Suddenly Spectacular

Sunday, of course, is my favorite night of the week. All week long I look forward to the next Live Spectacular, wondering who will shine, who will surprise, and who will trip on the staircase to stardom. Every week, it's been a case of an amazing few standing head and shoulders over their lackluster competition. There was nothing lackluster about this week however, and I'm left with the dilemma of figuring out who I think should go home.

The decision has never been so difficult. Once again, the few I had pegged to go stumbling out of the spotlight proved me wrong. Throughout the show, I kept shaking my head, thinking... Holy #@%!, who the hell am I gonna vote out?

I'll start this week's rundown (in no particular order) with another apology to another contestant. Nicky far surpassed my expectations, and did amazingly well with her version of Tina Turner's "What's Love Got to Do With It?" I was stunned. Maybe she has realized the sheer strength of her competition and decided to bite back and prove that she belongs on that stage. From an energetic performance to spot-on vocals, tonight was easily her best performance to date. I'll admit, I've been one of her biggest doubters from the beginning, but tonight, she definitely showed me that she has the talent. If she remains consistent in her growth, she could last much longer than I would have expected, which is an especially notable achievement for a wild card.

Ayanda, my other "favorite" to get voted out, also shone brightly tonight. Randall nailed it perfectly: her personality just shines through her voice, and the sheer simplicity and beauty of her voice serves songs like this week's "First Time (Ever I Saw Your Face)" and last week's "Over the Rainbow" extremely well. Where so many others are tempted to take the clean lines of such songs and scribble around the edges a bit, Ayanda shows amazing discipline and control and serves them up exactly the way they should be: uncomplicated and pure. Another stellar performance from another wild card.

And filling out the surprise trifecta, there is V, who has not been very high on my list throughout this season. However, tonight's performance was excellent, and even I had to seriously question Randall's motives when he dissed her yet again. That performance was so far from anything Celine Dion could ever hope to deliver that I truly have to wonder if V might not have run over his cat or something. The secret to her success tonight? The fact that her song didn't require so much of an emotional connection as an energetic one, and she brought energy to spare, and I felt she really poured herself into the song (and pushed herself into the next round).

Then there are those who I've always liked. First, I have to ask, did Gift look amazing tonight, or what? Ranking right next to last week's "Love is All Around" he really had the complete package tonight - smoking hot looks, flawless stage performance, and perfect vocal delivery. "Give Me the Night"? Gift took the night.

Of course, he had to share it, because Nhlanhla was shining right there with him. He outshone even Stevie Wonder himself, and did even better than I had expected from him. I could still swear I've heard him sing the song before, but no matter; I could listen to him sing that song over and over again. In fact, if I had a choice, I'd say that tonight's song should definitely be the one Nhlanhla sings for the compilation CD. Apparently he surprised the judges so much that they forgot his name. Dave called him Ayanda (!) and Randall tried to call him Gift. I'll just call him a star, and make it easy on everyone.

Then there were those who have wavered a little in their consistency. Kesha, I'm looking at you. Her performances over the last few weeks were cause for some concern, as the early signs of promise that she displayed started fading rather rapidly. I was uncertain as to how she'd do tonight, but she grabbed the spotlight back once again, and in my mind, secured her spot for next week with ease. Inconsistency could end up being her greatest weakness, though, so if she has hopes of not having to stand on the wrong side of the counter at Quicksilver again, she will have to battle to not only stay as good, but improve as well. Tonight's performance of a challenging Gloria Estefan number ("Reach") was proof that she has it in her. Hopefully she'll prove that she can keep it there.

Of course, the singers aren't the only ones who waffle back and forth. I've been waffling on Karin ever since the beginning. Don't get me wrong, I still believe she has an amazing voice, and I thought she did well with "Close To You", but she didn't do as well as I think she needed to. She has a very strong fanbase, so I don't think she's in any danger (yet) but I'm starting to fall back to my previous position that although she has stunning talent, I don't think she's cut out to win this thing. It won't matter, though, Karin Kortje will very likely have a stunning career in the South African music industry. It's just that I'm starting to realize that her appeal isn't nearly global enough, and I don't think she'll make much of a splash beyond the borders of sub-Saharan Africa.

Of course, every week, there have to be a few in the bottom of the rankings. I'm as amazed as anyone at my choices for this week's weakest performances: Deidre and Martelize.

Deidre has an amazing stage presence, which is likely her biggest strength. Her biggest weakness, though, is her inability to deliver consistently stunning performances. Last week, she blew me away. This week, she left me slightly underwhelmed. While overall, I think she did fairly well, in a night full of so many outstanding showings, she just failed to match up to her competition in my eye. I can't remember now which judge said it, but I agree that she seemed to struggle with the higher notes, going a little thin and breathless. It wasn't bad, not by a long shot, but I'm not sure it was enough to keep her moving forward much farther. With other contestants consistently hitting grand slams week after week, she faces serious risk of being sent home very soon.

And I, for one, am stunned by my choice for tonight's weakest performance. Martelize has been high on my list throughout, but I think the biggest problem with her tonight was song choice. Sure, it was viewer's choice night, but they still had a choice as to which song from the list of suggestions they would pick. I really don't think she picked favorably for herself. She sang it well, and stayed true to her talent, but at this stage of the game, and with even the weakest talents pulling up their bootstraps and outshining the stronger ones, a bad song choice could be the silver bullet. It's for this reason that Martelize is my pick for elimination tomorrow, as much as it pains me to admit it. I truly hope I'm wrong, but I don't sense such a strong fanbase around her as most of the others, and the only way to overcome that is to drive home a mind-blowing performance. Sad to say, I don't think she accomplished that. As they say, a contestant is only as good as their last performance...

A night of extremely difficult choices, and for me, a very surprising turn of events. If you had told me this morning that I'd be picking Martelize to go home, I'd never have believed it. Even now, I don't believe it, and I think it's very possible that I'm very wrong. However, based on this week's performances alone, I think it's Martelize who faces the biggest risk.

I'm going to try and arrange another interview with the eliminated contestant this week, so be sure to check back (and see if I'll be eating my words again).