PJ on AI???

Separated at birth?: Eddie Vedder and AI contestant Sundance Head

I'll be the first to admit I never expected to hear a Pearl Jam song on American Idol. I've actually gotten sucked in this season, enjoying the ride while never really liking the song choices, so believe me I was surprised when Seacrest said a PJ song would be coming up after the break.

Sanjaya and Sundance were supposed to be singing next. Even the remote possibility that Sanjaya Jackson might sing a pearl jam song frightened me to my very core, so thankfully it was Sundance who took the mic for "Jeremy."

In Randy's words, "It was just alright, dog." I rather like Sundance, and thought he was pretty good last week, but this was kind of underwhelming. The song choice was a bit uninspired (Jeremy? really? I love the song, but they've written so many other songs to choose from), and the sped up arrangement (complete with backup singers) felt kind of weird. Sundance's vocals sounded fine, but really nothing special, and despite his propensity for emotional break downs, he didn't really bring the emotion that EV sang that song with over 15 years ago.

Randy and Paula both liked it, which was nice. I think I agreed with Simon though, who thought Sundance sounded like a generic bar singer. Oh well, at least Jeremy's iTunes downloads will spike tomorrow.