As is always the case in Hollywood, the girls were much better looking but much less interesting than the guys. Based on tonight's Idol, Alaina, Alexsandrea, Asia'h, Ramiela, Syesha and Carly were the best singers, but only Alaina and Asia'h turned out truly entertaining performances. Paula and Randy did their usual annoying "What?!? routine when Simon, for instance, took Carly to task for not living up to her hype, but he was correct. She's obviously a great singer but I had no idea what type of performer she truly is, based on her song choice and delivery. And he was right, that mic bit was totally Celine Dion—if you're truly belting, holding the mic four inches further away from your face shouldn't make that big a difference, and besides, it should be the singer's voice, not her hand, that determines the sound quality. I did like that the chick said "Sick is not an excuse" but otherwise, no, she didn't perform like the ringer everyone's accusing her of being.
As for the others, I thought Syesha comes off being a bit of a phony (she is an actress after all), Ramiele seems like beneath her cute exterior she's not very warm and fuzzy, and Alexandrea, on the flip side, came out with a really fun performance but on second viewing it wasn't as strong technically as it first seemed. Maybe her '80's mime outfit threw her off.
As for the other girls, they were just eh, and no, I don't think being sick is an excuse unless you physically can't get up and sing. Kristy Lee Cook sang the way Britney Spears danced at the VMAs, plus she did that awful squatting thing that girls on Idol seem to do so often when they perform. Joanne is beautiful but she couldn't hit a note. I am not convinced that Amanda Overmeier, who looks 20 years older than she is, belongs in this competition—she might be 'authentic' but she completely is a one-trick pony and I was amazed that Simon didn't tear her apart more for that song choice. Speaking of which, I love "Where the Boys Are" and still remember how Kimberley Locke killed it many seasons ago, but Amy Davis almost ruined it for me. Brooke, I think, picked a lousy song (although she improved upon David Cook's version of "Happy Together" from last night) and Kady Malloy is clearly talented but she brought no spark.
The one thing that Amanda Overmeier does seem to have is a fresh female style and persona, because while the boys seem to get away with more personal appeal, the girls seem usually to have to stick to their talent to get by, unless you're Kellie Pickler in which case it's your idiocy that makes you famous. So I hope either Amanda steps it up or the girls take her cue and find their own personalities, because so far they're not incredibly fun to watch.
Grade: B-
Stray observations:
—Simon was right, Paula's advice on how to handle nerves (to paraphrase: "to hope to do pretty good and just give thanks for being in this industry") made no damn sense. But neither did a lot of her comments tonight, except for the joke about Simon living in a black hole—we'll give her that.
—Could the boys look any less enthused to be clapping and swaying to the music? They had "contractual obligation" written all over their faces.
—Let's take bets on which of these girls will be the first to be embarrassed by some leaked-out sexy pics or video.
—When the hell are we watching this show? Unless I'm wrong, Ryan instructed me to tune in on Monday for results but the FOX site says that Idol is on tomorrow. This lunar eclipse is scrambling someone's brain.