American Idol TOP TWELVE

(Welcome to my "Watercooler Wednesday" post for Ethos....)

Here we are--What fun...here we are with American Idol's top 12!!! Blogging live again.

Amazing band, amazing audience, mosh pit--you can just feel the electricity in that place, all the way from Hollywood!!! Yahoo!! This is when it gets good (most of the time).

THEME: Lennon, McCartney songbook. Who are those guys? Oh yeah...I've heard of 'em. My favorite song from the Beatles is probably "Yesterday", or maybe "Eleanor Rigby", or...???

Syesha Mercado--"Got to Get You Into My Life"--Not too good for me, out of the gates. Pretty flat in a lot of spots, honestly. She has a great listenable tone, though. I really like the long middle range notes--they sound great. It got better by the end, for sure, but still some pitch problems. Pretty good for being the 1st one up, but she just left plenty of room for 1st place....

Chikezie--"She's a Woman"--You've got to be kidding me!!!I really liked the beginning (except he was trying to keep time, patting his knee or something, and it looked ridiculous). WOW. He really didn't hold back at all. Great song choice. I loved the lead guitar counter-melody things throughout it. Wow. What an entertainer tonight. BIG step up for him. I didn't think he had anything like that in him. Honestly. And he MIGHT be on speed or something. Or at least 4 cans of Rockstar energy drink. Wow. I'd hate to follow that performance.

Ramiele Malubay--"In My Life"--Major pitch problems out of the gates. Nobody will remember that at all, especially after Chikezie. Bad song choice. It was average at best, which will NOT cut it in this competition, at this point. Lots of pitch problems, and horribly forgettable.

Jason Castro--"If I Fell"--I like this guy. He's a good guitar player, to be that comfortable pulling off that song in that kind of environment with no glitches at all (and I really like his sunburst Breedlove guitar). I liked it. I can totally see him with a big following of Jason Castro groupies. He seems to be the real deal to me. Simple. Good. Solid musician. Likable.

Carly Smithson--"Come Together"--bartender/waitress...she's the average American musician (or WAS until this). You could tell that she OWNS that song. What a song. I still am convinced that some day, her vocal cords are going to explode. Great job. I expected nothing less. She is really, really good. For real. (and Simon winked at her...must be a good sign)

David Cook--"Eleanor Rigby"--another bartender...go figure.... Maybe my favorite Beatles song. Hopefully, he doesn't kill it. Good show. I liked the lighting. He lit the place up as well. Personally, it was taken a bit too fast for me, but a good job, obviously (he got the people up and jumping). The chorus shined. I was waiting for that moment. Really good job. Well done.

Brooke White--"Let it Be"--what a great song... I almost wished she had not looked up at all, as she was seeming really forced to look at the cameras, etc. It was average to me, at best. Certainly not the best she's done. Great lighting, for that intimate feel, though. Good lighting can absolutely transform a performance. She did OK, to me. She loves to sing good songs. That's cool. Sincerity shines through, if you like that kind of thing (and I do, of course).... I like her, even though it was not that great of a performance for me.

David Hernandez--"I Saw Her Standing There"--Good singer, for sure, but the opposite of the sincerity of a Brooke White. It was good, but felt trite or something (maybe just following Brooke). Something was just off for me. I can't really define it exactly, but just not right. The judges may have it right--too much for the song, maybe. He tried too hard.

Amanda Overmyer--"You Can't do That"--She's getting a little old to me, but she's good, for sure. Probably a good song choice, but I've never heard it (could have picked a song that more people would at least know). Harley Davidson is getting a lot of great marketing from her. They should give her a bike. Solid performance.

Michael Johns--"Across the Universe"--Average performance, for him, but above average compared to many performers. Solid job. I didn't like notes sung on the last word. He's a great, well-seasoned performer, but not his best showing. I still like him, and he's safe as can be.

Kristy Lee Cook--"Eight Days a Week"--She's still here because she got the country music vote last week. Tonight, I don't think they'll vote for her, anyway. It was not good. That song did not work at all with that kind of change. It seemed trite, like David H's performance earlier. WAY too fast. Yuck. She may have bought a ticket to the front row of next week's show with that performance. She's not good enough to stay in the top 12.

David Archuleta--"We Can Work it Out"--Seemed forced to me, and HE JUST FORGOT THE WORDS...no way! He just FELL APART. I think he's safe as can be, still. He's probably just experiencing the "I'm 17 years old, and have a lot of people watching me" factor. He tried to come out, and do something different, like they asked for last week. It just didn't "work out" for him tonight. Certainly his weakest performance yet, but again, he's safe as can be, no doubt. Maybe even safer after that showing, because his loyal fan base will feel sorry for him, and vote like gangbusters.

Predictions: Leaving tomorrow night will be Kristy Lee Cook (most likely) or Ramiele Malubay.