It has been nearly a week since the great tragedy of American Idol Season 10 transpired.  Pia Toscano will be all right and so will we.  What we have left is one of the best, and probably the most diverse, group of American Idol performers we have ever seen. Christian music performer Jacob Lusk leads our American Idol Season 10 Top 8 Power Ranking. Christian music artist Scott McCreery is having a wonderful season.  He established his personality early and has gradually showed more and more of his singing and performing talents each week. Christian music performers Lauren Alaina and Stefano Langone have had great moments and some not so great moments, but they both appear to be pretty popular.

This week American Idol Season 10 will take on “music from the movie.” Themes this broad are filled with potholes.  There are many, many bad song choices for the Idols and we have seen many previous Idols make those bad choices.  However, the American Idol Season 10 performers have surprised us every week.  Last week’s rock n roll night was pretty terrific. I am anxious to see what these guys can do with movie music.

Please join us as we live blog the movie music performances by American Idol Season 10‘s Top 8.

Paul MacDonald is wearing the black version of his white rose suit.  He is singing first so he will be on the bubble tomorrow night.  Will.I.Am decided to stay on American Idol Season 10. Paul is trying to capture last week’s good time vibe with Bob Seeger’s “Old Time Rock n’ Roll.”  Paul MacDonald always seem to have a great time and he has some very natural frontman moves.  This is a good song for him and his voice.  Jennifer Lopez is right that he is pushing and growing every week.  Overall, Paul overcomes his weak vocals with an infectious stage presence.  That should be good enough to overcome his slot as the opening act of the night.

Lauren Alaina is doing “The Climb” by Miley Cyrus. Ugh! Jimmy Iovine is right that Lauren Alaina is a much better singer than Miley Cyrus.  Will.I.Am is turning into a very good mentor.  This is tough for me because I don’t like this song.  She sang it very, very well.  It seemed that she connected to the song in parts, but I think she needed to dig deeper.  J-Lo, Randy and Steven all liked it and think she is on her way back.  She seemed comfortable and she sang “The Climb” well.  I think Lauren Alaina could have done more with that song.

Lauren Alaina‘s post performance interview is 16 year-old cute.

Stefano Langone is doing “End of The Road” by Boys II Men.  Jimmy Iovine and Will.I.Am spend some substantial time pulling Stefano out of a funk from last week’s results.  I wasn’t too sure about his performance at the beginning, but he hit a groove in the middle of the song and wrung all of the emotion from the song.  That was a gut wrenching version of “End of The Road.”  I actually liked it better than the original.  Randy said he slayed the song and that it was his best performance of the season. I agree with Steven that he milked that song for all it was worth.  If that does not keep Stefano Langone out of the bottom 3 nothing will.

Boy, Stefano Langone‘s post performance interview showed one nervous, breathless excited young man.

Scott McCreery just blew it by backing off “Everybody’s Talking”.  He switched to “I Cross My Heart” by George Strait.  Scott had a chance to create a very exciting moment by putting his country spin on a great pop song.  Instead he chose a middling country ballad that he knows and loves.  He sang it beautifully but it was pretty blah for me.  Randy and J-lo cannot criticize.  Randy lauds Scott McCreery for staying true to his roots.  Maybe I am too hard on Scott but I think he could have and should have done more.  Not my favorite night for Scott McCreery.

Casey Abrams steps up to his bass next to perform”Nature Boy” by Nat King Cole, wearing an ascot.  He defied the mentors in the song selection and Jimmy Iovine is ticked-off.  Jimmy Iovine was right.  This would have worked in the back of a smoke-filled lounge with six people in the room.  I very much do not like his sighs and his growls.  This was very jazzy, stretching notes and going atonal.  The judges give him a standing ovation.  Randy is name dropping Herbie Hancock and Charlie Mingus?  Randy called it genius. That may have been brilliant in the studio but I don’t think it translated through the tube.  I think Casey Abrams is in trouble.

A very emotional Casey Abrams broke into tears after he stuck to his guns and did something that had never been done on Idol.  I am happy for him.  The judges kept dropping Grammy references, but remember that America does not vote on the Grammys.

The mentors are giving Haley Reinhart a lot of love.  Haley is doing Blondie’s “Call Me.”  Her voice may be a little too breathy to do this song.  It seems Haley has only one stage emotion– happily coy.  The start was a bit rough and I am not sure she brought anything new to the song, until the end.  Right at the end she kicked into a Haley Reinhart growling, groove and it started to work for me.  It seems the judges are as luke warm as I am.  This song really did not show her voice in the best light and I don’t think she connected with the vapid, desperation of the lyrics.

Jacob Lusk has about six songs he can sing from Pursuit of Happyness.  He is doing “Bridge Over Trouble Water”, a big song.  A very humble Jacob Lusk did whatever Jimmy Iovine told him.  Oh my gosh. The end of that song was mind blowing.  I was a little worried halfway through the performance but he dug in the second half and took us to a new dimension.  A dimension that only Jacob visits. The judges were flabbergasted by his vocal prowess. Randy is right in saying that Jacob Lusk feels his songs and makes us feel the songs.  I cannot describe the beauty of what he did at the end of that song.  If you did not hear it, check in tomorrow and I will have a video in the results post.  That was incredible.

Once again Jacob Lusk gives glory to God after his performance.

We close the night with James Durbin singing Sammy Hagar’s “Heavy Metal.”  James Durbin is getting a little cocky with Jimmy Iovine and told them he was doing what he wanted to do.  This is obviously what James Durbin looooves to do.  A little too much guitar solo in the middle.  That was pretty darn good… and a lot of fun.  The song really did not go anywhere but James’s performance was exuberant and exciting.  J-Lo loved it and Randy was hooting at the end of the song. Randy called it unbelievable.  “Durbin rocks, Durbin rocks,” said Randy.  Steven said excellent.

I don’t know about tonight.  I was not blown away.  Jacob Lusk delivered the most amazing vocal tonight.  Paul MacDonald and James Durbin had the most fun.  Stefano Langone gave the most complete performance.

Join us tomorrow night as we cover the results.  You never know what will happen.

I could not believe it.  I watched Good Morning America this morning.  All they talked about was the government shutting down, earthquakes in Japan and fighting in Libya.  Didn’t they hear that Pia Toscano was voted off of American Idol Season 10 last night.  Where is that 20/20 guy when we need him?  Why isn’t George Stephanop??? (who can spell that) grilling Ryan Seacrest?  We need Geraldo Rivera (what? he works for the Fox guys now so he ‘s conflicted?)

This has gotten so bad that Texas folk hero and future Ohio darling Colt McCoy said on Twitter that he is going to stop watching now that his favorite is gone.  Really, I always thought of Scott McCreery as the singing Colt. But this is amazing.  Twitter world blew up last night.  Season 8 Idol Michael Sarver was calling for a re-count. I had more than 50 tweets about Pia’s departure from American Idol Season 10.  Well if ABC will not get on the case I can offer some in-depth analysis.

This is a hard one to understand.  Pia Toscano has sung perfectly every week.  Casey Abrams, Paul MacDonald, Stefano Langone, Lauren Alaina and Haley Reinhart should all have gone before Pia Toscano.  I could understand if one of our favorites, Christian musician Jacob Lusk, was voted off last night.  As brilliant as he is, he has had some rough moments and his comments in Wednesday night put him in grave danger.  I could even get it if Christian musician Scott McCreery had been voted off.  As popular as he is, his deep voice and commitment to country music limits his audience.  The only performer who had been as consistently good as Pia Toscano was James Durbin.

Could it have been the judges?  Many are saying they  used their save too early on Casey Abrams.  Their very guarded criticisms of all the performances, while uplifting and kind, did not give America much to work with to distinguish the talent between this year’s Idols.

I got!  IT’S GWEN STEFANI’S FAULT!  Who could vote for someone performing in their cow jammies!

Seriously, this is an uber talented young lady who is handling this shocking result with transparency and grace.  Anyone who thinks she is a diva or an ice princess, please just watch this short interview of Pia Toscano from last night.  I am a big fan and if you are as upset as we are about this turn of events I encourage to join me and  buy Pia Toscano’s American Idol Season 10 EP.  With that, the show must go on.

American Idol Season 10 Top 8 Power Rankings

1) Jacob Lusk- I know Jacob Lusk stupidly challenged (see the video), and maybe angered, American Idol voters.  That, and his performance slot at the very opening of a long, good night of performances, landed him in the bottom 3.  But seriously, is there anyone on American Idol Season 10 capable of reaching the vocal heights of Christian musician Jacob Lusk?  We have seen what he can do with “A House Is Not A Home” and “You’re All I Need.”  Everyone has been telling him to hold back.  He did on Michael Jackson’s “Man In The Mirror” and you tell me what was wrong with this performance.

2) James Durbin- He took a big risk and went against the wishes of Jimmy Iovine to sing a quiet song on rock week.  With the theme that everyone anticipated would be an excuse for him to show his full rock beastliness with something from Guns n Roses or Led Zeppelin, James Durbin went the opposite direction.  It worked.  While everyone else went crazy with big rock and soul numbers, James changed the pace in the middle of the show and forced everyone to listen to him and to see him.  We liked what we heard (he is an amazing singer who was not off key as some have claimed) and we liked the sensitivity we saw in this bigger than life rocker.

3) Scott McCreery- If we are being honest, it looks like Christian musician is the favorite to win American Idol Season 10.  He has been popular from the beginning.  Each week he is stretching his act a little.  He has a distinctive style and he is very, very likeable.  His rocking performance of “That’s All Right” demonstrated a much more expressive and daring performer than we anticipated.  Get ready for a repeat of Season 8 when the finals come down to a battle between the bigger than life rocker (James Durbin/Adam Lambert) versus the Christian southern heart throb (Scott McCreery/Kris Allen)

4)Lauren Alaina- It seems as if Lauren went through Hollywood Week without a care in the world and suddenly was rattled when American Idol Season 10 went live.  Early on she did not trust her voice and tried to carry her performances with her substantial personality.  Building on her duet with Scott McCreery in last week’s results show, Lauren allowed her voice to carry “You Make Me Feel (Like A Natural Woman).”  She trusted her voice to hit some big notes and she did it without any problem. If she continues to relax into her singing skills, picks harder and harder songs each week and quits thinking so much Lauren Alaina could join the top 3.

5) Haley Reinhart- I have liked Haley Reinhart since the beginning of American Idol Season 10. She has an amazing voice, maybe better than Pia’s.  However, it does not seem that Haley knows who she is as a performer.  On Wednesday night she mauled “A Piece of My Heart.”  It was a thrilling vocal performance.  Yet, I did not feel the song.  Haley’s mood was too bright for that gut bucket blues number. For Haley Reinhart to be successful on American Idol or in her post Idol career, she needs to drop her shield, become more vulnerable and find a purpose for her music.

6) Stefano Langone- If I were ranking vocal capability, this is exactly where I would rank Christian musician Stefano Langone.  We have seen that “blood on the floor” emotion from Stefano that we have not yet seen from Scott, Haley or Lauren.  However, it seems Stefano Langone is in conflict with his heart.  Stefano’s most breath taking moment was when he sang the gospel song “I Need You Now.”  Nothing since has reached the heights of that moment.  He is like the sensitive guy who wants to be cool.  I think Stefano Langone is a gospel singer who wants to be an R&B star. Stefano, be the cool sensitive gospel singer and fulfill your destiny.

7) Paul MacDonald- He had his best moment of American Idol Season 10 this week. He was able to close Rock n Roll night with a rousing, and I mean rousing, version of “Folsom Prison Blues” that ignited the entire studio.  For the first time this season I thought I might want to go see Paul MacDonald in a club.  Paul would have made it to the finals of Season 9 but I think his days in Season 10 are numbered.

Casey Abrams- He seems to have lost his equilibrium since he was sick.  That is understandable because he was seriously sick.  He had a patch of bad performances and followed his save with some solid but forgettable performances.  I do not think the judges wasted their save on Casey.  He deserved to last until at least number 9.  I would have chosen Pia over Casey but that wasn’t the choice the judges had.  I think Casey will go home in the next two weeks and that is nothing to be ashamed of.

Join us Wednesday night when the American Idol Season 10 Top 8 songs from the movies.  I have never enjoyed this theme but I do remember Kris Allen igniting his run to the Idol crown with “Falling Slowly” from Once.  We will live blog the performances, vote and hope for the best.