After last week's excellent "80's" show, I have to be honest and say that Sunday night's "Motown" show was very, very ordinary.  I thought the competition was meant to get better and better as each week went on, not the opposite!

Remember last year - when Guy, Shannon, Cosima and Paulini lifted each other to absolutely amazing performances?  We're not really seeing that this year, are we?

This years performances, with maybe the one exception (Anthony) have been very up and down, even at this late stage of the competition.  This is why I think Anthony HAS to win - he's the only contestant belting out good performances each week.

Check out the official recap of last night's (as well as Sunday night's) show here.  And for the best unofficial Australian Idol website on the internet, check out the Australian Idol blog.

Here's my weekly recap and grading of the night's performances:

Scale:  (Best)  (Worst)

1. Anthony  - In my view, the performance of the night without doubt - even though Casey was awarded a touchdown from Mark Holden and Anthony wasn't.  I enjoyed the song, and I really enjoyed his overall performance, especially the spectacular note he hit and held in the middle of the performance.  Anthony continues to deliver great performances and song choice, and is rightly the favourite the win the competition at the moment.

Anthony's progress -

2. Casey  - I must say, I couldn't really get into Casey's performance at all.  I don't think there are any doubts left over her voice - we all know it's sensational, and she's learning to move more on the stage so that's also a good aspect of her development.  But maybe it was because I didn't really know the song too well, but I just didn;t "feel it".  Having said that, I'm sure the praise from the judges was very warranted, as Casey continues to strengthen as a chance to challenge Anthony for the Australian Idol crown.

Casey's progress-

3. Courtney  - Yeah, overall not a bad performance from Courtney, though the judges weren't as quick to provide too much priase to the West Australian.  I had heard the song before, vaguely, but like Casey's performance I didn't really find myself getting into it, as I was slightly with Anthony's performance.  I think Courtney felt his effort was better than what the judges made out, but the Australia public agreed with the judges, resulting in a bottom 2 place.  I'm sure he'll bounce back strong next week! 

Courtney's progress-

4. Hayley  - Interesting song choice - singing "Mountain high, River low", but did a pretty good job of it overall I'd have to say.  I have a feeling the same song was sang last season on Australian Idol, can anyone remember?  Maybe Cosima?  Anyway, Hayley sang it quite well, but the performance never really took off in my view.  It was good, without being great - but she obviously has the support behind her now given she has reached the final 4! Woohoo!  Go Hayley!

Hayley's progress-

5. Chanel  - I had certainly never heard this song, but I did think it was rather catchy - but according to the judges reactions - clearly, not what they were looking for at this stage of the Idol competition.  And sadly for Chanel, this resulted in her elimination from the competition - justifying my doubts about her being the Idol dating way back to several weeks ago.  Even though she was and will be a great performer, Idol possibly wasn't the ideal launching pad for her, other than the obvious great exposure she has received by making it so far!  But I do wish Chanel all the best for her future endeavours!

Chanel's progress-

** Eliminated idols do not feature in the following rankings **

(Best) 6  5  4  3  2  1 (Worst)

So based on these ranking outlined above, here are my current standings:

1. Anthony - 46 points

Still leading the way, and favourite according to my rankings to be the next Australian Idol.

2. Courtney - 37 points

Has been rather inconsistent of late, but survived elimination on Monday night thanks to Chanel's departure.

3. Hayley - 36 points

Surprising everyone by still being alive in the competition, but remains my favourite of my 4 remaining finalists and I'd love to see her reach the final 2.

4. Casey - 32 points

On the way back following that disasterous Beatles show performance, and with her strong voice, could be a dark horse to take out the competition.

Thoughts?