AI 7 - Semi-Finals Round 3 - The Women - 3/5/08

Last night the final 8 women stepped on the stage to have that one last chance to make it to the top 12.

We are stuck in the 80’s and the contestants’ most embarrassing moments which quite frankly were completely lame, lame, and I shall say it again lame!

After last week’s disappointing performances these women better give me some powerful performances if they want to inspire me to vote this week!

Asia’h Epperson

Oh my god, are those purple leggings she has on with that pink looking bodice as a top. Girl this is not “Flashdance”.

Asia’h chooses “I Wanna Dance with Somebody”. Oh please not Whitney, do these contestants not watch prior shows. You can’t outdo Whitney. At least this is one of the easier Whitney songs.

First off what is up with that damn head-bobbing, it was annoying, distracting and she will need a chiropractor by the time the competition is finished. The band and back-up singers were overpowering her. I had to strain to listen to her voice. I think the vocals were okay but her voice is a little thin and she was having breath control problems. As to the performance, outside of the friggin’ head-bopping she seemed to be having fun so she was selling the number. This was just barely okay for me.

Randy – I recorded this number with Whitney (give it a break, we know you have industry credentials), it is a tall order but you proved you should be here, hot

Paula – I must admit I wasn’t sure you could pull off these big songs, you nailed it, you really nailed it

Simon – I am not quite as thrilled, at best it was second rate Whitney, you couldn’t sing the big note at the end

Kady Malloy

Why is Kady still here? She so should have gone home last week. Her earrings sucked and her clothes were wrinkled, what is up with that, they don’t have steamers in a studio, give me a break!

Kady goes with “Who Wants to Live Forever”, a Queen song, what is up with the song choices. Of all the cool female 80 songs, she picks this one! Oh my, her voice is so flat she could iron her clothes, this is totally awful, I want to escape and can’t. This is my fingers down the chalkboard moment so far. Please put me out of my misery. Surprise she finally hit a note and at least it is the power note at the end, a little too late my dear because frankly I don’t give a damn at this point. Kady just stood there and sang, she seemed to have no joy, and like this was the last thing in the world she wanted to be doing.

Randy – very interesting song choice, it was pretty good, you have problems with the smaller notes, you can’t quite get there

Paula – your best performance to date (EXCUSE ME!), I have to disagree with Randy, it is with the smaller notes where the tenderness/softness of your vocals come, it is magic

Simon – definitely better than last week but my problem remains you have no personality, you are like a robot when you sing, no emotion, like the Stepford Wives, you may be in trouble

Amanda Overmyer

At least Amanda toned down the hair and outfit. She actually looked okay. Amanda has chosen “I hate myself for loving you.” The band and back up singers were way overpowering her. In addition I still can’t understand a single word she said, she mumbles. Simon indicated Kady is robotic, I thought Amanda was totally robotic throughout this performance, it was as if she had no confidence, she cooled down the Taylor Hicks style of dancing thankfully. I just do not get her and I found nothing I liked about the performance.

Randy – this is the Amanda we love, the whole bluesy-rock vibe, well done

Paula – right song, you found your niche

Simon – this was fantastic, it was the perfect song and you absolutely nailed it, it was by far my favorite female performance of the competition so far (what the *&^%, is he crazy or high tonight, did he get Paula’s cup my mistake?)

Carly Smithson

Carly was looking exceptionally hot last night, she is a beautiful woman. Carly went with “I Drove All Night”. This was a great song choice for her and she totally pulled it off. It was a spectacular vocal performance. She was able to belt, she hit every note, and there was pure power and beauty in her vocals. In addition she was able to sell the potency/passion of the number. I got chills. This was by far my favorite performance of the evening.

Randy – you keep smashing it every week, I loved it, very good, great performance

Paula – you are a dependable dawg (Paula you can’t pull off being Randy and you so stuck your foot in your mouth), totally your niche, there are not enough adjectives to describe how great this was

Simon – I didn’t like the song choice, it is not a great song, you are a million times better then this song

Kristy Lee Cook

Kristy looked good this week. Kristy has chosen “Faithfully”. I liked the beginning of the number much better than the end. I liked how they gave it a countrified feeling but about half way through that seemed to disappear and her voice got kind of shrill and I think she was shouting more than singing. It was a disappointing ending.

Randy – naturally we have to hear about his love for Journey (yeah I get it), I love this song, I am very happy, it is a great song, I liked the country twang sound, you worked it out

Paula – this could be a country hit for you right now, you look great, love your positivity (what the hell)

Simon – I liked the country influence but you are still forgettable which is a big problem at this stage; at best I can see you coming in tenth.

Ramiele Malubay

Ramiele get the hair out of your eye, it is distracting to say the least. I almost fell out of my chair when I heard her song choice “Against All Odds”, tell me it isn’t so. This girl clearly has not watched the last 6 seasons of this show. Why does anyone not realize this song is a curse for AI contestants, there is not one contestant who has performed this song who has made it to the final two. I did not like Ramiele during her audition. She won me over in Hollywood and during the first semi-final round but after last week and this song choice she is losing her luster.

I did not like the performance. Ramiele was actually on-pitch through out and she does have a great tone to her voice but her phrasing sucked and she had horrible breath control. In addition her enunciation was not good which always loses points with me. This was barely okay karaoke for me.

Randy – another big song choice, pretty good vocal, you are thinking to much when singing, just go for it, have more confidence in your talent

Paula – you have a beautiful face, innocent, pure voice, there is texture in your voice, you deserve to be in the top 12

Simon – it was good but a bit old-fashioned, I didn’t hear the big money note, it was predictable and I am not jumping out of my chair

Brooke White

Brooke has gone with “Love Is a Battlefield”. This is an interesting song choice. Brooke is sitting at the edge of the stage singing to a single guitar but at least she is not playing, apparently having listened to the judges from last week.

I am not sure I really like this folksy arrangement. I will give Brooke chops for attempting this and just singing. There is a nice tone to her voice. The beginning was a bit rough and then she seemed to be okay in the middle and then it broke apart towards the end. I feel kind of lackluster about the performance, Brooke attempted something different and I give her credit but overall I just can’t say I loved it.

Randy – I liked it, I really liked it, very interesting

Paula – (let’s get over this throwing your credits in your face, I don’t care if you choreographed the video or not, this competition is not about your past glories) good choice but I wish you would have used the band more

Simon – I disagree, it worked because you didn’t have the band, you brought an original take on the song, it was unique, great performance

Sayesha Machado

I thought Sayesha looked exceedingly hot; does she have great legs or what? I didn’t like the outfit though. Oh no, not another Whitney song. Unfortunately Sayesha chose “Saving All My Love for You”. My oh my what are we in for? Generally her vocals were okay. I think she had some problems with the tempo and she didn’t hit the big notes, she was just under and was sharp. I really like Sayesha but she was hurt by song choice. She does have a great sounding tone to her voice over all. It was not the best way to end the show.

Randy – good, good

Paula – sophisticated, lovely

Simon – a bit predictable but good

Apparently we were running out of time, if the judges would get over themselves we might have had more time.

As far as I am concerned Carly walked away with the show last night. The rest of the performances didn’t really resonate with me.

I think Syesha and Asia’h are going to be canceling each other out eventually and who knows there may be a surprise exit tonight.

Outside of Carly I wouldn’t care if all the other women were voted out tonight.

It was a lackluster night of voting for me, Carly got 100 votes while Sayesha, Kristy, and Ramiele each got 25.

My guess for eliminations are Kady (please, please) and Kristy.

Until tomorrow…