American Idol Season 8Top 13

To my readers: I was in the hospital last week and unable to blog. Although I'm still recovering, I'll try to play catch-up and provide you with videos, photos and as much critiquing as possible, even though it is a week old.

Thanks for your continued support.

Idol Addict

So the producers decide to make the theme for Week 1 of the Season 8 finals "The Songs of Michael Jackson," one of the artists that the judges always tell the contestants they shouldn't touch unless they can perform the songs better than The King of Pop. No one does Jackson better than Jackson, but much to our surprise, Adam Lambert gives a performance nearly as good. Woulda thunk it? It's just one week into the finals and we've already doing a complete 180 on Adam. His performance was so strong, he is the clear front-runner, despite solid jobs by Danny Gokey and Matt Giraud. Trailing just slightly were the girls: Allison Iraheta, Lil Rounds and Alexis Grace. As for the rest, they can go home now, 'cause they're not making the Top 5.

The evening looked promising when Lil Rounds led it off with "The Way You Make Me Feel." Her outfit seemed attractive, but on closer examination was a bit bizarre. The "blouse" looked as if it was the top part of a dress that the wardrobe people had cut down, paired with white slacks. It didn't work perfectly, but was not as horrible as Simon Cowell would have you believe. As for the performance, the vocal was strong but had some pitch problems. Though not karaoke, we would have liked if it had been a bit more interesting. And, yes, the last note was great. Randy Jackson thought Lil made the song new again with the bluesy, R&B, old soul vibe she gave it. "I loved it!" he proclaimed. Kara DioGuardi said, "I hope we get to hear you on the radio, because you are great." Paula Abdul called her "a force to be reckoned with." Simon thought it was good, but a bit of a lazy song choice and that the second half was better than the first half. He ended with, "and I hate what you're wearing."

Watch video of Lil Rounds singing "The Way You Make Me Feel"

What can we say about Scott MacIntyre that we haven't said before? Well, nothing. Is he horrible? No. Is he great? No. Is he mediocre? Absolutely. He brings to mind bland dentist's office music and sedatives. And must all his music always be so inspirational? From his audition song, "And So It Goes," to tonight's "Keep the Faith." In the past, Kara said he moves mountains when he sings and tonight Scott is singing about climbing the highest mountain. Enough, already. We get it. It's all about you, Scott. The judges had promised that another side of Scott would be revealed when we got to see him singing and playing piano. In fact, Kara says it again tonight. Yet, the only thing revealed was him playing piano. The singing was as boring as ever. Kara, however, loves the hopeful message of his song. She also says, "Was it the most dynamic performance? No. But what I love about you is that you're always true to yourself." (Would that be boring?). We can't help but smirk along with Simon when Paula says, "Scott, it's magical seeing your instrument at your fingertips." She also calls it "a lovely performance." Simon says, "I hated the song ... because nobody knows it." Scott answers, "I wanted to be a little artistic." Simon retorts, "Scott, it's fine being artistic, just not on this show." Heh! Randy says the performance was good but too safe, adding, "I want to see more sparks from you, 'cause I know you got 'em, Scotty." He does?

Watch video of Scott MacIntyre singing "Keep the Faith"

What people should admire about Danny Gokey more than his singing is that he is a master at marketing himself for "Idol," starting with his playing the dead wife card (which he has admitted he threw out there to help him get on the show). Add to the mix that he can work a stage almost as well as Adam Lambert and his "white soul" Michael McDonald voice, and he is one of those packages that Kara is always talking about. He will own the evening with his rendition of "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" until Lambert takes the stage later on. Having Adam nipping at his heels must be a thorn in Danny's side. We get the impression that he doesn't take to be one-upped all that well. Paula tells him, "I'm going to go out on a limb and says 'I think you're on you're way to the finals.' " Simon can't help but laughingly remark, "We're only three contestants in on the first show, and you've already won." He then adds, "I thought the vocals were brilliant. You are one heck of a singer ... However, the dancing was hideous." No Simon, it wasn't. The question is, since Taylor Hicks was also compared to Michael McDonald and Simon thought his dancing was hideous as well, will Simon's love for Danny turn to same hate that Cowell carries for Taylor to this day? Randy said, "The dancing for me and the singing, I loved it all. You know why? Because the dancing wasn't choreographed, it was passionate. It was just the way you felt (shades of Taylor!). I liked it baby, I liked it!" Kara said, "You have joy when you step on that stage. You're just joyous."

Watch video of Danny Gokey singing "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)"

There's something solid and comfortable about Michael Sarver, if not terribly exciting. And everything about the blue-collar oil-rig worker with the Siberian husky eyes screams U.S.A. all the way. His vocal of "You Are Not Alone," is fine but nothing more. To use a Simon Cowell line, you can hear a similar version on any cruise ship or hotel lounge in the country. Which is not to say that Michael is a bad singer, he just isn't a standout. Simon, who has always seemed particularly enamored with Sarver, says, "You're not the best singer in the competition ... but you made up for it with passion, heart and you gave it 110 percent." Randy says, "Tonight, so far, you're definitely one of the best in this (out of four? Randy also loved Lil and Danny, so that leaves Scott holding the cheese)." Kara says, "Tonight showed me that you really can sing." Hey, Kara, you mean he got to the finals and you weren't sure? She continued, "I thought you did a great job. ... You are serious. You bring your game every time you step out on that stage and I really like that about you." Paula says he picked a simple song that he colored up and sounded really lovely.

Watch video of Michael Sarver singing "You Are Not Alone"

Jasmine Murray shows potential, but much like Season 5 finalist Lisa Tucker, at this point she is way out of her league. Her rendition of "I'll Be There" lacked any punch or originality. Plus, there were moments of pitchiness. And we have to agree with the judges when they say she comes off as a young girl trying to appear older. There was nothing youthful about her song choice and her dress looked more like a dreadful nightgown. Randy says she did a pretty good job on it and he was actually impressed. Kara says she sold it and has great stage presence. Paula says she had some bright moments, but at other times she was under. Simon tells her she made a good attempt, but it was a little bit robotic and that she has a lighten up a little bit and start acting her age. He's right.

Watch video of Jasmine Murray singing "I'll Be There"

We go back and forth on Kris Allen. Every time we think there's nothing much to him, he shows some creativity which makes us change our mind. His performance of "Remember the Time" was better than his previous attempt at Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror." He accompanied himself on guitar, though his strumming looked almost phony. But the guitar made him look better than just standing there singing. His vocals were pleasing, yet not very memorable. What will help him in the competition is his cuteness factor, though Simon told him he wasn't sure he would have brought the wife out so early [in his video] -- he would have waited another couple of weeks. Kris' wife, sitting in the audience, didn't look too pleased at that suggestion. Kara says when Kris plays his guitar it's a whole other side of him that really helps him performance-wise. Paula calls him engaging and adorable-sexy and tells him he did a great, great job. Simon said he didn't know whether it was a song that fit the guitar which made the performance a bit clumsy but the vocal was OK and that he's very likable. Randy says it was very Jason Mraz-y, ending with, "very well job done [sic], baby."

Watch video of Kris Allen singing "Remember the Time"

Allison Iraheta is the only true rocker in the competition this year and she has an amazing voice. However, she needs to work with a stylist on her massive head of hair and think more about her song choices. Though her performance of "Give in to Me" was spot on, it is a song that few people know and that hurt her badly in the voting. That she wasn't eliminated was a near miracle according to dialidol.com, which placed her next to last between Jasmine Murray and Jorge Nuñez, the two contestants who were booted the next night. It would be a pity to see this very talented 16-year-old eliminated early, as she is one of the bright lights in the contest. Paula tells her to stay authentic to who she is and that she knows they'll be seeing a lot more of her. Simon tells her it was a good performance and the good thing about her is that at least they know who she is. Randy tells her he thinks she can sing anything. Kara encourages her to keep being a rocker girl, that she distinguishes herself being the rocked-out girl with those vocals and that she did a great job.

Watch video of Allison Iraheta singing "Give in to Me"

On the opposite end of the spectrum is Anoop Desai, who is so likable that he will stay way past the point when he should have been eliminated, which was this week. To date, he has not proven that he has the vocal chops to be in this competition and his choice as a Wild Card, along with fellow unworthys Megan Joy Corkrey and Jasmine Murray is a travesty when much better singers were not given their shot. His vocals on "Beat It" were awful as compared with the original. And speaking of original, Anoop didn't even attempt to try to make the song his own, something that is necessary when singing such an iconic tune. It was karaoke at its worst. Paula tells him she thinks the song is untouchable and that anything other than the original artist sounds karaoke. Simon terms it horrible, saying there was no aggression, it was all very lightweight, karaoke and that it actually looked a bit stupid because it was like a really bad impersonation. Randy calls it the wrong choice, karaoke and adds that it didn't work for him. Kara says the biggest problem was that we didn't get to see Anoop do any variation on the song and that for the first time she felt disconnected from him as a performer. Ryan Seacrest asks Simon whether he regrets now making it a Top 13 by adding Anoop to the mix. Simon replies, "On the back of that, yes. I do actually. I didn't like that performance at all."

Watch video of Anoop Desai singing "Beat It"

We liked Jorge Nuñez 's voice the first time we heard it during his audition and were glad when he made the finals. And although it wasn't sparkling with creativity, we thought his version of "Never Can Say Goodbye" was pretty decent. He was on key and the tone of his voice was great. So we were surprised and disappointed when he was eliminated the next night, especially when there were others who sang far more poorly. The judges had no mercy for him. Randy tells him he has vocal chops, but calls the song choice old-fashioned and says their were pitchy points. Kara didn't feel that Jorge had an emotional connection to the song. She would have preferred a song like "She's Out of My Life." When Paula asks him why he picked the song, Jorge says it wasn't his usual style of song, but it fit his voice and he wasn't going to sing "Bad" by Michael Jackson. Simon jumps in with, "Well, you sort of did." Paula hopes American will remember that he is a brilliant vocalist because this wasn't the right song for him. Simon tells him it was corny, that he was out of his depth and that the arrangement was absolutely awful. It was so old-fashioned that Simon said he couldn't wait for it to end. Sadly for Jorge, it was the end.

Watch video of Jorge Nuñez singing "Never Can Say Goodbye"

OK, we'll be the first to admit that Megan Joy Corkrey is one of the most beautiful women we've ever laid eyes on. Her looks rival those of Charlize Theron. However, that is no more reason for her to be a finalist that Scott's blindness is. Her rendition of "Rockin' Robin" was literally laughable, especially the "caw! caw!" at the end. (And, yes, we know that robins don't caw, but there is a brief mention of a crow at the top of the song: Every little swallow, every chickadee/Every little bird in the tall oak tree/The wise old owl, the big black crow/Flapping them wings sayin' go bird go). Though it was more toned down this week, perhaps Megan related strongest to this lyric because her dancing resembles a bird flapping its wings. In any event, despite her "quirkiness" and the interesting tone of her voice, her phrasing and timing are the pits and she doesn't belong on the stage. Kara tells her she has a way of putting her signature ("lousy singer"?) on everything she touches. (Kara needs to go, big time.) Paula loves the quirky and unique tone of her voice, but felt disconnected and didn't hear the sound she loves until the end. Simon says "We like you, we've established that, but what a stupid song choice. The vocals weren't very good, the dancing was verging on ridiculous; the whole performance was just clumsy and awkward." And this would differ from last week -- the week you picked her as a Wild Card -- how? Randy says the song choice didn't really allow her to be Megan. Uh-huh.

Watch video of Megan Joy Corkrey singing "Rockin' Robin"

Megan's lack of skills only made the next performance that much more impressive. Yes, Adam Lambert is the king of musical theater on the "Idol" stage, but he used it to great advantage in his Axl Rose-ish shrieking rendition of "Black and White." Though to this point we've neither been a fan of his theatricality nor his high-range voice, it just all worked in this number, making it the most interesting and memorable performance of the night. It was hard to sit in your seat and not want to get up and dance (even in a hospital bed). The arrangement, the swagger, it all flowed beautifully together. The standing O was HUGE. Our only question: what's going to happen to his popularity with all those little girls shrieking "Adam, we love you!" when they finally find all those pictures of him Frenching guys on votefortheworst.com? Paula says, "Never in the history of 'American Idol,' all seven seasons leading up to now, have we ever -- and I believe this truthfully -- seen someone so comfortable, seasoned on that stage -- I don't even notice that 'cause my eyes are transfixed on you. Your innate ability to know who you are as an artist, and marry fashion with music ... You've got the whole package going on, and I believe with all my heart we'll be seeing you running all the way to the end, in the final." After that oral orgasm, we thanked Simon for asking her, "But did you like him?" Simon tells him that he was in a totally different league compared to everything else that night, adding that to make Michael Jackson work, you've got to be over the top. Cowell cited that it was an original version, the vocals were terrific and that it was something that people were going to talk about. Randy tells him that he could make a record right now that would go straight to the top of the charts. Kara says "You hit notes that I didn't even know they existed." (Kara says this a lot) and that she hopes Michael Jackson is watching this tonight. Adams seems to like that comment better than any other. His eyes light up and he mouths, "Oh! I love him." Hmmm, bet he would love you, too.

Watch video of Adam Lambert singing "Black and White"

As Simon would point out, following Adam was no small feat, but Matt Giraud held his ground, accompanying himself on piano to "Human Nature." It might not have generated as much excitement as Adam, bringing the pulse of the room back down to normal, but the playing and sweet vocals meshed beautifully with the high notes soaring out of the auditorium. It was the best performance we've seen Matt give. Randy calls it a really good performance with a couple of pitch spots and says Matt has that Robin Thicke/Justin Timberlake thing coming off. Kara says, "You are a talented guy and I hope I see you for many many weeks." Paula babbles, "You are talented, sexy, amazing, authentic. I'm blown away." Simon calls it a meat and potatoes solid good performance.

Watch video of Matt Giraud singing "Human Nature"

Closing the show is Alexis Grace, dirtying herself up for the judges one more time with her sultry, sassy R&B version of "Dirty Diana." The vocals are, as usual, almost on point (we heard a couple of pitch problems), but for us it was somehow missing some of the sparkle we would have liked, especially in the pimp spot. We know she owns one of better voices in the competition, yet we never get quite as excited about Alexis as everyone else seems too. Also, we wonder if her voice is distinctive enough to pick out on the radio. Listening to the audio without watching the video, we're doubting it. Kara tells her, "You're a naughty girl, and I liked it." Paula tells her to watch her oversinging. Simon calls it "Very over-the-top and probably not as good as you thought it was." Randy says, "I thought it good, it wasn't great, but it was good. Like the attitude." But, boy, can that girl wear a pair of hot pants.

Alexis got stuck with the oddball phone number ending in 36, as "Idol" only owns 12 consecutive lines, but it won't hurt her in the end.

Watch video of Alexis Grace singing "Dirty Diana"

Our Top 3: Adam Lambert, Danny Gokey, Matt Giraud
Our Bottom 3: Megan Joy Corkrey, Anoop Desai, Jasmine Murray

Ryan announces at the end of the show that on Wednesday they will announce a new rule that will change the way "Idol" operates. Uh-oh! Haven't we had enough ill-thought-out changes -- going back to Wild Card selections, sing-offs in the choosing the Top 36 -- already this year?

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American Idol Season 8Wild Card Show Results

And here are the final 4 finalists. That's right, at the last minute (or so Simon Cowell said) they decided this year to have a Top 13 for the first time in the history of the show. Added tonight were:

Jasmine Murray
Megan Corkrey
Matt Giraud
Anoop Desai

Season 8 has officially become the worst year yet for "American Idol." The results of the Wild Card round were so obviously set up in advance, it was hard not to laugh out loud at the judges supposedly spontaneous comments. Instead of their critiques being accurate appraisals of the performances, they sounded like validations for decisions that had been made by the producers judges who knows how many days (weeks? months?) ago.

To begin with, everyone we knew said the three finalist seats would automatically go to Jasmine, Megan and Anoop. The producers judges had made it obvious in their remarks to these three after their group performances how much they liked them -- whether or not they sang well. And last night, the trio were far from the best singers. Ricky Braddy easily outsang Anoop, while like her or hate her (we tend to the latter), Tatiana Del Toro had the best female vocal of the evening. Yet the judges had to find ways to trash these interlopers, since they weren't preordained to go through. From Tatiana, they just wanted a final chance to get some drama. It was actually quite cruel, even for "Idol." They used and abused a mentally unstable person. Perhaps they were hoping another one of Paula's slavish devotees would commit suicide, this time right in front of her, on national TV. Now, wouldn't that have grabbed headlines?

As it was, they had to settle for the headline shocker of a Top 13. But how much of a shocker was it really? There have buzzes about that happening since January, when Fox reality chief Mike Darnell told TV Week in an exclusive interview, "There's a big surprise coming when we get to the Top 12, but I can't reveal it right now. It is something that will be talked about and is something I think that has some element of controversy surrounding it."

And, " ... it’s a long season and you want to keep as many surprises for the audience, for the press, for everybody, as you go along. Some controversies will pop out [Joanna Pacitti?]. But this is something that we sort of felt like, here’s one set of things we’re doing, we’re going to wait and give you the other set when we get to the final 12."

In the Jan. 18 interview, Darnell also said, "I think I have in my mind a Top 7 or 8."

Hmmm. It's almost as if "Idol" is proving what many of us have known believed for the longest time: that the show is entirely rigged and has nothing to do with "reality."

But Darnell, who strikes us as a burnt-out, inarticulate '80s drugger leaning hard on the Grecian Formula in this clip, got it wrong when he said, "It's not going to change what you think of American Idol [ha!] and we don't want to do that. This show is, you know, a phenomenon. It's American, it's apple pie. We're not changing the core of the show." Wrong! As cynical as we've always been about the "reality" of the show, it took this season to really turn us against it. We doubt anything they do for the finalist weeks can make us like it again.

Perhaps Entertainment Weekly's clever Michael Slezak said it best in this little ditty he wrote, sung to "Give Me One Reason." Kudos to you, Michael:

Give me one reason to stay tuned, and I'll watch the Wild Card show/
Give me one reason to stay tuned; quick, before my head explodes/
Yeah, since you screwed Felicia Barton/
You've got to make me change my mind

Kara, I got your number, you're a soulless corporate shill/
You gave props to Jasmine Murray, even though her voice is shrill/
Take your package artists, /
Back to where you came from,/
You are no Paula

Give me one reason to stay tuned, 'cause tonight's show really blew/
Give me one reason to stay tuned, Ju'Not Joyner where are you?/
Said I can't go on without Idol/
You've got to make me change my mind

I don't want no Tatiana, with her tears and crying fits/
I don't want no Tatiana, she's a mediocre ditz/
I just want some Mishavonna — how I love her voice to bits

Oh handsome Ricky Braddy, come and give us what we need/
And that redhead Jesse Langseth, well, she's a'ight I concede/
But if Matt Giraud sings Coldplay once again/
I suspect my ears will bleed

Give me one reason to stay tuned, 'cause this show has gone to poop/
Give me one reason to stay tuned, okay I'll tune in for Anoop/
I miss singers playing instruments/
You've got to make me change my mind

Here is the recap of Thursday's performances. All the numbers were preceded by a clip of each contestant paying obeisance and being obsequious to the judges for giving them another chance. It was all quite disgusting.

We knew Jesse Langseth was doomed when we saw she was up first. Although there is still something we like about her voice and open honesty, we were less than mesmerized by her performance of Rufus and Chaka Khan's "Tell Me Something Good." Yes, she raised the heat in the room with her facial expressions, body movements and mini (she has a wowsa pair of legs), but this just wasn't a great competition song. Instead of showing her range, which she talked about in her clip, for us it had the opposite effect. Randy Jackson calls it an interesting song choice, but isn't sure she sang it that well; Kara DioGuardi says Jesse had some notes that were not on key, but likes her "swagger" (there's that word again. Gee, maybe Jesse didn't "dirty it up" enough like Alexis Grace learned to do for the judges, sigh) and, pointing to the video screen, tells her she's not like the little girls in those "packages" (there's that word again, too), more like Sasha Fierce (what analogy would Kara have used if Beyoncé hadn't come up with this one?); Paula Abdul is impressed with her tenacity and determination and tells Jesse she has a lot of soul, but then declares "I can already tell it's going to be a hard night," which is a euphemism for, "Gee, I really didn't expect to like you so much, because you're not gonna get picked"; Simon reiterates that putting her into the Wild Card round was totally last minute (is that meant to be a compliment?), says he's glad they did, tells her she has a good voice, but then raps her with the song and performance were indulgent. It was all about you. Paula and Kara "fight" back saying it should be about her, it's a sexy song. Simon answers, "No tonight it's us, believe it or not, because we are the ones who are going to be voting you in." Ha! Liar!

Watch video of Jesse Langseth singing "Tell Me Something Good"

Matt Giraud says in his clip he wants to return to the bluesy sound that the judges originally liked him for. Dressed in Justin Timberlake style, he does a really nice job with the Jackson 5's "Who's Loving You." It was soooo much better than his Coldplay fiasco. Kara tells him he can riff amazingly, that it was a little bit over the top at points, but it was a great vocal; Paula tells him this was in the right zone, that the song was a perfect pick and that he did an amazing job and that there's no doubt that America is loving you right now (a euphemism for "It's in the bag, Matt. You made it."); Simon tells him he was a billion times better than last week and it was a great choice of song, but that he hates what Matt's wearing. What's worse for Simon, is that he saw "bits of Taylor Hicks coming through," and we all know how Simon despises Taylor. The audience boos; Randy puts the lock on it by saying, "You made everyone ... scared that you're going to maybe [maybe, ha!] enter this competition and give them a run for the money. That's how to sing. That's what I want."

Watch video of Matt Giraud singing "Who's Loving You"

Megan Corkrey proves once again that she's a very pretty girl who looks like Elaine Benes from "Seinfeld" when she tries to dance. She also proves that though she has a nice tone to her voice, she's not a very good singer. She unwisely chooses KT Tunstall's "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree," a song that Katharine McPhee just killed when she sang it. It only proved how weak Megan was in comparison. The producers judges have to be creative now, to convince us why they've already chosen her for the Top 12 when she just proved she doesn't belong there. Paula starts by telling her she looks beautiful, which as everybody knows is Paula's euphemism for "Your singing sucked." She also says, "You picked a song that fits your personality, so you picked the right song." It became laughable when she got to "And your real name's Joy, and you have a lot of joy up there," ending with "Overall, I think you picked the right song." Abdul never once mentions her singing. Ha! Simon, with a really robotic Muppet-like expression on his face says, "I've always liked you, and I still like you. I think you're terrific." Maybe we're watching too much "Lie to Me," but on terrific, his right eye blinked weirdly, indicating to us at least, that this was a bald-face lie. He then said, "What I like about you is that you are current, and sometimes this show can get a little karaoke. And I don't get that from you." As Randy would say, "Whaaaaaaat?" That's all you get from Megan. He adds, "It wasn't the best vocal we're ever going to hear, but it doesn't matter. It was terrific." This from the judge who always reminds everyone else that this is a singing competition, not a quirky or cute or nice competition. Randy agrees it wasn't the best vocal he ever heard, but it was the right song choice [not if she can't sing it, dude]; Kara locks it in with, "I think we need you because you give some variety to what's already up there [could she be any clearer that Megan's already been selected?] and I think America needs that choice. You're somebody different. ... And I hope you stay." They all mention she's quirky, but not one judge comments positively on the vocals. What a sham!

Watch video of Megan Corkrey singing "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree"

Von Smith was like a deer in the headlights on Elton John's "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word." There were problems with the low register in the beginning, but it got much much better in the middle and soared by the end. But, of course, he was doomed before he started. Simon tells him the song didn't start well and that Von is beginning to become "a bit boring," too serious, too earnest; Randy agrees with Simon, but talks about the beautiful tone of Von's voice when he hit the middle notes, though he wasn't crazy about the song choice; Kara says the song got more than serious, it got BWAHAHAHA "dark." She then says Von has great vocal ability, that he has what it takes, but that he "hasn't dialed in yet." [whereas Megan could dial for the rest of her life and only get a busy signal] At this point, Von knows he's doomed and looks like he's going to cry any second. We felt really badly for him because it was all a lie, all a fix and had nothing to do with him. Paula tries to temper the negativity by telling him that when he focuses too much on the technical side of the song he doesn't let his real essence show, and when he does let it out "you soar, and take us all with you." She also tells him,"You have to count on the fact that you're a brilliant singer [but the producers don't want you]. You really are."

Watch video of Von Smith singing "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word"

Jasmine Murray, a bright light at her audition but a disaster during the semifinals picks Christina Aguilera's "Reflection." Not only will Aguilera not lose sleep over this rendition, neither will Jordin Sparks (watch Jordin here) or Ayla Brown (here). Was it better than her last performance? Yup. Was it really good? No. Was it way too big for her voice? Absolutely. It had some moments, but just that. Nothing more. Randy tells her this was a big improvement, but that the song was too big for her and there were flat and sharp moments, but also some great bright spots. His biggest compliment was no compliment, "It was way better than the last time you sang." Kara says, "Actually, I didn't even know that you had that big of a voice [that's 'cause she doesn't]. "And now [now? now?] I'm starting to think she has a really big voice." Ha, Paula starts with, "You look lovely tonight and you picked a beautiful song." She continues, "There were some notes that fell off a little bit, but overall I felt you did a wonderful job." Lyin' Simon begins by telling Paula she's not giving Jasmine enough credit, starting a fake spat between the two. He then says, "That was pretty special compared to what we heard before." Yeah, well, mud is pretty special compared with turds. He then says, "It was a very, very brave song choice," but it sounded a little at times like a young girl trying to sound a little more grown up. And then came the tell: To a chorus of "yesses" from the other judges, Lyin' Simon says, "And I think you just put yourself back in the running."

Watch video of Jasmine Murray singing "Reflection"

Ricky Braddy did what he does best: He came, he sang, he conquered. Then he got shat on. Was Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" a surprising song choice, as all the judges kept reiterating? Yes? But did he pull it off? Unquestionably. That should only prove how talented he is, that he could pull off a song you'd never expect him to be able to. Plus, much to "Idol's" chagrin, he's an obvious crowd pleaser: There was a tremendous amount of shreiking and screaming before he even sang. Kara makes the stupidest statement ever, especially considering they're going to eliminate him in a few minutes: "Well, Ricky, you can sing your butt off. We knew that." She adds, tonight was about getting out there and showing us your personality. And you did that. Good job. [Er, yeah, so?] Paula agrees, saying, "I loved the way you loosened up ... You nailed it! You nailed it! And you had fun!" Simon and Randy, obviously elsewhere during the performance, didn't see it that way ['cause they weren't moving Ricky forward]. Simon tells Ricky he sounds good, but that when you're brought back at this stage of the competition you've absolutely have to say to us "You've got to put me into the competition because I'm a great vocalist, a great performer [HA! Like Megan and Jasmine just didn't?] He then calls Ricky's song and vocal karaoke, lightweight and clumsy. And the overt clue that Ricky was doomed in advance: "So I don't think you really made the impression you could have made there." Randy tells Ricky he thinks he really has a voice and can really blow, but the song wasn't quite the one for him. [Yeah, Randy, you just told Jasmine the same thing, and she's going through and without the vocal talent Ricky has.] Then he pulls a Simon and calls Ricky's song choice self-indulgent, a term Randy would never use. Sheesh.

Watch video of Ricky Braddy singing "Superstition"

Next up is what the producers hope will be the flaming burnout named Tatiana Del Toro. For whatever bizarre reason she had in her lil' puddinhead, Tatiana decides to sing Whitney Houston's "Saving All My Love for You" again. But this time, she blew the hell out of the song and sang it better than last time. Plus, she actually looked really nice. But she might as well have been wearing a target for the slings and arrows aimed in her direction. To begin with, when the camera panned to the judges' table while Tatiana was singing, it was clear they weren't even listening to her. In fact, Simon was playing his little torment games with Paula. When Tatiana stopped singing and they turned on the judges' mikes, the first thing we heard was Paula loudly saying to Simon, "Oh my god, stop that!" Paula starts the critiques, but Tatiana is talking more than Paula is, telling Abdul how much she loves her. Abdul is like the patron saint of the demented -- they all come seeking her out. But then, we guess it takes one to know one. Heh. Paula says she's not a fan of people who repeat songs, and that it started a little shaky, but then when Tatiana got into her "frikking" power voice, the judges all started looking and said, "Man, she can sing." Simon says, so what happens if you make it to the next round? You'll just sing the same song again? He then torments her over and over about why she's singing the same song and why she didn't pick another song. (Of course, 'cause the fix is in, five minutes later he doesn't ask Anoop the same questions after Anoop repeats his song.) Randy lies and says it started off really rough, adding there were some good moments and some not so good moments [as opposed to, hmmm, who? Megan? Who had only bad moments but will get chosen anyway?] Kara jumps in with, "It's like 'The Adventures of Tatiana,' I don't know what this is. Like today this is a new personality. Like who's this one? ... But at least she's not crying and holding her heart." Simon chimes in "She will, she will." [Enough already! We get it -- the real reason she's here is for the histrionics]. And, in fact, she does, when they tell her she hasn't made it.

Watch video of Tatiana Del Toro singing "Saving All My Love for You"

Last up is Anoop Desai, who may be the most popular contestant to not, yet, make the Top 12 13. He, like Tatiana, decides to sing a song he's done before: Bobby Brown's "My Perogative." And ya' know what? It's wasn't that great the first time, nor was it any better the second time. But who cares? What does that matter? It's all a game anyway. Simon tells Anoop he's like an enthusiastic dog (that's a compliment, right?), then says, "Again, not the best singer we're going to hear, but people like you. That's important." But Simon, as you've drummed into our heads, time and again, it's not a liking competition, it's a singing competition. Next came the evening's biggest tell of all: "I think one of the biggest jobs we have tonight is that we've got to 'cast' this next stage, you know, so we're not just going to put the good boring singers through, we've got to put some mediocre singers personality through, as well." Randy acknowledges that it's a song Anoop sang before, but lies and says it's better this time. "So I'm OK with people repeating songs, but you just got to slay it. And you slayed it." Not. Kara says, "This is the best you ever did it," adding that she wanted to get up and dance. Paula calls him a showman and tells him that he's "whipping out moves that are a little nasty there." She adds, "The truth is the producers everyone loved that performance." She does warn him "you need to be really careful in picking your songs" (Paula, do you know something we don't yet know? Like he'll be picking more songs? Ha!) and "For this one time I'm glad you went back and picked this song." Yeah, right.

Watch video of Anoop Desai singing "My Prerogative"

After that, the judges eliminated or put through the contestants.

Watch video of Wild Card judges' choices: Jasmine Murray, Ricky Braddy, Megan Corkrey, Tatiana Del Toro

Watch video of Wild Card judges' choices: Jesse Langseth, Von Smith, Matt Giraud, Anoop Desai

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