Bon Jovi week!  Maybe the best overall week in the six seasons of American Idol.  How did Melinda Doolittle fare?  Who went home?  Read on...

The Final Six bring it home with Bon Jovi
    ...and two go home

May 1 & 2
Phil Stacey & Chris Richardson meet their fate
 
In perhaps the most competitive week yet, all six remaining Idols rocked the house with Bon Jovi classics and a few newer songs as well.  In looking back to the previous seasons of Idol, this was possibly the best all-around set of performances ever brought to the Idol stage.  The only flaws in the six performances, surprisingly came from Jordin Sparks, nevertheless her pre-gained popularity was sure to keep her in the competition.  Ironically, Phil Stacey's best performance to date was probably his farewell performance after being voted off.  The previous night, he also did a fantastic job, but it was time for Phil to depart.  Unfortunately his departure came after he finally seemed to find his stride.

As for Chris Richardson, he was due.  He had a nice week singing Dead Or Alive, but this followed a set of mediocre weeks at best.  The viewing demographic of young teen girls got him to where he was, and while both he and Phil are clearly a couple of great guys, their time had come so we say goodbye. 

We've liked Melinda and Lakisha Jones the whole way through, and Blake Lewis has long been the clear cut favorite of all the guys.  WOW!  What a chance Blake took by putting a totally Blake-like, unique spin on Bon Jovi's You Give Love a Bad Name.  As we all saw, it paid off big time.  The beat-boxing, the variation in vocals and Blake's overall likeability factor simply brought the house down and deservedly so.

And then comes our beloved Melinda Doolittle.  In a week where many anticpiated Lakisha Jones and Melinda experiencing problems with the rock genre, boy were we all fooled.  Bon Jovi is well known for hard rocking yet soulful tunes.  Both of these vocal beauties brought their soulful ways to the stage and knocked the ball out of the park.  In the end, Simon Cowell's words summed it all up following Melinda's performance of Bon Jovi's Have a Nice Day when he said that her vocals were in a league of their own.  We couldn't agree more and we loved the performance.  If you missed Melinda's performance, you can watch the video in our Melinda Doolittle Media section or by visiting the Melinda Doolittle Sings Have a Nice Day page directly.  Enjoy the video!

So now we've cut away the fat and we're getting to the meat.  The four best remain and thankfully America was right on the button with their voting.  Who's got the poise to move on to the finals in three weeks?  We stand by our one and only Melinda Doolittle!  See you next week!!!