'American Idol': Expert Bloggers Size Up the Final Nine

April 14, 2010 — -- What do Elvis Presley, Adam Lambert and a group of somewhat talented singers have in common?

They were all a part of Tuesday night's "American Idol."

This week's theme was Elvis, and it had some competitors shining and some singing as if it were karaoke night at the closest dive bar.

The mentor was Lambert, last year's "Idol" runner-up, and the first contestant to ever return as a mentor. Lambert told contestants to put some more "show" into it. "Elvis was a showman," Lambert told Ryan Seacrest, "so let's put on a show."

"Adam was awesome," Victoria Leigh Miller, "American Idol" blogger for the news Web site Associated Content and "Idol" superfan, told ABCNews.com. "He was one of the best mentors they've had so far. He was really honest and blunt, and he told them to step it up with their personalities, which is really what they need to do."

MJ Santilli, fellow "Idol" superfan and blogger for the Web site MJ's Big Blog detailing everything "Idol," agreed that Adam did a good job as a mentor.

"They really needed advice from someone like Adam," Santilli told ABCNews.com. "He is well-spoken, and he knows how to make a performance come alive and capture the audience's attention. When you watch Adam on "Idol," what he did every week was craft a performance that is vocally, visually and emotionally exciting, and that is what they need to do."

Excitement is what television and entertainment journalists said the entire season could have used more of.

"I am waiting for this season to come alive," Santilli said. "There is just something missing this year. There haven't big enough big watercolor moments."

Tonight, two contestants will be kicked off. Here's a look at the remaining top nine, and our expert bloggers take on last night's performances.