It was movie songs last night on American Idol, with a Bond theme performer, Gladys Knight, on hand as celebrity guest judge. Not sure if it was greater familiarity or songs written down to movie level, but performances were on the whole better than last week, and in some cases much better.

Three contestants - Ruben, Trenyce, and Joshua - avoided the meh meter altogether. Joshua was particularly surprising, but his countrified rendition of "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" was well done. He's more or less made the move to this style of singing, and Simon was more than happy to close the lid on Joshua's new box. He also seemed to take some pleasure in noting that next week is disco songs. I'm sure Joshua would love suggestions for country disco songs.

Everyone else, quickly:

* Corey sang "Against All Odds" and sounded like hell almost the whole time. All the judges but Simon liked it. Simon seemed to think the same way I do. Meh: 6
* Clay sang "Somewhere Out There," and only ranked on the meter because (a) it's a song about a frickin' mouse, and (b) the high, held note at the end of the song wasn't necessary. Meh: 1
* Camera whore Kimberly Caldwell sang the "Shoop Shoop Song" from Mermaids (OK, it's a song used in a movie rather than written specifically for one), and was OK. Nothing special, pretty much like her other performances. Meh: 3
* Carmen sang "Hopelessly Devoted to You" from Grease, I assume on the notion that because half the high schools in the US perform this in any given year that it'd be easy to sing. Nope. You also know things aren't going your way when Paula tells you you're wearing too much makeup (she was right, though). Meh: 6
* Charles sang "You Can't Win" from The Wiz. Charles just doesn't do much for me. Can't say why. He's not bad, just kind of there. Meh: 4
* Rickey sang "It Might Be You" from Tootsie, and sounded like he was reading this information from a cue card. He sang it really well, though, almost good enough to not register. But there's still something there that doesn't quite click. Meh: 1
* Julia sang "Flashdance (What A Feeling)" and it was not good. She had an approximation of the Flashdance look down (no leg warmers) but there was nothing else. Meh: 6
* Kimberly Locke sang "Home," the night's second selection from The Wiz. Maybe that's what I don't like. I've never been a big musicals person. She was much better than last week, but still not great for me. Meh: 2

The filler clips were still lame, though we got to see the house the kids are staying in (a hacienda-type place in the hills), and learned that Kristen Holt, failed semifinalist from last year and current show correspondent, will be living in the house as well to give us all the dirt. She actually said she'd tell us who's hooking up with who, but I'm guessing most of the stories will revolve around who snores the most. Kelly Clarkson also had a little homecoming, they showed another clip of the movie (quickly becoming a 21st century Beach Blanket Bingo) and sang, though I didn't see that (taped the show for Sarah and didn't watch that part).

For tonight, I'm guessing Julia is out. She's not been sharp either week. I'd guess Carmen for the bottom three, too. The last spot... I'd go with Corey, but I'm going to say Kimberly Locke again.