Wannatech: Carly Smithson

Tuesday, March 18th 2008

A two-hour show, you know one of the long long shows with plenty of fillers. The contestant will perform for a chance to spend one more week in the competition and come one step closer to win.

American Idol is back with yet another Beatles night! No way. The Lennon/McCartney night was far from successful, the contestants perform better with more contemporary songs. In fact, the week before was near catastrophic. A bad choice to bring the Beatles back on the show.

Amanda Overmyer, she feeds of fthe audience's energy, she's a vampire... or a singerpire!, she's singing "Back in the USS army". Her voice is awful, she's screaming and it's not melodious. And they call that singing... mercy! When will it end, stop the torture and send Amanda home. Since it's a performance competition and not a singing competition anymore the judges might just like it.

What did the judges think?
Ryan, "... pitch problem, 7 out of 10".
Paula, "... when you connect, you are authentic, I love you ...stay who you are"
Simon, "... predictable, a bit of a mess in part, the same thing week after week after week, ....in danger of becoming a bit boring..."

She's trying herself at being a diva, trying to please the crowd. Simon reminds her that her tickets are not on sale yet while she brags about showing the audience what they would see if they came to see her in concert. Yep, she's ready to leave, she just bought her ticket out of this competition.

Kristy Lee Cook came with her photo book. She's a cute nice girl with a powerful voice. I don't quite like her outfit. She chose a boring song with too many low notes especially in the chorus. I'm not sure many people know this song, I don't. She finishes with a long high note. People like her for her personality even though Simon thinks she doesn't have any.

What did the judges think?
Ryan says it's one of his favorite Beatles song but he found the performance a little boring.
Paula, "... would have been safer to stick to the melody... a little safe... good"
Simon,".. you need hypnosis, you're not a good performer... like musical wallpaper..." His basically telling her she's forgettable but he still thinks she was better this this week than last week.
Kristy tells Simon she can blow him out of his socks. And Ryan just couldn't stop laughing after that comment, me neither. She'll be back, she's still modest and being a good girl, trying her best.

David Archuleta thinks he wont forget the lyrics tonight, he sings "the long and windy road". I think Beatles' night is easier on the guys than the girls in general. He chose a better song for his voice. Yeah he's not bad, I'll grant him that.

What do the judges think?
Ryan,"... David Archuleta has brought the hotness back to the play... very nice..." he obviously loved it.
Paula,"... the most exciting and wonderful performance...you rose above adversity and came back strong ..."(she 's actually giving performance feedback this week).
Simon thinks he was amazing, "...you made my point... master class...". The girls kept on screaming after the performance, you could barely hear Ryan... I guess he is this season's Sanjaya.

Michael Johns, "A day in the life". I like Michael Johns but you already know that. He is trying to sound like a Beatle. He choose a good song. He's a good singer but, Beatles is not exactly relevant, it's really old school, that's the least I can say and he chose an old school song. I guess being older than the others gives him an edge for this week. Still looking nerdy. What I like about him on Beatles' night is that he's the only one who makes those song still sound like Beatles' songs, being a Beatles' fan I really enjoy that.

What did the judges think?
Ryan, "... not one of your best performances..."
Paula "...".
Simon, "... it was a mess, you didn't hit the right notes... not enough time for that song ...". And I think he's right, it's a full song that needs full time. But I still think Michael was great as usually, I loved his performance. He's one of the strongest singers they have.

Brooke White, still not back to the ground from her "let it be" performance. I don't think it was that great. She's singing "Here comes the sun". The melancholy in that song , yes that's just right for Brooke White. I still have issues with her voice. I think she sucks. Very very Karaoke, and not a great karaoke. Boring. She's trying to dance to an un-dancable song, unless you're...
What do the judges think?
Ryan,"... what's going down? what's going on? ...awkward for me... not hot for me..."
Paula, she couldn't help but smile, she loved the yellow dress Brooke was wearing. I don't think she liked the performance, she said it wasn't challenging enough for Brooke.
Simon,"... I thought the performance was terrible...lack of conviction... forgettable".

David Cook, singing "Day Tripper". I think it's more of a girl's song, really... It's a short song if you know it, and it does not have too many words in it. He really feels like a rock star at a rock concert and he acts like one.

What did the judges think?
Ryan, "... I love seeing you. not necessarily your best performance but ...."
Paula didn't like it.
Simon, "... a bit predictable... didn't like it..." me neither.

David Cook stopped being irritating to Simon, now he's being modest saying his taking all the opinions of the judges and building off of it for next week.

Carly Smithson, Simon has compared her to Kelly Clarkson twice. She's singing "BlackBird". The song Simon was waiting to hear from a contestant tonight. She sings very well. She kept it simple.
What do the judges think?
Ryan, "... another great performance for Carly Smithson, very nice man..."
Paula, "... an amazing tone otoyour voice... beautiful arrangement".
Simon,".. not a very smart thing to do, the song was indulgent..." He didn't like it at all.

Jason Castro, singing "Michelle" and Ryan does the impersonation of a French man, "Voici Jason Castro!" He sings nicely.
What did the judges think?
Ryan .....
Paula thought he was a little awkward in his moves
Simon, "... a very weird show. ..this is all getting a bit strange..." He thinks Jason has charm and that's what makes it work for him.

Syesha Mercado, she's singing "Yesterday", will she do a better job than Ramiele. She takes it acoustic and sits down. She tries a "soul" version if I may say. Interesting, it's all about doing something unusual with the songs and she did just that. I guess she wont be the one going home next week. She looks nice tonight.
What did the judges think?
Ryan, "... very very good performance tonight...".
Paula thinks she should work on connecting with the audience
Simon ,"...you're best performance so far... not incredible..."

Chikizie, "I've just seen a face". He's definitely not an original. He sounds so familiar. Then, he plays the harmonica. R&B meets country. I didn't like the R&B part but the country part was interesting.
What did the judges think?
Ryan, "...some good part some bad part..." He thought he was better in the fast country part.
Paula loved it."... You did it again...".
Simon thought he started off ok but the harmonica part was atrocious. "It was gimmicky".
Can you believe they didn't even give him a second to say a word while all the others had a chance to respond to the judges and save themselves after getting bad awful reviews.

Ramiele Malubay, trying herself at "I should have known better". Trying not to bore the judges. She seems to have made friends with all the other contestants, Brooke, David Cook, Syesha. I think her song is actually boring... Yep, there's something missing, she sings but she does not perform I guess that's what's missing. But I don't expect too much from a Beatles' night on American Idol. I think what the judges don't like about Ramiele is that she's not very emotional like Brook White or very sensational and bursting like Amanda or David Cook, or even fake and looking like she's always happy and jolly and carefree and in a joking mode like someone I wont name...
What did the judges think of her performance?
Ryan," ...I wasn't jumping up and down.... alright... you did your thing..." Sounds a bit like what he would have said to Sanjaya, maybe Ramiele is this year's Sanjaya?!! I'm just kidding.
Paula, ".. better than last week....." I can't tell you if she liked it or not.
Simon, "... sounded like Chikezie on the harmonica. very amateurish...."
At least they let Ramiele Say "Ok" Chikezie wasn't that lucky.

March 5th, the women take the stage to see if they can convince America that they deserve to sing another day in this competition.

Asia'h Epperson, "I Wanna Dance With Somebody".
She's definitely not very articulate. It's karaoke night people. Her voice is not strong and the backup singers do a better job than she does at least they sound better. And her performance just goes on for ever, no, it didn't work for me at all. What is she wearing?

What do the judges think? Randy,recorded that song with Whitney Houston, he thinks it was Hot! -I don't thinks so- . Paula thinks she nailed it. Simon, is not quite so enthusiastic, " at best it was second rate Whitney Houston. She did the Whitney version of the Whitney song. " I completely agree with him.

Kady Malloy,"Who Wants to live Forever". She didn't think America would pick her instead of Alaina Whitaker, the girl has no self confidence... What she doesn't know is that they just love it when she impersonates the celebrities. She should have done Britney Spears tonight to secure her place in the top 12. She kind of sucked.

Randy thinks it was a very interesting song choice, a nice queen song, she did a good job, pretty good- whatever - . Paula, thinks it was, to date her best performance, she likes the tenderness and softness of her voice. Simon thinks it was definitely better than last week, but has issues with her " massive lack of personality". How can you say that to someone? I think it's offensive.

Amanda Overmyer ,"I Hate Myself for Loving You". She seems to have adopted the Robbie Carrico look in her pre-performance video... I don't know the song but it rocks. A great choice for her but I'm wondering how well she customized it?
What did the judges think? Randy found the Amanda that he loves, "the bluesy rocker chick, well done baby! ". Paula, " your face is beautiful, I like your hair, this is who we fell in love with". Simon thought it was fantastic," absolutely nailed that song, his favorite girl performance of the competition so far."

She looks better tonight indeed, better makeup, better hair, she looks younger and more
approachable, nicer, more feminine and less gothic.

Carly Smithson,"I Drove All Night". Irish Girl who can sing but probably looks too old and too married for the AI people. Did you see her tattoos? They always show you inside her mouth when she's doing those loud long notes, you can see her tongue it's a bit weird.
Not a great performance, pure Carly, technically good. I kind of like here, she's very likable.

What did the judges think? Randy, " I love that dude, another great performance ".
Paula, " dude ...", she liked it. Simon, once again, he doesn't think she chose the right song, she made the most out of it. Just not a great song for her and bla bla bla...

Kristy Lee Cook ,"Faithfully". She's an atypical girl. She has a real nice powerful country voice. Not perfect but charming. Her tongue looks red though they only showed it from the side unlike Carly's that they show right up front.

What did the judges think? Randy, " this is cool man, great song, I actually liked it...". He liked the country version. Paula thinks it could be a hit for her in country music, " you look great tonight ". Simon , thinks she's forgetable, he's not right. Who can't remember Kristy, the one who sold her horse and never watches R rated movies...she's the tall blonde. Maybe Simon has something with blond country girls or blonds in general.

Ramiele Malubay,"Against All Odds". My favorite female contestant, isn't she cute? Trying to look her age tonight. She has a good voice but .... I don't know, something's missing.

What did the judges think? Randy, " big song , big vocals, he feels she's not confident enough, you got mad vocals dude come on with it ". Paula, " you have such a beautiful face .... bla bla... "ok Paula... finaly she says, you deserve to be in the top 12 " , as if the top 12 was the end of it.
Simon, " because you're so little and cute it was quite good, but didn't hear the big money performance he was looking for.

Brooke White,"Love is A Battlefield". There's something with her voice, it's not clear enough, almost like she's coughing. But she's oK, not a bad performance compared to what I've heard so far.

What did the judges think? Randy really liked it, "very interesting ".
Paula "a very wise choice". Simon, it worked purely for the reason she didn't use the complete band but only a guitar . So they all loved it, she's very safe.

Syesha Mercado, "Saving All My Love for You". I don't quite like her. But she usually delivers a solid performance probably because she's confident and a confident performer is usually a good one. She's definitely not dressed for the occasion. What's up with all those Whitney Houston songs? She does something really weird with this song, a bit too piercing for my sensitive ears. America will probably like it, I don't. I think it's just oK. They should stay away from WH's songs, she's a real diva you can't outsing her.

What did the judges think? Randy " good ". Paula, " sophisticated lovely". Simon " a bit predictable but good".Very short comments from the judges they probably told them that their time was up.

I feel so sad to see Kady go- Though sh'es not gone yet but I'd be surprised if she made the top 12-. We need her on this show! I'm really really going to miss Kady. Who will go with her? It's not obvious I can't really tell. I also have to say that Ramiele might be in danger also... I just hope I'm wrong. Maybe Asia'h will also be in the bottom three?

Did you see Asia'h carrying Kady on her back? Asia'h is one of the shortest female contestants and Kady is one of the tallest female contestants.