Top 12

Oh, dear god, please don't let them use all of those lights during the performances. I mean, if Danny Noriega was still in the running, maybe...

I usually skip past the weird Idol opening sequence. I believe I will continue to do so.

You know what's weird this season? I think there are maybe two contestants even approaching Ryan's height. Which is sad, since Ryan isn't exactly six feet tall...

Pre-performance predictions: Kristy Lee and Chikezie are the bottom two.

Man, I'm really excited for Lennon/McCarthy night.

BTW, I've been under the weather... Canterbury's Law was much better than the original pilot I saw months and months ago. Ratings were terrible, though, so I sincerely doubt it'll be around longer than the six filmed episodes.

Syesha - "Got To Get You Into My Life" - Girl, you know I love you. But what was with your hair tonight? It was shockingly different. Not sure how I feel about all that sparkling gold (especially because I think Paula is wearing the same thing... which is so not a good sign). I really enjoyed the performance. As the only remaining black girl (! an Idol first for the Top 12?) you're gonna be around a while.

Chikezie - "She's A Woman" - I've seen that argyle sweater, open-collar shirt with rolled up sleeves and a tie look before... like, last year. The world has moved on! Chikezie looks strange sitting on the stairs beating his knee next to the three musicians. Thank god he stands up and moves away. The performance had a lot of energy... like a funk/country fusion. I liked it a more than I expected to. Paula still needs work on her English ("the reward paid off?" No, dear... the risk paid off). Oh, god, Ryan is telling Chikezie to work it. Someone give him Paula's meds.

Ramiele - "In My Life" - I do not understand why they started with the semi-overhead shot of her. Weird to go from the high-energy song to the resident balladeer. Skilled, controlled... but boring. No "wow". And only one (abridged) big vocal moment near the end. She's much better than this, Simon's absolutely right.

Jason - "If I Fell" - Zzz, video package. He really hasn't done anything to convince me that he isn't completely stoned out of his mind at all times. Ugh, he's got that guitar in front of him. I know he's making it through, but this was just as boring for me as Ramiele. I want to hear Jason sing some Jack Johnson, though. Paula tells Jason she feels his heart and I immediately jump to Michael Eisner's "Kali Ma!!!" of Family Guy. Classic Ryan/Simon moment regarding leaving students' dorm rooms. Love. It.

Carly - "Come Together" - I repeat... Michelle Branch. She gets the chance, I demand she sinces the Buffy version of "Goodbye To You". Carly is the first one to really use the lighting to her advantage. Love the green and blue elements. Tricky thing with this song is that, well, it's huge. Totally huge. She said she'd change it up, I didn't really get that... but she rocked it out. Still no "wow" from her (though she owned the song, really owned it). Just a very high bar of excellence (she has no pitch problems, like, ever). I can't wait for her to really, really hit it out of the park.

David C - "Eleanor Rigby" - Wow. Much like last season's "You Give Love a Bad Name" from Blake Lewis, this straddles the line between genius and blasphemy. Holy crap. Nearly as astounding... Paula's attempt at equestrian metaphor that ends up somewhere in Tijuana at a donkey show.

Brooke - "Let It Be" - Performance unheard, it's a great song choice for Brooke. She's smart, she knows to not go out of her range... but she also doesn't have boring performances. It's just, again, so odd to go from such a huge, upbeat performance to this mellow one. It's so simple, stripped, toned-down. We here at TY, Inc love Brooke.

David H - "I Saw Her Standing There" - Will he mention stripping? And... no. Man, I gotta take a tangent here... the Idol Concert this year is going to be awesome. The Top 10 are going to be so many leaps and bounds better than last season's (and, I'm really agreeing with the show, probably the best ever... and a lot of style variety, too). Anyway... David H's look is better than Chikezie's because of the suit vest instead of the V-neck sweater vest. I dunno about his performance. I didn't get anything from him. Reminiscent of his Top 12 Men performance... overdone, full of "eh".

Amanda - "You Can't Do That" - I find it a little weird that she's singing a song she first heard this week. From the whole catalog? Really? Okay... she's pitchy to start, but damn I love her sound and take on this lesser known (to me, anyway) song.

Michael - "Across The Universe" - How much do I love that the picture of him as a kid had "Vegemite" on it? Remember Australia? Ugh, that stuff tasted so foul. Especially in like of David C's performance, Michael needed to reinvent himself tonight away from being a rocker... because David C's obviously got that covered. I dunno, this didn't do much for me. He didn't do anything spectacular with the song or arrangement. Sleep is definitely the right word.

Kristy Lee - "Eight Days A Week" - Apparently "country style" means something other than with a ton of gravy and biscuits. Who knew? I thought the song could've done with being slowed down a little. It did go a little way towards hiding Kristy's weak voice. A little. She's gone.

David A - "We Can Work It Out" - Pimp slot! David loses a couple points tonight (which takes him down to, what, merely only 5 times more points than everyone else combined?) for admitting an unfamiliarity with the Lennon/McCartney songbook. Oof, he forgets a couple lyrics. He's human, everyone? Kick him in the nards!

Bottom Two performances - Kristy Lee... ah, who the else matters, she's going home.

Okay, fine. Syesha for lack of memorability, Ramiele for boring, Jason for too much of the same and boring, David H for overdoing it, Michael for being too safe, David A for having to rest on his laurels.

That said, everyone except Kristy Lee deserves to continue at this point.

Best - David C. Easily. Then Carly and Brooke.