More Scattered Thoughts: "Live Blogging" Live the Dream: Top 6

Round 1: Party!! Contestants' Choice.

Missed Shauna Simon's first song.

Fendi is his usual competent self. He definitely can sing, although I don't usually like his song choices, no difference this time.

Oooh, Ken Lim really wants Fendi in the finals - he's basically saying that it was not a great performance, but he's a better singer than the other two!

Victor Tang is SO mellow, he's practically comatose.

Yup, Dick has it right - "mild" is the right word for this performance.

Aww, Kuo Po is trying to be nice, I think.

Ken Lim! That's probably the best of his weekly zingers directed at poor Victor. He managed to insult Victor Tang by calling his competitors' fans "cheapskate". Very good psychological manipulation there - he knows he can't do anything about the people who vote for Victor, regardless of how he sings, so he's lighting a fire under Fendi's and Shauna's fans.

By Definition is a right old rock band. Lots of energy and attitude.

Judges uniformly love them. Wow, both Dick and Ken are saying they should win. No, no, no! That makes their fans complacent! Have they not learnt anything from AI and SI?

Revelina are singing well as usual, but are not at all comfortable singing this party, disco genre.

Wow, Dick is almost tearing apart, but doing it regretfully. I think he likes them, but could really not get into the performance at all.

At least Kuo Po recognises that it was well sung.

Ken Lim's references to Harry Potter when he talks about Revelina are getting nonsensical. The theme is supposed to be party, so it was not as if they had much choice - whatever they sing, it is always going to be "This is what happens when Harry Potter tries to do ...".

Catsine Cradle sound like just about any other guitar-strumming band out there. The singing is pretty good but the performance is not particularly exciting.

I agree with the judges! Good soloist, but non-existent presence as a band.

I don't know why I have this impression, but the lead singer of Catsine Cradle seems to be a bit of a brown-noser. Overly eager to thank the judges and keen to spin all criticism as positive.

Round 2: Judges' Choice

Shauna: The song is too rangy for her, a few noticeable problems with register changes. On the whole, it's a valiant effort and a good performance for her. It was effortful but she pulled it off.

Dick's comments about "wanting it" are so subjective. I think he's just vibing off Shauna's overly careful performance, which was more to do with her technical problems than any real lack of desire.

Oh, at least Kuo Po gives her props for putting on a good show!

Ken Lim really, really wants Victor Tang gone! He's challenging Shauna's fans to vote.

Fendi: The judges give him Josh Groban! Wow, talk about challenging the contestants. I can't wait to see what they saddle Victor Tang with! A song very far out of his comfort zone and I think he's doing very well.

Dick is in a bad mood tonight.

Ken Lim now pulls out the old standby: "let's judge a contestant over his body of work. In other words, please vote for Fendi and kick out Victor Tang!

Victor: They gave him a party song! What??? Dick was just going on earlier about how party songs may not be his strong suit.

I am not sure what Dick is going on about. Pop songs with clean simple melodies suit Victor Tang, but he lacks energy for pop songs? So, basically, NOTHING suits him?

Kuo Po brings some sanity to the proceedings by saying that Victor is basically a balladeer (well, not a very good one, really, and it's not so much that he is a balladeer but that he prefers to sing ballads badly, rather than singing other types of songs just as badly). More sense being made as she mentions the monotony of the performance.

Ken Lim is really the most enjoyable thing about this show. He managed to get in a really mean insult about Victor "lacking in substance" then graciously backtracks into faux-civility by calling him a nice guy and wishing him all the best in the result show. It's amazing how Ken does not trip over his own contortions! He really, really wants Victor gone! But the judges were the ones who brought him back for the Wild Card show, which gave him the chance to be in the final rounds!

By Definition: Oooh, they are given Santana to sing!! I must say, they really are MUCH better than Superband. This is a true band performance, not just a soloist backed by anonymous musicians. Like something we would have seen on Rockstar: Some_Band.

All three judges just want them to win! Ken asks them to vote for themselves by taking an advance on the $60K prize money. Okay, Ken Lim, props to you for that pretty clever piece of advice.

Revelina: A slowish song from NSync. Lots of harmony. Sweet.

Dick likes them again. It was the costuming in their first number (white glasses and checkered outfits) that he didn't get.

Aww, Kuo Po is sweet and says she won't mind them winning either.

Ken Lim pulls the "likability" card on them this time around. He's clearly rooting for Harry Potter (Revelina) and the Sultans of Style (By Definition) to be in the finals. Hey, Catsine Cradle have not performed yet!!

Catsine Cradle: Singing Howie Day's Collide. They say upfront they are sticking to the original version. Ooh, are they going to get a "not taking risk" critique for this? I am getting that same sense of a typical acoustic band with a very good lead singer and invisible instrumentalists.

Dick likes it but seems a bit uninvolved, like he could not much care one way or the other. I think he just wish that the band is as good as the lead singer.

Kuo Po says the song was "too easy" for them. Is this her way of saying that they could have tried harder, ie the "not taking risk" critique?

Ken Lim praises the lead singer saying that he would have won the competition by now had he entered as a soloist. Aah, Ken Lim. In one fell swoop, he manages to subtly put down the band and not so subtly insult all the remaning contestants in the solo category as well.