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Tonight's American Idol theme was an interesting one. The songs tonight were supposed to be from the contestants' birth-year. I looked into the songs of my own birth-year, and I decided which songs I would have attempted if I were an Idol contestant.

My criteria were simple: I have to like the song, and I have to know all the words for the song. (And it would have to be relatively easy to sing, knowing my voice limitations.) My two possible choices for my birth-year (1972) are: Alice Cooper's "School's Out", and Black Sabbath's "Iron Man". (Of course I may be tempted to try "Faeries Wear Boots" if I could choose any song off of the Paranoid album. -I like that song better than "Iron Man" anyway.)

But enough about me... Let's talk contestants!

Tonight's Performances:

1) Nadia Turner sang first (I missed the title of her song. My doorbell rang.) Nadia had that dangerous combination of going on first, plus choosing a poor song.

I usually am impressed by Nadia's look and clothes, but tonight she looked strange.

Nadia should consider herself lucky if she isn't in the bottom-three this time.

2) Bo Bice sang "Free Bird". Considering Bo's voice, I thought that this song would be a good fit for him. Sadly however, he chose a song that takes about ten minutes to perform right. Besides more time, Bo would have benefitted from a better band to do that song right.

In the end, the song was really "Blah" for me. I liked Simon's comment that questioned Bo's tackling of a "sacred" song. (Of course Constantine would do the same at the end of the show.)

3) Anwar Robinson sang "I'll never love this way again." This was as good as we've seen Anwar in a while.

4) Anthony Federov sang "Every time you go away." The good news is that this song was a good fit for Anthony's voice. The bad news is that the song he chose is one that makes me change the channel whenever it comes on the radio.

5) Vonzell Solomon sang "Let's hear it for the boy." Each week I really enjoy watching Vonzell's vignettes. She comes off so well in an interview setting. Vonzell may be the only contestant on the show this year whom I wouldn't mind inviting to my house. (Of course I doubt that the opportunity would avail itself.)

Vonzell sang a good song for her voice.

6) Scott Savol sang "She's Gone." Scott's vignette was as bad as Vonzell's was good. This guy isn't really easy to "welcome into your heart", is he?

This song was bad. I felt sorry for Hall and Oates for having to pretend that they liked the song. (As an aside: Did those guys get a "couples' deal" on facelifts?)

7) Carrie Underwood sang Pat Benatar's "Love is a battlefield." (It makes me feel old when I remember these birth-year songs' premiers on our local pop station!) After this song and the Heart song, I am thinking that Carrie should reconsider the (lame) country thing. The 80s-type rock-thing is a good fit for her.

8) Constantine Maroulis tried "Bohemian Rhapsody." This was a really ambitious choice, considering that even Freddie Mercury had trouble doing this song live. Needless to say I wasn't expecting much. Surprisingly, Constantine was able to pull off a fair performance of this song. It wasn't the disaster that I thought it would be.

Isn't Constantine good on stage? His stage movements are his main strength. I think that if "Puttin' On The Hits" was still on the air, he'd win that thing easily!

Food for thought: Wouldn't Constantine look better with a beard?

Tonight's Best Three:

Carrie Underwood Vonzell Solomon Take your pick

In trouble:

Nadia Turner Scott Savol I wonder who'll fill-out the bottom-three...