Top 12 Girls
I have to say right off the bat that I, like several of the girls who sang tonight, have the flu. The judges didn't have much sympathy for them, but let me just say - I can barely
write about them, and they were actually up there singing their hearts out? That's pretty darn amazing. Some of the performances really were impressive, even if they generally didn't blow me away. As
Randy put it, "Season 7 is turning out to be the year of the young ones." I couldn't agree more; three of my faves thus far (Alaina Whitaker, Alexandrea Lushington and David Archuleta) are all under the age of 18. Though I felt like smacking
Ryan when he commented on the fact that Alaina was sweating after her performance - he used to do that all the time to
Elliott Yamin. It's, like, one of his favorite man-handling comments. Is that really the most interesting thing he can talk about in those few seconds of banter? He is so very, very odd.
On to the performances:
Kristy Lee Cook, "Rescue Me" - I haven't heard her enough yet to know if that little breathy, affected thing she does at the end of nearly every phrase was a result of her illness or if it's something she generally does. "It was a little rough around the edges," said Randy, which I thought was generous. She was also doing some weird thing with her eyes, which I only noticed at the end when they ran through the numbers.
Joanne Borgella, "I Say a Little Prayer" - I really want to like Joanne, but this song just didn't work. The song seemed to overwhelm her at times. When it was over, she was trying to be positive about the judges' comments, but
Simon had to go and crush it for her with a snide little comment.
Alaina Whitaker, "More Today Than Yesterday" - In general, it annoys me when two singers perform the same song in back-to-back days, but I have to say, Alaina's rendition put Chikezie's to shame. This was my one of my favorites of the night. I'm not positive (I, like Simon, sometimes have a hard time deciphering her), but I think
Paula said that Alaina did a better job on the song's ending than Diana Ross did (!)
Amanda Overmyer, "Baby, Please Don't Go" - If her goal is to "solidify the presence of rock," well, she did that tonight. She may not be as enthusiastic a speaker as the other gals, but she's got it going on. Said Simon: "I genuinely think you're authentic. I hope you stay around for a while."
Amy Davis, "Where the Boys Are" - Ouch! That was painfully pitchy. And her parents' matching T-shirts featuring a cameo of Amy's face were kind of creepy. Paula came out with her first being-nice-when-there's-nothing-nice-to-say comment about this one: "The camera loves you." But Simon was more brutally honest, as usual: "It sounded like it went on for 10 minutes."
Brooke White, "Happy Together" - What, another repeated song? It was pretty good, but it didn't compare to last night's performance by David Cook, who managed to really rock out on it. Brooke did evoke one of Simon's best lines of the night, though: "There are times tonight I feel like I'm in some commercial for washing-up liquid in the 1960s."
Alexandrea Lushington, "Spinning Wheel" - Talk about putting a contemporary spin (heh) on a song! This was another fave. Though are my ears clogged, or did Paula say, "You wore the dope out of it"? Simon didn't "get it," but he did enjoy her attitude. I thought the whole thing was great.
Kady Malloy, "Groovy Kind of Love" - What a disappointment. To me, this was nearly as snooze-inducing as Jason Yeager's "Moon River" last night. "That was like
Night of the Living Dead," and unfortunately, I'd have to agree.
Asia'h Epperson, "Piece of My Heart" - My issue with Asia'h up till now has been her lack of breath support, but tonight she didn't display any of that. Quite to the contrary; she managed to make a really hard song sound effortless. As Randy would say, now that was hot.
Ramiele Malubay, "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" - It always speaks to me when someone performs a really beautiful song simply yet with style, and that's exactly what Ramiele did. I probably didn't like it as much as the judges did, but it was certainly good enough for her to move on.
Syesha Mercado, "Tobacco Road" - Why was she kneeling on the couch before going on? Just curious. Anyway, she totally confirmed that she can sing, but again, this song didn't particularly wow me. No matter, though; as Simon said, "You are probably one of the most talented girls in this competition."
Carly Smithson, "The Shadow of Your Smile" - Carly redeemed herself tonight to me. Simon was disappointed, but I thought it was darn good.
My prediction: If Amy Davis doesn't go home, it's a major injustice. The others I think are at risk of leaving are Joanne Borgella and Kady Malloy.
What do you think? The judges keep talking about the performers' previous auditions - when you guys are voting, do you take into account how the singers did in the past?
Check out all of Simon's best lines of the season in our
Simon Says... the Most Quotable Things! blog.
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American Idol clips, visit our
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