American Idol -- Top 16 -- Girls

Simon and Not-Brian-Dunkleman argue over how important tonight is for the contestants.  Also, I believe we’re down to an hour-length show (which should cut down on the filler and fluff).

(NOTE:  I’ve decided to nickname the contestants with the genre/cliché/niche they are filling.)

“Youngster” Katie is singing Kelly Clarkson’s “Breakaway”.  The first half of the song was mediocre at best.  The chorus is better, but nowhere near good enough for this far along in the competition.  She will never be as good as “AHHHHHHH Kelly Clarkson”.  I imagine it should be enough for her to make it to next week.

“Wall-Flower” Siobhan is singing “House of the Rising Sun” by the Animals.  She’s singing it like it would be sung in an off-Broadway production.  She is not a rocker, so it’s odd hearing her sing a rock song.  She’s working really hard to make it good, and it’s not awful, but it’s odd, which is the pigeon-hole she (the producers) has put herself in.

“Spikey-Hair” Lacey is singing a song from Brandy Carlile which I don’t know and I’m not sure I’ve ever heard it before.  I have no idea why this is the song she picked.  I am pretty sure she is auditioning for the “Vote for the Worst” vote with that performance.  She sat on the edge of the stage while a piano/guitar minimally backed her.  I don’t like her voice or style (which might explain why I’ve been predicting her to go home the past two weeks.)  And from the judges’ critiques, it sounds like they want her to stick around.

“Curly-Hair” Katelyn is singing Carol King’s “I Feel the Earth Move”.  She’s standing behind a keyboard and is singing fine, but no one outside of Carol King has ever been able to sing this song with any relevance.  No one is getting their spouse out of the other room to drag them in to hear her sing.  Not good. She should probably go home for this one.  Weird decision on her part.  

“Tall Blond” Didi is singing Fleetwood Mac’s “Rihannon”.  The first relevant song so far.  She’s strumming her guitar and her voice suits this song very well.  (She sounds like Ingrid Michaelson’s twin sister).  Best so far, hands down.  She has a great modern voice and she molded the song to match her voice.    

“The Black Girl” Paige is singing “Smile” (artist unknown to this blogger).  She sounds like she’s just going through the motions.  Very uninspired.  The band can’t keep up with her as she plods along.  She kinda dragged them along just so she could be done.  I think this was her throwing in the towel.  (As the judges quizzed her about it, it seems like she has a deep emotional connection to the song.  I wonder if she picked it because of this connection, then realized that she’ll never be able to finish the song unless she walls off those emotions, which lead to the uninspired performance.  She made a bad call not switching songs once she discovered this flaw.)

“Presumed Winner” Crystal is singing Tracy Chapman’s “Give Me One Reason to Stay Here” (not sure if
 this is the actual title).  Again, a solid performance.  I would assume that she is doing enough to stay in the lead and is saving anything special she has up her sleeves for when the guys and gals combine.  There is no reason for her to burn out too early.  She is a seasoned performer who has her “voice” as a singer (something the other women lack).

“The Silver Fox” Lilly is singing “I Fall to Pieces” (artist unknown to anyone under the age of 73).  Worst song choice of the night in my opinion.  (It’s probably because I love her so much, I wish she would have picked a better song).  This song does not meld with her voice at all.  She could have sleepwalked into the top 12 if she would have just picked a safer song.  I don’t get why she picked tonight to tempt fate.  I fear a lot of people won’t get this performance.  

I’d rank them:

Crystal

Didi

Lilly

Katie

Siobhan

Katelyn

Lacey and Paige go home (because I don’t think they are Top 12 material).