Parton the Interruption

It's Dolly night in Idol-land. Simon hated everything as usual, yet continues to deny he hates country music. Dude, just admit it and move on.

The best?
Here's the top 4, in no particular order:

David Cook - "Little Sparrow". He did an original arrangement tonight, and it was on par with his retouch of covered versions on previous weeks. I'd say this one charts slightly ahead of "Hello" and behind last week's "Billie Jean". Tuesdays continue to be David Cook night for me. The stylists got everyone's hair this week, and David looks better than usual without the sheep-dog look.

Carly - A Celene-esque version of "Here You Come Again". Very clean, very emotional. No pitch problems and she nailed the money note and the little vocal turn at the end that is Dolly Parton's signature in her songs. Her outfit looked hideous, like a secondhand store attempt at a comic book superhero gone wrong. Black leather one-piece swimsuit with red stockings and boots.

Michael Johns - I didn't catch the name of the song, but he was actually living up to his billing tonight. Excellent vocals, he didn't miss a note, and he hit lots of money notes along the way. He seemed a bit more inspired than in previous weeks.

David Archuleta - While it was another sappy ballad as usual, it was extremely good. It's just a shame that he's such a one-trick pony.

Middle three:

Syesha - "I Will Always Love You". My worst-case scenario for her was picking this song and trying to do it like Whitney, showing that she's learned nothing this season. I give her 1/2 credit, as she did the first half Dolly-style and then shifted gears to hit the last chorus (with a modulation to a higher key) with the Whitney-style cannon-blast. She did it well, but instead of being brave or original, she copied both styles that this song has been recorded in. I call that a cop-out.

Brooke White - "Jolene". Brooke performed this coffee-house style (as usual), and declined all the higher-difficulty jumps in the steeplechase. Result: Boring and safe, but good. She's got to break out of her rut or she'll be in the bottom three soon.

Kristy Lee Cook - "Coat of Many Colors". This is one of Dolly's sad but inspirational songs, and for once, Kristy hit it right on the money. Nothing original, but she sounded professional for the first time, and also looked good - the only performer other than Syesha to wear an evening dress, though she loses points for bare feet on my scorecard.

Worst of the lot:

Jason Castro - "Traveling Through". A bit more up-tempo than previous versions, but still a subway platform performance, albeit a good one. I think the voters' patience is running out with him.

Ramiele - "Do I Ever Cross Your Mind". Poor Ramiele lost her confidence when Danny Noriega was sent home, and just hasn't recovered. She failed to project through the band for 80% of her song tonight, and while she showed some improvement from previous weeks, she's just gotten too timid to continue on the show. Hopefully, whomever keeps dressing her in munchkin-wear with shoulder pads can go back to their day job once she goes home.

There's no doubt in my mind that Ramiele is going home. I predict Jason Castro and Syesha will join her in the bottom three. I also predict Dolly will have some words for Simon tomorrow night, since he pretty much trashed everyone tonight.