Top 8 Girls: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Another week has gone by for the ladies in Idol Land. They have sung their songs and now are counting on us to pull them through to next week. With Idol shaving down the show to only 1 hour, they aren't wasting any time at the beginning, except to give an overly dramatic introduction to the contestants. I am not that overly dramatic, so I'll just go ahead and get started with the reviews.

Katie Stevens- "Breakaway" by Kelly Clarkson

This is beginning to get frustrating. Katie is definitely one of the best natural singers on the competition, but she has no idea what she is doing when it comes to song choice. I understand her trying to take the judges criticisms and apply them week in and week out, but she should only do that up to a certain point. They don't know what kind of artist she is, so they are suggesting young, peppy songs, when she is not that kind of singer at all. Her voice is much more mature than her age would suggest. This performance was sloppy from beginning to finish. She was off beat for much of the song, her usually good pitch was subject to nerves, the chorus was too big for her, and she completely sucked the energy out of the song. Simon tells her, "you sucked...the energy out of the room." Nice pause. This was the worst that I've seen her perform all season. After the judges said that it didn't seem like she connected with the song, she said, "I DID connect with the song, because I grew up in a small town." Yes, and I'm sure that when the rain would fall down, you'd just stare out your window. Not exactly the kind of material to grasp for in a song if you want to connect to it. I think Katie has fans, but it's a tough call after this weeks performance. She had better pray that other contestants stumble as well.

Siobhan Magnus- "House of the Rising Sun" by The Animals

After an energetic, upbeat powerhouse last week with Aretha, complete with crazy high notes, Siobhan decides to take it down a notch this week with "House of the Rising Sun," and does a good job with it. She starts it out completely a cappella, giving it a haunting, ethereal feel. That is taking a risk, because singing a cappella in this tight of a competition is no easy feat. I think it's brilliant, and she sings the rest of the song equally as well. You can tell that she has the most dynamic voice of the bunch, but she doesn't have to give us everything she has in order to sound great. After the music kicked in, the song stayed relatively the same and didn't go anywhere, but I think she did enough with the beginning to let her off the hook. The judges liked it for the most part, but Simon was a little skeptical about who she is as an artist. That is fair (even though half of the girls don't know who they are as an artist) because I can't think of what type of music she'd fit into either. She will be around for the top 12, easily.

Lacey Brown- "The Story" by Brandi Carlile

Lacey shows week in and week out that her voice is not up to par with the rest of the girls. And seeing that I personally know 8 girls who can sing better than these 8, that means she's not up to par with the general singing public. This show is supposed to be about finding the best singers in America, not letting mediocre (at best) talent through just because they were a little better than they were last year. I don't know how/why she is still here, but someone out there likes her. She takes the same approach as she did the first week by sitting down and singing a ballad. She sings it well enough, I guess, but there is nothing there for me. She does nothing interesting with the song, with her voice, or with her performance. I'm bored less than 30 seconds in, as is Randy, but he still says that it was her best performance so far. That is not saying much. I like her look, but she just does not have the vocal chops to compete at this level. I will keep predicting her departure until America gets it right and sends her on her way. Nothing but love, Lacey.

Katelyn Epperly- "I Feel the Earth Move" by Carole King

After back to back weeks of exceeding the expectations I had of her, Katelyn comes back down a peg this week with a lackluster performance that is devoid of any energy, even though it's up tempo. She plunks around on a keyboard while standing, which is slightly awkward for her, but you can barely hear the instrument as the rest of the band swallows her. She sings the song well, stays on pitch, and has that nice rasp to her voice, but you can tell that the keyboard is throwing her off her game. She tries to energize the song with her playing, rather than her singing, and it makes for an easily forgettable performance. Simon said that it sounded like she was taking requests on a Friday night in a restaurant, and it's true. I did think it was funny that they said "I like how you are rocking the Carol King hair (aka nappy head)" and she gave a look that was like, "this is how my hair always looks." :( They like your crazy mane, Katelyn, even if they basically called it nappy.

Didi Benami- "Rhiannon" by Fleetwood Mac

Channeling the same vibe that she gave us when we started liking her in Hollywood Week, Didi came out and gave an acoustic version of this song and showed us again who she is as an artist. She isn't a pop artist that does a lot of runs and belts out notes like she tried to do last week. She is an Ingred Michaelson/Regina Spektor type of artist who is known more for their distinct voice and lyrics rather than technical ability (not to belittle their technical ability, because they are great). She connected with the song and made it fit her style. I enjoyed this performance a lot, but the problem that I see with her is that this is her only truly great zone. This is the place that she'd be as an artist, but she can't win the show doing only performances like this. It's fine once in a while, but in order to have a legit shot at winning, she needs to figure out a way to take the emotion and comfort that she uses in songs like this and put them into something new and more appealing to a larger demographic of voters.

Paige Miles- "Smile" by Charlie Chaplin

So what's funny about this song is that when Paige was performing it, I said some lame joke about how Charlie Chaplin could sing this song better, meaning that he wouldn't sing it at all since he did silent films and still sound better. But he DID write this song and I had completely forgot about that at the time. The subconscious is crazy! Anyway, Paige sounded awful on this song. It was bad. Really bad. There was no power in her voice whatsoever. She was timid in her delivery and it felt forced. She said she picked it because she liked it and because Michael Jackson sang it (her BFF), but she did nothing with it. She shouldn't pick a song that she likes over a song that will get her votes, unless she's trying to go home. There is a happy medium there that contestants have to find: a song that you like enough to connect to, but one that people voting for you will also dig. This song was entirely forgettable, sung poorly, and she didn't even smile, so I am thinking that she will join Lacey on the outs this week.


Crystal Bowersox- "Give Me One Reason" by Tracy Chapman


This was probably the best performance of the night. Crystal came out there, did her thing, had fun, sang well, played well, and still managed to keep charming America with her honesty to herself. She is staying in her niche right now because she knows that's what the fans are voting for. These early rounds are where you can pick whatever song/genre you want to establish a fan base. So far she has played these rounds incredibly smart by either picking extremely popular 90's songs or revamping a song soulfully. She is a shoe-in for the top 12, but I do wonder what she will bring to the table once they start having to adhere to theme nights. I guess we will cross that bridge when we come to it. VFTW did make a funny statement about her being on the chaw again because her teeth are getting brown again. It's so wrong, but I laughed really hard when I read it.

Lilly Scott- "I Fall to Pieces" by Patsy Cline

Where I was once a big Lilly fan, my allegiance is fading. The judges are constantly telling her how amazing she is, though she does the same thing each week. Crystal stays to the same niche, but still switches it up a bit. I feel like Lilly is singing the same song every week. This was a smart song choice, because she is trying to gain some of the country voters since there is no clear cut country singer on the show. Good luck prying those away from Aaron Kelly, who is the closest thing to that genre on the show. I think I liked her at first because she was unique, but now that she is no longer novel, she doesn't seem quite as good. I want to see her on a stool, singing a ballad with a piano accompaniment, and kill it. She has talent, I'm not doubting that, but up to date, we've only seen one portion of that talent and it's getting worn out. She was in the pimp spot, which guarantees that she is safe, but she needs to shake things up a bit.

All in all, the performances were ok. Last week was two steps forward from week 1. This week was one step back, in my opinion. The girls, for the most part, sang their songs well, but lacked the same "fire" in their eyes that they had last week. Either they are getting complacent or they are letting the pressure get to them. Either way, they need to start making strides to right whatever wrongs are going on right now, because the girls that are lucky enough to survive this week get to compete against the guys next week. It's always harder once the Co-Ed portion of the show starts because the competition is so different and the voters tend to find their favorites and stick with them.

From the girls, I think that we will be saying goodbye to Lacey and Paige. Lacey is just average and Paige performed well below the standards that were set for her by the judges. Would anyone really be sad to see them go? Didn't think so.

Who do you think the front runner is right now? The judges have labeled this a "girls year" to win it all. After last night, do you think they are right?

Until next time...

Your American Idol Junkie,

Billy