Top 9 Performances: Sanjaya Malakar

First off, hair report – it’s been cut! It’s been cut! Does that mean, like Samson, he has lost his power? Oh please let there be some biblical meaning in all of this!

As for his performance, once again my jaw is on floor, because this time…he’s not that bad! Sure, he’s not even in the same league as the 8 other contestants (and this was still, by far, the worst performance of the night), but it is the most watchable Sanjaya has been all season. I am literally shocked at how much I didn’t hate this performance (even if the moment he tried to dance with Paula was kind of painful). In fact, I’d say it was better than 80% of what John Stevens did, and all of what Kevin Covais put out there. Yep, I said it. Not. That. Bad.

I think the judges missed a big opportunity here to shower the kid with praise, perhaps throwing off the votefortheworst'ers. A little bit of "we didn't know you had that in you" or "slight improvement" might have gone a long way...in decreasing his votes!

Of course, I am still hoping (and praying) that he gets the boot tomorrow evening, and I think now is as good a time as any for him to go. But wow, Sanjaya, if you didn’t shock me yet again.

GRADE: B-


1. Jordin Sparks
2. Melinda Doolittle
3. LaKisha Jones
4. Phil Stacey
5. Blake Lewis
6. Gina Glocksen
7. Chris Richardson
8. Haley Scarnato
9. Sanjaya Malakar