Thursday night was the second-to-last week of "American Idol" EVER!  And while next week offers THREE episodes instead of one, this week "Idol" narrowed the field of play from the final four to the top three.  Here is what I thought while watching the latest episode of "American Idol":

 

MACKENZIE - HALLELUJAH: MacKenzie's final performance as part of the competition was actually really good, probably my favorite performance from Round 1.  I thought that Round 1 was weak in general, and a strange choice as far as songs for their hometowns.  It wasn't immediately clear to me how this song related to MacKenzie's hometown.  I know we're getting down to the true nitty-gritty, but I have to say I truly believe MacKenzie should have made it to the finals.  On this night, Dalton should have gone home.

 

DALTON - CALLING YOU: Dalton has started doing something that has taken him from one of my personal favorites to someone I'm starting to find very annoying.  He's making his gimmick out to be his bipolarism/mental illness and it's all we hear about in regards to Dalton anymore.  I was unfamiliar with this particular Blue October song and thought his performance was just OK.

 

TRENT - TENNESSEE WHISKEY: Despite coming off of a particularly hot week last week for me, I was back to not liking Trent at all this week.  The song selections did him no favors as far as I'm concerned.

 

LA'PORSHA - GLORY: Typical La'Porsha, and I mean that as a compliment.  She delivers the most powerful vocals on the show, and she did that consistently tonight.

 

DALTON - DANCING IN THE DARK: This was quite easily my favorite performance last night.  I've heard slowed down versions of this Bruce Springsteen song before (my favorite being John Legend's) but I really appreciated Dalton's cover and it reminded me of vintage Dalton and it demonstrated what he does best.

 

LA'PORSHA - STAY WITH ME: I feel like La'Porsha's character has started to become a  little sassy, the most clear example of this being this performance.  I appreciated her clear vocal ability, as well as her honesty as far as not being able to relate to the song's lyrics.

 

TRENT - DRINK YOU AWAY: To me and my girlfriend, Trent seemed buried in the audio mix.  The music and especially the background singers overpowered him and I found him to be hard to hear.  I didn't love this performance, but that doesn't mean Trent doesn't have a ticket to the finals.

 

DALTON - EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD: I was very excited to find out Dalton was going to be performing this classic Tears For Fears song chosen by the judges first because I like it and second because it seemed like a song that would be up his alley.  However, I thought this performance was awful and Dalton went out like a lamb.  I think we'll be saying goodbye to him next week for sure.

 

LA'PORSHA - HELLO: This obviously was a great performance, and I was really looking forward to this.  I totally understand why the judges chose it for her.  My only complaint would be that it did not sound better than Adele's original and it did not sound as good as I would hoping it would.  I've said since the live shows began that La'Porsha would ultimately win the entire competition and become the last American Idol.  I'm not changing that opinion now.

 

TRENT - WAITING GAME: This was the most forgettable performance of the night to me.  I stand by my thought from previous weeks in that Trent is probably really good, but I just don't get him.  I expect him to make it to the finals based on his popularity alone, and even think he has a strong chance to win the overall competition, but I haven't rooted against La'Porsha yet and I'm not about to start now.

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