Live blogging on 'American Idol' top 10 women!

9:30 p.m.: OK, everybody -- who's going home? My predictions are Amanda (who, unlike Dave V., I do like) and Alaina Whitaker. Who do you hate that will probably stay? And will you vote? Dave will post tomorrow night after the eliminations, and we want your comment then too. See you later!

9:26 p.m.: Asia'h Epperson was a cheerleader but at least she admits that's not especially surprising. She starts off slow and sad on "All By Myself" and misses the note on the first "by" in the chorus, right? I doubt my own ears after listening to these judges all night. Then she gets shouty! Randy says she did a really good job. Wow. I thought she was awful! "Ending brought it home," Randy says. Simon says she wasn't enough of a singer to pull it off, so she shouldn't have attempted the song. Ryan points out that if she doesn't take a risk, she gets criticized anyway!

9:22 p.m.: That "Moment of Truth" show is getting worse and worse.

9:19 p.m.: These judges are certainly ripping up these contestants. Yet tomorrow, will Ryan say, "The girls were ON FIRE last night!"??

9:12 p.m.: Kady Malloy sings opera, which sounds very pitchy to me. She impersonates Simon, which rocks. Her song is by Heart's "Magic Man" and she has some Easter eggs or something on the front of her top or dress or whatever it is, and another one on her finger. Randy says she was off note and the crowd boos him. Paula is nicer about it, but also says she has many hidden talents. Simon says he's struggling as much as she's struggling because her little film was great but she was impersonating Christina -- and WAIT! he never heard the song "Magic Man" before? Where the hey has he been? And why are we listening to him as any kind of a music authority??

9:07 p.m.: Alexandrea Lushington has been singing a long time. That's her secret. The song she's singing seems to be "If You Leave Me Now" by Chicago but it has all kinds of slowed-down and speeded-up things and notes here and there that seem extra and unnecessary. Who knows what these judges will say, though? Randy asks, "What'd you think?" and she says, "It's over!" He skewers her for making a safe choice but Paula likes the arrangement. Her mind wanders back to Day 1, when she started liking Alexandrea. Simon says that sing is "absolutely stuck in its time period" and YES! he notes that she was "in tune, out of tune," but somehow he found that boring! I found it terrifying!

8:56 p.m.: Alaina Whitaker is gonna tackle "Hopelessly Devoted," although without the headband and leg-warmers, I hope. Her secret is that she doesn't like the food on her plate to touch, although she calls it fewd. She thinks she's made progress because she no longer uses a different fork for each fewd. That's a little nutty! Although, truthfully, who like green-bean-water all in their potatoes? Nobody, that's who! She has an odd slouched posture when she sings, and her voice is sweet and a little country-sounding. Randy goes after her for the wrong song again, and it was pitchy, and too restrained, and just wrong for her. Paula says she is both young and mature. Simon likes her, but sees her grandmother's influence in her clothing and singing, pageanty, blah blah blah. "You've got to sort yourself out and become relevant," he says, possibly with the use of washing-up liquid?

8:47 p.m.: Amanda is a bookworm. She likes to read biographies .. huh! Oh, wait -- of rock icons she likes. That makes sense. That outfit and the hair are just distracting from "Carry On My Wayward Son" -- but that's good, because she's hitting all kinds of random weird quavery notes. She's really terrible! Randy says not the right song choice, "way too much melody in it for a bluesy girl." Paula praises her moves, a kiss of death. "You are a brilliant, brilliant artist, this was not the right song for you," she adds. Simon rips her "terrible hair," and what she wore, and the camera helpfully pans the hideous jeans from her feet up. Sister Mary Paula suggests she wipe all that makeup off her face. My prediction -- this will be the last week we'll have to be frightened by her.

8:43 p.m.: Amanda Overmyer is frightening me. My dog caught sight of the screen and ran out of the room yelping, tail between his legs.

8:38 p.m.: Is Kristy Lee Cook the one who sold her horse? She does everything outdoors that guys do. Ohhh-kay. She launches into some rewritten version of Linda Ronstadt's "You're No Good." She is full of neck snaps and growly voices that sound slightly like gargling. Randy says it's 100 percent improvement over last week, when she apparently stunk. "It was pretty in tune," he says, damning with faint praise. Simon professes amnesia about last week but says "This week, I agree with the guys ..." What guys? Randy and his dawgs? Paula? Last week she was on five antibiotics and couldn't even hear what they were saying. Is this the biggest whopper ever told on Idol?

8:28 p.m.: Ramiele Malubay talks like a Smurf.  In the background we see Amanda Overmyer, who has made some tragic fashion choices. Like Sanjaya, Rameile studied hula dance. Not surprising. She does "Don't Leave Me this Way" with a piece of her bangs stuck RIGHT on the bridge of her nose. DIS-tracting. Randy slams her on song choice: "Keeping it real!" Paula felt "kind of the same way." "It just kind of LAID there," Randy adds, helpfully. Simon "astonishingly" agrees with Paula and dredges up the image of "ghastly weddings." Note to brides: Don't ever invite Mr. Happy to your wedding. That isn't what it sounds like, either.

8:18 p.m.: Brooke White has the most normal and unstyled hair of any person in this universe who ever attended beauty school. She sings "You're So Vain" while playing guitar and is VERY Carly-esque -- well, all except her voice. She seems to hit a couple of clunkers. This is a karaoke rendition, I think. Should I be worried that I'm starting to think in terms that Simon Cowell defines? Simon's mic is up and right after she finishes, you can hear him say "She was looking at me when she sang the song!" Randy says she was Carly-esque -- you read it here first, Dawg! Paula liked it for the familiarity, whatever that means, and then "I absolutely loved it!" raves Simon. There is so much emphasis on song choice here tonight -- as if that's a vital part of pop singing success, which -- is it?

8:13 p.m. p.m.: The nation is NOT surprised to find out that Syesha has done a lot of commercials. Her baby cry is very strange. She does a soft smoky "Me and Mrs. Jones," turning it to "Mr. Jones" so as not to offend heterocentric voters. It's downtempo but I like it -- will the judges? Randy says no, not a great song choice. Songs with soft little moments "go nowhere for me," he says. Paula encourages her to power and not fall off pitch. Simon thought it was a bit indulgent to rewrite the song, and it wasn't designed for her voice. How was this interpretation diffreent from Wonder Boy David Archuleta's take on "Imagine" last night??

8:05 p.m.: Carly Smithson certainly was ... jiggling there. "Crazy" by Heart is her choice. She can hit the notes, and Randy says the beginning was a little rough for him, with some sharp pitch problems. "It was a'ight, man," he says. Paula has a red bendy straw in her Coke glass and lauds Carly for being healthy. Simon says it was a much better performance than last week, and while he thinks she's an incredible singer, she hasn't yet chose the right song for herself. He starts his old gripe from last week: that she was  cabaret, old-fashioned, blah blah blah. Carly said she told her husband that no matter what happens, she wanted to sing Heart on the show, so now she can die happy or something like that. Well, not exactly.

8:00 p.m.: Seacrest is rocking the open-collar, no jacket look! Oh, Ryan! I loved your tiny narrow-lapeled tightly buttoned jackets! Is that Robbie Carrico or Kid Rock? What tha HELL is Amanda Overmyer wearing?? I don't think they should call Simon "Mr. Happy."

Bring on the interchangeable blondes!

-- Anne Neville

Comments

[Sal]

The guys were "on fire" last night? Really? Are these the most talented guys ever?

[Sal]

Carly sounds good. Not sure if she's "on fire" but she's really
belting it out with a strong voice. Beats all the guys.

[Anne Neville]

I thought the guys were a dim bulb last night! The world lauds David Archuleta, but soemthing about him disturbs me. He'll be at least as big a star as Jordin Sparks, I predict!

[Sal]

Syesha can belt it out, too. So far either of the first two could beat the best of the guys.

[Sal]

Brooke has a strong voice, too, but the guitar doesn't add anything.

[Anne Neville]

Was Brooke a genius? How was that not karaoke and an impersonation of another artist?

[Sal]

Rameile has an unpleasant speaking voice, so her singing voice is a surprise. She's not bad. Not the best, but still better than any of the guys.

[betch kelly]

I'M BAAAAACK!
Carly got veneers.
Simon keeps doing the Bullwinkle thing with his hand.
The lyric is "as you watched yourself gavotte" not whatever Brooke said. It's an old dance. Lyrics.com and dictionary.com, people. (Apestry. First album I ever owned.Bought the CD Friday at New World Record.

[Sal]

Hey, where the heck is everybody? AdelleX, you're missing. Not much fun without you.

[Anne Neville]

yes, Brooke said cravat or something. She was singing it like she learned it phonetically (which, for all I know, she did).

[Sal]

No duds yet. Kristy has another strong voice. The girls are putting on a much better show than the guys did.

[betch kelly]

Oh brother.I thought I typed Tapestry, not APESTRY. DOH!

[Sal]

Amanda doesn't scare me. I liked her performance.

[betch kelly]

Overmyer's hair gets scary every week. Wonder what Brooke thinks?
OK, wait. Too much melody???

[Sal]

At least Amanda isn't an interchangeable blonde. I don't think she should be so heavily criticized for trying something different in the looks department. I hope she gets a chance to come back because I'd like to see if she takes the advice to forget the makeup and clothes and be bluesier. I'm afraid, though, that she may have painted a target on her back.

[u betcha]

Do you think Kristy Lee can write her name in the snow like guys do?

[Sal]

Gawd! Obsessing about food on her plate not touching other food. That's even more contrived than Amanda.

[u betcha]

ANNE! Alaina doesn't like veggie juice to run all over her plate!!!

[u betcha]

These 10,000 BC guys have dreads, just like Jason Castro's.
Where is AdelleX??? Libby56? Dave V, where did YOU go?

[Anne Neville]

Show of hands: Who DOES like vegetable juice running all over their plates? Thought so.

[AdelleX]

Hi All! I'm working tonight, so I can't stay, and I can't watch AI. :( I'm sooo disappointed, though, that Amanda didn't blow 'em away. I'm TOTALLY rooting for her --just because Dave V. hates her so much (I still say he doesn't like her, simply because she's not a dainty little girly-girl dish). ;-)

I want her to stick around, and I don't even care WHAT the hell she sounds like! Am I allowed to say hell?

[Sal]

Alexandrea wasn't nearly as bad as the judges seemed to think. And I liked the song choice.

[Sal]

Having trouble hearing Kady over the band and the backup singers. Maybe it's a bad song choice for an opera singer.

[bethcy]

Simon LIKED Alexandrea's outfit???
The Heart sisters are hitting the drugs big time listening to opera girl's flat cover of this song. Yow. See ya, honey.

[betchy]

No one like bean water, but some people like all their food to touch in a bowl.
Whols keeping the list of hit songs Simon has never heard?