"American Idol": Anoop Babied Well, But Allison Rolled Papa Like a Big Dog

Please welcome our latest guest blogger Claire Meyerhoff, a former radio reporter whose Idol credentials include a backstage visit with Fantasia when she was appearing in "The Color Purple" on Broadway. She didn't even have to leave her house to help us:

Thanks to Mr. Obama’s performance of “Ain’t no Stimulus Plan High Enough,” Motown Tuesday shifted to Wednesday, forcing us to wait an extra 24 hours for our Idol fix. Then we waited through nine mediocre songs until finally – ding, ding ding – the fire alarm sounded, alerting us to HOT!

The heat came in the form of 16-year old RED HOT RED HEAD Allison. She sang, “Papa was a Rolling Stone” like she was filled with 50 years of wild child street angst. Like the song says, “never heard nothing but bad things about him”; the judges only had great things to say about Allison.

Aside from Allison…zzzzzz. Oh, you want to hear about the rest?

Matt did a pretty good version of “Let’s Get it On,” wearing his little JT nerd outfit. Judges liked it.

Chris played his guitar and sang “How Sweet it Is,” and seemed to do well, but all I could notice was how sweet his cute little face is. Chris kind of fills the void left by last season’s dreadlocks boy, except Chris can sing.

Scott stayed behind his piano again and it was not good. He’s starting to look like a regular on the Merv Griffin Show.

Megan. Poor Megan. She’s gorgeous, even with the tattoo arm. I think Simon said her performance was “horrible.” He’s right. She stinks. Doesn’t even matter what she sang.

Anoop did well with “Baby, Baby.” Simon said he had two good weeks in a row.

Next up was that oil rigger guy from Texas, Michael. He sang “Ain’t too Proud to Beg” and I got down on my knees in front of my 42-inch Sony HDTV and begged him to stop.

The most disappointing performance of the evening was Lil Rounds version of “Heat Wave.” I don’t know how to say this, but she seems to have trouble with her pacing or tempo or something. Kara actually looked like she was in pain watching poor Lil rush her way through the song.

One decent performance; Adam the Poseur who traded in his “Punk Zac Ephron” look for a very nice suit and sang Tracks of My Tears like he was channelling Ricky Nelson. Very, very nice job.

I always LOVE Danny Gokey because he looks just like Robert Downey, Jr. It kills me. He ran around singing “Get Ready,” and seems like the only contestant who is just having fun. It’s like Robert Downey Gokey, Jr doesn’t care whether he wins or loses as long as he can be on stage and entertain.

Perhaps the most puzzling part of Wednesday’s show was when Paula reached under the table (giving us a really good look at the wireless mic clipped to the back of her dress) to grab a box of crayons and coloring books and then she threw them at Simon. Speaking of color, Kara wore a Duke Blue Devil Blue dress, perhaps a nod to her alma mater’s Sweet Sixteen thing.

My hope for tomorrow night’s bottom three: Megan, Michael and Scott.