Guest Blogger Angela: American Idol - The Top 12 Girls

As Ryan Seacrest said at the top of the show (looking very handsome in his black dress shirt and plaid tie), “This is not just a stage. This is a platform that will launch one of these 24 faces into superstardom.” And so American Idol 9 begins. We’re finally at the point in the season where the contestants are performing live, the judges comments are unedited, the viewers get to choose who stays and who goes, and I could not be happier. The semi-finalists this year seem like a pretty talented bunch, but all we’ve really seen up to this point are edited clips the producers have packaged to manipulate the audience into seeing what they want us to see. Now we finally have the chance to hear the contestants sing full (albeit shortened) songs in a high-pressure situation. Who will step up their game and who will crash and burn?

I’m going to approach reviewing the rest of this season with a sort of ranking system. As I watch the show each week I’ll rank my favorite performances from best to worst. This won’t necessarily be a recap of the whole episode; it’s just my opinion of who I liked (or didn’t like) and why. We’ll see how much the rest of America agrees with me when the results are announced. Maybe one of my early faves will go on to win the whole thing (like David Cook in season 7) or maybe they won’t even make it to the top 12 (like Ricky Braddy in season 8). Only time will tell. For now, here’s my evaluation of the top 12 girls’ performances from best to worst:

1. Didi Benami – “The Way I Am” – This was a perfect song choice for her. She sounded professional. I love her voice and her personality.
2. Katelyn Epperly – “Oh Darlin” – I wish she chose something a little younger or more current, but she sounded really good. I love her style and personality.
3. Crystal Bowersox – “Hand in My Pocket” – I really liked the vocals, but I could have done without the harmonica; it took away from her singing time.
4. Siobhan Magnus – “Wicked Game” – She sounded a lot better than I thought she would.
5. Haeley Vaughn – “I Want To Hold Your Hand” – She “made it her own.” Her voice is more powerful than I thought. I like that she played guitar and didn’t have any backup singers. However, her makeup was too sparkly and distracting.
6. Lilly Scott – “Fixing a Hole” – I don’t love the song itself but it was a good choice for her because it showed off her unique voice. It was nice to see her playing guitar. She seemed comfortable on stage.
7. Katie Stevens – “Feeling Good” – Something about her voice seemed very shrill to me. Like the judges said, the song was too old for her, and it makes me think of Adam Lambert’s impressive and memorable performance of it last season.
8. Michelle Delamor– “Fallen” – She was overpowered by the backup singers. The performance was indulgent. She’s cute though.
9. Ashley Rodriguez – “Happy – She started a little too low but got better as she got to the chorus. Her voice isn’t really full enough for that song. She has a great look and style though.
10. Lacey Brown – “Landslide” – I’m not a fan of the song so I’m biased. Her voice seems weak. She should have chosen a different song, but she’s cute.
11. Paige Miles – “All Right Now” – This song will always remind me of David Cook’s first semi-final performance in season 7, and it didn’t seem to suit her. She started flat but got better as the song went on. She’s all about the runs and the attempted big note at the end.
12. Janell Wheeler – “What About Love” – This was really disappointing because I loved her audition. It was not a good song choice, too big/rockish for her. She started really shaky and only sounded good with the backup singers.

Obviously I disagreed with the judges on several accounts. They were very critical of Didi and Haeley, but I really enjoyed their performances. They praised Paige, but I thought she sounded off. Didi and Katelyn are definitely getting my votes tonight; they were by far the two standouts for me. I think Lacey and Paige are in real danger because they didn’t get much/any coverage in the earlier rounds and didn’t sing well tonight, though in my opinion Janell had the worst performance of the night. We’ll see what the rest of America thinks when the results are announced on a special Thursday edition of American Idol (featuring performances by two of last year’s top 4, Kris and Allison).

By the way, did you know that this season’s contestants have official Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace accounts? Usually the producers require the contestants to shut down all of their online social networking, but this year they’ve given the contestants accounts to use so they can keep in touch with their growing fan bases. As a self-professed Twitter addict, I think this is pretty darn cool. I started using Twitter just to get Ryan Seacrest’s backstage Idol updates, but now I can get information directly from the contestants themselves. Idol crack. Love it. You can find a list of all of the official social networking accounts for this year's contestants here. Happy Tweeting!