Girls on Film

(So it's not really Girls on FILM, but Seriously? Finding relevant song titles with the word "girls" is making me testy).

Okay, so tonight? The girls battle for the top 6 positions, and I’m kind of relieved, because that means that we are very close to one episode of performances each week. This makes me happy. Back to back blogging is forcing me to be a lot more organized than I usually am. I missed the opening sequence, trying to get myself together to migrate my blackberry information over to my new blackberry. Verizon’s customer service has been awesome getting to the bottom of this issue - the issue where my phone drops calls. I NEVER had an issue with my old Blackberry, and Walter still loves his. But mine kind of sucks. Dropped calls make me crazy because, hello, if I’m going to live like this I could go to AT&T and get the iPhone. Everyone knows I love that phone like Pookie loved the pipe in New Jack City. Yeah, it's a scandalous reference. I'm bad-ass sometimes!

Okay, so, back to Idol. The show opens with Ellen nibbling on Simon’s neck...WHEW boy that’s funny. It’s like Simon’s hotness is an aphrodisiac to everyone on that panel. So next week, Randy will be nuzzling Simon. Which takes us to a place where no one needs to be. I don’t see Randy nuzzling anyone...people nuzzle Randy.

Okay, one hour for 8 singers so they jump right in. Katie Stevens is singing Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson. The beginning is kind of eh for me...kind of too much like Kelly’s version. I like Katie, but this song’s lower notes don’t like Katie. She does a little better with the chorus. I’m torn, because I like her more than I like this performance. Randy thinks this song is too big for her and that it felt like karaoke to him. Ellen appreciates that she took her advice, but doesn’t feel like she’s old enough to have had the experience to break away. I think she loved the song, but not her singing it. Kara thinks that Katie doesn’t know who she is as an artist yet, and that she’s stumbling trying to figure it out. However, she does have a great radio voice - meaning, you won’t be the worst contestant ever, but at this point we don’t expect you to win. Simon furthers this point by going a little easy on her for a less than stellar performance. He notes that it must be hard for her, that she takes all of the advice, and it still doesn’t get it right. He gives her a 10 out of 10 for trying, after saying that she sucked...the wind out of the song. Katie tries to explain to Ryan that, at the tender age of 16, she’s trying to break away from her small town...and she kind of loses me. C’mon Katie - not to go all Judd Nelson in the Breakfast Club on you, but from the looks of things the school just may shut down because you’re not here. Anyhoo, I think she’s got a real legitimate chance at the top 12...she’s young and so very cute.

Siobhan Magnus is singing House of the Rising Song by the Animals for her Dad who looks like exactly the kind of cool dude that names his daughter Siobhan. I will say this for her - that performance last week makes me totally remember her. Okay, I expected to hate this, but I think this song and her arrangement does a wonderful job of showcasing the magnificent tone of her voice. And WOW! Her legs look like about 9 miles long in that skirt. Okay, that note made me cringe a little bit, but there’s no doubt about it - she’s got a big BIG voice. I liked that. Randy starts off that’s he’s a fan (translation: hated it)...but wait, he surprises me - he says it was hot. Ellen says she someone who makes her love music. Kara loves the a Capella vibe in the front (so did I, btw), and she really liked it. Simon wasn’t quite such a fan of it - he thought it was all a bit weird, that she didn’t do so much with the song. She didn’t have a moment this week like last and he found it all a bit gloomy. Um, Simy, I’m not sure we’re on the same page tonight.

Lacey Brown is singing some song whose title I missed because my Waltie was chatting. Which is kind of good because I have no basis of comparison. Obviously I don’t: she’s singing the second verse and I still have no idea what song this is. Okay, so here’s my thing with Lacey - this is lovely. I like her voice singing whatever song that was, and she really does have a unique voice. But, in a season that seems to be overrun with Adele/Corrine Bailey Rae/Anna Nalick type voices, hers just doesn’t stand out. To me. It’s like she has to start singing before I say “oh that’s right. She CAN sing”, instead of looking forward to her performance like I do others. Randy says that it was her best performance in a long time, even though the song was kind of boring. Ellen agrees that it was her best performance to date, and that it showcased her distinctive voice. Kara says it was effortless and that was what landed her on AI in the first place. Simon didn’t love the song, but that she sang it really well - that it sounded like something on the radio. He still doesn’t think he’s heard her sing the right song yet, because it’s in danger of being forgotten. (Welcome back into my head, Simon. I missed you.)

Katelyn Epperly is doing I Feel the Earth Move, by Carole King. Has anyone ever wiki’d Carol Kings discography? She’s written EVERYTHING. Okay, so this is kind of up tempo, which mirrors Carole King’s version. However, I wish she could have slowed this down some (Lizz Wright does a magnificent version, but Walter will tell you that Lizz Wright is very close to unseating Sade as my ultimate crush. Close, but not there. Love you, Sade!). At any rate, she’s having fun with it and I’m having fun with her, but I think that’s more because I like her, and not because she’s slaying me with this. Uh, she might be having a little too much fun, because she missed some notes on that keyboard. I don’t like this as much as last week, but I think it was okay. Randy likes that she’s playing the Wurlitzer, but doesn’t think there was anything special about it. He doesn’t feel it. Ellen doesn’t think this was a wow song to land her in the top 12 or that will make people pick up the phone and dial. Kara doesn’t feel like she was really competing, and didn’t feel connected, and that she didn’t like it as much as last week. Simon starts with the positive...he likes her hair. And. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! He compares it to request night on a Friday night in a restaurant - that it was good, but on a night that could be the most important night of her career, it looks like other people are trying harder and that she might be in trouble after that. This one might be hard to call, seeing as I missed the results show last week (DVR and I are having trust issues), and I don’t know how close to the bottom she was.

Didi Benami takes on Fleetwood Mac’s Rhiannon. Okay, so unlike Lacey, I know Didi, and I like Didi, and if I had my druthers on which of these voices I have to hear past this week, I would vote for Didi every time. Even thought the only thing she brings to this is her unique voice, and OH MY when she’s harmonizing with the back up singers this just makes me LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS. Randy says it’s a lot better than last week, but there was no wow moment. Yes there was, Randy...that was beautiful. This may not have been the best she could do. Ellen said she was nervous when she saw she was singing this song (yeah, me too), but that she did well. Kara said it was one of her favorite moments of the season and that when she saw the song choice she (Kara) thought she (Didi) was out of her mind for doing it, but that she slayed it. Simon agrees with Kara, that it was head and shoulders above what he’s heard tonight, and thinks she had a wow moment. (And make yourself at home in my brain, Simon) Well done, Didi. She’s crying...hey, is she the one who lost her BFF and I wondered about her emotional stamina? For what it's worth, I think she earned her spot in the top 12.

Paige Myles is singing Smile, by Charlie Chaplin. This, according to Brooke Shields, was Michael Jackson’s favorite song, which...puts an odd little lump in my throat. And, it has a bit of a rough start, for me. It’s a little better for me now that the music is better. I don’t know that this will work out for her in the end. Although the more it goes on, the more I think it’ll get better, but you know these songs are only, what? 90 seconds. I’m eh on this. Very very eh. There’s something that makes me want to like it more, but I just don’t. Randy says it one of his favorite songs of all time (Randy’s really into the hyperbole, isn’t he?), but that he doesn’t like it, saying it was too big for her, and that when the band kicked in, he thought about asking the other judges what they are getting at the banquet. Dayum. Ellen doesn’t like it, she says it’s a bad song choice, and just says sorry. She’s got nothing more. Kara point blank asks her if she knew she made a mess - which, HELLO? You expect her to answer that coherently? “I’m sorry. That sucked. You think so too, right?” Geez, Kara. Simon repeats what everyone else says, noting that the arrangement was what you’d hear in the Holiday Inn in 1974. And? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Simon laments that she has so much potential, but has wasted it on poor song choices. It’s like he KNOWS she’s headed home Thursday. She says to Ryan that she knows it was Michael Jackson loves this song and that she got emotional thinking about Michael Jackson. Aww...poor Paige. The MJ love will get you at the oddest moments, but girl! Not. On. Stage. Or set that up before you start singing so you’re getting the sympathy vote. I suspect Paige is in trouble Thursday. No, Simon said she was headed home, so I guess I know it.

Hello Crystal Bowersox! She’s singing one of my favorite Tracy Chapman songs, Give Me One Reason. Okay, I have nothing. I have nothing to offer this performance. I wasn’t even typing while she was singing because I was too into what she was singing. At one point I threw my hands up like I was in church and said “just SING Girl!” (which, you know, for a Catholic girl, is something). Oh my good Lord this girl can ROCK. Randy says he loves it and she’s what the show is all about. Ellen needs new adjectives for her, that it was the best performance of the night. Kara compliments her song choice, and can now see what type of record she’d be making. Simon says she’s ABSOLUTELY going to be in the top 12 next week. And that the biggest improvement is her confidence. He steps out and says at this point, she’s the one to beat for the WHOLE THING. And...YUP. That’s exactly it. I’ve never been in any danger buying performances from iTunes this early in the competition, and yet I’m thinking I might have to pick that one up (and last week’s too. Because, yeah, last week was something.)

Lilly Scott is singing I Fall to Pieces, by Patsy Kline, and I don’t like it so much. I mean, it’s good - I like Patsy Kline, I like Lilly, but somehow it didn’t work for me. I fear what’s going to hurt her is that no one knows this song, and she ...um...makes me not want to hear the original. I’m not sure what happened here, other than I’m still loving Crystal. Randy thinks she’s in the zone and that it was hot. Ellen loved it too...Kara says she made Patsy Kline feel current, which...no. Simon thinks she was brave to choose that song on a night like this, but because it was the last song, it had no wow factor. That it was right up her quirky alley, but it might have been risky. And okay, I see what he’s saying. I may have liked this a lot more earlier in the show. As it was, I was still all...Crystal was so AWESOME and I wonder what the stylists will do with her (Crystal) in a few weeks.

Okay, so - hmm...I’m thinking Paige and Lacey may have it tough Thursday.

See you tomorrow!