American Idol Jazzes it Up with Tony Bennett

This week on American Idol, an old favorite stopped by to show the contestants the ropes. Tony Bennett, the smooth jazzy crooner lent his songs to idols and helped them find the meanings behind their songs.

We started with Blake Lewis who sang "Mack the Knife," one of the most popular and catchy tunes of all time. Blake has a little vibrato in his voice so he pulled it off quite nicely even though the beginning was a bit rough. But he was consistent through the piece and since he's a great performer, he did really well.

Phil Stacey sang a very sweet tune, "Night and Day". It was a little slower than Tony said he would have liked. But under the direction Bennett, the arrangement did have a little backbeat to it. Bennett said of Stacey "He's one of the better singers I've heard." Stacey does have a great voice but the judges thought his performance was morose. Simon said it was one of the saddest things he'd heard. And unfortunately Phil said that he just thought of his wife during the whole song.

Next was the best of the bunch every week, Melinda Doolittle. As Simon said last night, "I don't think we can ever criticize you." And it's true. Melinda's rendition of "I've Got Rhythm" had more than rhythm. It has class, style and a great arrangement. Not to mention a beautiful strong voice behind it. Melinda sounds like a professional every week. She should already have a music contract and I don't know why she hasn't yet. She is pitch perfect in every way with a gorgeous, fun voice.

Chris Richardson sang "Mr. Saturday Night". He really got the jazzy feel of the song down and put a new twist on the song with his poppy voice and vibrato. In the beginning, it was boring but halfway through he saved the song with his own style. The ending was wonderful and he's a great singer in any case.

Jordan Sparks sang a song that I don't quite remember although the judges liked it. This week it was just boring for me. Sparks is a great singer no doubt, but I don't think old jazz is her forte. Plus she sounded nervous when using her vibrato. Other than that, it was a good performance, just not memorable and old fashioned sounding.

Next up was Gina Glocksen. She sang "Smile" and Randy said it was one of her best performances. "Smile" is a song that can make your heart break but I thought Gina singing it took away from it because she is such a rock girl. Gina has a big voice and she can do ballads, but this would not have been a choice I would have liked. Paula called it "understated, beautiful and sentimental". But Simon said he couldn't compliment her on the vocal because "two girls came on before you and just outsang you." Gina nodded her head agreeing with Simon and replied, "That's the nature of this competition."

Sanjaya Malakar has an old soul. He's always sang the old standards so this should have helped him this week. Unfortunately he was the same as any other week, not too good. Tony said of Sanjaya, "What I like about him is that he dares to be different". Sanjaya sang "Cheek To Cheek". Another weak vocal with pitch problems and a cracking voice, randy decided he couldn't talk about his vocals anymore and decided to talk about his hair and outfits. Simon said," Let's try a different tactic this week. Incredible." And by that, Simon was saying that every week that they tell America he is bad, they keep him on the show. Hopefully this will help.

Hayley Scarnato sang another song that wasn't memorable. When you don't have as good of a voice as the other girls, you have to be more flashy and Hayley was that. She wore a short green dress that was too revealing and had her hair did up like she was from 1988. She was trying too hard to be sexy.

Lakisha Jones rounded up the night with "Stormy Weather". She gave this even more of a soulful feeling. She and Melinda are obviously the frontrunners of the competition and she proved it last night. Tony said, "If she hits that big note at the end, it'll be good." And it was. Jones has a powerful voice and shows it. Simon called it a "Sassy, great performance."

So who will be voted out? Who knows? Hopefully it will be based on performance and if that's the case we'll either be saying goodbye to Sanjaya, Hayley or Gina. Good luck guys!