I can't say I'm "saving all my love for you," Syesha

Brooke White's most embarrassing moment happened after church one day when she was 12or 13. She says she ran up to her dad and threw her arms around the back of him and she was hanging off of him, telling how hungry she was and she wanted to go home. The guy turned around to look at her and it wasn't her dad.

She sings Pat Benatar's "Love Is a Battlefield" and does it a bit different. She sings it sitting down, with just someone playing the guitar as accompaniment. It's actually really good. The original song is kind of an energetic song and she totally mellows it out and I'm surprised to say that for the second week in a row, I think Brooke White is really, really good. I mean, it's very difficult to stay in tune with just a guitar strumming chords - there's no note to guide you, no back-up singer to help you out at all - and she hit every note, she didn't falter once. She was fantastic - in a league of her own with these girls tonight.

In fact, I haven't done this for any of the girls yet, but I feel like if you missed it, you've just got to see it.



Randy tells her he really liked it, that he doesn't think she brought anything new to the song, but it was definitely very interesting. Paula says she made a very wise choice and that she loved the fact that it was very, very pure. She says she would have loved it if she had incorporated the band more toward the end. Simon tells her he couldn't disagree with Paula any more - that he thinks it worked purely for the reason that she didn't have the band, therefore doing an original take on the song. He says normally, the song would never ever suit her, but she made it into a completely different type of song and once again, two weeks running, she's done a great performance.

Looks like Brooke White may be a dark horse in this competition. We'll just have to wait and see.

Syesha Mercado is last tonight and she says her most embarrassing moment was in 2nd grade. She said she a crush on a boy and she wrote him a letter that said, "Do you like me? Yes or no?" and she put a strawberry-flavored piece of bubble gum inside of the note. And he told the teacher on her and ate her bubble gum.

She sings Whitney Houston's "Saving All My Love for You," and it's a bit dull. I mean, I think she'll make it through to the top 12, but she may be just squeaking by. The trouble isn't her voice - it's her song choice. This song made her voice sound thin and whiny, when we know she's got a huge powerful voice - we've seen her nail other songs... This song just made her boring, in my opinion - it was so slow and I found myself wondering why it was taking so long to end.

Randy must have fallen asleep too and just been jolted awake to comment, because all he can manage to get out is "Good." Paula tells her it was sophisticated and lovely. And Simon says it was a bit predictable but good. They must have been running out of time, because she got absolutely no feedback at all, which may end up hurting her tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow night, let's get to the guessing. I think Kady Malloy is a given, but the second girl is a tough choice. I feel like it could be Kristy Lee Cook because there's nothing special about her, she's very blah... but it could also be Syesha Mercado - she's been kind of a disappointment since her huge knockout performance during Hollywood week. I may be making a mistake here, but I'm hoping to see Syesha knock it out of the park just one more time, so my official picks for tomorrow are:
Luke Menard and Chikezie Eze
Kady Malloy and Kristy Lee Cook

So far, my guessing record is 5 for 8, way better than I did last year - let;s see how I hold up after tomorrow night.

Kristy Lee Cook is "faithfully" forgettable

Kristy Lee Cook says she is most embarrassed by memories of herself when she was 7 years old because she believed she was a dog and she spent a whole year on all fours, barking and growling at people, and she had her own dog bowl that she would drink out of and rats that would ride on her back like jockeys.

She sings Journey's "Faithfully" and it's pretty good - she's got that country twang that adds a little something new to the song. She goes out of tune in some spots, especially right at the end, but overall, it's OK. I mean, to be honest, I'm kind of sick of this song - it's so overplayed, so I kind of wish she had chosen something else. But it could work in her favor, choosing a song that everyone knows. I don't know. While she did fine, I find that I'm still not excited by her - she's still kind of blah for me. There's just nothing about her that stands out.

Randy tells her it was a great song and adds that he worked with Journey for a long time, and what he liked about it was the country lilt she put on the song. Paula tells her that it could be a hit for her in country music... did no one hear her singing off-key? Was it just me? Simon says it was good that there was a country influence, but he still thinks that her problem is that she's forgettable. He tells her that now, she's going to be battling with bigger voices and bigger personalities and at best, he sees her coming in 10th, which seems to be just fine with her.

Ramiele Malubay's most embarrassing moment is really the only one so far that is actually embarrassing - at least in my opinion. She says that in 5th grade, she rode her bike over to the house of this boy she liked. She dropped off her picture and rode her bike to the other side of the street to see if he would look at the picture and he came out with his mom and they laughed at it.

Oh no - she's singing the "American Idol" anthem. I feel like as long as I've been watching the show, which is only three or four seasons, someone, at some point, has sung this song, at least once each season. It's a great song, but I wish it would be removed from rotation, especially when there are so many to choose from. In case you can't guess, she's singing Phil Collins' "Against All Odds."

And the worst part is that it's not her best performance. I can't put my finger on it, but she's just not up to the same level she was that first week out. I actually liked her disco number last week, but it's like every week, she slips a little in my book. I hope she's able to pick it up next week.

Randy tells her it was another big song, big vocal and that they loved her when they first saw her and he's happy to see her return to that, but that she needs to find that confidence again. He says he feels sometimes while he watches her sing that he can hear her also thinking. Paula tells her she is beautiful and starts to say something about the colors in her voice but stops herself and instead says she has a lot of textures in her voice... she's then sidetracked by the audience and somehow ends up calling them mutts and then saying she loves mutts - all very odd. Simon says it was good because she's so little and cute but he thought it was very old-fashioned and he didn't hear that big money note he would have liked. He says he's heard a lot of performances like this one over the years, so actually, he thought it was predictable and he's not jumping out of his chair on that.

Simon tells Amanda Overmyer: "I hate myself for loving you"

Amanda Overmyer's most embarrassing moment isn't all that embarrassing, I don't think. She says she used to have a fireplace that they used to set out on their deck at night and one morning she woke up to her neighbor screaming, "Your deck's on fire." So, she goes out and the whole deck is burned down, the whole side of the house is melted and half the pool is scorched and she was last person out the night before, so she's now the only chick in the world who can burn down a pool.

She sings Joan Jett's "I Hate Myself for Loving You," and I'm just so glad to see her back to normal, singing songs that suit her and dressing comfortably. She's not in a crazy outfit and her hair's not all spiked out or anything. She's wearing jeans, a tank top and a scarf - her make-up even looks kind of subdued. She looks great, comfortable and at ease. I'll admit I'm not really a fan of her voice anymore - I got tired of the rocker thing, but I do like Amanda very much and while her musical style is not my thing, I think she sounds great tonight.

Randy tells her that's the Amanda they loved when they first saw her - she's the blues-y rocker chick. He says that's the kind of song she should be singing, that's who she really is - well done. Paula says her face is beautiful and that she likes her hair. She says also that she has found her niche and this is what they fell in love with. Simon tells her, "Amanda, if I'm being honest... I thought it was... fantastic." He says she absolutely nailed that song, that it was the perfect song for her and in a way, it was one of his favorite girl performances of the entire competition.


Carly Smithson's most embarrassing moment was when she was on a break from work and she walked over to another bar to visit her friend. She got her leg stuck in the railing and her friend, who was a little bit drunk, went and got butter and oil and bathroom soap and greased up her leg. A little crowd formed and everyone was laughing at her.

Tonight, she sings "I Drove All Night," which I know as a Celine Dion song, but which was also recorded in the 80s by Roy Orbison and Cyndi Lauper. This is one of those songs that I didn't like when I first heard it, but it's actually grown on me with time. I actually heard Celine Dion perform it in Vegas and it was spectacular - the whole show was. So, I'm actually enjoying Carly's performance. She's still not one of my favorites, but really, so few of the girls are. But out of the girls, Carly has one of the best voices, so it's always nice to just be able to enjoy a song, instead of hearing bum notes here and there, like with the other girls.

Randy tells her it was very, very good. That it was another great performance. Paula tries to imitate Randy with all the dudes and the dawgs and she just sounds like an idiot. She eventually snaps out of it and says that she's found her niche and that there aren't enough adjectives to describe her voice. Simon tells her he doesn't think she's chosen the right song. He says she made the most out of it but he didn't like it. He says it's just not a great song and that it doesn't give her what she deserves because she's a million times better than that song.

Quick note. Did you all catch the brief shot of her mother? She's absolutely stunning. I was floored by how young and beautiful she is. I was a little surprised that she had only met Carly's husband twice, but I suppose if her mom lives in Ireland, it's tough to visit all that often. I don't know if I could live that far from my parents - it may seem sad, but I would miss them terribly.

"Who wants to live forever" when Kady Malloy sings?

I'm actually really looking forward to next week when the guys and girls are mixed together, because I have to say the past few weeks have been almost unbearable - on Wednesday nights. The girls are so much worse than the guys this year, it's actually painful to watch, and I dread it every week. At least next week, watching a girl bomb won't be so bad knowing that one of the guys is up next.

Just a quick aside - Paula looks really good tonight - she has her hair up and for the first time in a long time, it doesn't look like she's wearing a wig.

Asia'h Epperson is up first tonight, continuing with the 80s theme and the most embarrassing moment interview clip. Asia'h says her most embarrassing moment was when she was an extra on the set of a movie. It was a whole roller-skating thing and it had been a long time since she had been on skates, so she was trying to be cool and do trick on her skates and she ran into the set light and everyone was laughing at her, but she says she likes to make people laugh, so it was OK.

She sings Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" and she comes out wearing the most hideous outfit. I'm not sure what she was thinking when she put on a pink top and these pale purple pants. Maybe she was trying to look the part and fit into the 80s. I don't know - but it's not flattering at all. But on the bright side, her voice is fantastic tonight. She picked a great song with a great beat - perfect to start off the night and she actually sounds a little bit like Whitney, too. My only criticism is that she didn't do anything to the song to make it her own - she's just kind of singing the same version Whitney sung. I mean, she's singing it great - I'm thoroughly entertained but after watching guys like David Archuleta and David Cook make their songs a bit original, this performance seems a bit stale in comparison. But, I'm willing to bet it's still the best performance among the girls tonight.

Randy starts off by reminding the American public that he recorded that song with Whitney Houston and he says it was a tall order for her to take on but that she proved tonight that she deserved to be there because that was hot. Paula tells her she nailed it. Simon tells her he's not quite as enthusiastic because last week it was Celine, this week it's Whitney and at best, it's second-rate Whitney. Asia'h interrupts him and says, "I'm not Whitney - I'll take second-rate Whitney." Simon adds that she did the Whitney version of a Whitney song and she didn't do as well. He does, however, concede that it was good enough to make the top 12.


Next up is Kady Malloy and I'm kind of wondering if we even need to listen to her sing tonight - I mean, I'd say it's pretty clear she's leaving tomorrow night, so it seems like such a waste of 5 minutes to pay attention to her. Let's get it over with...

Her most embarrassing moment was in 9th grade when she auditioned for the yearly talent show. She sang "Beautiful," by Christina Aguilera, which she says she ruined, and her music teacher hated it. As she was leaving the stage she tripped over the microphone cord and microphone fell and the whole speaker system collapsed, causing that annoying microphone screech.

Tonight she sings "Who Wants to Live Forever" by Queen, and as expected, it's not great. I'll give her this - it was better than last week's disaster, but it sounds like a bunch of out-of-tune screaming to me. Plus, in my opinion, she should have done something young and fun, like Asia'h did. This song was too slow, a bit dull and overall, made her mistakes that much more noticeable. If she makes it past tomorrow night, I will be stunned.

Randy tells her it was a very interesting song choice and that she did a pretty good job of it. He says queen is really hard to sing, but the good thing is she hit those big notes really well. He adds that she didn't support some of the smaller notes well enough, but that it was pretty good. Paula tells her that this was her best performance, which is most probably true. All her other performances have been pretty bad, but then again, so was this one... I'm not sure why no one has noticed that yet. I'm holding out for Simon - he'll speak the truth. Paula continues and says that she disagrees with Randy, that she feels the magic, for her, is in Kady's soft notes. Simon says it was better than last week, but that he's still having issues with her massive lack of personality - that she's like a robot when she sings and he just can't get anything out of her - like the Stepford wives. Lastly, he tells her she may be in trouble.

Here's what I don't get - he tells Luke Menard, who actually did really well last night that he won't make it to the next round, but Kady, who was really bad, he only says she may be in trouble? Again, I must repeat this - if she makes it through tomorrow, I will be stunned. She's just not as good as some of the other girls and she's really nowhere near as good as any of the remaining men.