Top 7

So Mariah couldn't have gotten a better week to be the mentor, could she have? The very day her album drops, and she performs live tomorrow. Yowza. Perhaps Madonna will follow suit in two weeks for the Top 5???

Anyway, let's get to it...

David A - "When You Believe" - He's such a great technical singer, and I liked the falsetto. But I dunno, the kid lacks emotion in his technically-near-perfect singing. It's all so rehearsed. When are we going to get a raw performance from this kid?

Carly - "Without You" - Simon wipes the floor with Carly's performance... oy. I... kinda... agree... with... Paula...? I liked her restraint at the top of the song. I'm actually not familiar with Mariah's version, so I have nothing else to really say about it as far as it being an "okay" version or not.

Syesha - "Vanishing" - Again, not terribly familiar with this song. It was nice to see Mariah actually giving singing instruction... walking Syesha through some possibilities for an arrangement. Syesha looks amazing, but about 2/3 of the way through the song, she loses herself to the big, runny part of the song. The judges are more forgiving.

Can I just say that I like this section of the competition, where the contestants get to sing more than 90 seconds of the song?

Brooke - "Hero" - Now here's a song that's got a soft spot for me (this and "Always Be My Baby"... yeah, I'm a big girl inside). I wonder how Brooke is going to handle it because I'm fairly certain she doesn't have the chops to do the original arrangement of this power ballad (though she totally ha the vulnerability). This excites me. I was a bit let down by it... instead of attempting big notes (that she probably can't hit) she sits behind the piano and effects key changes. It was nice to have a stripped Brooke back... and no backing band at all! That's commendable. Still unspectacular... but this week really didn't lend itself to Brooke's strengths (being that almost every song in Mariah's songbook require huge vocals).

Kristy - "Forever" - Another song people (myself included) probably aren't familiar with. Out of seven singers (thus far five), only two really well-known songs? What gives? After a couple weeks of legitimate improvement... Kristy takes several steps back and, at long last, should be the one going home. Snooze.

David C - "Always Be My Baby" - Oh, dear lord. It's another "incredibly risky, it's either going to be truly amazing or going to be the worst thing ever". Are there rock covers of this song out there? Again, again, David lands on the "amazing" side. His voice reminded me a lot of the lead singer of Lifehouse tonight (at least I think it's Lifehouse... it reminded me of something, but I couldn't put my finger on it, really...) So, basically, the idea for David is to choose a really well known song and do a version completely different from the "accepted" version. Because whenever he does the original/accepted version of a song, it's been little more than mediocre.

Jason - "I Don't Want to Cry" - From the video package... he's busting the guitar out again. So, for me anyway, we've got three well known songs and four lesser known songs. Ooh, Mariah's thoughts at the end of the package are "I wonder if he's going to take my advice". *crickets* Surprisingly, no guitar for Jason! Not digging this. But I never dig Jason.

Bottom 3: Really, any of the girls... though I would personally put Jason here.
Gone: Kristy (or bust)