Adam Screams, Anoop Sinks - American Idol

Screeching is considered good singing?

Paula dresses as a peacock.

With 13 contestants there's bound to be some variety, and there was. Last night's performances ranged from high to low, strong to shaky, slamming to screaming. We heard some Michael Jackson favorites and some songs most of us aren't too familiar with. In the end, some excelled, some faltered, and many fell somewhere in the middle.

The night got off to a solid start with Lil Rounds who took on "The Way You Make Me Feel" with sass and strength...and some very unfortunate pants. You have years before you need to embrace the pleated-diaper look, Lil. Years. Poochy pants aside, Lil's performance was steady but not spectacular. I'd be shocked, however, if she didn't make it through.

The same goes for Danny Gokey, who took on the fabulous "P.Y.T." and showed a range of - shall we say - interesting dance moves. Danny is one of the early frontrunners in this competition - and for good reason - but I have to say I wasn't blown away by his performance. The dancing was funny - so points for that - and the singing was good, but at times it got a little loud and yelly for me. "Yelly" is a technical term - if you didn't know.

Scott MacIntyre and Jasmine Murray disappointed. In the interest of brevity, I thought I'd just come out and say it. Scott's "Keep The Faith" was touching, I suppose, but it's not a Michael Jackson song people can really get behind (how many people even know the lyrics?) and Scott's take was more bleh than brilliant. Jasmine seemed out of her element on "I'll Be There". Props for taking on such a big song, but its grandness got the best of her at times. Not sure if we'll be seeing Jasmine next week.

Roughneck Michael Sarver sounded smooth on "You Are Not Alone". The vocals were strong, but the whole thing was a little heavy on the queso. Then again, it's the chedda that makes many a contestant appear better (to the audience at home), so maybe he's working the right strategy.

I was a fan of both Kris Allen and Matt Giraud last night. Again, with so many contestants it's difficult for every good performance to really register with the audience and the judges, but I thought Kris and Matt showed their vocal and instrumental talents nicely. I disagreed with the judges when it came to the issue of Kris's guitar; it was sort of a weird song to use the guitar on, but I thought it ultimately made the performance innovative and interesting. And you're right, Paula. He is adorable. As for Matt, I love "Human Nature"; it's one of my favorite Michael Jackson songs and I thought Matt's performance was sultry and strong throughout.

Jorge Nunez and Megan Corkrey were underwhelming. It's hard not to root for Jorge, but his rendition of "Never Can Say Goodbye," another song people aren't super familiar with, was boring. Bad song choice, Jorge. Megan's song choice - "Rockin' Robin" - was a bit better, but not much. She looked super cute up there, but the performance kind of flatlined as she went along.

Oh, Anoop.

Allison Iraheta sounded awesome on "Given to Me". More awesome than the judges gave her credit for, I thought.

Poor Anoop. I'm sure he doesn't need or want my sympathies, but I can't help it. I felt for him. There he was, being reamed by the judges more severely than any other contestant, and I just wanted to reach out to him and yell, "Anoooop," but, really, what would be the point of that? His attitude and energy were excellent, as always, but the vocals were varied - sometimes good, other times not so good. I agreed with Paula that "Beat It" was a bad song choice; it almost set him up for failure.

Speaking of failure, I feel like I'm having a failure of the brain whenever I watch Adam Lambert. I just don't understand why the judges are so gaga over this guy. It's like we're speaking a different language or our hearing is set to different frequencies. I would never deny that this guy's got stage presence; he worked the room better than any other contestant last night. His "Black or White" had attitude, but the singing was almost 90% screeching. It sounded off to me almost the whole way through. (Not as off as that hair though! What is up with that? That can't be real!)

Alexis killed it.

The night closed on a high, though, thanks to Alexis Grace. I loved (loved, loved) her choice of "Dirty Diana," another one of my favorite Michael Jackson songs. I thought the song suited her perfectly; she totally owned the stage and sounded strong, confident, spunky and sexy up there. Alexis was lucky number 13, but her phone number - on account of that whole voting lines debacle - was IDOL 36.

We'll see if enough people called that number for Alexis. My bet is yes. The two most likely to face elimination tonight? (Yes, there will be a double elimination, according to Simon.) I'm thinking Jorge and Jasmine should be worried. Michael and Anoop (sigh) shouldn't get too comfortable either.

Here's the minute-by-minute breakdown of all the action from last night's American Idol:

'American Idol' Rundown: The Top 13 Take the Big Stage. [buzzsugar]

'American Idol' recap: This Is Thriller Night! [ew]

Adam Lambert’s ‘Thriller’ Night. [people]

Who's heir apparent to the King of Pop? [latimes]

Adam Lambert, Lil Rounds, Danny Gokey Live Up To Hype. [mtv]

'American Idol' is getting serious. [tvsquad]

'American Idol' Judges Go Ga-Ga For Adam Lambert. [huffingtonpost]