Rate & Predict American Idol

• Matt Giraud, very impressive!
• Kris Allen, very nice as well.
• What happened to Megan’s Corkrey?  Also, did they alter her voice, b/c she sounded different tonight.

Two growing trends that I did NOT like:

1. Judges suggesting what songs the contestants SHOULD have sung.  I’m sure that choosing a song is a very difficult process, given a) they can only sing songs with permission from the artist/label b) they’re fighting with 10 other people for the same set of songs, and c) maybe they don’t know many country or (this week’s theme)-type of songs.  Give them a break, let them sing what they want!
2. Contestants talking back to judges.  I don’t like hearing the justifications of why they chose certain songs, because I think the performance should speak for itself.  Only when the judges are being ridiculously stupid should they at least defend themselves.

I personally like this season.  There are some clear favorites, but there are some dark horses that SHOULD get much more attention than they’re currently getting (Matt Giraud and Kris Allen).