What others are saying ...

Ok, so if you're a die-hard Michael fan (or if you are Michael), you may not want to read these. Let's just say the media and blogs weren't big fans of Michael's performance last night. We think it was much better (and entertaining) than he's getting credit for. We tried to put some of the better ones up top:

Newsday
It's a really hard song, fast and tons of lyrics; Sarver's actually not bad, very authentic and believable. Not my cup of tea, but the audience loves it and he just sounds like a country singer; maybe not a whole lot of range in the song, it is all kind of a monotone. And I hate it when the contestants just keep talking back--they're usually illogical, and it just seems defensive. This isn't a debating contest; and if it were, my money wouldn't be on Sarver.

MJs Blog
I like Michael the ballad soul boy better, but he’s doing OK. He lost a couple of the words. He looks real comfortable up there, rather than nervous–he looks like he’s having a good time.

From MTV
Mark 8:11 pm down as the moment Michael Sarver announced he was a country music artist. I KNEW this would happen. “If we were all perfect, we wouldn’t need this show.” Michael Sarver is a sass machine. The country folks are gonna love it.

From Fox News
With a country music theme and Randy Travis as a mentor you’d think this would have been Michael Sarver’s week to shine. But instead the welder’s version of “Ain’t Goin’ Down Til the Sun Comes Up” just made me wish the sun would come up already.
The only thing more monotonous than Michael’s performance was Randy Travis’s as a mentor. It’s like someone slipped him a memo saying that for every contestant he should just blabber on about being unsure about their song choice then act totally amazed at how brilliantly they “made it their own.”

New Jersey Star Ledger
Michael Sarver, "Ain't Goin' Down ('Til the Sun Comes Up)": This theme should be right in the roughneck's wheelhouse, and if this is the best he can do on the theme, he should start packing his bags. This was karaoke Garth Brooks at best. Props for not running out of breath on some of the longer lines (which is more than could be said for the very next performance), but completely unmemorable.

Associated Press
Michael Sarver, the 27-year-old oil rig worker from Jasper, Texas, disappointed judges in a genre he might otherwise have nailed. Rating Sarver's rendition of Garth Brooks' "Ain't Goin' Down ('Til the Sun Comes Up)," Cowell said the unassuming singer came across not as a star but "a likable guy who likes country music who is a bit clumsy."

Baltimore Sun
First up is Michael Sarver, who is going to sing a speedy song, Garth Brooks' "Ain't Goin' Down Til the Sun Comes Up," and Randy Travis warns him not to biff the words. He handles it swimmingly, though the manic harmonica player sitting on the stage is a little distracting.

Grand Rapids Press
Michael Sarver: It's never a good sign when the best thing a judge can say about you is that you remembered all the lyrics, as Kara suggested. Simon didn't have any of Kara's break-it-to-him-gently manner: "You could've been singing in Norwegian," he sniffed.

Hartford Courant
Michael Sarver seemed to be the one finalist who could really sew up the category. He's one of those guys who makes what he's singing sound like country no matter what. But he blew his opportunity to sing just about anything for the rushed garble of Brooks Ain't Goin' Down (Til the Sun Comes Up)" in which it was all he could do to keep up with the lyrics, let alone add any vocal power.

Reality TV
I just want to reiterate, for the record, that I like Michael Sarver. I have to see him deliver in a live performance the way I know he’s capable of, though. The vocals on this are something we could hear in any karaoke bar. Randy Jackson basically agrees with me. Thank you, Randy. On a positive note, Michael happens to be a really likable guy and hopefully, that’ll be enough to get him into the Top 10 and on to the tour.

From Washington Post
This season's token twangster, Michael Sarver, may be in his genre, but unfortunately, he's not exactly in key while lumbering through Garth Brooks' "Ain't Going Down." Most likely he is, come Wednesday night's results show. (Um, can we vote that hot harmonica player through, instead, please?)