The American Idol Weekly Rundown-'Ze Girlz'

Everybody is stepping it up, it seems.

THE BEST:
1. Carly Smithson-I LOVE THAT SONG! I think I actually let out a little 'hoot' when I realized she was going to sing Roy Orbison's 'I Drove All Night', one of my very favorite songs of that decade. Yes, I know Cyndi Lauper and Celine Dion have covered it but it will always be an a Roy classic, to me. And even though Carly belted it in a style similar to Celine Dion, she also retained the tempo and sound of the original...which was NOT a dance song, like Celine's version. She is now the clear winner, in my book.

THE GOOD:

2. Brooke White-sat on the stage (again) and did a mellowed out version of 'Love is a Battlefield' which conveniently left out any of the truly challenging vocal segments of the original. The cool thing is that she did succeed in 'modernizing' one of the cheesier songs of the eighties, and make it her own. It was really kind of great. But I would have loved to see her tackle the dance moves of the video...heh heh.

3. Amanda Overmeyer-whew! Nice comeback. Joan Jett's 'I Hate Myself For Loving You' sounded even raunchier coming from her. I didnt like it as much as Simon did (the chorus was a little bland) but it was definitely a far cry from last week. Plus, the hair was tame and the face looked pretty. She seemed...incongruously sweet.

4. Kady Malloy-another huge surprise. She was in my bottom two last week. I know she hit some flat notes in her interpretation of Queen's 'Who Wants To Live Forever' but there were parts of it that gave me chills. And she really showed courage tackling that song. Even Katherine McPhee of two seasons ago wasnt able to do it without choking. It is a HARD song.

5. Syesha Macado-did 'Saving All My Love For You' and the only thing more predictable than the song choice was her delivery of it. But she did a good job nevertheless.

THE BAD:

6. Ramiele Malubay-Okay, it wasnt bad. She sang 'Against All Odds' well, even. But it was sooooo boring! She really needs to step up that performance level.

7. Asia-h Epperson-I thought the whole thing seemed very 'Disney-esque'....kinda like a 'High School Musical' performance of Whitney's 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody'. I also just think it's DUMB to sing Whitney Houston songs and I wish everyone would STOP DOING IT. Asia is gone this week, I think.

THE UGLY:

8. Kristi Lee Cook- I still can't stand this girl. I am tired of the judges giving her all kinds of praise for these strangled performances. And to butcher Jorney's 'Faithfully' like that too! The final note was terrible...awful...ech. And did anyone else notice the red tongue? I have noticed a few blue tongues this season as well. I'm guessing these kids are sucking on cough drops before they perform. Someone should tell them to try the CLEAR ones. heh heh.

So my guess is that Kristi and Asiah will be gone this week. But since the judges didnt really 'pan' anyone, we could have a surprise.