate for the mistake. He may have slid it past the judges, but I felt this was his worst performance to date. 4

Gil: Hey, Bo, Jamaican me crazy! What’s wit’ de outfit, man? I couldn’t decide if it was supposed to be Jamaican or African. His song choice wasn’t much better, or maybe that’s just because I didn’t like the song itself. We know he’s a born performer, but a good performance can only cover up so much, and this performance was just lacking. C-

Vonzell Solomon, “I Turn To You”

David: Uh oh. I did not love that performance. In a couple places, she seemed to really miss notes, but what was worse was the way she sounded in the slower, lower parts. She eventually kicked it into gear, but not enough to make me forget the beginning of her performance. I know Randy and Paula liked it, but Simon was right – I don’t think that was even close to one of her best performances.

Brian: Vonzell (called “The Vonz” by Ryan and “Baby V” by herself) looked great but it wasn’t a compelling performance. I thought she was flat off the top and didn’t love the low notes at all. The ending was somewhat stronger, but this was one of her weakest outings. She could be safe but I have some doubts for her.