Welcome to the Grand Ole Opry. Who do you think will be wearing Minnie Pearl's hat?I think it would look most fitting on Megan Corkrey. It could be a really interesting night since none of our eleven finalists are particularly country. Regardless, I think our votes will stick, and we'll send a person home tomorrow night. I don't see the judges using their save this early in the season unless it's Adam Lambert or Danny Gokey.

Our judges enter together at the front of the stage again. I must say Kara DioGuardi is dressed very flashy for the Grand Ole Opry. Ryan Seacrest wishes us a Happy St. Patrick's Day, and they even put a green background up just for a few seconds. I am not going to take the easy Leprechaun joke here.

Randy Jackson talks about the group evolving since the semi-finals, but he agrees that country week could spoil it for a few of them. Flashy Kara was happy in general last week, and hopes the ones that weren't that great will improve this week. Paula Abdul refuses to back down and stands behind her bold predictions from last week. Simon Cowell's special relationship with country music is brought up as he states two hours of it is enough for him. I don't want to agree with him, but let's just say the country station isn't normally on my dial, but I don't mind listening to it here and there. Remind me at the end of the night to tell you my only connection to the Grand Ole Opry.

It turns out it's not just the Grand Ole Opry, but Randy Travis as well. He took time out of his busy schedule to work with our Idols, saying he doesn't know how much he'll be able to tell anyone. He thinks they have as strong a group as he's seen on the the show. Boy, the woman with him in the audience tonight has some really white hair. Like shockingly unnatural white.

Texas native Michael Sarver is up first, saying Ain't Goin' Down ('Til the Sun Comes Up) has a lot of lyrics, and he feels like he's taking somewhat of a risk. Randy warns him if he blows a few words, his chances of jumping back in aren't high. He likes Michael's changes to the melody, as Michael admits wanting to add some of his own flavor to it. He nails the words, I have to say, and I like his "Michael Sarver flavor" he added. I might have to take that back that no one is really a country artist here, as he could easily take on that genre. He has an interesting Southern rock flavor in this. At first I thought it was Anoop playing harmonica on the corner of the stage, but it turns out to be someone else.

Randy tells Michael it was a cool song choice, as it showed a fun side to him, but he's not sure if it brought out different things in his vocal capability. Kara notes we got to see a lot of Michael's personality, and she liked him down there with the harp player, but she missed the big notes from him this week. It was very impressive that he could remember all the words, as there "were a million." Michael admits notes are important, and singing well is too, but "country music is about having some fun." Paula calls it a great Garth Brooks song, and to her, it allowed her to see Michael having fun, which made us have fun, and his artistic ability to take a harmonica player boosted his confidence and added fun. It's a genre that suits him well.

Simon notes it should have been good, as he always thought this music would suit Michael, but he couldn't udnerstand a single word, and he could have been singing in Norwegian. It was a bit clumsy for Simon, but the point is, it's about Michael coming over as a star, and he came over as a likable guy who likes country music and is a bit clumsy. Michael boasts if we were all perfect, we wouldn't need this show. That didn't come off nearly as clever as he thought it did. Pressed by Ryan, Simon gives it a 1.2 on a scale form 1 to 10. Michael's just happy it's not a 0. There's the humbleness we were looking for.

Allison Iraheta tells Randy Travis she's singing Blame It on Your Heart by Patty Loveless, and his reaction was that Patty was going to love her singing it. Randy knew Allison would do a good job on just about anything she chose. I'm impressed with just the snippet here, and Randy admits he's not sure he's ever heard the kind of maturity in a 16-year-old's voice before. He warns her not to add in the cutesy moves, though, and just sing it with her "great pipes." She is great on this. Her gravelly rock voice fits in perfect, and her youth adds a lot to carry it off. Like Michael Sarver, this is all about fun.

Kara is starting to think Allison could sing the alphabet and do it well, as she brings her own spin on everything and really made that song her own. For Kara, every week she just gets better and better and keeps going. Paula calls it another rock solid performance from Allison, and tells her no one will eve be able to take the power out of her voice or take away her rock edge. She thinks Allison will go very far if she really starts experimenting with all sides of her vocals and maybe choose songs that allow her to be vulnerable and build.

Simon thought it was good, but a little tuneless in parts. He felt she was struggling a little to remember the words. She responds that she wasn't. He agrees it was rock solid, but verging on precocious a little, but precocious is good. Randy didn't think it was precocious at all, and thought it was dope!

Kris Allen chose to sing To Make You Feel My Love by Garth Brooks, calling it a song that's really captivating, and easy to get into when you strip it down. Randy Travis calls him a really strong ballad singer, saying it's one of those things where if people really listen to his performance and the words, he'll do well. He also appreciates that Kris isn't copying Garth's version, making it his own, and he's impressed with that. Sans guitar, you can really hear Kris' great vocal and see his sincerity. I haven't been a big fan of this guy in the past with his Michael Jackson songs, but when he can pour it out, he can pour it out. It's not the perfect vocal, but the sincerity makes up for it.

Paula admits to being pleasantly surprised, calling it a very real, honest, pure and vulnerable performance. Without Kris' guitar, it allowed her to remember how nice his vocals are. There were some notes that were low and a few pitchy moments at the end, but overall she thought it was a smart choice. Simon thought it was terrific, calling it a great, great choice of song. The way Kris took it back and was in control of the song, concentrating on himself, and not going over the top was the first time Simon heard him perform when he has genuinely thought Kris has a shot at doing really well in this competition.

Randy agrees, saying Kris went out on a limb just to showcase his vocals, and he thought "Wow, tender moments from my dawg Kris. Who knew?" Tender Dawg Randy crowns him. Kara didn't even know it was Opry when she was hearing it. It didn't sound country, just Kris Allen. Noting again that Kris is vulnerable, Simon thinks he should be Tender Puppy, not Tender Dawg. That would be the married Tender Puppy, girls!

Lil Rounds gets stool time with Ryan, and answers his question about contestants spending together by saying they spendi time in the kitchen and by the pool. As for the theme this week, she admits the only country songs she heard were in the movies. She's nervous, as she wants to honor country music, and doesn't want her R&B to come through.

Randy Travis tells Lil her choice of song, Independence Day by Martina McBride is a big song. He suggests she slow down the verses just a little bit, as it would be easier for her to get her licks and riffs in. He calls it a well-written song, saying you want to hear the lyrics, and when she slowed it down for him. it felt like she relaxed a bit more. Randy thinks she's got pipes and nails it slowed down. I'm not sure how we'll feel about it, since on this show this belongs to Carrie Underwood. I agree she has pipes, but this isn't the song for her to do. Lil's not going to top my memory of Carrie. Even though it was slowed down to hear the licks and runs, I never heard them until the end..