This week's set of American Idol performances is the most important ones yet. Singing songs from the 1980s, these eight guys and these eight girls will have to give the performance of a lifetime to make sure they get voted into the almighty Top 12. For now, let's take a look at how the Top 8 guys fare.

Luke Menard is the firs to perform tonight. The pre-performance clips this week are of the contestants talking about their most embarrassing moments and Luke tells about when his sister dressed him up as a ballerina when he was eight. He says we'll never see those pictures, but of course one is posted on screen right after he says that. The song he chose this week is "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" by Wham! It's a rather odd choice and Luke just sounds weird on it. Watching him, I find the whole thing to be like a painful attempt at proving his personality and showmanship skills. It's like he took Simon's comment from last week about his lack of charisma to heart.

Randy: says Luke started rough and was pitchy throughout, but it was alright for him, even if it was a surprising song choice.
Paula: rambles about something before saying she loved Luke's interpretation of the song.
Simon: thought it was weak and a bit girly, adds that he has no chance of making the Top 12.

At this point, I have to agree with Simon. Whatever chance he might have had was shot to hell with that performance. If he had to pick a Wham! song, why not "Careless Whisper?" Better yet, forget Wham! and pick George Michael's "Faith." It could've helped him a lot to inject some sex appeal and passion into his performance. Plus, who wouldn't want to see Luke shaking his butt around onstage?

The next performer is David Archuleta. I think last week I said he was 16, but he's actually 17 so I'm correcting it here. His most embarrassing moment was when he forgot the words to his performance at a fundraiser and his mom jumped onstage to finish the song for him. David chooses "Another Day In Paradise" and it's a great performance. What would you expect? His vocals are controlled and heartfelt and he delivers with a certain sincerity. Not my favorite performance of his, but it's still terrific.

Randy: says the song didn't allow David to show off his vocal prowess, but it was still nice.
Paula: says David is perfectly wonderful and knows how to pick good songs.
Simon: says David is starting to become gloomy, suggests he lighten up a little and have some fun onstage.

Danny Noriega is next and his most embarrassing moment is when his friend tripped him down some stairs in front of his crush. Isn't that always how it works out? Danny picks "Tainted Love" and turns it into a funk-pop number. I love this performance because it's stylish, has sass, energy, attitude, and still allows Danny to show off his vocals to some degree. It's like he took the performance values of his first week performance and combined them with the vocals showcase of his second week performance and I love it.

Randy: says Danny started out rough, but he liked his interpretation of the song.
Paula: says Danny has great vocals and always stays true to himself.
Simon: thought the performance was horrible and hated everything about it.