Geez, doesn't she have a piece of your heart, too?

We've seen very little of Alexandrea Lushington. I fell in love with her during her audition - it took only a few notes for me to be mesmerized by her voice, especially since she is so young. But then she disappeared, and by the time they showed her again, I had completely forgotten who she was. So, I feel like I'm starting all over again with her.

I don't like her song choice. She sings "Spinning Wheel" by Blood, Sweat & Tears, and while I like the song, I feel like she could have chosen a song that would better suit her voice. She has the kind of voice that could have knocked out an Aretha Franklin song or something like that. I mean, this song has a funky sound to it and she sings it well, although her voice loses its strength in the higher range. It was a good performance, but I'm not in love with her like I was after those first few notes of "Funny Valentine" in her audition.

Randy says she blew the doors off that song, that it was hot. Paula says a bunch of stuff that didn't make a lot of sense, and then Simon says he didn't get it. He says he didn't think the vocals were great. I have to agree with him, especially when she went into the high notes - it sounded odd, almost like a man singing falsetto. I don't know - she won't go home this week, but she needs to more in order to make it to the Top 12, I think.


Kady Malloy is another one I'm not really sure of - I love, love her Britney Spears impersonation - it's dead on. But her voice is very blah. A lovely, pretty blah, but a blah all the same. What I mean by that is that most of the girls sound the same to me - they all have nice vibrato and a nice, clear tone to their voices, but very few of them have shown anything original, with the exception of Amanda Overmyer. The guys, on the other hand, have so many different sounds, so many different personalities. The girls have to do something to stand out, or else they'll be cast aside, so I'm wondering what Kady will do to make her stand out. I wonder if there's anything she can do - there are so many pretty blondes this year, it's hard to keep them all straight, to be honest.

She sings "Groovy Kind of Love," which I know as a Phil Collins song, but which was sung in the 1960s by both Diane & Annita and also The Mindbenders. I love this song - it's just beautiful, so maybe that's why I notice every single time she goes off key, which is a lot - I lost count. I have to be honest... it wasn't bad enough for me to say it was bad. It was, well... blah. Her voice is nice and the clarity is wonderful, but again, if I closed my eyes, I could picture any other pretty blonde in her place and that says something.

Randy says he loves her Britney impression, but that her performance was just OK, that it was so controlled and restrained. Paula says she needs to have more fun and Simon agrees with Paula. He says that when she does the Britney impersonation, she's brilliant, but when she does Kady, the lights go off. He said it was like watching two different people. He says she came across as 80, not 18, and that she needs to lighten up.


Asia'h Epperson is coming next and I so admire her strength and optimism. She was so full of joy during her audition despite having lost her father just two days before it. I can't imagine being able to carry a tune in such grief, let alone doing it all with a smile on my face. She is amazing to me, really an inspiration, and I wish great things for her.

She sings Janis Joplin's "Piece of My Heart," which is really interesting, because she's not a rocker, so I guess she plans to give it her own twist.

She's just infectious - I just caught myself smiling at the TV, simply because she came out all smiles and the first verse was so good. I'm glad she left her hair curly - I didn't like the clip of her with her straight straightened - it frames her face better when its curly, I think. She looks great on the stage, totally comfortable, not nervous at all. Her voice is wonderful, kind of smoky, but not too masculine. She hits every note perfectly, not even a hint of nerves in her voice. She just nailed it - a terrific performance all around. Best one tonight, in my opinion.

Randy tells her he loves it and that he was impressed. Paula tells her you could tell that she had fun up there and that she had some really good moments. Simon says it was his favorite of the night, that she let go, she's fun, she's likable, she has a great voice, she doesn't take herself too seriously, that she's what it's all about.