Click Here for More Articles on AMERICAN IDOL...

IDOL WATCH: The Top 8 Tackle the 80s!

IDOL WATCH: The Top 8 Tackle the 80s! It's another week of performances on Ammmerican Idol! This week, Gwen Stefani and No Doubt bassist Tony Kanal are the guest coaches, Tommy Hilfiger makes an inconspicuous disappearance from the show and Ryan reminds us that this week is eighties week with an old picture of Randy.

First up is DeAndre, who decides to sing large portions of "I Like It" by DeBarge in a pitch that only dogs can hear, leading Jimmy to predict that he'll be in the bottom three before he even performs. Ouch. That's harsh even for Jimmy. Still, DeAndre flips his hair around impressively and sounds, to me anyway, a lot better than last week. "I do like it!" J-Lo tells him. "I like it a lot!"

Elise chooses Foreigner's "I Wanna Know What Love Is." Elise still annoys me - and though she's (impartially) one of the best vocalists in the competition, the whole thing sounds a bit off. I'm a bit of a sucker for a chorus joining in at the end of the song, but even that can't save it. "It was just out of tune everywhere for me," Randy says.

Of course, Idol has to toss in a few group numbers for a two-hour show. This week, it's duets, and Skylar and Colton sing "Islands in the Stream." It's actually much better than the trios last week - easy to listen to on both parts - but still seems really unnecessary to the show.

Phillip Phillips chooses "That's All" from Genesis. It's a song that fits him well - he's very consistent, and this week is no exception - and in a nice gesture he has his brother-in-law on stage to play guitar with him. "You're a wildflower," Steven mumbles. No, seriously.

Hollie and DeAndre don't fare quite as well as Colton and Skylar with their duet: "I'm So Excited" by The Pointer Sisters. They improve as the song goes on, but these duets are so meaningless they could have bombed the thing and it wouldn't matter.

"If You Don't Know Me By Now" by Simply Red, as recorded by diva Patti LaBelle, is Joshua's choice. Everything about the performance rings of Idol's first few seasons - from the suit that Joshua's wearing to the smoke on the floor to the chorus - and while it's not always necessarily on pitch (you know, if you care about those kinds of things, which the judges clearly don't 90% of the time) it's the kind of "vocal gymnastics" that Joshua does very well and the judges love it.

Page 2 >>