American Idol Recap (3/5/08) - The Eight Ladies

It's still 80's night, and finally we can get into some of those high-pitched male vocals. That's right, it's ladies night again. After the men, for the most part, did well last night the pressure is back on the fairer, weaker sex. Some should take a page out of Hillary's book and either cry or whine that the boys are ganging up on her if the going gets tough. Off we go.


1) Asia'h Epperson - I Wanna Dance with Somebody - Whitney Houston - Again, someone takes on the top vocalist of the 1980's. Asia'h sang the song well, but of course she didn't quite reach Whitney level. On the other hand the song is very upbeat and everyone knows it. It might prove memorable as the night moves on. Randy said he recorded the song with Whitney, and that Asia'h took on a tall order and proved she should be there. Paula wondered if she could pull it off, but she nailed it. Simon said it was second rate Whitney after second-rate Celine Dion last week.


2) Kady Malloy - Who Wants to Live Forever - Queen - Can Kady skate by on being cute again this week? She was (as predicted by me) in some trouble last week. No Britney impression this week. This was a boring-ass song with boring-ass delivery by a boring-ass girl. I zoned out. Randy questioned the song choice, saying it was clean. Paula said it was her best performance to date. She mentioned tenderness and softness and I started missing Top Chef and Iron Chef. Simon again called out her "massive lack of personality."


3) Amanda Overmyer - I Hate Myself for Loving You - Joan Jett - I am growing to hate this rocker chick, despite liking rock myself. You might know this song as the tune to NBC's "I Wait All Week for Sunday Night" football intro. Maybe it's ESPN's for Monday Night. I don't know, but I'm not a fan. She couldn't have been more stereotypical in picking her song. Of all the great 80's rock songs with a high-pitched male voice, she took the painfully obvious road. Randy liked her return to "bluesy rocker chick". Paula complimented her face and said she found her niche. Simon thought it was fantastic. Lesson to contestants: give the producers what they want and you will be rewarded.


4) Carly Smithson - I Drove All Night - Cyndi Lauper/Celine Dion - The Irish chick has a world of BritPop to choose from. Let's see what she goes with. Ahh, Cindi. I was wondering who would go this route. Again, the girls have the entire 80s to pick from. This song is okay, but no one at home is singing along right now for the third song in a row. Carly sang the song very well, but I question how many votes this will translate to. Randy said it was another great performance. Paula said she is a dependable dog. Simon said she chose the wrong song, even though she sang the Celine Dion version of it.


5) Kristy Lee Cook - Faithfully - Journey - I wondered which chick would tackle the castrated vocals of Steve Perry. Her hair looks better this week, but she developed some kind of mild facial Tourette's since the past couple weeks. Of course, she didn't go with one of the top singable Journey songs, but rather with another meandering ballad. She's boring. It was boring. Randy said Journey is near and dear to his heart and he liked the (barely perceptible) country angle to it. Paula agreed it could be a country hit. Simon still found her forgettable, seeing 10th at best. Kristy said "Hey, top 10, that's okay with me." Really? Go the fuck home then and try to get your pawned horse back. At least pretend you intend to win.


6) Ramiele Malubay - Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now) - Phil Collins - The petite cute Filipino picked a great sing-along song. That alone puts her through based on what others have sung tonight. She did lyric stumble a bit early. Of course that doesn't matter because the SONG BUILDS THROUGHOUT which is the key formula to a big Idol performance. She sang it very well and removed all traces of Phil Collins. I predict rave reviews just because she woke up the judges and crowd. Randy is proving me wrong, since he asked Ramiele a question first. He said she needs to find her confidence. Paula said she has a beautiful face and caught herself from saying her voice was colorful and then went off on a tangent about peanut galleries and mutts. Simon said it was good but a little old-fashioned. Ramiele was a little coy when Seacrest asked her about the personal reasons behind her singing that song.


7) Brooke White - Love Is a Battlefield - Pat Benatar - Brooke lost the guitar this week and added a distracting monster ring. She sang with just acoustic accompaniment, which made it feel like a half-assed bar performance. Why would you do this song sitting down? Why would you neuter it of its big notes? She's not as hot this week to me for some reason either. This might be the last song she performs on Idol. Randy said he really liked it, but he sounded tired saying it. Paula thought it was a wise choice and very pure, but thought she should have included the band more and built. Simon disagreed said that he liked it as just her and the guitarist and thought it was a great performance.


8) Syesha Mercado - Saving All My Love for You - Whitney Houston - Really weird outfit by Syesha tonight. I'm colorblind, so this might not be accurate, but it looked like a monochrome mini-jumper like Diana Ross would wear in The Wiz. Syesha sang the song well, and since it is a more restrained Whitney song she didn't have to compete with her. I thought it was well done and a good way to close the show. Randy said "good". Paula said "sophisticated, lovely." Simon said "A bit predictable but good." Apparently time was tight. That was literally all they said. Actually, I know it was because my TiVo just cut out during the recap.

SAFE

Asia'h Epperson
Amanda Overmyer
Carly Smithson
Ramiele Malubay

PROBABLY OKAY

Brooke White
Syesha Mercado

BUH-BYE NOW

Kristy Lee Cook
Kady Malloy

I feel pretty confident that these two girls are going home. Kristy Lee Cook was totally forgettable, spastic, and hard to look at. Kady sang a boring-ass song early and seemingly refuses to embrace her sexy. Kady needs her sexy back.