Rewind: Live blog of 'American Idol,' Top 8 guys

We live-blogged Wednesday night's episode of "American Idol," featuring the performances of the Top 8 guys.

Here's how the evening unfolded:

6:00 - "This ... is 'American Idol.'"

6:01 - It's going to be another speedy show because they're packing in eight performances. I love it.

6:02 - Lee DeWyze is first up tonight, singing "Fireflies" by Owl City, a song you've probably heard 37 billion times in the last eight months. I like the song choice, but I still don't get Simon's obsession with this guy's skills. He's fine, but nothing spectacular. His voice is just technically not that great, in terms of something like range.
Randy: "There were a couple of pitch problems but you made it your own."
Ellen: "You made it great."
Kara: "You look confident tonight. There's a star bubbling there. I think you actually made the song a better song."
Simon: "I actually think that you are better than the version of the song you just did."

6:10 - Ooooo a Zoey Deschanel commercial -- sorry, I'm momentarily distracted.

6:11 - Ryan's back, and he says Alex Lambert is next with "Trouble," by Ray Lamontagne, a song I think he might have sang earlier in the audition stages. Yes, his voice is perfectly suited for this song, and he does well.
Randy: "Felt like it was a little too fast for me."
Ellen: "You are becoming a mushy banana. You get better and better and better."
Kara: "You are still stiff and you're not in it. Be you, let go."
Simon: "You are still concentrating on delivering the performance. Stop staring down the lens - let yourself go."

6:17 - Tim Urban is singing the Jeff Buckley version of "Hallelujah" (written by Leonard Cohen) last performed -- quite memorably -- on this stage by Jason Castro in Season 7. I'm not a fan of this kid, but he's doing pretty well on this song. Maybe it's just that it's just such a fantastic song.
Randy: You did a pretty good job."
Ellen: "That was fantastic." [She ran up on stage to give him a hug.]
Kara: "Now I think you're kind of in it."
Simon: "I kind of feel responsible for you doing well tonight because of the criticism I gave you. By far the strongest performance you've given this season so far."

6:25 - Andrew Garcia is next, and he's singing Christina Aguilera's "Genie In A Bottle." He's got the acoustic guitar, of course. He's giving the song his signature style, like he did with Paula Abdul's "Straight Up." It's OK I guess, but he's not showing me anything new tonight.
Randy: "I like the cardigan. Very interesting song choice. It didn't quite work for me dude. You made it feel like the whole song was three notes."
Ellen: "I thought it was a great song choice. [But] the genie came out of the bottle too late."
Kara: "You were fighting with the rythym of the guitar. It just wasn't great."
Simon: "For me, it was a little bit desperate. You over-thought it. You are kind of still going backwards at the moment."

6:35 - Casey James is singing "You'll Think of Me," by Keith Urban. Back to the acoustic guitar instead of the electric like last week. It's a pretty good performance, and we get to hear his voice more this week -- which is a good thing.
Randy: "I think it was a little bit of a safe choice."
Ellen: "I thought it was great. I really liked it."
Kara: "I'm kinda back on the Casey train. This was better than last week. I want to see a little bit more from you."
Simon: "It was your second best. I think it made you sincere. I don't think it's something we're going to be raving about in 24 hours -- but you sounded great."

6:39 - Aaron Kelly is singing Lonestar's "I'm Already There." It's not the most exciting song in the world, but he's doing OK. He'll be safe for sure. Technically he might have the best vocal talent among the guys.
Randy: "The thing you should work on is the lower notes. A job well done, but still some work to do."
Ellen: "You have the confidence of someone so much older. I just didn't think that was terrific."
Kara: "That song is not relevant to your life."
Simon: "What Kara said is rubbish. It wasn't a great vocal, but what it did have was emotion. It's just a nice song."

6:47 - Todrick Hall is taking a chance with a Queen song, "Somebody To Love,"most recently memorably performed by the cast of "Glee" last fall. Oh man, am I off base or is he off key? This is a tough one for me. I personally hate this song choice. Oh Todrick. That final note won't save you.
Randy: "Todrick is back! You proved that you could really sing. That was one of the best vocals I'm heard in the last couple of weeks."
Ellen: "Man you're brave. You did a good job."
Kara: "There were moments when I didn't know whether to laugh at it or love it. The singing was good though."
Simon: "I think what you've done is tell us what kind of singer you are. At least you made an attempt to perform, rather than just sitting on a stool."
[Did I see the same performance the judges saw? What did you think?]

6:54 - We've got the closing performance of the night: "Big" Michael Lynche is singing "This Woman's Work." Wow some seriously high notes in the intro dude! He's looking great in that jacket though. His performance got better and better as it went on though. I'm a fan! Best of the night.
Randy: "Really? This is crazy! It was dope! That was HOT!"
Ellen: "Oh my God, that was so beautiful.You are the one to beat."
Kara: [In tears] "That was amazing. It brought me to tears."
Simon: "This was so needed tonight, because it was so boring at the beginning of the show. It's the best performance of all these live shows so far."

So what did you think of tonight's performances?

Here's my ranking from best to worst:

Safer than safe:
- Michael Lynche
- Aaron Kelly

Painting by numbers:
- Tim Urban
- Andrew Garcia
- Casey James

Should be nervous:
- Todrick Hall
- Lee DeWyze
- Alex Lambert