'American Idol': Rank Top 7 on 'Now and Then' night!

Update: Annie’s recap is live.

Take it from judge Randy Jackson: “The talent on Idol this year is better than any show on TV!” Dem’s fightin’ words coming from someone wearing a peace sign pin on his purple jacket.

I had a bit of trouble ranking the Top 7 after tonight’s “Now and Then” live performance show because everyone sang twice and a lot of songs were excellent (Hollieeeeee is back!) — but here’s my initial impression:

RANKING THE TOP 7 FROM ‘AWESOME’ TO ‘ALSO REALLY GOOD’ ON APRIL 18, 2012

Joshua Ledet (“I Believe,” “A Change Is Gonna Come”)

Skylar Laine (“Born This Way,” “Heard It Through the Grapevine”)

Hollie Cavanagh (“Rolling in the Deep,” “Son of a Preacher Man”)

Jessica Sanchez (“Fallin’,” “Try a Little Tenderness”)

Phillip Phillips (“U Got It Bad,” “In the Midnight Hour”)

Elise Testone (“No One,” “Let’s Get It On”)

Colton Dixon (“Bad Romance,” “September”)

Stay tuned for my full recap later on…. Here it is!

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Read more:

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Ask Annie anything about ‘Idol’ (or whatever) in the VYou video player below. To see her answers to previous questions, click on the text links below the picture. This is *not live*; she updates a few times a week.