It's my birthyear!

With this group it comes as really no surprise that, at this point of the competition, it may come down to an individual performance. And, for the same reason, it is sometimes really hard to rank the kids. Sometimes one missed lyric, one missed note is enough to drop down two spots. Or end one of them up in the bottom three.

But at least, unlike last week, we were treated to a great, overall, episode of Idol this week as the kids performed songs popular within the year of their birth.

With that in mind, and bearing in mind that I've not had the opportunity to listen to just the audio or watch the replay, here are my early impressions, as always, from worst to first.

Nadia. No question here. What the hell was that song, and what obscure album did she buy at a garage sale to find it? She says it was a Crystal Gayle song. Could possibly be, but she picked the absolute worst time to introduce it to most of the free world. Or at least the ones who weren't at the same garage sale. And, to make matters worse, she was off tune, or what we would suspect was off tune, considering no one has ever heard of the song before. It was, in a word, terrible.

Carrie. Where was that Crystal Gayle garage sale when you needed it? I know you wanted to rid yourself of the "B" word, but you don't go from boring to brilliant in six days. And prancing upon the Bo stage wiggling your fanny is not, normally, considered performing. Simon complimented you once upon a time for knowing who you were and playing to your strength. This took you three steps backwards.

Anwar. I love you Anwar, but, disappointingly, like Nikko, everything you sing sounds the same. Only the lyrics change. It makes you quite forgettable, except for that little pop-up video thingie I expect that says simply "best technical singer ~~>", just in case we forget.

Vonzell. At this point the ranking is getting difficult, but Vonzell, even though I suggested you hop on the Bo stage and belt this song (thanks for listening!) it just didn't please me the way I thought it might. The first half of the song, you seemed to stay just one-half a note off of the band, and the arrangement lent itself to repetitive lyrics. But, aside from a few missed notes, it was by far the best female performance.

Scott. The guts it took to perform Hall and Oates in front of Hall and Oates is incomprehensible. But the response to Simon's criticism was incomprehensible. You may be right, and you may have tried to be funny by reminding us that you're one of the few (eight, to be exact) who are standing up there trying their best, but many voters do not take lightly to such remarks, even made in jest. That said, you looked more comfortable than you have this entire competition, and, although you totally screwed up the lower portion of this song, it was one of your best efforts. I just hope your defensiveness doesn't diminish that achievement.

Bo. I wanted you to perform Freebird. You've been reading, haven't you? My one worry was how to condense that song into 90 seconds, and, I think, that hurt the quality of the performance. But your vocals were clear, your stage presence was brilliant, as usual. And I love you still.

Anthony. My oh my, am I shocked to say this. You were great tonight. Just terrific. I think you may really have listened last week. And, more importantly, learned. This was a controlled, relaxed, non-cheesy, great performance.

Constantine. Simon said astonishing. Who am I to disagree?

Bottom three? Don't know yet, but tomorrow's results show is an hour. Don't know why, unless they're planning to treat us to all three group sings.

Check back tomorrow for my prediction. I'm still recovering from seeing William Hung and liking Anthony.