American Idol Top 9: Welcome to Dollywood (or KKK-Lee Cook has her theme week)

Well there's nothing like having the Idols "squeeze" 9 songs into one hour, and then stretch out a results show for just as long. This week's mentor (finally) is Dolly Parton, one of the most iconic country singers of all times. Should be amazing seeing these kids try to force these songs to their own needs. For those joining us late, the grade scale is self-explanatory.

1. Brooke White (Jolene) - we see another instrument out of Brooke this week, as the piano is left behind for country week. Interesting song choice, seemed a little safe and not enough to show off her voice. I think the performance was pretty solid nevertheless. Still, not going to win this competition with boring performances in the long run.
GRADE: C-

2. David Cook (Little Sparrow) - No rock versions of Dolly songs out there I'm guessing, so DC rock has to go with his own version this week. Another acoustic guitar (how many of those are we seeing tonight?), and the song was mediocre for DC. I think this showed he has a soft side to his voice and good vocal range. If the song choice were better, this could compete with his other performances...but it was not. He definitely survives Country Night.
GRADE: B

3. Ramiele Malubay (Do I Ever Cross Your Mind) - So Dolly thinks Ramiele has spunk and bounciness in her small frame...just as long as she doesn't get Dolly-sized implants she'll be fine. I'm apparently in disagreement with the tween-tards on this singer, as I see nothing great. Just a cute little "bouncy" person with a decent voice. The song choice was her usual, the performance was kind of boring in all honesty. Outfit was terrible as usual, and Simon dropped the Cruise Ship comment again (rightfully so).
GRADE: D

4. Jason Castro (Travelin' Through) - Surprise, surprise...acoustic guitar. Jason actually makes this sound more like him than country, so I'll give him credit for that. The song choice was a nice fun number, and the performance was best so far tonight...but no vocal range showoff possibilities. Another ho-hum performance (where did all the awesome performances disappear to this season?)
GRADE: C

5. Carly Smithson (Here You Come Again) - Carly cannot play guitar, so she has the band transplant one in front of her on stage to make her fit in. This song was a stretch for Dolly, but it fits right in Carly's wheelhouse. Actually did a nice job and did not oversing as much as usual. I cannot imagine why the tween-tards put her in the bottom three a couple weeks ago, but they will not be making that mistake again. As far as outfit, her outfits are definitely getting worse with time and Simon is dead-on...it's dropping her from the top line of competition.
GRADE: B

6. David Archuleta (Smoky Mountain Memories) - Classic Archulator gear tonight, nothing special to talk about there. This song was a good choice for him after last week's 1990's disaster. It seems like the Archulator swings back and forth from terrible mistakes (missed lyrics, atrocious song choice) to best singer in the competition. This was a good week, nearly perfect performance from the Wonder Boy.
GRADE: A

7. KKK Kristy Lee Cook (Coat of Many Colors) - Now if this is not a week designed for Kristy to move on, I don't know what is. I really wish we could've seen Amanda try to relate to Dolly, but alas we're stuck with terribleness. Kristy did a little makeover this week, looking far more professional. Worked for Syesha, maybe it will work here. Kristy picks a typical country twang song, and actually puts a decent performance out there. Randy pretty much said the obvious by saying it is Kristy Lee Cook week. And she went barefoot...thanks for that nugget of knowledge Secrest (it doesn't get more hick-ish than that).
GRADE: C

8. Syesha Mercado (I Will Always Love You) - Lovely, now we're mixing Dolly with the most awful of overdone Idol singers, Whitney. The contrast of the black piano and bright yellow dress was an interesting choice, but whatever. Man I HATE this version of the song, and the extended glory note at the end makes it worse. Syesha gave a great vocal, but this song was way too much for her. I'll actually agree with the tween-tards recent movements of her into the bottom 3, this was bad Whitney.
GRADE: D

9. Michael Johns (It's All Wrong but It's All Right) - Hallelujah, an electric guitar instead of acoustic on country night. I love the black suit look with the piano, looks much better than a yellow dress. The song choice was a little iffy, but his vocal was spot on. Michael Johns may be displacing Carly in the contenders list. There's not a ton to say here, it was just a good performance.
GRADE: A

I'll give a little more credit to the Idols...no failing grades and a couple A's mean country night was better than expected. This is actually a very tough call on who goes home, unlike the clear Stripper Dave and Chikeize picks. But we'll try our best to keep the good luck going, c'mon tween-tards hook me up.

Top Three: David Archuleta, Michael Johns, David Cook

Bottom Three: Syesha Mercado, Ramiele Malubay, Brooke White

Going Home: Brooke White (in a real shocker!)