Today we are all Hokies

Phil Stacey Finds His Groove and Shines on ‘American Idol’

Tonight, I will remember Phil Stacy’s name.  It’s country night on American Idol and Stacey has found his niche.  His rendition of “Where the Blacktop Ends” finally showcased his vocal talent and his performance skills.  Not only was Stacey entertaining, but he really looked like he was truly enjoying himself.  Apparently, country music is Stacy’s genre.

The ever-so-humble Melinda Doolittle continues to dominate the contest.  Tonight she wowed us with a dynamic performance of a fairly new song, “Trouble is a Woman.”  She again proves that she’s not only talented, but versatile.  Doolittle remains my favorite contestant.

Also standing out tonight was Jordin Sparks with a beautiful rendition of ”Broken Wing,” a song originally song by this week’s mentor, Martina McBride.

Hipster Blake Lewis surprised me with a heart-felt performance of “When the Stars Go Blue.”

While LaKisha Jones and Chris Richardson put in decent performances, they failed to personalize their songs.  But hey, country music isn’t for everyone.

An lastly, I think Randy Jackson summed it up best when he call Sanjaya Malakar‘s version of Bonnie Raitt’s “Something to Talk About“ nothing but karaoke.

But ultimately, America does the voting and we’ll have to wait ’til tomorrow to see who doesn’t make the cut.