7:03 p.m. - Asia’h Epperson comes out and tries to kick it off with Whitney Houston’s “I Want to Dance With Somebody” and it sounded pretty good. She really needs to work on her diction and really enunciate every word but by and large, it was a pretty strong performance from a girl who needed a strong performance after last week. Randy Jackson name drops Whitney Houston before praising Epperson, saying it was hot. Paula, more medicated than ever, said her for nailing it. Simon said it was too much like an impersonation of Whitney Houston. Epperson gets through, no questions asked. A good start for the girls who were god awful all the way through last week.

7:10 p.m. - Kady Malloy, who is far and away the least talented performer on the show, comes out and proves why she deserved to go home last week, wailing through Queen’s “Who Wants to Live Forever.” The song really lends itself to Malloy’s background as an opera singer but its harmonies are really lost on the tonally-challenged Malloy. Randy thought it was pretty good but not great. Paula said it was her greatest performance to date, which isn’t saying a whole lot. Simon says she has “a massive lack of personality” and calls her robotic. She’s out.

7:16 p.m. - Another girl that should have gone home last week, Amanda Overmeyer comes out and predictably does Joan Jett’s “I Hate Myself for Loving You.” The song was really sung by back-up singers. They must have turned Overmeyer’s microphone or something because you couldn’t hear her during the chorus at all. She did a bit of her patented screaming and it was awful. Randy Jackson said it was well done for reasons I’ll never understand. Paula praises her hair and says she’s found her niche. Simon said it was fantastic and I wonder if sometimes he doesn’t just say the opposite of what people expect him to for his own amusement. I still think she deserves to go home but it may wait a week after the judges’ rave reviews.

7:24 p.m. - Carly Smithson comes out in pants up to her neck and does Cyndi Lauper’s “I Drove All Night.” I feel about it how I felt about David Archuleta’s Phil Collins cover last night. It was restrained, solid, consistent and just OK. Randy and Paula loved but Simon said it was the wrong choice and says Smithson is a million times better than the song she chose and would have to agree. Smithson gets through and is still the best girl in the competition.

7:29 p.m. - Kristy Lee Cook, the Idol contestant most likely to be dressed by the staff at Fashion Bug, does Journey’s “Faithfully” and really struggles. The run she tries out at the end is just crap and a mess of mismashed notes. Randy, who can’t help himself but name drop Journey and that he worked with him, likes it because its Journey. Paula said it could be a country single. Simon calls her forgettable and she’s, at best, the 10th best girl in the competition. She’s in serious jeopardy of going home, she’s just too nice.

7:37 p.m. - Ramiele Malubay comes out and does Phil Collins’ Against All Odds, a song covered by The Postal Service if you thought it sounded familiar. I like the way the song moved and got bigger toward the end but it never took off the way it could have. Randy said it was good but Malubay needs to let go a little matter. Paula rambled about mutts and colors before saying Ramiele needed to be in the top 12. Simon said it was old-fashioned and predictable. I would have loved the peformance and felt sure of Malubay going through if that song would have gone on for another minute but it felt premature and abrupt. She could be in serious jeopardy this week.

7:47 p.m. - Brooke White comes out acoustic to Pat Benatar’s “Love is a Battlefield.” I liked the way this song started off but the rest of the performance was a little off-key and honestly a little boring. It just didn’t go anywhere and the original is anything but. Randy said he really liked it but didn’t think she brought anything new to it. Paula called it pure and wishes that the song would have built into something climatic with the band backing towards the end. Simon said it worked because there wasn’t a band and that she made it into her own. Brooke makes it through despite being not all that talented vocally.

7:52 p.m. - Syesha Mercado finishes the show with Whitney Houston’s “Saving All My Love for You.” The song has a couple of bright spots and shows that Mercado can sing but there was nothing exciting or innovative about this performance. A little old-fashioned, predictable and unspectacular. Gets “good” across the board as the show races to a close in time to end by 8:00 p.m. She gets through no problems. Being pretty is only going to get this girl so far and needs to stand out a little more.

A batch of performances much like the boys last night. No one was absolutely terrible. The four in jeopardy are Kady Malloy (who is out of here), Amanda Overmeyer, Kristy Lee Cook, and Ramiele Malubay who has a great, great voice but isn’t a strong enough performer in the truest sense of the word. The best part of the night, far and away, was when Ryan Seacrest announced that former idol Blake Lewis would be performing tomorrow night and someone in the audience vocally deflated. You honestly heard them go “Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhh.” I share that sentiment, random audience member. Prepare for some beat boxing.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 5th, 2008 at 6:53 pm and is filed under American Idol. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.