Acoustic is my favorite style of music, so I really enjoyed last night’s offerings. We will soon be getting to a point where true contenders will get the axe. But there is still a couple of weeks before that happens:

Zayra Alvarez–Lluvia De Mar (Rainy Days): Sounded great, and if they ever decide to do another biopic of Selena then Penelope should go for it. But she does not fit and she has no hope of advancing much further. There was nothing train-wreck about this performance so it may be time to cut her loose.

Magni–Starman: In my estimation Magni is one of the two wildcards in this show. Every week he gets more comfortable and shows how he became a star in Iceland. I appreciate the fact that he is putting distance between himself and the Bono-retread he trotted out the first couple of weeks.

Patrice Pike–Message in a Bottle: Last year, Jordis started out strong and faded down the stretch. Patrice’s fall is much more dramatic. The first couple of weeks were great. Lately, however, she has been listless and uninspired. She appeared to be as bored with the song last night as I was. And I love the original. Patrice could spare Zayra for another week. I think she has already mentally checked out.

Lukas Rossi–Hero: Somebody please help me understand this. What is the appeal here? He can’t sing. This was the closest I saw to enjoyable yet but it still left me unimpressed. Am I watching a different show?

Storm Large–I Will Survive: Now, I love Storm Large. To me, she is the one true legitimate challenger to front-runner Dilana. But that was bad. So, so very bad. Granted, she had one of the worst songs in music history that for some reason or another refuses to die. I mean, seriously, can we ban this song now? I know they were looking for someone to recreate it like Marty did last year with “Hit Me Baby, One More Time” but come on, there’s only so much you can do with a song that lame. She deserves a mulligan.

Toby Rand–Solsbury Hill: One of the greatest rock songs ever. And Toby pulled it off. Great vocals. Great energy. And he wasn’t dwarfed by Gilby on stage. This bloke can sing now.

Ryan Star–In The Air Tonight: Along with Magni, this is the other wild card. Although I think there is something about him that will keep Supernova for giving him the helm, he is far and away the most improved. And last night’s performance was show-stopping. I’m anxious to see what he does each week. I was ready to hand him the encore for that, until…

Dilana–Cat’s in the Cradle: How can she lose? No one is in the same league with her. That version is now the definitive version of this song for me. She is right. She is the one. Every week she turns in one of the top 1-2 performances. She made a maudlin song about regret ring with both guilt and rage. Stunning.

So:

Repeat Performance: Dilana (with Magni and Ryan also possibilities)
Bottom Three: Zayra, Patrice, Storm (although Storm could get a reprieve for being so stellar in previous weeks. If so, slide Toby or Lukas here)
Going Home: It should be Zayra but my gut is leaning Patrice. She doesn’t even act like she wants it anymore.