Idol Chatter: The One Where Simon Gives Up

Did you notice how oddly complimentary Simon was last night? Hold me, I'm scared. While the evening was a vast improvement over the plague-ridden previous week, quite a few of the Top Ten ladies still struggled with the songs of the '70s. Who can blame them, really, what with the songs being released TWENTY years before some of them were born?

Carly kicked it off with "Crazy On You," which was kind of awesome, because it's Heart, and kind of not awesome, because we knew from the Hollywood rounds that she's the, uh, queen of Heart. Syesha warbled through "Me and Mr. Jones," which made me realize that what I really wanted out of '70s night was actually a Heart night. Brooke takes the stage with a git-tar for "You're So Vain," and, I gotta say, Brooke? It's not a happy song. Smiling through an ode to the dastardly ways of (Warren Beatty, Mick Jagger, take your pick) is not a way to show the audience that you understand the words. Ramiele was as cute as ever, although someone JI watched the show with did wonder aloud if Jason Castro's dreds are longer than she is tall.

Kristy Lee Cook (I can't just say "Kristy." She's sort of the, I don't know, John Wayne Gacy of "American Idol.") continues to confound. She obviously actually had a lung to sing with this week, but it's just awkward. Next up is Amanda Overmyer, in whom I've developed  a rather irritating rooting interest. How great would it be for a rock chick to go far in this competition? So great, right? But why does she have to be SO ROCK CHICK-Y about it? Lose the Lita Ford outfits and the hair out of the community theater production of "Cats" and just focus on rocking the song. The judges offered similar comments, but you know it's a downward spiral when Paula does the "You're so pretty underneath the [vague hand gestures towards Amanda] and your face is so pretty!" thing.

Taylor Swift lookalike No. 1 Alaina was passable, as was Alexandrea. However, Taylor Swift lookalike No. 2 Kady, who did Heart's "Magic Man," suffered in comparison to Carly's belting early in the show. I hope she gets along for a few more rounds, because my head might meta-explode if she were to sing a Britney Spears song. Finally, Asia'h, who does "ALLLL BY MYYYYSELLLLLLF" and sounds exactly how you just read that in your head.

My picks for the girls that get booted tonight? Kristy Lee Cook and, alas, Amanda.