AI Semi-Finals -- Top 8 Girls

Well, it's only an hour-long show tonight, so already it's better than the last two weeks. That was a little bit of a weird opening. First, Ellen and Simon allegedly hate each other. Now, she's sitting on his lap.


Wow. We're starting really quick. No pre-song clip or anything.

Katie Stevens (Breakaway) -- This will be interesting. It's not like they can complain that Kelly Clarkson is old fashioned. This might be the worst she's sounded since we've seen her. It seems really flat to me. This is a disaster. And I'm not being biased because I love Kelly. I actually wish they'd do more of her music on the show, but this was awful. 4.0

Well, I disagree with Randy. I don't think it was even as good as karaoke. Ellen has taken over the incoherent babble of Kara from last season (maybe it's that seat; it would also explain why Kara is all of a sudden acting like Simon's girlfriend -- also because of the seat). I think Simon was trying to not bash her so badly that she'd get the sympathy vote. Her biggest problem is that she's an adult contemporary singer, but she's not even 18 yet.

Siobhan Magnus (House of the Rising Sun) -- This is an interesting song choice. She sounds about 10 times better than last week (except that last note she hit like a crazy woman). She's way more in control of her voice tonight. Maybe more than most of them have been all season. I wonder if the song will be good enough to get people to vote. She did an outstanding job with it though, I thought. 8.25

For a second I wasn't sure where Randy was going with his comments. I can't believe Simon is going to bash her after going so soft on Katie Stevens. Maybe he's being cagey.

Lacey Brown (The Story) -- I'm completely confused by this one anymore. Is she as good as she was in Hollywood or as bad as the last two weeks? I don't really know this song at all, so it's hard for me to get a real gauge on whether she's "made it her own." It was not very exciting. She sounded very good this week though. 7.5

The judges are sooo boring this year.

Katelyn Epperly (I Feel the Earth Move) -- I thought Carole King would be a good choice for her, but now I'm not sure. Other than Siobhan, no one has really brought their A game so far tonight. She sure hasn't. Although, I have never thought she belonged here anyway. This was just OK. 6.5

Randy said about what I was thinking, which is so rare. I totally agree with Kara that it looked like she wasn't even playing the keyboard. I wanted to write something about that, but I thought maybe it was just a bad camera angle so I didn't want to bash her for it. These poor contestants are slaves to the judges' comments this season. Why don't they just do what they do? IT seems like none of these people know who they are at all.

Didi Benami (Rhiannon) -- I don't care what anyone says about her, I love her. I love the sound of her voice. And this is exactly what I loved about her in Hollywood. She's just so understated and simple, but she's always connected to the song. LOVE HER! But that said, I'm a little concerned that other people might not get her. I loved it, but I'll be nervous until Thursday. 8.5

Wow, maybe other people DO get her. She's got to be on cloud nine after hearing all that from Simon.

Paige Miles (Smile) -- How is Smile on the Billboard charts? I still haven't seen anything to make me think this girl is as good as they've been telling us she is. She's got a decent voice. She's not going to make me forget Carrie Underwood. 5.5

Are you going to have the chicken, the beef or the shrimp? LOL! Oh my God! She looks like she's going to collapse in tears right there on stage. They need to stop now. Oh, and then she needed not to throw Ricky Minor under the bus with the comment about the arrangement not being good.

Crystal Bowersox (Give Me One Reason) -- She's already getting the Adam Lambert blue light special. They certainly can't tell her that she doesn't know who she is. You just have to look forward to hearing her every week. She never disappoints. Brilliant. Again. 9.0

One million billion percent? Is Simon going to say "for me for you" next?

Lily Scott (I Fall to Pieces) -- This is an odd song choice for her. Even when I like her, I think she's a novelty act rather than a star. Maybe she's going for the Cyndi Lauper vibe. Now, I'm going to say something that everyone will probably disagree with, because it's not that she's not good, but that song was too big for her. I love the Patsy Cline version and that wasn't even close to it. 7.25

In the zone? She didn't seem in a zone to me. Well, I was right. They all (but Simon) totally disagreed with me. I think she'll be safe though. She's not bad. But Simon was exactly right about it lacking wow.

I'm really surprised by the turn of events tonight. If you had asked me before the show, I'd have predicted that Katelyn Epperly and Lacey Brown would be going home. After seeing the show, I'm going to have to go with Katie Stevens (which is wild since I thought she would be top 5 in Hollywood) and Paige Miles. It's a shame for her too because it looked like she would be a throwaway going into the semi-finals, then she managed to make it this far only to blow it with that performance.

So, if I'm right, that would make the top six girls (in the order I'd rank them):

1. Crystal Bowersox
2. Didi Benami
3. Siobhan Magnus
4. Lily Scott
5. Lacey Brown
6. Katelyn Epperly

How did you all see/hear it tonight?\