Rock Star: Supernova -- Performance Show Week 9

Tonight's Rock Star: Supernova Performance Episode was Dilana's chance to redeem herself for her poor conduct this past week, and the producers made sure that viewers knew that.

Brooke Burke introduced a package of clips from last week, followed by the fallout at the mansion after the elimination show. A replay of Dilana smashing the glass into the ground showed broken glass hitting Magni in the cheek as well as the forehead. As Lukas pointed out, Magni was lucky he wasn't hit in the eye.

In the theater, Dave gave Dilana a chance to explain herself. She said, "I love my friends and I'll never do anything to hurt them ever again." It was nice to see her finally apologize and admit what she'd done was hurtful.

Brooke announced that tonight is Fan Selection night. Dave encouraged the contestants: "No Trainwrecks this week." Fortunately for all of us, his wish came true.

Lukas - "Lithium" by Nirvana
In a pretaped, pre-song interview, Lukas said that he's a regular guy who likes video games, basketball, and beer. He just wears more makeup than other regular guys.

He slowed down the song's intro, with just Paul accompanying him on piano, creating a very loungey feel. Paul played piano throughout the rest of the song and Lukas added a hesitation before the screaming chorus -- a nice variation on the original grunge version. Very seriously, Dave said, "You took a sacred Nirvana song and rearranged it? ... [pause for effect] ... It was awesome, dude!" Tommy, Gilby, and Jason were all smiles as well.

Magni - "I Alone" by Live
Magni decided he'd need an international PR campaign to avoid the Bottom Three this week. He urged Australians, Canadians, and Americans to vote for him because he's better looking than their representatives (Toby, Lukas, and Ryan, respectively). He then pleaded for votes, saying, "I learned your language. C'mon!"

Magni's singing was straightforward, but he mixed up his performance by strutting through the audience and onto Supernova's stage, where Tommy tried to grab his butt. Tommy said he wished Magni would've continued all the way to the back of the theater, but Magni pointed out that there's no lighting back there, and he wanted to make sure he looked good.

Ryan - "Clocks" by Coldplay
Ryan started the song seated at a piano, where he struggled to hit some early falsetto notes. But he soon kicked over his bench and jumped atop the piano as the house band kicked in. Vocally, he aimed for something a little heavier than Chris Martin, screaming the high notes instead of cooing them, and it worked. After bounding around the stage, Ryan returned to the piano near the end just so he could crawl back on top of it.

Dave praised the excitement that Ryan brings to the stage, and Gilby said he enjoyed the performance. Jason earned a round of boos from the audience when he told Ryan that he looks uncomfortable and "loses the plot" when he's not behind a piano. As he usually is after Ryan performs, Tommy was silent -- which tells you everything you need to know about Ryan's chances at winning this thing.

Storm - "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence
When Storm learned that this was her song earlier in the week, she panicked. Her voice is much lower than the light, high register the song requires. Like Ryan, she started slowly, her voice wavering as she sang the opening verse. But once the first chorus hit, Storm could belt the song out, and her tone added a nice depth and weight to the song. Toby jumped onstage to offer some backing vocals, and did a good enough job that he was at risk of stealing the performance.

Dave loved everything about the song, but Gilby said the performance was forgettable. Jason said that effort counts for everything, and Storm brought it.

Toby - "Rebel Yell" by Billy Idol
"Rebel Yell" was a particularly appropriate song for a guy who takes out his frustration by smashing cake into Ryan's face and running around naked. It's the most Toby song imaginable, and he went all Toby on it, throwing in one of his typical gimmicks. He dragged several juvenile girls from the front row onstage, where they jumped and screamed. He then made sure to hug all of them when the song was finished.

The whole thing was a lot of fun, and Toby sang well. It didn't hurt that the house band was brilliant. Jim brought out his Flying-V guitar, and Raphael's wicked solos would put Billy Idol guitarist Steve "Top Gun Theme" Stevens to shame. Supernova loved the whole experience.

Dilana - "Mother Mother" by Tracy Bonham
Dilana earned some points for bringing out her own her own Flying-V. Eventually, she dropped the guitar, climbed on an amp, and slung her leg over bassist Sasha's shoulder. She sounded very good -- apart from the chorus, when her voice sounded like a car trying to start on a cold day in winter.

Dave said it was his favorite performance from both season's of Rock Star, and Gilby loved it, too. Referring to Dilana's rough week, Tommy said that he's the king of mistakes, and the key for Dilana is not to make the same ones twice.

Early Bottom Three:
Storm
Ryan
Lukas

My vote went to Toby, since his performance was the most fun.