It was sorta predictable to see three girls in the danger zone yesterday on American Idol ...
Ramiele Malubay, Kristy Lee Cook and Brooke White failed to impress the audiences and thus were the ones with the least votes.
But the girl with a ticket home was Ramiele Malubay ... she was upset and started crying ... yet, when she performed her version of Dolly Parton's "Do I Ever Cross Your Mind", she did better than the day before! Astonishing, no? Maybe if she sang it that way, she would have stayed on the show, you never know!
Where you surprised to see Ramiele leave?

Dolly Parton also performed on the show, she did "Jesus and Gravity" from her "Backwoods Barbie" album.

That leaves us with the elite 8!
How will they perform next week? and who will the elite 7 be?

No introductions today ... I'll get right to it ...
The Top 9 performed their versions of the legendary Dolly Parton songs.
Each contestant puts his/her own stamp on the songs and it's all done with supervision of the lady herself, Dolly Parton!
The first to sing was Brooke White, she played the guitar as she sang Jolene.
Brooke sang well, and the song suited her voice, but she didn't give anything new!
Her performance was too simple and lacked in emotion.
The second to sing was David Cook, who chose to do Little Sparrow.
His arrangement of the song gave it a new spirit yet kept it's Dolly soul.
The judges praised David and Simon gave him a big 'Congratulations'!
The third to sing was Ramiele Malubay and she did Do I Ever Cross Your Mind.
Her performance was bland and as Simon said, totally forgettable!

Last night wasn't such a romantic night for American Idol 7 contestant Chikezie ... he got voted off and his singing journey came to an end! He's the first of the Top 10 to leave.
Chikezie was in the danger zone with two others, Jason Castro and Syesha Mercado.
But, it wasn't such a great surprise that he was the one with the lowest votes. He was warned many times by the judges to tackle the songs with his own character and give them a Chikezie twist!
As for his last performance of Luther Vandross's If Only for One Night ... that definitely brought his idol journey to a dead end! Simon described that performance as 'Cheesy'!

There was another contestant with all the spotlights on yesterday ... and the whole thing wasn't related to singing! Carly Smithson put a rumor which has been circulating about her to sleep.
It was reported that she and her hubby were expecting a baby ... meaning she was pregnant! But she said: "Apparently, I'm pregnant ... But I'm not, no, I'm not."

So, what will the Top 9 sing next week? And who will be leaving next?

The Top 10 American Idol contestants took to the stage last night to sing songs from 'The Year they Were Born' ... which obviously means more songs from the 80's!
A few weeks back the contestants sang 80's songs and there were great performances as there were lousy ones!
But ... how did the Top 10 do last night?

The first to go was Ramiele Malubay and she sang "Alone" by Heart from 1987.
The judges thought she did kinda' fine and may survive this week.
The second to go was Jason Castro and he sang "Fragile" by Sting from 1987.
He did good, but hasn't offered anything new for a couple of weeks now ... he might be in danger!
The third to go was Syesha Mercado and she sang "If I Were Your Woman" by Gladys Knight from 1987.
She did great! Even the judges thought that was her best ever performance yet!

The rules of the game state that every week one contestant must leave ... and this week it was Amanda Overmyer's bad luck!
Millions of Idol fans voted for their favorites and that left an all-female line-up in the danger zone! Amanda Overmyer, Kristy Lee Cook and Carly Smithson were up there with the least votes.
It seems this time, the audiences and the judges agree that those three are the weakest ones ... when Ryan Seacrest asked Simon if the audience did well with the voting, he replied: "Two weeks running, yes."
But Overmyer wasn't so sad and down about the results, it seems she's content with the spot she's reached, she said: "It's been a run, number 11 out of all them people was more than I could ever expect."
So, it's down to the Top 10 now ... those contenders will be going on the Idol tour.
What will happen next week? ... The competition is getting hotter and harder every week!

I don't get it ... last week the Top 12 contestants went through the Beatles songbook and don't get me wrong, but they badgered those songs quite enough last week!
Why would there be another night for more Beatles songs to be mistreated?
I have to say, not all contestants were that bad, but some were really bad and you know it!
I totally agree with Simon, who said yesterday: "This is a very weird show tonight, and I'm not sure it was such a good idea doing Beatles again. Because we had such a great memory from last week, and this is all getting a bit strange."

In all cases, let's get to the 11 performances of last night ...
The first to sing was Amanda Overmyer and she did "Back in the USSR".
Her singing is just the same every week! She's not giving anything new, thus her performance wasn't at all surprising, but very predictable.
The second to sing was Kristy Lee Cook and she did "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away".
Kristy hasn't heard this song before ... and it shows! She didn't do good.
She's trying her best, but each time it's obvious that she can't handle the stage and the band!

The first finalist left American Idol 2008 last night ... was it a shocker?
David Hernandez was the unlucky contestant to be voted off and it seems that was no surprise to him nor to the judges.
Although he did good during the past few weeks, Tuesday's Beatles theme brought him down.
His performance of 'I Saw Her Standing There' wasn't good enough to move him up another week.
Commenting after his elimination, David said: "Honestly, things happen for a reason. We all have a plan, and on top of that you'll see me at the top. This isn't it for me."
The other two to be in the danger zone alongside David, were Kristy Lee Cook and Syesha Mercado.
It's down to the Top 11 now and the heat is on!

The Top 12 contestants of American Idol 7 performed Beatles songs last night, during the first episode of the finals. OH! We can't not mention the BIG new stage and the new lights! How important is that? I'm not sure, but pretty important for Ryan Seacrest!
The first finalist to perform was Syesha Mercado and she sang Got to Get You Into My Life.
She did good and even gave the song new character. Randy and Paula thought she did 'all right' but Simon thought she did 'better than all right' and that the song was a good choice for her voice.
The second finalist to sing was Chikezie and he sang She's a Woman.
He gave the song a rock edge and it was a hit! Randy, Paula and Simon all agreed that it was fantastic! Wow!
The third finalist to perform was Ramiele Malubay and she did In My Life.
She didn't gibe the song anything new and it was pretty boring! She stayed on the safe side, while she could have done better.

Four more contestants left American Idol 2008 yesterday night and that leaves us with the Final 12.
More than 36 million votes were cast on Tuesday and Wednesday nights and those votes decided which 4 were to pack their stuff and walk away.
It must be a horrid feeling having to walk away when they've made it this far; one step away from the Final 12!
The 2 guys to leave are Luke Menard and Danny Noriega!
The 2 girls to leave are Kady Malloy and Asia'h Epperson!

It's not a shock that Luke and Kady are out ... Luke makes a great model, but not a singer! Kady still needs to work on exhuming some charisma on stage!
But Danny was sorta' expected, his last performance wasn't that impressive!
As for Asia'h ... that was a big surprise! She chose difficult songs to sing, but did really good at them! She has a fantastic voice! ... Hard Luck Asia'h!

What did you think?

Last night on American Idol 7, the top 8 girls did their best to perform 80's songs and prove that they've progressed since the 70's performance of last week!
So, what did the girls sing and how did they do?

The first girl to perform was Asia'h Epperson and she did Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody". Although it's a difficult song and it's hard to match Whitney's performance, she did good. The song was good for her voice and her singing could take her to the final 12!
The second girl to sing was Kady Malloy and she did Queen's "Who Wants to Live Forever". That choice was the wrong one for her! She didn't give it the energy it needed and the song never really took off! It was a better performance than last week, but will it give her a place with the final 12?
The third girl to perform was Amanda Overmyer and she did Joan Jett's "I Hate Myself for Loving You". She did well and didn't ruin the whole thing! Simon even thought she did fantastic! He said: "I thought you absolutely nailed that song. In a way it was one of my favorite girl performances of this part of the competition". Wow!

This week's theme is 80's songs and the guys turn was up yesterday to show what they're really made of!
So, what did they choose to sing and how did they do?
The first guy up was Luke Menard and he sang "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" by Wham!
Luke didn't do that great ... Sorry ... but he sucked at that song! What did Simon tell him ... "I didn’t like it. I thought it was weak, a bit girl-y. I’ve got to tell you, there is no chance that you’re going to make it through I don’t think, even to the final twelve."
The second guy to perform was David Archuleta and he sang "Another Day In Paradise" by Phil Collins. David did good but not as good as last week.
The third guy to sing was Danny Noriega and he sang "Tainted Love" by Soft Cell.
I'm not sure what to say about his performance, but I'll take Simon's words for it ... "I thought it was horrible, the whole thing, absolutely useless."

It was some of a surprise yesterday as four more contestants were voted off American Idol 7.
The guys are the first to go through the sieve! The first guy to leave is Jason Yeager and it seems picking the wrong song to sing wasn’t the only reason .. According to Simon Cowell, he doesn’t stand out in a crowd! The second guy to leave is Robbie Carrico.
As for the gals, well, the first girl to be sent packing is Alexandrea Lushington.
The second girl to leave is Alaina Whitaker … as she hears the bad news, she starts crying.
She wasn't in shape to sing her final song, but is persuaded by Paula and the audience and manages to pull it together and perform.

Do you think it's fair that Alaina left, while Amanda stayed? Didn't Alaina do better than Amanda two nights ago?

When you want to bring out the best of your voice, you gotta choose the right song to sing ... and if you don't, then you've sentenced yourself to death! That's what American Idol is about. If the contestants don't sing the right song for their voice, then they get voted off and lose a chance of a life-time!
Last night, the Top 10 girls of American Idol 2008 did their best to bring out the best of their voices as they performed classic 70's songs.

The first girl to perform was Carly Smithson. She sang 'Crazy On You' and she did well, although she started off on the wrong pitch! Her performance was better than last weeks.
The second girl to go was Syesha Mercado. She sang 'Me and Mrs. Jones' and she turned it into Me and Mr. Jones ... The judges thought she didn't give it her all and that she could have done much better.
The third girl to sing was Brooke White. She sang 'You’re So Vain' and she was perfect!
The song was just right for her voice and she performed the song well. The judges loved it and even Simon said: "Brooke, I absolutely loved it."

Last night the Top 10 guys of American Idol 7 did their best as they performed some famous 70's songs.
The first to go was Michael Johns. He chose to sing "Go Your Own Way" by Fleetwood Mac. I love that group ... and Michael did a good job at performing their song. Although, this isn't all he's got to give, i think he did well.
The second to go was Jason Castro. "I Just Wanna be Your Everything" by Andy Gibb was the song of his choice. There was nothing special about his performance ... and his voice wasn't at its best!
The third to go was Luke Menard. He chose to sing "Killer Queen". His voice is excellent and did a great job with this song. He sang it perfectly but didn't add his character to it. But never the less, he didn't make any mistakes.
The fourth guy to sing was Robbie Carrico. He chose to sing Foreigner’s “Hot Blooded”. It was a solid performance as the judges would say, but it wasn't so fantastic!