AI7 - Top 12 girls - another liveblog

Ryan tells us that that the worst cold season in history has affected the best 24 singers in Idol history. (Not real sure if this is the worst cold season in history, but that's okay. Ryan probably doesn't know about Influenza 1918.) Randy says stuff about dogs/dawgs. Paula's excited because she heard a little bit of rumblings of rehearsals. And ew, Simon just gave Ryan one of those up-and-down looks. Skeevy. Here we go with the audition/Hollywood recap - and there's nothing really worth writing about here. People crying, laughing, musing about life and what it all means, a handful of "are you serious????"es, and then some girls jump in a pool.

Horton Hears a Who - love Dr. Seuss, love Steve Carrell. Not so much love for Jim Carrey. But since I don't have to see Jim Carrey's face, I might be able to overlook him. Hey, if I could overlook Barbra Streisand in Meet the Fockers, I can overlook anything.

Kristy Lee Cook. She likes to sing and likes horses. Apparently she likes singing better, because she sold her horse to audition in Philedelphia. Aww, I hope she can get him back. She's singing something besides Amazing Grace - it's Rescue Me, and I am thoroughly underwhelmed. She'd better improve soon, or it's bye bye, horsie. Randy says it wasn't her best performance and that she had some pitch problems. Pauler says it's okay that it was rough around the edges, because Kristy Lee is one of the sick ones this week - but Pauler's not done. She advises Kristy not to let that get in the way of what she's emoting - which hopefully, isn't respiratory droplets. Simon says the song didn't suit her, that it's more designed for a "belter", and that her bronchitis isn't winning any sympathy votes from him. Pauler says she'd like to see him do it. Simon says he could. Pauler says, "With HIGH HEELS on??" Do high heels make bronchitis worse? Hmm. Kristy Lee is very cute, though - she could always do America's Next Top Model if this doesn't pan out.

Joanne Borgella is a plus-sized model, and she figures that the judges expected a rough and soulful performance from her, but that's not her style. She wants to touch people's lives the way music has touched her life. Don't we all, Joanne? Don't we all. She's singing I Say a Little Prayer (one of my favorite scenes in My Best Friend's Wedding, BTW). I hear something unique in her voice, and she is beautiful. I like her a lot so far. Randy says the first part was a little weird and blames it on nerves, but says she pulled it out. Paula says that Joanne has a strong sense of herself (Randy translates - "confidence") and Simon says he didn't like it. (Boo. This is one of the 5% of times I disagree with Simon.) Heh, Joanne's parents look like they could kill everybody. Joanne tells Ryan that she's going to go back to her Hollywood self, which she says was "amazing". Well.

Ryan's on the couch with Alaina Whitaker, who is the youngest contestant and has a birthday tomorrow. (I'm having scary flashblacks of Carmen Rasmussen (AI2) and Jasmine Trias (AI3) Alaina, of course, wants to stick around in AI Land for her birthday. Hee - Simon tells her during her audition that she's not as good as she thinks she is, and she says, "Shoot." Alaina is singing More Today Than Yesterday, which someone sang yesterday but I don't remember who. When she finishes, Randy is laughing because "Season 7 is the year of the young ones, man!" And THAT is hilarious. It's funny when people are still young. You know, I think Paula has a little of a quasi-mullet. Paula and her mullet really liked Alaina's ending. Simon says that he thinks she's really good, while he hated the song because he doesn't know what it is. Alaina can't finish a sentence at this point except to say that she's happy. Amanda Overmyer and her skunk-streaked hair are going to rock it out when we come back.

And we're back! Ryan reminds us how the show works - you vote for who you like. Really, is there anybody on the planet who doesn't know how this show works, or can't figure it out if they don't know already? Apparently Amanda Overmyer has been hit by a semi truck. Yikes. Her goal is to solidify the presence of rock & roll. Wow, that's a lofty goal. She's singing Baby Please Don't Go, wearing some cool pants that I wish I could fit into, and doing a good bit of scream-singing. Randy is laughing again - probably thinking about young people again. No, he's amused by her scatting and also likes her "trousers". Pauler loves everything that Amanda does - even that time she got hit by a semi, Paula loved it. Simon says that he really likes Amanda because she's unique. Then he accuses her of forgetting words that weren't there in the first place. Hee. Amanda apologizes to the semi truck driver for pulling out in front of him - ha. She's cute.

Amy Davis is 25 and from Lowell, Indiana. She's a trade model and a grad student, and I think she's wearing a lingerie top in both her audition and the Hollywood round. Perhaps the same lingerie top. She says this experience is like 100 Christmases as a 6-year-old girl all packed into one - well, how intolerant! She should have said, "100 non-specific holidays in December". She's singing Where The Boys Are, and has kind of an old-school quality to her voice - it's pretty good, until the end when she goes a little wacky. Randy didn't think it was great - he says when you scoop up to the note, you've got to hit it. Okay. Pauler says the camera loves her, but that her nerves got the best of her, and she didn't love the song choice. Simon says that she looks great but didn't sound great - the song was boring, the arrangement was boring, and she should have a country twang to make that song work. Apparently she left her country twang in her other pants. Oh well, I liked her anyway - I think she has potential. Amy says she was somewhere between shaky and terrified before coming onstage. Funny, that's how I wake up most mornings.

Brooke White is next - she's a 24-year-old nanny. They show the part of her audition where the judges say they're going to bring her to the dark side, and she says "I dare you" and then she freaks out because she said "I dare you" to Simon Cowell. She's singing So Happy Together (really, did they have 12 songs to pick from?) Dude, Luke Menard really does look like the confusingly-popular Orlando Bloom, SarahK! Good call. I don't know how I missed that last night. Anyway, Randy - the front part of the song wasn't good, but she started slaying the back part. Simon is confused by what "slaying" means. Pauler says that Brooke is original and that she can hear her voice and know that it's Brooke. Well, I don't know about that. Simon says that she chose the right song but that he feels like he's in a commercial for "washing up liquid". Huh? Those crazy Brits. Simon says one shouldn't be sunny, happy and clean all the time. Meaning they shouldn't live in washing-up liquid commercials. I guess that's the moral of the story.

Alexandrea Lushington is next. Aw, they show the part from her audition with her great-grandmother - "Don't make me cry because they're takin' pictures!" Cute. Is she wearing the same outfit from her audition in Hollywood? Maybe she has two of them. Oh, she's starting at the top of the stairs - that's different. And she's singing Spinning Wheel. She's also wearing a cute outfit - much better than the military garb. Randy mentions Blood Sweat and Tears and says that Alexandrea got it. Her parents in the audience are happy about this. Pauler likes that Alexandrea thought about every aspect of the performance - I liked that too. Blake Lewis always did that, which I appreciated, even though he wasn't my favorite. And you know who else always researched and prepared well for performances? Clay Aiken. Claaaaaaaaay! Sorry, it's a reflex. Anyway, Simon manages to say he doesn't like it, is greeted by a Wall of Boos, and finally raises his voice over the complaining and says that is was kareoke or cruise ship or one of those interchangeable insults that he uses that mean the same thing. Alexandrea corrects Simon on the pronounciation of her name. Simon says that he hasn't heard an outstandingly good vocal, other than one girl earlier tonight. Simon is also making a weird gesture with his thumb on the side of his head - is he signalling some British terrorist group to strike all bad singers everywhere?

Ryan reminds us again that we're voting for our favorite girl. Do people still mess that up? I'm baffled. Anyway, it's Kady Malloy, who actually does an pretty good Britney Spears imitation. And she also looks so similar to Alaina Whitaker that I'm going to get them confused. Kady is singing A Groovy Kind of Love, and I'm swaying back and forth, because that's what I do when I hear this song. When Scott hears this song (i.e., on my iPod) he goes, "What the crap is this?" Oh dear, I must have been bored with that performance because I didn't write about it - I wrote about something else while she was singing. That's how I can tell, see. Randy says she should have belted and that the performance was too controlled. Pauler says she looks really pretty, but that we fell in love with her personality - Paula wants to see her life, the fun Kady. Simon agrees with Pauler and says that Kady's performance was like Night of the Living Dead. Simon says that when she's someone else, she's brilliant - when she's herself, she's boring. He doesn't know who could impersonate her, and suggests a pencil. This horrifies Paula and Randy and Randy's all, "Ryan, stop this!" like Simon is preparing to waterboard Kady or something. Anyway, I think the Britney cuteness will carry her through at least one bad performance.

Asia'h Epperson is next, and she's talking about her dad in the pre-performance clip. She says that yes, he totally did die, all of you non-believers. So pffft on you all! She's singing Piece of My Heart, and it's really not just a Janis Joplin impersonation. I like her voice, but I don't like the apostrophe in her name because it's stupid. Randy loves that she brought a little bit of herself to the Janis song. Paula says she had some really good moments. It was Simon's favorite of the night. He says she's fun, likeable, not taking herself too seriously. Well, good for Asia'h. Ryan does a scary grin with a singsongy "Look who's having a good time over there!" pointing at Simon. Creepy McCreeperson.

Ramiele Malubay - a wee little thing with a big voice. I don't remember seeing her audition or her Hollywood performance, but from these clips, she looks very promising. Ramiele is excited to get onstage and show everybody what she can do. Well, one thing she can do is have some bizarre hair. But that's okay. She's singing You Don't Have to Say You Love Me - and I actually didn't like this song, but when I heard her singing the beginning, before I realized what it was, I made a mental note to find it on iTunes. That's a good thing, Ramiele. Randy loved, loved that she started slow and built it up - and then she stuck to the melody without doing a bunch of runs. He says that she's a pro, and classy, and that it was hot. Paula thought it was really great and liked the accents with her head. Simon says he didn't like her when he first saw her, was warming up at Hollywood, and tonight she outsang every other singer. Poor Asia'h only had about 5 minutes of being the best - oh well. Ramiele loves hair and makeup and her shoes. Ryan says he loves the shoes too, and then tries to un-gay that remark by saying, "I mean, they go with your outfit." He did that earlier in the night, too. Ryan, we just really don't care.

Syesha Mercado, 21 years old and from Sarasota who lives in Miami now - she's a working actress there. She lost her voice during Hollywood week and had to write everything. Man, that would be annoying. But on day 4, she pulled it out and wants every performance to be like that from now on. Okay, back to present day. Syesha is singing Tobacco Road, and she sings it bluesy and good. Okay, I like her - they seem to have saved the best girls for last tonight. Randy tells her that he really liked it and that it was consistent. Paula says that it was joyful, fun, and big. Big? Okay, big. Simon says it wasn't her best, best performance, but that it doesn't matter because she's probably one of the most talented girls in the competition. Ryan says, "Does she have the package, Simon?", and Simon says, "Oh my gosh, yes." Good praise from Simon. Paula goofily points out that Syesha has "yes" in her name.

Carly Smithson is last. She tells us that her first record came out when she was 17, and then the record company imploded. Her album is on Amazon and actually has good reviews. I might check her out on iTunes, if she's there. They show a clip where Ryan stupidly asks Carly how important it is for her to make it through. She's like, "Duh, really important." Hee. She's singing The Shadow of Your Smile, and she does a pretty great job, although she needs to enunciate a little better - I couldn't understand the lyrics much. Randy says, "BLAZING HOT!!!" and calls it the best vocal in two days. Paula says that she's the lucky coin in your pocket - reliable. Okay. Simon says he didn't get it - he says there's so much buzz and expectation surrounding Carly, and that the song was too old-fashioned for her. Even her mic technique was cabaret. He says it was a letdown. I really hate when Paula argues with Simon while he's giving his opinion - she always comes across like a 3rd-grader. Shut up, Paula.

In the recap, I'm noticing this scary wide-eyed thing that Kristy Lee Cook did. I'm also noticing that she's just not very good at all, compared to some of the others.

Dang, I liked 6 of them. Here's my favorites from tonight:

• Amanda Overmyer
• Alexandrea Lushington
• Asia'h Epperson
• Ramiele Malubay
• Syesha Mercado
• Carly Smithson

Randy says that the guys were hot, but that the girls were a little hotter. Paula says that you're going to be nervous, but to instead focus on thinking that you're blessed to be in this business. Simon says he can't follow anything Paula says. Simon thinks there are 3 great guys at the moment, and 3-4 great girls. Randy points out that that's not even. Duh.

Eep! Randy has clones on each shoulder - Alaina and Kady. They really do look scarily similar. Give it up for Randy Miner and the band! Good night everybody!