Last night the Idol contestants took on the sounds of the 1960’s British Invasion. And they were coached by Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits (was he the “Herman”?) and Lulu, who I’ve never heard of before, but she was super-cool. These songs were challenging for some who were unfamiliar with the songs, and for others who were unfamiliar with style of singing, but they each came out swinging, with the hopes of making it into the Touring Top 10.

Even those who’ve recently had stinky performances did a pretty good job with the 60’s tunes. Haley Scarnato was actually kinda okay. Not that she was great; she was nowhere near being all that and a bag of chips, but definitely at least the chips. She came out rockin’ a pair of super short-shorts and managed to keep the look kinda classy. I don’t know if it was the little bouffant with side-swept bangs hairdo (nice nod to 60’s style) or the satiny top or what, but she looked damn good. And she didn’t sound half-bad either! And there was a lot more energy coming from her tonight, which made a huge difference.

Chris Sligh wasn’t terrific again this week, but the song “She’s Not There” is hella difficult to sing. Taken that into consideration, he deserves some respect just for attempting it and not totally fucking it up. He also showed a bit more personality, coming out of the audience and hamming it up a bit for the camera. The performance part was great; he was quite entertaining. And the glasses are back! Woo hoo!

However, the shocker of the night was Sanjaya Malakar. Holy fucking shit, I swear I nearly pissed my pants during his out-of-control version of “You Really Got Me.” It was actually really good. Seriously, I loved it. It was like he just busted out of a cage and completely let loose on that stage. He sang loud and with conviction, punctuating the lyrics with gestures and actually even screaming at one point, but somehow it all worked. He’s got a great gravelly sound to his voice that he’s never shown before, and it’s cool as hell. I don’t know what happened to him, maybe he just doesn’t give a fuck anymore, but I’d bet my next paycheck that he’ll be sticking around after that. Oh, and he even had his own little groupie in the audience, just like a rock star. “Ashley” was about 11-years-old, pigtailed and chubby-cheeked, just the cutest thing, who cried and cried when Sanjaya was onstage. Teen heartthrob, people, what are you gonna do?

Chris Richardson didn’t have a great week last week, but pulled himself back up with “Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying.” I’m really glad that Peter Noone advised him to stick with the original melody of the song and not switch things up too much, because that song is really beautiful and Chris sang it sweetly and tenderly with just an acoustic guitar accompaniment. And I also love that little smirk he does when he’s singing. So fucking cute I can hardly stand it. However, I must question the Mr. Rogers cardigan sweater. Not the worst fashion choice ever, but … come on, a button-up sweater?

Last week, I put Blake Lewis into the category of “They’re Usually Great, What the Hell Happened?” Well, he’s back to being great, really … fucking … great. He took a whirl at “Time of the Season,” a sexy, smoky psychedelic tune, and knocked it out. I still have it stuck in my head, can’t get it out. He sprinkled in just enough of the beat-boxing to add his signature funky-freshness, but also kept the basic melody intact. And the little bit of dancing was very cool, but not too much to take away from his singing. It was fucking perfect. So good, in fact, that I didn’t even notice he had on plaid golf pants until halfway through. And even then I was like, “oh, who cares, he rocks.” And when a guy’s good enough to get away with wearing plaid-old-man-golf pants, he’s fucking golden.

Stephanie Edwards was also in the ? category last week, but she wasn’t so fortunate to launch herself all the way out of it this week. She sang “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me” by Dusty Springfield, a fantastic song that is hard as balls to sing. She did a good job of it, but I’m used to her being amazing, so being “good” seems like it sucks for her, you know? It seemed like she had a difficult time singing softly in certain parts. But whatever, she’s got a helluva voice, we all know that. And she looked fantastic in that satiny blue dress. Except someone needs to tell these ladies to quit wearing knee high boots with short dresses. That look where there’s just a strip of skin showing in between is so ucky. Next time, try some nice strappy heels.

So I have a new person to put into the “Usually Great, What the Hell Happened?” category this week, and it pains me to say it, it really does. Lakisha Jones. Oh, it hurts. I love her to bits, but her performance of “Diamonds Are Forever” was … boring. And she’s not a boring performer, she’s usually off-the-charts wonderful. I don’t know. I think it was the song; it was from a James Bond movie, which explains the weird porno-movie sound effects in the background. I totally agreed with Randy when he said that there wasn’t enough Lakisha in it. But she did look gorgeous and glamorous with all of her diamond jewelry and emerald-green dress. And her eye makeup was perfect, just flawless.

Gina stepped it up a bit this week by trying the Rolling Stones’ “Paint it Black.” I was intrigued watching her perform, but I wasn’t sure if I liked it or not. It took me a while to figure it out, but ultimately, I think I liked it. It was interesting. Not fantastic, but definitely interesting. Her new shorter haircut is cute too, but the fringy, cut-out top was a bit on the trashy side. It looked like the kind of tops that slutty girls with giant permed hair would wear on the Jersey boardwalk in the early 80’s, trying to pick up guys who drove Camaros.

I have decided that I really like Jordin Sparks’ straight, sleek hairstyle. It makes her look sophisticated and demure, which was perfect for her performance of “I Who Have Nothing,” a very dramatic tune. Add to it her fabulous black dress and the stage was set for a great moody showing. She really “wowed,” her voice strong and powerful. It was incredible. I so can’t believe she’s only 17. Plus, she is just so sweet I can’t help but love her.

Melinda Doolittle finished off the show with a killer rendition of “As Long As He Needs Me ,” which shot her straight to the top of the heap. She said the song was way out of her comfort zone, but you’d never know it. I don’t think there’s anything this girl can’t sing. I mean, whatever it is, you FEEL it from her. She gives all of herself, performs with so much conviction and gusto that if she was singing about taking a shit on the moon, I’d fucking believe it. She is truly amazing. And I loved the short, smooth bob. Very cute.

Oh, wait a second, I forgot one. Phil Stacey. You know why I forgot him? Because I could care less. He paled in comparison to everyone else this week, even Haley had him beat by a mile. The only thing I remembered from his performance was the annoying noises he made that followed the chorus of “Tobacco Road.” He just overdid it. The whole thing was an overdone mess. I hate that he carries around the mic stand when he’s singing, and his gestures are way overblown, almost like a cartoon. He seems to be trying too hard to be this season’s Chris Daughtry, when he should be trying to be himself. We don’t want a copycat, we want to see someone who’s unique. I find Phil annoying, yes. But he’s got a good voice and must have some kind of personality in there somewhere. He needs to show it, and he needs to do it soon. Actually, he should have done it weeks ago, because I have a sneaking suspicion that tonight’s the night he’s outta there. We shall see …