On to the competition.

This is the second week running that Michael has sported a scarf or ascot.  Either he's attempting to define a signature look, or someone *coughPaula?cough* has been sucking his neck and he needs to hide the hickeys.  Now let's consider his song choice.  Dream On by Aerosmith. 

Sing with me, sing for the years
Sing for the laughter, sing for the tears
Sing with me, if its just for today
Maybe tomorrow the good lord will take you away

Sing and maybe you'll get lucky and die tomorrow.  So inspiring!   As for the performance -- who locked onto his balls and made him shriek the last few lines?  Paula was so awestruck she said her Chihuahuas would probably want to join him on stage.  Uhhh... was that supposed to be a compliment?

Syesha sang Fantasia's I Believe for Idol's 33 million viewers.  Randy said she "took on a tiger" but later admitted that it's the only song he knows by Fantasia.  Him and the 33 million other people who last heard it the night Fantasia won Season 3.  If you're one of the people that still has an "antenna" televisions everyone says will need to be upgraded next year, stop worrying.  Syesha's final note probably shattered your screens. 

What's with the contestants arguing with the judges?  Simon's been in the biz longer than you've been alive, kids.  Shut up, listen, and be gracious, you big babies.

Jason sang Over the Rainbow and accompanied himself on the ukele, inspired by some guy I've never heard of.  Wisely, he chose not to emulate that other famous uke player Tiny Tim.  Oddly enough, I thought he provided a desperately needed breath of fresh air, whimsy, and lightness of being.  The rest of the contestants were so overwrought, I feared a sudden free-for-all as everyone rushed Paula to steal her mood boosting meds.

Kristy Lee is my dilemma of the evening.  We've reached the point in the competition where nobody sucks so bad that you know without a doubt they'll wind up in the bottom three.  America could go either way with her performance.  To me she's a "close-but-no-career" performer.  She's okay, but she's no Carrie Underwood.  Hell, she's not even Kellie Pickler.  Then again, if Bucky Covington and Phil Stacey can make it . . .  like Kristy sang, Do it Anyway.  I loved Simon telling her she looked like a star.  Any outfit was an improvement over last week's cheap hotel drape dress.

About this time in the night, I was positive that the AI producers begged the judges (Simon and Randy anyway) to be nice and not scare off potential donors for tomorrow's big Idol Gives Back.  Then David Cook performed some incomprehensible song called Innocent.  No melody.  Unintelligible lyrics.  Let's hope his ever-growing fan base hasn't used up this month's quota of text messages on their AT&T wireless plans. 

Carly Smithson -- Two words.  Lighten up!   Geezus, woman, you're supposed to inspire people, not employ barely suppressed rage to fill them with terror and angst.  Even your tattooed woman looked scared.

Season 7 goes down in the annals as the year with the most Queen songs performed.

David Archuleta sang something heartfelt and slow tempo.  What a shocker!  Here's where the judges and I part company.  They loved him.  I thought he had more pitch problems than a broken down minor league team. 

What's up with Brooke?  The judges weren't even mean to her and she looked about to fall apart after her performance.  Okay, so they didn't give her performance of You've Got a Friend a rave review, but at least they said it was nice and pleasant.  Guess she can't take the "damning with faint praise" approach.  It's a bad night in any woman's life when she has to lean on Ryan Seacrest for support. 

Overall, I was underwhelmed by Inspiration night.  Not that it matters.  The producers will probably pass everyone through for Give Back week like they did last year.

My favorite performance of the night?  Meatloaf and his "family" in the television commercial AT&T Wireless.

What did you think?