American Idol Season 8 Episode 31: The Top 7 Perform Again

Last week the judges saved Matt Giraud, which means the top 7 will all be performing again. There’s no mentor this week to make the show run long, so after a brief intro Ryan kicks it right to the first performer on Disco Night.

Lil (“I’m Every Woman” by Chaka Khan): Good grief, Lil sucks. She’s screechy, generic, and just wholly unimpressive. I didn’t start watching this season until the top 13 so can somebody tell me how Lil made it this far? The judges rip her a new one for being a boring mimic. Simon basically says to stick a fork in Lil, ’cause she’s done. Well, that’s going to earn her a few contrary votes.

Kris (“She Works Hard For The Money” by Donna Summer): Ryan and Kris hilariously dance around the whole “this song is about prostitution” thing, and then Kris hits the stage and freaking kills it with an acoustic guitar and drums arrangement. His vocals are terrific and what I like about Kris is that I know exactly what kind of album he’s going to put out. He’s got a focus and clear sense of what kind of musician he is that’s lacking in all the other contestants this season except Adam. Kara says she could hear that song on his album and Paula makes a labored cross-dressing analogy that was obviously written for her and makes everyone uncomfortable. Simon praises Kris’ originality, after making fun of Paula of course.