Tonight we heard the Idol hopefuls sing love songs. Andrea Bocelli and producer David Foster helped them this week. Mr. Foster pulled no punches and told them exactly what he thought and tried to point them in the right direction. This included getting Chris to sing while lying down so he could see what it was like to sing with his diaphragm. Chris was surprised at how well it worked.

The judges didn’t really like the song choices this week. I thought they were mostly pretty good. This was another week were I thought that Chris might struggle. He didn’t and had one of the best performances of the night.

So how did the performances last night on American Idol rank:

1. Elliott Yamin – Randy said he was “da bomb” while Simon said it was “superb” and it brought Paula to tears. It didn’t make me cry but it was the best vocal of the night. He definitely stepped it up from the last couple of weeks.
2. Chris Daughtry – He sang, “Have You Ever Loved a Woman” and he sounded really good. With the help of Mr. Foster and Mr. Bocelli he found out that he could really sing not just rock. They had him lie down and sing to help him sing more than just with his throat. The judges all loved it.
3. Katharine McPhee – This was interesting. I thought she sounded great singing “I Have Nothing” but the judges didn’t think she measured up to Whitney Houston. Yet in the practice sessions David Foster who wrote the song was helping her and he thought she sounded great. The judges always kill you if you pick a song by a Celine Dion or a Whitney and you don’t out shine them, which is incredibly hard.
4. Taylor Hicks – Started out slow but put it together towards the end. Simon thought he sounded like a “hotel lounge” singer. He wasn’t far off in this case.
5. Paris Bennett – Simon said she was “trying to impersonate an older artist.” This is what I have been saying all along. She has a really powerful voice for such a small package and can sing just about anything but she needs to choose better. Whatever the category of music she needs to find the song that was sung by someone young.
6. Kellie Pickler – She sang “Unchained Melody” and it was not very good. On the replay they showed the only good sounding part of the song. It was a boring performance. Simon said it was “monotonous and bland.” Two sub par performances in a row might mean it is her time to go.

So who will end up in the bottom three? I think it should be Taylor, Paris and Kellie with the Pickler heading back home to find someone to “play pottery” with. As has been shown anyone can be sent packing at anytime on American Idol.

How about you, who do you think will be leaving American Idol Season 5 tonight? Who do you think will make up the bottom three? Leave your thoughts in the comments.