It was 80's night on American Idol. Back in the day when members only jackets were cool, hairspray was essential and being scene at the mall was cool. Before the recap of the contestants, lets talk about the judges. Harry Connick Jr. has been a great addition to the judges panel, but last night, he was way over the top. It sure seemed like he was annoying Jennifer Lopez and Ryan Seacrest.

Now the top eight:

1. Jena: 'I Love Rock N Roll'  Jena tried to make it her own and the piano intro just didn't work for me. She got better as the song went along, it just seems like Jena is trying to be what the judges think she should be and not letting loose. B

2. Dexter: 'Keep Your Hands To Yourself'  A little southern rock for the farm kid from Alabama. Dexter plays some electric guitar and sings a very good, straight ahead version of the song. I voted for him. A

3. Malaya: 'Through The Fire' Malaya has seemed to improve over the past few weeks, but last night, she took a big step backwards. She struggled with the lower end of the song and then she got screechy on the big notes. D

4. Jessica: 'Call Me' She seemed to sleepwalk through the song. Vocally it was alright. It just didn't work. C

5. Sam: The judges used their save on Sam last week and he did a decent job this week with 'Time After Time'. American Idol is trying to play up his 'teen idol' image, which Sam still seems very uncomfortable with. Overall it was decent. B-

6. Alex: He changes up the Police's 'Every Breath You Take'. I didn't like it. Harry called him out on being to 'coffee house' and I agree. He doesn't have the biggest voice so he changes every song up to be 'coffee house'. The thing is Alex sings pretty well and in tune. C+

7. C.J.: It's 'Free Fallin' from Tom Petty. C.J. struggles early on with his pitch and then it got better. Overall, it was pretty good. B-

8. Caleb: He gets the last spot to sing again! He takes on Journey's 'Faithfully'. Early on he was a little shaky and then he nailed to bigger parts of the song. B+

Then there were the duets:
Sam & Alex sing 'The Girl Is Mine' ... it's pretty lightweight stuff and is sung alright. Seemed like a high school talent show performance.

Caleb & Jena take on 'It's Only Love' It was decent and it sure seems like American Idol are pushing these two to be in the finals.

Malaya and CJ sing 'I Knew You Were Waiting' .. ugh .. it was really bad.

Dexter and Jessica sing Kenny and Dolly's 'Islands In the Stream'. Their voices blended nicely, but they just didn't seem to have on stage chemistry.

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