AJ is a floor director for "Morning Express with Robin Meade". She has been obsessed with this season of Idol, and takes notes to share with the Morning Express writers and producers. The opinions below are AJ’s alone and do not necessarily reflect those of the staff of "Morning Express with Robin Meade" or HLN. These are her impressions of last night.

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We're bearing down the final stretch of this Idol season, and the Top 11 came out in style to pay homage to Elton John. I like to think somewhere, there’s a giant quilt with all of the possible themes stitched in it, and they throw some cornmeal on the quilt and just set the American Idol chickens free to peck out the themes. Yeah, that explains everything.
But our singers were game: Durbin jumped, twirled, and did some hot rock n’ roll yoga. Jacob floated on a cloud of emotion. And Casey’s back! Who was the best, and the worst?

BEST

Haley Reinhart: I’m jealous of Haley because she knows the actual lyrics to Bennie and the Jets. However, I’m not jealous she had to slide off that piano in that dress. Ooof. Sequins stuck to the rear for days.
The singing? Superlative, especially for her. After weeks of circling the drain, she may have finally crawled out this week. “You. Sssssing. Sssexy,” sssaid Ssssteven. JLo, another member of the SSDLSH (short sparkly dress, long shiny hair) club, was thrilled. “Haley! That was it! Does your behind hurt? Mine does! I’ve been sitting on my sequins all night! Eat that, America!”

WORST

Naima Adedapo: Well, I can see her logic here. “Last week,” she thinks, “last week I did okay, you know, and I was wearing some really unfortunate pants. Lets do that again.” Between said pants, rad flashy background and typically spotty vocals, her take on “I’m Still Standing” was a bit…off. Randy said she’s “got mad flavor”, but her performance was “kind of corny.” I predict her perching in the bottom three this week.

WEIRDEST

Paul McDonald: YES. Yes, Paul, you ARE a rocket man! And he rocked that awesome jacket again. Yeah, his performance is good, but how could it not be? It’s not great though. I mean, but it is, you know? Who cares! Rocket man! So high. Like a kite. Steven hit him with the best set of non-compliments ever: “Have you been watering that jacket?” and “I like the character where you sometimes hit a note and sometimes you don’t.” What? So high!

Honorable mentions to Lauren “Fame is so fancy!” Alaina and Casey Abrams, who thrilled with his shorn beard and some brand new humility. It’s going to be a tough elimination tonight, but I’m predicting Naima, Thia and Stefano battling it out at the bottom.
What do you think? Has Casey reclaimed his good standing? Are you tired of Pia’s ballads? Are you ready to bid adieu to Naima and her pants? I’ll check in tomorrow with the low down on who’s in and who’s out.

Posted by: Morning Express Floor Director AJ
Filed under: American Idol • Elton John • Extras

Here’s a look at the problems for tomorrow’s travelers (there will be many!)

First, the big rain and storm maker across the SE and Mid Atlantic from today will be rolling into the NE. I’m thinking major delays are possible at the NYC/Philly/DC airports, in the afternoon, and then it changes to snow for interior New England and NY State. Winter storm watches are up, and a good 1 to 1½ feet of snow is a possibility in those regions. I’ll have the radar for the worst spots.

The cold front will be draped across Central FL, so I bet the Sunshine State won’t live up to it’s name. Storms for the Spring Breakers tomorrow.

The west has more snow and rain moving in, mainly from OR to WA but he rain and snow will affect WY, MT, ID, and parts of CO. Rain will develop in the Central Plains too.

Hey, see you guys tomorrow.

Posted by: Meteorologist Bob Van Dillen
Filed under: Rain • Snow • Weather • Winter Storm Watch

Many thanks to the viewers and colleagues who came out to see me sing at the historic Birdland Jazz Club in NYC (although I sang country not jazz). HLN friends Jane Velez-Mitchell, Joy Behar and even buddy Richard Lui (now at MSNBC) were there and even backed me up on one special song. You can see the whole show by clicking the play button above.

Check out the review here from Country Weekly magazine! Post a comment there if you wish!

(Update) Page Six in the New York Post also picked up the story.

Posted by: Anchor Robin Meade
Filed under: Extras • Jane Velez-Mitchell • Joy Behar • Richard Lui • Victoria Shaw

Did you catch these cuties on "Morning Express with Robin Meade" this morning? I'm pretty sure I have seen this exact same discussion in the HLN break room at 2:55am when someone has used the last non-dairy creamer mini-tub. That conversation would never become our 'Viral Video of the Day' though.

If you got as big a kick out of these guys as we did... surf over to their YouTube page and leave them a note. Be sure to mention you saw them on HLN's "Morning Express with Robin Meade."

Posted by: HLN TV/Web producer Grayson
Filed under: Viral Video of the Day • YouTube

How’s the Tuesday going everybody? Here’s a brief heads-up for the Wednesday weather:

The storms that are rocking through the Gulf coast this evening will press into the SE and Mid Atlantic states tomorrow, with heavy rain back into the picture for the big Southern cities. I’ll have a look at the latest radar and warnings for you if there are any. The cold air will remain in the NE and Great Lakes with temps about 10-20 degrees below the average for late March too.

More rain and snow will edge into the West coast tonight and last through tomorrow, so I bet delays will be found out there at the airports as well.

I’m out of here, see you guys on "Morning Express" early tomorrow.

Posted by: Meteorologist Bob Van Dillen
Filed under: Rain • Severe Weather • Snow • Weather

Hey everybody, here’s a quick line on the weather for tomorrow. The heavy rain across the SE from today will be well gone, but more storms will develop upstream overnight tonight. OK will most likely be seeing a strong round of storms early Tuesday, and the I’m watching for some severe weather over the Gulf Coast tomorrow afternoon ahead of a warm front. The NE will still be breezy and cool Tuesday but cool. More much-needed rain will hang around FL too.

Out West, I’m watching another storm cycle on off the Pacific tonight, so heavy rain and some mountain snow is in the forecast for the Pacific NW. Those are the major weather headlines, I’ll have the details on "Morning Express" early tomorrow (Tuesday) morning! If it’s anything like today, I’ll be stifling an allergy sneeze all morning. See ya then.

-Bob

Posted by: Meteorologist Bob Van Dillen
Filed under: Weather

Great to have Chef Ellie Krieger back with another recipe that will help us 'Live Better Now.' This time she's making a gourmet-sounding meal without having to spend gourmet-bucks or gourmet-hours in the kitchen!

Ellie Krieger’s Whole Grain Spaghetti with Roasted Tomato and Almond Pesto

Olive oil cooking spray
1 1/3 pounds ripe plum tomatoes, cored, seeded and quartered (about 6 medium)*
1/3 cup blanched sliced almonds
1 medium clove of garlic
1/3 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves, plus more for garnish
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
¼ teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
1 pound whole grain spaghetti

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray a baking tray with cooking spray. Place the tomatoes on the tray and roast in the oven for 30 minutes, until they are soft and slightly charred. When the tomatoes are nearly done, bring a large pot of water to a boil.

In a medium dry skillet, toast the almonds over a medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until they are golden and fragrant, 3-4 minutes.

Transfer the nuts to a food processor, add the garlic and process until they are finely ground. Add the roasted tomatoes, basil, vinegar and pepper flakes to the processor. As the processor is running, drizzle in the olive oil in a steady stream. Add the parmesan cheese and ¼ teaspoon salt and pulse to combine.

Add the pasta to the water and cook according to the directions on the package. Drain and return the pasta to the pasta pot or to a serving bowl. Add the sauce and toss to combine. Season with additional salt to taste. Serve garnished with whole basil leaves.

Makes 6 servings
Serving size: 1 ¼ cups

Prep time: 12 minutes
Cooking time: 36 minutes

*note: you can substitute a 14.5 ounce can of no-salt added fire roasted tomatoes, drained

Filed under: Ellie Krieger • Live Better Now

With about a month to go before taxes are due you want to make sure you get what you are entitled to. So "Morning Express" personal finance anchor Jennifer Westhoven wants to highlight some of the overlooked deductions out there.

One of those deductions is the earned income tax credit. You may be qualify for it if your family makes less than $48,000 a year. It can be worth up to $5,666!

Jen will have more tips during Morning Express with Robin Meade on HLN as we get closer to tax day... which comes a little late this year... April 18.

If you have tax questions ask Jen on Facebook or send her an email (be sure to put TAX QUESTION FOR JEN as the first line in the "My Comments" box). She'll be talking to experts to get your questions answered!