I found last nights show to be interesting rather than lackluster as Simon put it. Two mostly opposite styles were doing their best for Americas votes. Katharine, at times a technical wizard with her voice and Taylor, a master of crowd control went head to head. Heres my take on the terrific top two.
Round One
Katharine: Resinging Black Horse and a Cherry Tree, this version just didnt move me like the original. And what the heck was up with resinging songs anyway? She stood up this time and did whatever those moves are that she does to the music. I think this might have been part of the reason I didnt like version 2 as much as her sitting version. Still, it was OK and she gets a
9.
Taylor: Taylors repeat choice was Living for the City. Wowser! He has that rare ability to take you to what ever alternate universe hes living in and that song was a first class ticket. Fun! Amazing!! Too Cool!!!! However, that was probably the worst jacket Ive ever seen on AI.

Taylor wins round 1 with a
10+.
Round Two
Katharine: Repeating probably her best performance of the season, she sang Somewhere Over the Rainbow. It was perfection the first time and it was perfection this time. She gets a
10
Taylor: Where his first go round of Levon was incredibly moving, this one sort of fell flat. The spontaneity of the original just didnt happen tonight. He gets a
9.
Round two goes to Kat.
Round Three
Katharine: And now the dreaded AI songs of the year. GAG! Well they gave Kat a turkey called My Destiny. This is not to be confused with an old Paul Anka song called You Are My Destiny which was actually pretty good. First of all the pitch of this song was too high for her in parts and way too low especially in the beginning. By the time she got to the end, the shrill screaming had starting and my thumb was twitching on the mute button. Im thinking, well it wasnt a great song and then I had an epiphany. What if it wasnt totally the song but the singer? What if the definition of a great singer is one who can take a not so great song and making it good?
Sorry Kat but this final effort by you only gets a
7.
Taylor: Taylors turkey was titled Do I Make You Proud. Just the title of it set my teeth on edge. The beginning was pretty boring but somewhere just past the middle of this piece, Taylor was using his skills as a performer and the song became alive. He took a mediocre piece of music and rocked it! We felt it here, the audience felt it and even the judges felt it. For making me like an original AI song, Taylor gets a
10.
Who I voted for:
I tried and tried and tried from 10 p.m. thru 11:15 and got a few fast busy signals but mostly the dreaded All Lines Are Busy! So I did not get one single vote in for Taylor last night. Disappointing but good for the Soul Man.
I believe that Taylor will win this competition tonight and he should. From Youll never get voted through to Hollywood to this years American Idol, aint life grand?!
As always, JMHO!!