Click here for my latest article.

Tonight the final four Idol contestants gave the songs of Elvis their best shot.  Helping the contestants was special guest arranger Tommy Matola.

The Performances:

Taylor

• Taylor's first song was "Jailhouse Rock".  I'd imagine that this is the type of performance one would expect from a "Taylor" concert.  It was fun, but the song itself wasn't all that marketable.  John Belushi sang it better.  Grade: B
• Taylor's second song was "In the ghetto."  This might be my favorite Elvis song.  Taylor did a reasonably good job with it.  Grade: B+
• Comparing Taylor to the other three contestants, it seems that Taylor may be at the end of his line here.  He hasn't been cooler than when he played the harmonica, and that was a long time ago.  Regardless of whether he stays or goes, people will pay to hear this guy sing somewhere.

Chris

• Chris' first song was "Suspicious Minds."  The sunglasses looked funny.  This song sounded less "Chris" than usual, which is a good thing.  His style has really been getting repetitive.  All in all, this one was good enough for a B+
• Chris' second one was "A little less conversation."  I liked the way this one turned out.  Chris sang it like Elvis would have, and that's appropriate for an Elvis song.  Grade: B+
• For some reason, I can't look at Chris on my TV.  There's something unsettling about that guy.  I tend to look away when his face is in a closeup.

Elliot

• Since Elliott didn't know much about Queen, I was wondering whether he knew any Elvis songs either.  It turned out that he didn't, but he was able to work through that with two reasonably good performances.
• Elliott's first song was "...dream come true."  (I missed the whole title.)  In the beginning of the song Elliot seemed a bit nervous, but in the end it turned out alright.  Grade: B+
• Elliott's second song, "Trouble" turned out really well.  The song was well-sung, lively, and fun.  Grade: A-
• Coming into the show, it would be expected that either Taylor or Elliott would be the next to go.  Considering that Elliott did really well tonight, Taylor may end up being the next one going home.

Katharine

• Katharine's first song was a medley of "Hound Dog" and "All Shook Up."  Simon described that performance as "manic."  I'll go with that too.  Grade: B-
• Kat's second song was "Can't help falling in love."  That was a nice finish to the show.  All of the Katharine fans out there will certainly appreciate the effort.  Grade: B+
• Up to now I had been thinking that Chris would win the whole thing easily.  I am now beginning to think that Katharine may have a 50-50 chance.  She's pretty, has awfully nice hair, and sings well.  Ever since Ayla and Melissa left, I didn't really have any contestants that I particularily cared about this year.  Katharine has emerged at this point as my favorite.

Tonight's best: Elliott.

There is no "worst" this week.  Elliott was slightly better than everyone else, but nobody was particularily terrible tonight.