Simon's so vain

I heard the funniest thing today. TMZ was reporting that Robbie Carrico, the wannabe rocker with the long hair is actually wearing a wig. How funny is that? I'm dying to know if it's true.

But anyway, it's girls night and I'm dreading it a little bit. I found last week to be a bit dull and I just don't think the girls have as much character as the guys do - at least not so far.

First up is Carly Smithson and the thing we don't know about her is that around the corner from the tattoo shop she owns with her husband, she works at an Irish pub. She also says she loves her house - she loves to clean and cook, but other than her home, she feels most at home on stage, so she's willing to be away from home in order to pursue her singing career.

She comes out all in black and I'm left wishing she had some color on. She almost gets lost on the stage - it's too much black for my taste. Anyway, she sings Heart's "Crazy on You," and I love it, but it could just be because I love the song. I mean, here's my thing... I think Carly has a great voice, great range, great presentation. But for some reason, I still feel like she doesn't stand out. I know lots of people will think I'm crazy, but I think the viewers were led to believe that she was untouchable the way she got more air time than anyone else, and she still hasn't blown me away. Having said that, I enjoyed her tonight.

Randy tells her the beginning was a little rough, that he liked it better toward the end. Paula says she's an amazing singer and that she did an amazing job. Simon says it was much better than last week, but that he still thinks she hasn't connected with the right song yet. He says he thinks she is an incredible singer, that none of the other girls can touch her vocally, but she hasn't chosen that one song that's going to give her that moment.


The one thing we don't know about Syesha Mercado is that she's done a lot of commercials in Miami and that she does a good impersonation of a baby crying. She does it and it's actually really good.

She sings Billy Paul's "Me and Mrs. Jones" with a twist - she changes the Mrs. to a Mr. I hate to say this, because I love Syesha, but I could fall asleep right now - it's really dull. I mean, truth be told, I've never liked the song. The first time I heard it was in the episode of "A Different World" where Walter takes Jaleesa out on their first date and they dance to it. Syesha has such a beautiful voice - I don't understand why she would choose this song to sing. It's just all wrong for her, but maybe the judges disagree.

Randy tells her it wasn't a great song choice because she has such a big voice. He says when she belts out those big notes, she sparkles on the stage, but when she sings softer, like in the verses of this song, she seems uninterested and it goes nowhere. Paula says she tends to go off on the softer notes, too, but she says she liked her interpretation. Simon says it was indulgent and that the song wasn't written for a girl, so it was silly of her to have changed the lyrics to suit her. He says it wasn't a particularly clever choice for her


Brooke White's unknown fact is that she went to beauty school. She started doing hair when she was 11 years old - she says doing hair is an art form and so when she meets people, she's constantly thinking about things she could do to their hair. But halfway through beauty school, she discovered music and dropped out to start singing.

She sings Carly Simon's "You're So Vain" and plays the guitar for part of the song. Brooke isn't one of my favorites, but I tell you what - she did a great job tonight. The low notes were a little hard on her... she probably should have sung the song in a different register, but after the first two girls, she feels like a breath of fresh air - it was really good.

Randy tells her it was a good song choice, that she didn't really add anything to it, but he still liked it. But then he mentions that he and Paula noticed the way she was looking over at the judges during her performance and he asks her whether the song was about someone on the panel, but Paula doesn't really let her answer - she goes into her critique by saying that this was a perfect song choice for her, that it suited her. Simon says he absolutely loved it. He says it was the absolute perfect song for her, and that it was one of the rare occasions where he felt the artist had genuinely chosen the song. He said it absolutely connected, that she sang it well and that it didn't sound old-fashioned.

Then Ryan comes up and says, "It's probably because you think this song about you." And how funny... Simon says, "I'll be honest with you - I actually did."