After all of the contestants performed, Lala Hathaway closed the show with Against All Odds by Phil Collins. She gave a very exciting performance. It would have been tough for anyone to follow the quality singing that went down tonight.

The theme of this episode was Gospel cinema. The remaining five contestants were required to sing Gospel songs that were featured in movies.

Here are my observations:

Tiffany Carlin-Laird
Although she tripped coming on to the stage, she gave a very solid performance of Joyful, Joyful from Sister Act 2. There was a slight bit of hoarseness in her voice, but she pushed through it. Tina Campbell thought that Tiffany wasn’t really into the song. Donnie McClurkin and Yolanda Adams thought she did well. I thought she did OK. I definitely wouldn’t classify her performance as memorable.

Durward Davis
I always cringe a little bit when people try to sing Whitney Houston songs on singing competitions. Let’s face it, most people don’t have the chops to pull it off. However, Durward Davis is not like most people. He absolutely crushed I Believe in You and Me from The Preacher’s Wife. His performance was absolutely phenomenal!

Martha Buries
The judges really seemed to like her performance of Will You Be There by Michael Jackson from Free Willy. I thought she gave a very strong performance. I just didn’t like it as much as the judges did. Right now the bar is set pretty high. I don’t think she reached it.

Elder Goldwire McLendon
Even though he forgot some of the words to He’s All Over Me from The Preacher’s Wife, it didn’t matter. His performance was extremely energetic. It even included some dancing. Elder McLendon’s appeal is so unique, it must be from God.

LeAndria Johnson
My vocabulary is just not good enough to write about how phenomenal she is week after week. She gave an outstanding performance of Maybe God is Trying to Tell You Something from The Color Purple. All of the judges absolutely loved it!

In the end, Martha Buries and Tiffany Carlin-Laird were eliminated. I don’t claim to be a prophet, but for the last couple of weeks I’ve know that the final three would be Durward Davis, LeAndria Johnson and Elder Goldwire McLendon.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Durward is amazing. In any other year he probably would win the competition. However, LeAndria and Elder McLendon are just too special.

Next week should be very interesting. I’m looking forward to hearing some great singing.

Did you see episode 9? What did you think about it?