blake lewis rocks bon jovi

i. love. blake lewis. i wasn't too sure about him during the audition episodes, but eversince his sentimental turn during the semi-final round -- for those who forgot, he sang keane's "somewhere only we know" -- i was a convert. it doesn't matter if he has blond or jet black hair. i love him anyway. almost as much as i love last season's chris daughtry (see below).

anyway, after a slew of ballads, blake broke out his beatboxing skills once again and totally knocked bon jovi's "you give love a bad name" out of the park for american idol's rock week. he really took a risk by infusing his musical stylings into one of the most popular rock songs of all time and it paid off. big time.

vocal powerhouses lakisha jones and melinda doolittle were totally in the zone. lakisha -- who got a kiss from simon after her performance -- rebounded from the last two weeks with a soulful rendition of "this ain't a love song", while mighty melinda channelled tina turner to rock out "have a nice day". seriously, is there any song out there that this woman cannot sing?

rounding out my top four -- the bottom two contestants are going to be eliminated this week -- is jordin sparks. not because she sang "living on a prayer" particularly well, but because i think she's done enough to ensure a spot in the top three... or the finals even.

that being said, i can't wait to see phil stacey and chris richardson go home. although phil gave what was probably his best performance so far with "blaze of glory", i don't think he has enough of a personality to make it through to the next round. and chris? i just find him annoying, especially his nasal, screechy interpretation of "wanted dead or alive". it didn't help that my favorite idol from season 5 chris daughtry gave a much more superior performance last season. daughtry sang it so well that it was his song in the compilation cd. and it was included in the idol tour repertoire.

in chris' video he said that someone had to sing "wanted" for rock week and if he had to take the flack for it then so be it. a self-fulfilling prophecy? we'll find out tomorrow night.