After the loss of bear-favorite, Casey Abrams, a few weeks ago, I hadn’t had the heart to write more about season 10 of American Idol, but after watching last night’s Top Three performance episode, I figured a few words would be appropriate.

Scotty’s performances were mediocre at best, as his arrogance is causing him to not pay attention as much to his singing, resulting in noticeable pitch issues.

Lauren is still a bag of vocal vomit, but she’s better than Scotty, and I predict she’ll make the Finals.

Which leaves Haley – she seems to have become electrified in the past two weeks, and her performances are getting better and better! Initially one of my least favorite, Haley now seems to be the one to beat. I predict she will take it all!

With the surprise elimination of Pia last week, this competition has been thrown wide open! Let’s get to the re-cap of last night’s movie-themed songs:

Paul’s performance of “Old Time Rock-n-roll” from Risky Business was a good way to open the show, upbeat and quirky. He performed with abandon and his megawatt smile – Tawdry Talk Prediction: safe.

Lauren was a bit better than she has been in past performances, her rendition of “The Climb” really resonated with her and that translated to the audience. I still don’t particularly like her, but my Tawdry Talk Prediction: safe.

The horror continues – Pia’s out and Stefano was safe? Egads. Well, his performance of “End of the Road” would be the end of his road if I ruled the world. Damn those teen aged girls who keep voting for him! Tawdry Talk Prediction: bottom three.

The cold, dead shark eyes of Scotty in his version of George Strait’s “I Cross My Heart” will woo the C&W voting bloc, but he is still a one-trick pony who’s relying on the deep range of his voice instead of real singing ability. Tawdry Talk Prediction: safe.

Casey was a genius with his rendition of “Nature Boy” but it won’t be enough to keep him safe. Tawdry Talk Prediction: bottom three.

I liked Haley’s version of “Call Me” but will it resonate with the audience? The judges got on her about the song choice, but my Tawdry Talk Prediction: safe.

Jacob’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” was glorious, but he’s going down the preachy road with his song choices, and it’s starting to turn people off. Tawdry Talk Prediction: bottom three.

Finally, James’ did a hot version of “Heavy Metal” with Zach Wylde on guitar which screamed! Tawdry Talk Prediction: safe.

James, Scotty and Lauren have not yet been in the bottom three. Each of them took a risk with their song choice this week – will it pay off?

I missed Allison, but saw enough of her at the end to know that she held her own again. But as far as the rest go:

• Anoop made panties wet all across the country.  He’ll make it through to next week.
• Adam is still a force to be reckoned with, and that last note of his made neighborhood dogs cry out.
• Matt is definitely in the bottom three, and in my mind, the bottom rung of the three.
• “Hokey” Gokey started out sharp, then flat, but he recovered nicely.  I predict he makes it through.
• Kris sang a relatively obscure song (even if it did win an Oscar), but was perfect.
• Lil was just dreadful – too tentative when she should have been big.  And the only version of “The Rose”  I ever think of  anymore besides Bette’s is the Kinsey Sicks, and only because they mock the song so well.

So, if I have to guess who’s in the bottom three, I’ll go with Lil, Matt, and Allison, with Lil being booted.

After today’s frightening and exhausting panic attack, my roommate, John, gave me one of his precious valiums from his stash, and I took it and then a two hour nap.  I’d never taken one before, but I’m not really sure it did anything, being somewhat significantly past it’s half-life.  Nevertheless, I woke and felt as if I didn’t need to vomit anymore, and the pressure off my chest was relieved.

Inspired by some of the people on twitter on the East Coast live-blogging American Idol, I decided that an evening of completely mindless and low-key entertainment was in order, so I sat in the TV room and watched the Top 9 duke it out.  Well, OK, I missed the first two singers, Anoop and Megan, but I watched them on the AI website, and I live-tweeted the broadcast, which was fun!

Here are my thoughts:

• Anoop: Beautiful voice, lovely eyebrows, nice stage presence.
• Megan:  She reminds me of Sarah McLachlan, with that breathy sing-song style.
• Danny Gokey: as I tweeted, my iPhone kept wanted to rename him Hokey.  Tonight he just wasn’t on.
• Allison:  Too distracted by trying to play the guitar at the same time as sing.
• Scott: on the piano, sitting down, makes it difficult to sing and support one’s voice without a lot of practice.  He kept singing flat, which bothered me to no end.
• Matt: why, oh, why couldn’t someone put a ball gag in his mouth?
• Lil: Don’t make an alto sing a song for a soprano.  Also, she sings flat, too.  Isn’t pitch control important to anyone else but me?
• Adam: Very Steven Tyler-esque, but considering he was re-arranging Wild Cherry’s “Play The Funky Music” it was completely appropriate.  A definite winner.
• Kris: Another fantastic performance by a talented singer.

OK, so with that in mind, who do I think will be going home?  Well, having not watched any of the season up until this point makes it difficult, but I’ll say in order of likelihood: Scott, Matt, Lil, Allison, Danny, Megan, Anoop, Kris, and Adam.