Top 10 Girls

Well AI fans, what did you make of that? My friend Peggy called me at the very end of the show and said, what in the world are you going to write about tonight?  It was such a disappointment.  Where I felt that some of the weaker boys came out fighting for their place in the top 12, the girls seemed to fall apart tonight. It was one bad song choice after another, which had me wondering if David Archuletta really did psych them all out.  My friend Gene told me he has the next few months free from idol, since David has already run away with it, and Tracy said "you may as well give the kid the idol crown already". Maybe the majority of the girls really did overthink their song choice and got nervous after such a strong showing the night before. Whatever the reason, there were some performances that were downright painful to watch.

Carly Smithson “Crazy On You”

We learn that Carly works at the local Irish pub next to her husband’s tattoo parlor, and that she is very much a homebody.  Carly commanded the stage and I think had an almost perfect vocal. I am not sure what Randy was listening to, but I listened to her twice and heard maybe one or two pitch problems that were completely forgiveable.  Paula was also very guarded in her comments, and Simon said that if she can find the perfect piece of music, her voice is the one the other girls need to beat. The only thing I could criticize is that she almost did an identical version of the song to Heart's, but I thought she was great. According to Peggy, the judges may have been a little kinder to Carly had they known what was to come.

Syesha Mercada “Me & Mr(s). Jones”

Syesha revealed that she has filmed some commercials, and that she has a unique acting talent. It is a very disturbing baby cry that I am still not over. She is  gorgeous but she doesn't sing most of the low notes on key.It is pretty boring, and at times that she sings so softly that I could barely hear her over the band. And unlike the powers that be at Idol, I don't forget the rest of the performance when I hear one loud high note at the end of a song. Randy said it was just okay for him. Paula said she gets off key when she sings softly (have you noticed that Paula has been much more with it?), but when she “powers” her vocals she sounds great.  Simon cuts to the chase and tells her it was a bad song choice and it didn’t suit her at all. Given the other performances this evening, she has nothing to worry about.

Brooke White “You’re So Vain”

Brooke was a beauty school dropout and thinks of hairstyling as an art form.  She comes out with a guitar and does a really great rendition of Carly Simon's hit.  She does seem to have a pretty good idea of who she is as a musician, and being that she is one of the few girls who do, it makes her performance believable. I loved that she was sitting with the guitar this week, because last week the dancing and hair grabbing was really distracting for me. Her performance (to coin a Simon phrase) was "relevant and authentic", which seems to be the new "you took the song and made it your own".Randy and Paula loved it, and Simon says it was the perfect song choice. He also thinks the song was about him. He could be right, because he keeps pointing himself out with his thumb on his forehead (hand sticking out). Kind of like a half-moose.  Joan brought this to my attention and now I am sickly fascinated with it.

Ramiele Malubay “Don’t Leave Me This Way”

Before her interview, Ramiele discusses all the crying from last week with Ryan. Joanne was apparently her roommate and Colton part of her group, whatever that means. She promises no tears this week. Ramiele is a traditional Polynesian dancer. She doesn’t break into dancing during this very boring number, but she does sing it in key and with quality. It is the first of many wrong song choices, and she confesses afterwards that she had a ballad picked out first but she didn’t want to be known as lullaby Malubay.  Randy, Paula, and Simon all agree that the arrangement started at one dynamic and never really changed or grew into anything else. Simon says he has heard this song 1000 times at weddings and doesn't like it. Ryan tells Simon that he guesses they won’t be playing this song at his wedding this spring. That information is about the most interesting thing to come out of this little exchange. I think Ramiele is a strong singer, and is definitely still top 12 material.

Kristy Lee Cook “You’re No Good”

Kristy Lee says that she is a total tomboy, and loves fishing, camping and anything outdoors. My husband starts to say something wanting to take her camping when he develops an unfortunate foot cramp. I tell him it serves him right for thinking about infidelity, with a teen no less. But I digress.  Someone has obviously told Kristy Lee about the freakish eye thing she did last week, because she doesn’t bug them out once. She does still have that weird horse rider stance when she sings, but she is so much better than last week that the judges see only her potential. Simon says she needs to figure out who she is as a singer, and he thinks she is more country. She agrees and I think there is something about her that is special enough to give her a chance to figure it out.  She gets positive marks all around. I realize this is off the subject, but could someone really put you on five antibiotics?

 It is all downhill from here.

Amanda Overmeyer “Carry On”

Amanda confesses that she is a bookworm.  She is very natural in the film clip and actually looks normal with that horrible hair covered up. She comes on stage looking like she needs 101 Dalmatians to join her. Her first line of the song is the best, but I don’t think she hits one decent note after it, and I am pained in a way that even Sanjaya didn’t affect me.  This performance proved that if she isn’t screaming, she really isn’t much of a singer. Her attempt at Kansas' basic melody is unnatural and totally tuneless. If she had been singing at one of her biker bars, someone might have thrown a beer bottle. Randy says she should stick with the blues, Paula says “we need you in this competition” and Simon says it was awful and her whole look and performance felt contrived. I will be shocked if she is does not go home.

Alaina Whitaker “Hopelessly Devoted”

Alaina’s big confession is that she can’t let any of her food touch. She is so young.  She comes out looking like she is ready for the Little Miss Sunshine Pageant and although she works the camera, the vocal really isn’t perfect.  Gary says I am morphing into Simon because like three minutes after my beauty pageant comment Simon says something very similar. I do frequently wear the same clothes over and over, but I hope I am not quite as obnoxious. (See Peggy, I can come up with plenty to talk about).  This song would only work at a high school talent show. The best part of the commentary was Simon telling Ryan that he actually was pretty good with woman’s clothing as Ryan tried to deny it. She surprised me last week, so I have not written her off yet.

Alexandrea Lushington “If You Leave Me Now”

Alexandrea was a firefighter poster child and was able to sing at a memorial service at ground zero. She takes a song that doesn’t have much to it, struggles to keep it in key, and the result is boring. Randy thought it was too safe, Paula liked it (go figure) and Simon thinks she needs to find herself as an artist. This has become his mantra tonight. She is very gracious with the comments and says that she feels like the underdog, but she will keep trying to do better. It was a pretty forgettable performance and I am worried for her.

Kady Malloy “Magic Man”

Kady is an opera girl, and demonstrates her skill in the bathroom.  She is so funny and personable, but then she starts singing and it is just awful. Firstshe looks as if she is about to fall down the stairs, but thankfully caught herself. Her dress is way worse than the blue number that Alaina was wearing, with all those distracting stones. The song was way too low for her to hit the notes, and overall it is just a weird performance. Simon tells her that he is confused and disappointed and mostly frustrated with her because she has all the skills and personality, but when she comes on stage it is always bizarre.  I like this girl, and even given the overall bad performances, I think she will be safe this week. As I said last week (oh sorry, only three of you read my blog last week) she needs to figure it out quickly because there are plenty of other blondes in the competition.  If we get sick of one, she can easily be replaced.  I do love the girl's sense of humor, but this was the second bad performance and my attention span isn't very long.

Asia’H Epperson “All By Myself”        

Asiah is a cheerleader and I find that this is the most surprising revelation of the evening. Secondly, Celine Dion did not write this song,nor did she make it famous.  I can tell that Asia'h is not feeling well, and I am really worried about the song choice and I hate the hair extensions. I have been one of  Asia’h's biggest fans, but this song did not work for me. Randy thought she did a great job, and Paula liked it. Simon gives the much needed reality check. The song was too big, too ambitious, and she needs to take risks that are within her grasp.

I think that she was so much more enjoyable last week. I don't think you have to be a one note wonder to be an idol diva, and it felt like this was the trend this evening. The girls were hitting one big long high note at the end of their numbers and Randy would say "I hated the beginning but you worked it out". I think Idol viewers have a little higher expectations than that.

There is talent in this group, but still plenty of fat to trim. Tune in tomorrow for the kick off. I think Jason Yeager, Robbie Carrico, Amanda Overmeyer and Alexandrea Lushington are all in danger, but Kady Malloy could be a close second, as well as Luke Menard.