Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Top 10 Girls: This Round Goes to Melinda...

Last week, the girls had nowhere to go but up after a dreary show with the guys. But since the guys brought it this week, the pressure was on. And some handled it well, while others cracked.

But one thing’s for sure. The battle of the dueling divas just got more interesting…

Here are my results:

Gina Glocksen, “Alone”: 12
This was probably a little harsh because I gave her a two in song choice. Never sing a song that another “Idol” contestant rocked the house with—in this case, Carrie Underwood.

Alaina Alexander, “I’m Not Ready to Make Nice”: 9
Here’s another tip: Stay away from songs currently on the charts. Not that it made any difference in this case since hardly any of it was on key.

Lakisha Jones, “Midnight Train to Georgia”: 18
It was nice to see Lakisha’s fun side and she’s still phenomenal; but my problem with this song has always been that there’s not enough of a chance for the contestant to showcase their voice.

Melinda Doolittle, “My Funny Valentine”: 20
Sorry, Constantine. No one is going to remember your version after this. Holy cow!

Antonella Barba, “Because You Loved Me”: 10
I gave her an extra point because she hit the high note at the end, but I almost took it away for her weak Jennifer Hudson argument for Simon. I don’t remember Simon being hard on Jennifer, other than for her clothes—which he was usually right about. And as I suspected, there was no mention of the pictures.

Jordin Sparks, “Reflection”: 17
Poor Jordin. She let the show’s stupid dedication idea get the best of her as her emotions messed up her singing a little bit. But she pulled it out in the end and the judges LOVE her—even Simon. I thought the arrangement really didn’t do her any favors either.

Stephanie Edwards, “Dangerously In Love”: 16
She reminds me of Latoya London from season three—and that’s not a bad thing. But the timing of this song sounded a little off.

Leslie Hunt, “Feeling Good”: 11
This is the same song A.J. did last night and he actually did it better. That scatting was atrocious—although it did produce Simon’s best joke of the night when he said it sounded like Paula talking.

Haley Scarnato, “Queen of the Night”: 15
Haley’s voice reminds me of Jodi Benson, the voice of “The Little Mermaid.” She has a nice voice, she’s just not street enough to pull off this song. However, I appreciated what she was trying to do so I gave her high points on song choice and she’s got great stage presence.

Sabrina Sloan, “All the Man That I Need”: 12
When will these girls learn to stop singing Whitney? It wasn’t horrible, it just wasn’t great for me.

So who’s going home? Clearly Antonella needs to go, but I think she’s got a really strong fan base, so she could end up staying. I think Alaina’s days are numbered, however, after butchering a current song. If Antonella doesn’t go, the second spot is a toss-up between Leslie and Haley.

And in the competition between Lakisha and Melinda, this round goes to Melinda…