I'm sorry but it's just really irritiating how biased the panel seems to be this year. Pia is great and whilst I agree that she needs to do something non ballady, the judges tell her off yet completely miss Scotty who week in week out sings boring country ballads that whilst being good are just boring me to death now. Then on the other hand you have Naima who actually took risks and went with unique twists on songs which I for one really enjoyed yet the judges criticized her voice despite praising the fact that Paul always goes out of tune, it's just annoying how they critcize one act for being safe, ignore another then criticize one act's vocals yet praise someone else who sings worse? This may seem like a rant but I just do find it frustrating that the chosen ones seem to get away with anything yet the girls especially get a really tough time from the judges. Rant over

You may consider Country boring but millions love it, particularly in America. Scotty is sticking to his genre so far. There's nothing wrong with that. Pia isn't sticking to a genre, just a style. There is a difference.

As for criticising one contestant for missing the odd note while ignoring when another consistently sings out of tume, that has always been the case.

One of the changes that was announced prior to Idol starting this year was that the contestants would be allowed to stay in their favoured genre, rather than being forced to perform styles of music which did not suit their voice.

I always found it rediculous that week after week contestants in previous series were forced to take on songs which they clearly would not normally have performed, only to be told by Cowell and Co "I just don't know who you are, and what you represent yet."

At least this year every one of the nine remainder has an identity and you pretty well know where their strengths are, and they are rightly sticking to them.

I wonder if the judges think Pia could win this whole competition if she shows more versatility. I want to like her more than I do but these non stop ballads are all starting to run together. My favorite performance of hers so far is the Hollywood group performance when she sang Grenade.

There has never been any requirement on the contestants to stick to the genre that week or of the song they were given. Those who had some imagination and a genuine talent for it turned any given song to their own style.

I don't mean country as a whole is boring, I mean that the style of the country songs he's sang so far have all been more or less the same whereas Pia hasn't just sang one type of ballad, she's done modern ones, Elton one now etc.

I think the problem is Pia could make anything she performs sound dated and dull. I can't put my finger on why but it just seems to be inately in her. She's probably, along with Stefano (and possibly James), the most irrelevant of the remaining contestants in the current music market.

Scotty is my fave act.
I think that they should sing what ever they want after all they know what they love to sing and are good at

But a ballad is a ballad no matter what decade it's from.
Singing ballads isn't a genre its a style of singing, where as Country is a genre which is very big in America.
I personally do not like Country, nearest I've enjoyed were sung by Johnny Cash, but I for some reason have enjoyed Scotty's performances. Scotty's voice is warm and very engaging

Scotty will be big and have a long caree in the Country scene after AI and will earn a lot of money doing so, where as Pia will be another female who worbles her way through ballads. Pia may have a cpl of hits, but will fade away very quickly.

Agreed on all points.

Most people get genre and style mixed up or think it's the same thing.

I'm not a Country fan either but Scotty is my favourite contestant this year because I think he's good at what he does (for any age but particularly for a 17 year old) and I love the tone of his voice. Conversely, I'm a rock fan and James is my least favourite contestant because I think he's not every good at what he tries to do and his voice is far too thin for it.

Pia is a ballad singer. Her only ventures into uptempo are in the group songs and she doesn't exactly stand out in them. I don't doubt she will perform an uptempo song at some stage in the competition but let's see how she does with it before dismissing it or assuming that she will do well with it. As a ballad singer, her voice is good but not up there with the best of them, whether long-established stars or some others who have emerged from these shows.