Surprise, Surprise, the Top 8 Boys Actually Compete.

A few surprising performances tonight.  The boys are competing, finally!

Lee Dewyze "Fireflies"
That was an interesting version.  It's still kinda funny to think my cousin is part of Owl City.  Every time I hear that song I smile.  He was smart to choose a song like this.  He dropped a lot of his phrases, and his breathing needs some work.  Once he gets that figured out, his pitch problems will disappear.

Alex Lambert "Trouble"
Alex, Alex, Alex...I really  like this kid.  He's so endearing.  His growth is unprecedented on this show.  He gets more and more confident each week.

Tim Urban "Hallelujah"
This song helped Jason Castro make his mark on Season 7, and I think this performance will push Tim into the Top 12.  It's sad when a good performance for him is the fact that he actually hit all his notes...but now that he's had a good performance, the tweens have every reason to keep voting for him.

Andrew Garcia "Genie In A Bottle"
Only Andrew could attempt to do a Christina Aguillera song, and I think he did ok.  I'm still not blown away by him.  He is definitely this year's Gokey.  Peaked way, way too soon.

Casey James "You'll Think Of Me"
This didn't work for me.  He had goat vibrato, his breathing was off.  Country is a good way for him to go, but his vocals continue to leave me unimpressed. He must be really, really good looking in real life...

Aaron Kelly "I'm Already There"
I think this song signed Aaron's walking papers.  He was underpitch through the whole song.  He kinda warbled through the beginning because it was too low for him.  And the message was way too old for him.

Todrick Hall "Somebody To Love"
This was definitely Todrick's best performance so far.  He has such great stage presence, which a lot of the guys are lacking.  I would say he changed this one up just enough, but I think he used the Glee arrangement, so he didn't change it up at all.  I'm not sure that this isn't too late to save him, though.  Although if the Glamberts truly are voting for him, he's safe and will make it to the tour for sure.

Michael Lynche "This Woman's Work"
Kara's tears aside (how much estrogen is she on right now?), that was the best performance of the season...Big Mike just earned a fan in me.  His falsetto at the beginning was beautiful and he had the perfect emotion for this.  Frontrunner...