The Top 8 sing their Beginnings

The finalists will all sing a song from the year they were born:

Danny Gokey is 28 years old and was born in 1980. Country singer Mickey Gilley became famous when his nightclub, Gilley's, was featured in the movie Urban Cowboy. His version of Stand By Me, which was also in the movie peaked at #22 in 1980. Danny did his best with his limited vocals to make an impression. The best I can say is that he didn't scream the whole song like he usually does.

Kris Allen is 23 years old and was born in 1985. Don Henley continued his solo success from the Eagles in 1985 when he peaked at #9 with All She Wants To Do Is Dance. Don Henley's version was always kinda bland even though it's a song about dancing. Kris did a great job mixing things up and making the song so much more vibrant and energetic than it ever was before. Combine the jazzy horns with his handsome face and smooth vocals and we are left with a great performance.

Lil Rounds is 24 years old and was born in 1984. Tina Turner enjoyed one of the best comebacks of all time when she won the Grammy for Record of the Year and spent three weeks at #1 with What's Love Got To Do With It in 1984. Lil has once again demonstrated that she has a wonderful voice and that she can sing anything exceptionally. But at the same time while proving herself as a gifted musical chameleon, she is missing out on her remaining chances to step away from the crowd as a unique artist. Still one of the best in the competition, though.

Anoop Desai is 22 years old and was born in 1986. Cyndi Lauper spent two weeks at #1 in 1986 with True Colors. Anoop Desai has been struggling every week to decide what his true colors are. Sometimes he's a complete hot mess trying to be an uptempo soul singer, but he's usually better when he does a simple ballad. But when he does a simple ballad, like he did tonight, he is so boring he puts everyone to sleep. He has yet to learn how to do a ballad with any style or personality.

Scott MacIntyre is 23 years old and was born in 1985. When I was in high school concert choir I was required to take voice lessons and perform a solo for the rest of the choir. The song I chose was the #4 smash by Survivor, The Search Is Over. Scott stepped away from his piano, picked up his electric guitar and did this song a million times better than I did. This different setting exposed some vocal limitations but nothing can take away this young man's genuine sincerity he brings to everything he does.

Allison Iraheta is 16 years old and was born in 1992. Bonnie Raitt took I Can't Make You Love Me to #18 in 1992. While Allison is the youngest finalist in the competition she was able to take this very mature song and be completely convincing. Ignore the pink hair and the youthful fashion sense so that you're not distracted from the great voice that lies beneath.

Matt Giraud is 23 years old and was born in 1985. Stevie Wonder continued his decades long hit making streak when he hit #1 for one week in 1985 with Part Time Lover. Matt took this fun and bouncy dance jam and completely sucked the life out of it. His vocals were totally generic and the beat felt slow and cumbersome.

Adam Lambert is 27 years old and was born in 1982. Before Tears For Fears became chart topping hit makers in 1985, they were a totally cool alternative band that released a song called Mad World in 1982. Adam Lambert took this new wave synth pop song and performed it as a haunting ballad with his flawless silky tenor voice. He needed nothing but a spotlight on him and he commanded the stage with a completely showstopping rendition.

Adam has very clearly stepped WAY ahead of the others as the only stand out finalist and he is the clear and obvious front runner. He is the only one who is completely safe and on a clear path to the finals. All of the others are at risk of ending up in the bottom three. As I have stated in previous weeks, I don't really expect to get any of my predictions right any more. The ones who are falling completely flat to me are getting high praise from the judges. It makes no sense to me. So going completely against the judges, I think the bottom three will be Matt Giraud, Anoop Desai and Danny Gokey. This should finally be the week that Anoop goes home.