It appears that no one needed to tell the guys that
there's a tight competition going on. Some of the
women though don't seem to get it. For example:

Lauren A. Definitely should be in the bottom 3.
Does she think she can coast through the finals?
Is her fan base large enough to keep her out of
the bottom 3? And at this point, will Steven protect
her if she's in the bottom 3 to save face?
Casey A. He's taking risks. It was interesting but
not his best performance.
Ashton J. Deserves to move on. She's defining
herself as an artist.
Paul Mc. I get him. Does America Or will America?
Pia T. Okay. How many times are we going to see her
stand there like a wind up doll and hear her nail a
well chosen song and strut her stuff so to speak.
Who is Pia? She needs to tell America if she wants
to do more than just win a popularity-talent contest.
James D. The best performance. And now that he
has a coach, he'll only get better. Watch out!
Haley R. KS(Karaoke singer) Who is Haley? She'll
continue to be a bottom dweller in this competition
if she doesn't bring more.
Jacob L. He's human! Sadly only the last judge to
comment (Randy) pointed out the errors with the
B verse - and it was so obvious. However Jacob
recovered with the chorus and soared from there on.
I don't think it merits a placement in the bottom 3
-but will AI voters?
Thia M. KS. Is she giving up? She certainly wasn't
bad. But she portrayed herself as defeated with her
post performance interview. How will that affect
her votes? She may have put herself in the bottom 3.
Stefano He's focused and competing. A top performer.
Karen R. KS. I wouldn't be surprised to see her in the
bottom 3. Do AI fans or AI want a tribute artist? Her
obsession with Selena will not help her win.
Scotty Mc. Pure country. If he continues to deliver
flawless performances, AI's country contingent may
put him on top.
Naima A. She doesn't have Pia's talent but I rated
her above Pia because she's defining herself as an
artist. Her problem was basically due to her lack of
experience with singing and moving on the stage.
With the coaching AI is providing, she'll handle this.
Balancing breathing with physically demanding stage
movement and singing is tricky. I had such a challenge
with one of my songs, Up For Hanky Panky.
www.theorchard.com/release/80368030297/summeoyo/dont-judge-song-its-title

It is a fast paced song with lots of words and my stage
routine was demanding. It's the rare artist who'll have
that down with one week's preparation when they're
not used to doing it on a regular basis.

This week's performances showed why the wild cards
are good for this competition. All the wild cards were in
the top 6 IMHO. AI needs to protect its interests for the
tour. The addition of Jimmy Iovine has benefited James
and Naima the most as these two with rough edges
initially are being shaped into the stars they can be.