SAIL ON, SILVER GIRL: Tonight's Idol was a mess. The definition of "songs from the movies" got stretched from "oh, wait, that Simon & Garfunkel song was used forty years later in a Will Smith movie" to "I think Mike Tyson sang that in The Hangover" to "wait, Boomerang had a soundtrack?"
As for the performances, y'all know I'm all for idiosyncratic, personal and not-been-performed-before stuff. But, sheesh: Casey's indulgent "Nature Boy" had notes in all sorts of weird places; James's "Heavy Metal" may have had more Zakk Wylde than James; Scotty did a George Strait song which put America to sleep.
Look, if a TMZ report is to be believed, it's all Scotty/Lauren/James anyway, with James presumably sweeping up all the non-country votes to enter the finals. But let's pretend the singing matters for a minute: only Lauren and Haley did anything even marginally interesting in terms of selling a song; Stefano, Paul and Casey just didn't sing well; and when Scotty proclaims it's time to "return to his country roots" after his wildly eclectic run to date, ugh. And the judges, of course, didn't judge (except for Haley). A bad ninety minutes of television, and that's without wondering when will.i.am joined the cast.
Bottom line: when you sing a song titled "End of the Road" it will be, Stefano.