Just before the Idol Gives Back episode airs here in the Philippines, let me recap the Top 8 Performance last night. The songs used were not that inspirational but at least the finalist have done their best to impress the audience. The photos I will be using for the post are obviously from AmericanIdol.com. Thank you!

Michael Johns opened the show with the song, “Dream On”. His rendition was fine and upbeat which is actually good to open the song.

Syesha Mercado sang Fantasia Barrino’s “I Believe”. Another bad song choice for Syesha although the song is within her range. She sang the song very well. In fact she got great vocals. But the problem is, the emotion is missing. Fantasia sang the song during the Finale, the feeling was there, the emotion was there.

Jason Castro performed next with the song, “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”. Although this song was sang impressively by Katharine McPhee in the previous season (Season 5), Jason Castro made the song his own. He played the ukulele that gave the song a very good Hawaiian twist. I consider this as one of the best performances of the night.

Performing “Anyway” Kristy Lee Cook might be safe this week. Her vocals were great and she really hit the right notes (and I must say high notes). I believe that Kristy Lee Cook is now getting better as compared to the previous week (although her rendition of God Bless The USA is great).

David Cook performed, “Innocent” and his performance last week is much better than his performance last night (at least for me). And his song choice for this week is not that appealing to me.

Carly Smithson sang, “The Show Must Go On”. I must admit that her performance last night scared me a bit (those head banging violinists!). And I think, her rendition of the song was kinda angry instead of inspiring. I like her performance last week but I guess this week, she’ll be in the bottom three.

David Archuleta played the piano while singing “Angels”. I’m not a David Archuleta fan but I’m starting to be one! His performance the past weeks are pretty impressive but I won’t forget the time when he forgot the lyrics of the song (I forgot which week was this). He did a good job singing the song whole-heartedly while playing the piano.

Brooke White wraps the show with the song, “You’ve Got A Friend”. I must confess that I like this song although I was not even born when this song was published. I just heard it on my mom’s playlist. Anyway, Brooke White performed well last night. The emotion was there but it was kinda boring. I didn’t like the arrangement that much but her rendition is very much inspirational.

So, my bottom three for this week: Michael, Syesha, Carly. Who goes home this week? Let’s find out tomorrow night.