Yee Haw --- Country Night. . .

I know I’ve said country music isn’t my favorite, but admittedly, I’ve been to a fair number of country shows (Brenda) and oh my, Tim McGraw looks mighty good in jeans. . . so although it’s not my favorite genre, I have to get my fill once in a while. The problem is, the country week on AI had never been that good --- until last night.

Martina McBride was a gracious mentor this week, but it seems like she’s “bought in” to all the contestants --- seems like she couldn’t say anything bad about any one of them!!

Phil sang Keith Urban’s “Where the Blacktop Ends”. When I closed my eyes, I heard a country music star --- I just have trouble equating Phil’s appearance with what could be his future in country music. And, who knew it was “his” genre??? Have we ever heard him sing it before and did he ever say anything about his love for country?? Good job, Phil!!

Jordin took the biggest risk of the night, singing Martina McBride’s “Broken Wing”. Her performance gave me the chills and, remember, I’m not country music’s biggest fan. I think Martina should hand the song over to Jordin, because last night Jordin made it hers!

Sanjaya was up next with “Let’s Give Them Something to Talk About”. . . no worries Bonne (Raitt). . . the song’s still yours. It wasn’t his worst performance, but that painful, uncomfortable silence after Paula’s “non-judgment” (You’re a loveable guy???) was a “worst” in TV editing. It hurt to watch. . .

LaKisha sang Carrie Underwood’s “Jesus Take the Wheel”. I must have been the only person in American who liked her performance, because I was hoping Carrie wasn’t watching (okay, I was never a Carrie Underwood fan). I totally disagreed with the judges, because I thought LaKisha owned that song last night.

“Mayberry” by Rascal Flatts was sung by Chris --- I liked it and totally enjoyed hearing him sing country. I thought he sounded better than any other genre he’s tried so far. But, he lost my vote when he told Simon that “nasally” was a type of singing. Yes, Chris, there is such a thing as nasally singing, but there’s also crappy singing, and neither is what an Idol should be attempting. No one in their right mind tries to impress anyone by singing crappy, and no one should TRY to sing nasally if they’re trying to win a singing contest.

Melinda was the woman of the hour, singing “Trouble is a Woman” by Julie Reeves. One word: amen!!

Blake wrapped up the show, purportedly because he broke the Idol House curfew (c’mon, he’s 25 --- he really has to be in by 10:30p.m.??). Unfortunately, I did not recognize this song as a Tim McGraw hit --- my point of reference was Tyler Hilton from several “One Tree Hill” episodes (or, as I like to call it “One Lone Pine Tree Hill” --- just to drive my daughters crazy). He had a little awkwardness just before the end of the song, but since I’m a huge fan of Blake’s (and that’s not a personal reference) it was all good for me.

My pick for bottom three: Sanjaya, LaKisha and Blake. I know, I know, the chances of Sanjaya getting in the bottom three is slim, LaKisha is wildly talented and I love, love, love Blake, but I think the other performances were much better than these three.