Go home Sundance, go home.

Strangely American Idol looks a lot like an emergency signal tonight. Which, with its irritating droning alarm tone, still might be better than some of the singers.

It comes back just in time to prove that bald, yelly singers don’t always sound as good as the applause might imply. At least, not when you catch the very end of the song. The judges--minus the mostly negative Simon--liked him, though. I’ll reserve judgment since I missed most of it.

Is Jared Cotter American Idol material? The g-phrase thinks he might be if he trimmed those eyebrows back a bit. I personally think that as a performer, he did a decent bar version of “Let’s Get it On"-but that’s a long way from selling albums. He really wasn’t very good.

Randy like it, but I wasn’t buyin’ it; Paula wanted to do naughty things to Jared but didn’t seem overly impressed with the vocals; and Simon said it reminded him of a cabaret singer on the Love Boat. Which soon will be making another fun. For some reason.

The g-phrase says she wishes Mark Lanegan would sing that song. Then she makes this funny little sound. I’m pretty sure I should be jealous.

AJ who? Trim that little tiny bit of facial fuzz, pal. You look like a thirteen year old who is trying a bit too hard. And talk about a cabaret performance…

Randy damns with faint praise, Paula loves him, and Simon actually enjoyed it.

Fools.

I still love Sanjaya--as a person if not yet as a singer. As great as his smile and personality are, he still sounded small on his song tonight. Kind of like a kid playing dress-up.

Sanjaya needs to come back in a few years. He’s got potential, but he needs to grow into his talent. Randy doesn’t like it, Paula tries to find a nice way to not like it, and Simon brutalizes the kid. Seriously, send him home and encourage him to try again in three or four years.

I want to have beers with Chris Sligh. Usually I like his singing, too, but tonight was just a bit better than okay. He’s been better and this hardly stood out from the crowd.

Nick Pedro goes for “Fever"--which is way better when it’s being sung by a sultry, inappropriately (in an appropriate way) dressed woman in low light. Nick can’t quite compare to that. But he does sound good. He has a great voice for older numbers. He should ask himself a question, though: is he aiming to be a lounge act or a pop star?

Does Blake go up or down? Up.

He’s so much better than I originally imagined--self-assured on stage, he has a strong contemporary voice, and even the return of the beatbox worked perfectly. This one is tough to beat.

I think Simon was wrong in his critique, but it still annoys me when the co-hosts and the audience try to shout him down. Let the Brit speak, say I.

The g-phrase has a crush on Branden, but I’m not entirely sure I can forgive him for singing a Cindy Lauper song. While I still think he has one of the best voices on the show--in terms of aesthetic quality--that was painful, boring, and uninspired. Damn, I hate to say this (because I really want him to stay on the show), but it was the low point of the night. He could do tremendously better.

As for the Geek, I can’t stand the song, can’t stand the style, but he did it exceptionally well.

Last up is Sundance--and I’ve already said my piece on him. Irritatingly, he has a damn good night--energetic, better range than I would have expected, and downright fun. Damn good.

Send him home anyway.