Wow. You know, I'm not sure anymore. I guess I can just go through all 8 girls do some 1-liners, then wrap up with some speculation and predictions for Thursday night:

Jordin did Pat Benatar, which set up 2 things here: 1, that she's much more mature at 17 than Sunjaya is, which indicates that she knows exactly what she's doing, and that doesn't bode well for him, even if he does make it to the final 12. And 2, she let us know that she's willing to blow it out to keep herself in, even if she's one of the safe ones.

Sabrina sang some En Vogue, which seemed outdated to me (wow, mid-90's R&B is outdated already?), and I wasn't personally wowed by her vocal performance. Simon had it right on the money about having no personality. I really wouldn't be upset if she was voted out.

Antonella. Poor, poor Antonella. She did the best vocal job (for her) during the past few weeks when she did Corrine Bailey Rae, but again, Simon had it spot on when he said, "I feel for you because you've taken a lot of stick in the media, and you've handled yourself well. I don't think anyone should be thrown into that situation." And the wish that she could sing better, well, I think everyone, even the ones who want to keep her on there because she's hot, wishes too. Then again, the people who want to see more of her boobs would probably want her to not open her mouth, at least not to talk or sing anyway. And we were just talking in the office about how she seems like a genuinely nice girl in real life. But I think her time may be up soon.

It's time for Haley to go. I didn't even recognize the song she did (probably, after doing some research, it was Faith Hill, who I can't stand), but she sang it with such annunciation that I just kept thinking in my head, "You won't win this, but go on and get your Tony, girl."

Stephanie did "Sweet Thing," which is a song I love. But her voice just wasn't there. Almost literally, it sounded like she was squeaking in parts. I honestly think she hurt her chances, because she's had better performances, and it seems like she blew those out early. You need to save your showstoppers for after these elimination shows, people!

Don't get me wrong, I love me some LaKisha. But did you really have to do Whitney? Can we ban Whitney songs from AI for a couple of years? I didn't think it was her strongest performance (I preferred "You're Gonna Love Me" from the first show), I think she could've sang the contents off a box of Rice-A-Roni and cruised through this week.

Gina. That girl pulled it out of her ass last night with an almost perfect performance. She may have been able to save herself from elimination for now, but God forbid there'll be genre weeks coming up that she can't make rock out for her. Then again, Daughtry pulled it off for most of last season.

And then Melinda. I think she's my favorite right now, even with the weird neck thing. And any posts I make about her from now on will involve me talking about her neck. I can't help it. Aside from that, she was sassy, confident, gorgeous in that dress, and sang perfectly. LaKisha's got some competition.

So who's going home in the ladies' corner? DialIdol has Haley and Stephanie, and I say Haley and Sabrina. But I have a feeling I can't call it 2 weeks in a row. I can't ever be that good.

Once the elimination show happens Thursday night, keep an eye on our AI betting guide to get the latest odds and analysis on all the contestants.

Labels: American Idol, Antonella Barba, Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson, Ryan Seacrest, Simon Cowell

posted by Kari at 11:00 PM