(Added March 23rd.) I just heard that because of an error in numbering the contestants after the show, the voting will be re-done after tonight's recap show.  Maybe they'll show some recaps, and then viewers will be allowed to vote after the show.  We'll see what happens.

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Tonight's theme was "Number One Songs from the Billboard Magazine Chart."  As a group, the contestants performed their songs really well.  I really enjoyed tonight's show.

A few times last year I speculated that Paula Abdul is going on television under the influence of something.  Tonight's show led me to renew that speculation.  She seemed exceptionally off-the-wall this evening.  (If she isn't on something, maybe she is manic-depressive.)

Tonight's Performances:

1) Anthony Federov sang a song called "Waiting for me."  Both the music and the singer sounded poor for this song.  I thought it was a bit boring.  I think that Anthony may get to sit in "bottom-three" purgatory for a bit on tomorrow night's show.

2) Carrie Underwood sang a really nice rendition of Heart's "Alone".  Up to this point, I didn't think much of Carrie.  Tonight I actually noticed and enjoyed her singing.  I know that she has a lot of supporters out there, and for the first time tonight, I saw what they see.

Simon made a really bold set of predictions about Carrie.  Simon predicted that Carrie would win the competition, and that she'd become the top-selling Idol artist of all time.  We'll see...

3) Scott Savol gave Phil Collins' "Against All Odds" a whirl.  Solid performance.  I liked this song.  I usually like what scott does.  (I didn't think that Ryan's "greasy sunglasses" comment was appropriate.  -Do you want to vote for "Mr. Greasy Sunglasses"?- Considering how well-spoken Ryan Seacrest is during interviews, he puts his foot in his mouth surprisingly often on Idol.)

4)  Bo Bice sang the mellow folk hit "Time in a Bottle."  Bo sounded good and looked like a pro.  I was a little let-down however because I expect Bo to be absolutely incredible every week.  This performance was just as good as it should have been, but not as spectacular as what we can expect from Bo.

Bo's clothes were really cool.  He reminded me of what Ozzy Osbourne looked like on an old Black Sabbath video from 1974.

5)  Nikko Smith sang a song called "Incomplete".  Nikko did a good job.  He is usually a pretty strong performer.

In a way, Nikko reminds me of Eddie Murphy when he gave being a "pop star" a try in the mid 1980s. 

6)  Vonzell Solomon sang "Best of my Love".  Good song choice for Vonzell.  This song fit her voice as well as any song that I can think of.  My only gripe about her performance was that the cameraman didn't do a very good job of following her around stage.  (Weren't the director and crew present at rehearsals?)

7)  Constantine Maroulis sang the Partridge Family's "I think I Love You."  The judges weren't so high on Constantine's pick of songs, but I disagree.  This song seems to be made for Constantine's particular type of voice.  That said, it didn't come-off as well as it should have.  In the end, I found it mildly disappointing.

8)  Nadia Turner came out with a crazy mohawk to sing Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time."  After her performance, my friend Andy called me on the phone to tell me that he assessed her performance as "cruise ship-like" just before Simon did.

Tonight's Nadia wasn't as good as the usual Nadia, plus the tempo of the song was too fast.  Didn't like it.  (I hope that she sticks around!)

9)  Mikalah Gordon sang a song called "Love Will Lead You Back".  I have found myself rooting-against Mikalah lately.  It makes it a bit hard to write about her performance objectively.  The judges (and my wife) didn't like Mikalah's performance.  I actually thought it wasn't so bad, but I feel that I may be in the minority on this one.

10)  Anwar Robinson sang Chaka Khan's "Ain't Nobody".  Not bad, but not good either.  This was one of those occasional Idol songs where most of the music is louder than the vocals. 

11)  Jessica Sierra sang Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart".  This song was my favorite of the night.  Jessica looked great, and sang fantastically.

An interesting irony about Jessica: Even though week after week she performs really well, I am always surprised at how beautifully she performs.  Jessica is quickly becoming one of my favorites in the competition.  (I voted for her several times tonight.)

Best Three Performances:

This was tough to choose tonight!  I will have to make a tie for third place.

1) Jessica Sierra  2) Carrie Underwood  3) -tie- Bo Bice, Scott Savol, and  5) Vonzell Solomon.

In trouble:

Mikalah Gordon, Anthony Federov.  (I wonder if Nadia might fall into the bottom three tomorrow... Probably/ Hopefully not!)  I wonder who will round-out the bottom three?