American Idol: Top 8 Women

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Competition is definitely heating up this week as we are on our way to the top twelve remaining in the competition. This week we have sixteen left, and by the end of Thursday nights program, we will see two more ladies and two more men sent home. Tonight was the ladies night to shine, and shine they did. They made it very difficult for me to choose who would be sent home, and this is something I'm still pondering now as I write this.

The night opened up with a performance from Paris Bennett. She is one of the youngest in the competition, and she finally took the advice of the judges by choosing a more youthful song. I think this is the first time I thought she was just good and not great. As Simon said she'll make it through to the next round because of her past performances up to this point, but based on this performance alone I'd put her nearer to the bottom. Next up was Lisa Tucker. She performed well with a ballad, but I never even heard of the song before. She did well though, so that shouldn't show negatively on her.

Melissa McGhee was up next, and she sang a great song. One of my favorites in fact. Randy and Paula both gave her performance and song choice praise, but Simon is ready to send her packing this week. I actually really enjoyed her performance this week, and I would hate to see her go home. Next we had Kinnik Sky, and I think her performance tonight was the one I liked the least. It just didn't do very much for me, and I wouldn't be shocked if she was sent home this Thursday.

The next four came up and they all gave strong performances. Katharine brought us some Aretha, while Ayla brought us something new and on the charts now. Mandisa brought down the house with an old Chaka Khan hit and Kellie closed out the show with some Melissa. These women are all amazing performers, and I enjoyed each and every one of them. Out of the four, Ayla was probably the least of my favorites, but I think that might be the song she chose more than anything. I don't think it fit her.

Kellie is surprising me every week, and she has been one of my favorites all season. She's just adorable. Although I'm a bit confused by Simon's comments at the end of her performance tonight. I'm wondering if something happened when Carrie Underwood returned last Thursday night for him to basically blast her on tonight's show by saying he liked Kellie better. I think that comment shocked everyone, and if Kellie hadn't gone dead last we might have had some elaboration on that by Ryan and the others.

All in all, the women did great tonight, and I'm really hard pressed to pick two to go home. Kinnik is definitely on my list, but I think the other seven have all done well enough to be there. Check back here tomorrow night for my thoughts on how the men did.

Here are the songs performed on tonight's show, mostly available for download on iTunes:

Paris Bennett: Conga - Gloria Estefan
Lisa Tucker: Here's Where I Stand - Tiffany Taylor
Melissa McGhee: What About Love - Heart
Kinnik Sky: If I Ain't Got You - Alicia Keys
Katharine McPhee: Think - Aretha Franklin
Ayla Brown: Unwritten - Natasha Bedingfield
Mandisa: I'm Every Woman - Chaka Khan
Kellie Pickler: I'm The Only One - Kellie Pickler