Loren Does Michael Jackson Proud on 'Idol'

It's night two of the American Idol Top 16 results and tonight's all about the ladies. The producers are attempting to keep the audience engaged — it's not really working — by releasing the results one by one, and the next girl joining the top 16 is... Loren Lott! Lott's spot in the Top 8 Girls is MUCH deserved — she's given us amazing performers week after week. The 22-year-old actress deserves to be in this game and tonight's performance proved it.

Lott tackled "I Wanna Be Where You Are" by Michael Jackson and totally nailed it. It's tough to perform a song by the King of Pop — there's a nearly unreachable standard to meet to do it justice. But Lott's performance was one that Michael himself would have been happy with. It was full of energy, spunk, and, of course, spot on vocals. This performance was a major risk, but Lott took it on any way. She continues to take risks in this competition — like last week's song choice of "Note to God" — and it will take her far.

The best part about Lott is that this wasn't even her greatest performance and it was still amazing. We can all agree that she's best when performing ballads — nothing beats a strong women planting her two feet on the stage and singing from her heart. Lott has proved that she can do this AND make you feel all the things while doing it. But tonight she proved that she's a versatile performer by getting on stage and dancing around to a funky pop song.

All these fabulous things about Lott come from her background of singing in church. Church singers are some of the most passionate and courageous people out there, and that's evident every time Lott takes the stage. If the San Diego native continues to take risks and leave it all on the stage, then we're sure to see her go far in this competition.

Image: Jeff Neira/FOX