Wow, I wasn't aware they were cutting a third of the group before they even started. I like how they took more time cutting them than it would've taken them to perform... No huge complaints with their decisions, though I was a bit surprised Lisa didn't get a shot. I thought she was the best performer in group 2, for whatever that's worth. Anyway, with the fluff culled from the herd you would expect the performances to be good, and they didn't disappoint.

	1. Jennifer Hudson: Well, she definitely wins the award for the goofiest expressions while she sings, and make it a pair, along with Randy's award for the best performance of the night. She's got a beautiful, expressive voice, that sounds amazing both loud and soft. Excellent job, no doubt about it.
	2. George Huff: George is the man, how could you not love him? Blasting one of the best songs ever in his big, boomy, rich voice. Had a few pitch problems early, but screw it, it's George! If you don't like George, you don't have a soul.
	3. Elizabeth Latendre: Hmmmm, extremely difficult and classic song... and she did it quite well. Beautiful tone, great dynamic contrast, and amazing control. Never really anything truly 'wowing', but beautifully done nonetheless, very nice.
	4. Jon Peter Lewis: Wow, I must say Elvis was about the last thing I expected ANYONE to be singing, let alone this guy. Very entertaining, loved the moves, great stuff. It's a really tough song to show off vocal talent, relying so much on attitude and personality, but he did everything he could with it. Never allowed even a hint of pitchiness to show, other than the beginning which was a tad low on him. A very nice performance, and quite unexpected. And Simon continues to show himself as completely closed-minded this season...
	5. Leah Labelle: Mmmmm, I like Leah. Excellent song, hard to go wrong with this one, and she doesn't. The beginning was a bit shaky, but once she got it under her, it sounded excellent. Very nice performance, certainly not perfect, but very nice. And I like Leah...
	6. Suzy Vulaca: Yet another spotless, by the numbers performance. She does everything right, hits every note, sounds good... but I still don't really feel it. Meh, there's just something missing, am I allowed to simply not like someone for no reason? Oh, and she's a bit scary looking...
	7. Matthew Metzger: Wow, crappy song choice. I'm sorry, but floating some 80s power ballad by BAD ENGLISH simply isn't going to get it done. He sounds alright, and he's certainly a decent enough looking guy (yeah, that's 'bout as far as I'm going down that road), but it's just meh. Crappy song, mediocre performance, simply not good enough. Even despite the interview at the end just SCREAMING 'love me', he doesn't get it done.
	8. Katie Webber: Good, not great, but good. Hot outfit, fast punchy song, meh. She floated a few bad notes out there, but sounded good for the most part, just nothing special. Alright.

© Brandon Baither, 2004, Keep Yo Dirty Paws Off (not like you wanna steal this junx anyway)