American Idol Top 16- Top 8 Girls Perform- Watch: Siobhan Magnus, Didi Benami, Crystal Bowersox, Lilly Scott

Vote for your favorite in tonight’s American Idol Poll of the Day by clicking HERE.

Tonight’s the final cut for the girls before the Top 12, so hopefully that means the ladies will be bringing it.  I’m not holding my breathe.  Tonight’s show is only an hour, so I’m sure everything will be rushed.

Simon warns that this is the worst night to go, because everyone is so close.  And without any joking around, the show starts!

Katie Stevens- “Breakaway” by Kelly Clarkson- Wow, no interview packages this week.  I’ve yet to get all of the Katie hype, as I said last week, she sounds like she’s singing from the back of a cave.  Or her throat could be flegmed up, that’s also an option.  Either way, this is not Top 12 material.  It gets especially ugly when she break(away)s into the chorus.  Additionally, Katie is about as exciting as a nice platter of melba toast.  ”The song is too big for you.. It paled in comparison, like karaoke.. It didn’t work for me,” says Randy.  ”That was a great song choice, and you have a great voice.  I didn’t feel those words.. You were singing, not feeling,” says Ellen.  ”You have a great radio voice.  I don’t think you know who you are as an artist,” says Kara.  ”I think is confusing because we’re giving you all of this advice, and you’re taking the advice.  You just don’t know who you are.  You kind of sucked……… the energy out of it,” says Simon.  Highlight of the season for me was that comment by Simon; the long pause after “sucked” really had me thinking he was going to tell us she sucked.  C

Siobhan Magnus- “House of the Rising Sun” by The Animals- At this point, I’ll call Siobhan my favorite.  Woo, interview package for Siobhan!  She says she’s surprising her dad with this song because he taught her about singing.  Oooohh I little a capella opening for Siobhan tonight.  Wow, sing it Siobhan!  This is why I love her, you never what she’s going to do.  I will say that I liked last week more than this week, but vocally she sounded great.  ”I love that you take every risk and every chance.. I don’t think you listen to us at all.. Keep doing that!” says Randy.  ”You are why I love music.  It’s supposed to do what you just did.  I was captivated.  You’re spectacular,” says Ellen.  ”I love the a capella vibe at the front.  You are so unique and different,” says Kara.  ”I wasn’t quite such a fan.. It was all a bit weird.  You didn’t do anything with the song.  I was underimpressed.  There were no moments in that,” says Simon.  Simon, shove it.  I think she was outstanding.  A-

Lacey Brown- “The Story” by Brandi Carlisle- I want to be Lacey’s friend, but I don’t know about this competition for her.  Having said that, this is her best by far since Hollywood.  She has a Dolly Parton-type thing going on vocally, and that’s cool.  Definitely her best so far, but still a little forgettable.  ”To me, the song was a little sleepy.  But it’s your best performance from me in a long long time,” says Randy.  ”I agree, your best performance to date.  I thought it was really good,” says Ellen.  ”Performances like this are why you got here.  Effortless.. your voice straight, front and center,” says Kara.  ”That to me was like listening to something on the radio.  You know where the cameras are, how to look.  I still haven’t heard the right connection yet,” says Simon.  B-

Katelyn Epperly- “I Feel the Earth Move” by Carole King- I really like Katelyn, but I definitely prefer her toned down performance last week.  The vocals are good, but I don’t like the midi-tone arrangement going on.  The end was weird, I blame that on the band.  Not as good as last week, but still good vocally though.  Unlike like last week, this one isn’t going to stick with me.  ”I like the hair, I didn’t feel the right connection,” says Randy.  ”You have a great voice, great look.  I don’t think that’s what’s going to make people pick up the phone and call,” says Ellen.  ”I felt like you were just going through the motions.  I didn’t feel like you were really competing,” says Kara.  ”I like your hair.  On the downside it was kind of like request night on a Friday night at a restaurant.  You sing it well, perform it well; but you chose quite a simple song and didn’t do anything special,” says Simon.  B-

Didi Benami- “Rhiannon” by Fleetwood Mac- Didi’s pulled the guitar back out, thankfully, and she did a good job with song choice.  This is Didi back in her element and it sounds great.  This is what makes Didi totally relevant in my eyes.  However, I don’t know how well her style.  ”A whole lot better than last week.  There wasn’t a wow moment in it, but I think that’s the person we fell in love with,” says Randy.  ”Yes indeedy Didi.  You were torn apart last week, but you came back and I like what you did with it,” says Ellen.  ”One of my favorite moments of the show so far this season.  When I saw the choice I thought you were out of your mind, but you surprised it and made it your own,” says Kara.  ”I have to agree with Kara.  I thought that was head and shoulders above anything else we’ve heard tonight.  For the first time you proved who you are as an artist.  The wow moment was the whole performance,” says Simon.  B+

Paige Miles- “Smile” by Charlie Chaplin- The beginning was emotionless, the rest of it was off beyond measure.  That was an epic disaster and it seemed like it lasted about 4 seconds.  There just aren’t any words to describe how terrible that was, and I feel bad because I think Paige has potential (judging by what the judges said pre-Top 24).  ”I love that song, it just didn’t work.  It was completely flat,” says Randy.  ”That song is supposed to be inspiring, it was just sad and heavy.  You have such a great personality and we just couldn’t see it,” says Ellen.  ”They’ve said it all.. It was all wrong,” says Kara.  ”It was a horrible choice of song.  The arrangement was awful.  Holiday Inn 1974.  You had so much potential because you have a great voice, but you have no idea who you are,” says Simon.  I agree, that was horrible.  F

Crystal Bowersox- “Give Me One Reason” by Tracie Chapman- Crystal brings out the electric guitar tonight, and that’s cool.  She’s got a great voice and she does a great job tonight.  She definitely knows who she is, but here’s my problem with Crystal:  You can’t criticize any of the contestants for being irrelevant in modern music without saying the same about Crystal.  She’s great and entertaining, but not really viable in today’s popular music.  There’s going to be no making Crystal sing pop-infused diva jams like Idol favors for its women.  ”This is what this show is about.  Love that, love you, love the song, that was hot,” says Randy.  ”I need new adjectives for you.  Best performance of the night,” says Ellen.  ”You know who you are, you know what you’re going to do.  I’m starting to see what kind of record you’d make,” says Kara.  ”You are million billion percent going to be in the Top 12 next week.  The most improved artist we have.  You’ve got confidence.  It’s yours to lose,” says Simon.  A

Lilly Scott- “I Fall to Pieces” by Patsy Cline- Lilly pulls out her mandolin, which is cool.  I love that Lilly plays all of these instruments.  I don’t think it was better than last week, but I’ll say that I actually like this better.  With Lilly, I think she’s got the quirkiest voice of the season and it could be too much for some, but I like herd.  ”I think it was hot tonight.  I think you’re in the zone,” says Randy.  ”I love your style, your originality,” says Ellen.  ”You made it contemporary,” says Kara.  ”That didn’t have the wow factor, cute, quirky.  It was risky,” says Simon.  B+

What do you think of tonight’s show?  Who was your favorite?  Leave a comment below or send an e-mail to theconservativejournal@gmail.com.  Don’t forget to bookmark The Conservative Journal and sign up for the RSS Feed and the daily e-mail newsletter.

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Thanks for reading!

Rick

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