American Idol

Up first is Katie Stevens with Breakaway, and from the outset, she's trying too hard to sound like Kelly, instead of making the song her own. Again, this isn't about singing songs you like from the radio. If we wanted to hear this, we'd just put Kelly Clarkson on our iPods, and I have. Luckily for her she's the youngest girl still there after Haeley Vaughn left, but this isn't boding well for her.

Randy Jackson admits they say it a lot, the whole thing about taking songs that are too big for you. But Kelly is one of the greatest contestants they've ever had, and this is one of his favorite songs written today, and Katie's performance paled in comparison, sounding karaoke, as Kelly is so good and so stylized. Ellen loves that Katie listened and did a younger song choice. She thinks it was the right choice, and Katie does have a great voice, but she's young, so she didn't feel her breaking away and taking a risk. It's about personality, even though it's a singing competition.

Kara tells Katie she has a great radio voice, but what's going on this year is some people know themselves and some people don't. She doesn't think Haeley knows who she is yet, and that's what we're seeing week to week, her stumbling and trying to figure it out. She does have talent, and the sound of her voice is almost years older than her. She needs the experience, and she'll get it, but the singing needed to be perfect and wasn't. Simon thinks it's been confusing for Katie, as she's gotten a lot of advice, and to be fair, has taken the advice. She looks 100% better than a few weeks ago and chose a younger song, but she hasn't worked out the type of artist she wants to be. To start again with her, he would have chosen a different type of song. She sucked the energy out of the song a bit, making it gloomy, but he gives her a 10 out of 10 for trying.

By the way, Katie's mom looks like Lisa Kudrow. Maybe she turned up in Lisa's search on Who Do You Think You Are. Katie mentions she was only 8 years old when Kelly won American Idol. She took a bigger song which Randy asked her to do and did a younger song like Ellen asked her to do. The song does mean a lot to her, as she does come from a small town and is trying to break away. It's also the type of artist she wants to be. The problem is, Katie, Idol already has one Kelly Clarkson. You have to carve your own path.

Siobhan Mangus has chosen to sing House of the Rising Sun, because it's a special surprise for her dad. She grew up listening to him sing the song and play it on the piano. He's the first one to ever teach her about singing. Comparing them, she thinks he's the best singer she has ever heard, yet he thinks she's the best he's heard. This has to sound good with that big ole voice of hers. She starts singing it a cappella and shows great restraint in not totally belting it out. As the music comes in, she picks it up a little more, but still isn't belting it out. This has always been a favorite song of mine, and I can say without question, it's the best I've heard it.

Randy tells Siobhan that she knows he's already a fan, but he likes that she comes out every week surprising them. He loves what she does, because she takes every risk and every chance. They give her guidance, and she doesn't listen, but that's okay, as it's hot, and she needs to keep doing it. Ellen notes she's from New Orleans and knows that house. She tells Siobhan she is the reason she loves music, because it's supposed to move you and do what Siobhan just did to her. She was captivating and made Ellen love that she made it current.

Kara loved the a cappella at the beginning and found it to be a brilliant choice. She likes that Siobhan is so so unique and different, and week to week she's surprised. For someone who is an unlikely character on the show, she's doing great. Simon wasn't quite the fan of that, as he found the interview to what she's wearing to the performance to be a little bit weird. She didn't do anything different with the song, and he found her to be so much different last week. It was all a bit boring and dark.

Lacey Brown takes the stage singing The Story, and she really needs to show us who she is and what she can do, and do it well. I think she has the perfect voice for this song and seems to have finally have gotten more comfortable. Although her voice is going to need a specific genre every week, yet this is the most I've liked her, and much of that comes from her comfortability.

Randy tells Lacey that what's cool about this is while the song is a little boring and sleepy, it's her best performance for him in a long time. She gets big ole props and congrats on that. He forgot she had that break in her voice with the falsetto, but it was cool. Ellen agrees that it's Lacey's best performance to date, and it almost sound like it was written for her. She has such a distinctive voice.

Kara tells her performances like this is what got her to this point on the show. This was effortless singing and reaching to different points in her register. This is the type of record she needs to be doing. It was a brilliant choice and she's back on her path. Simon didn't love-love the song, but thought she sang it really well. It sounded to him like something you'd hear on the radio. Where she's very good is that she knows where the cameras are and how to look, making it feel like she's been doing it a long time. He still hasn't heard the right song yet, but Kara disagrees, thinking it was this song. In other words, she knows who she is as an artist, that thing Katie hasn't figured out yet.

Katelyn Epperly gets behind the keyboard and sings I Feel the Earth Move. It seems weird that with this song, talking about the earth moving, and with such a faster pace, she should be bopping around the stage, not stuck there. She doesn't seem to do anything different wit the song, either. At this point, we need different. See the notes about Katie.

Randy likes the Carole King here and that she's playing the Wurlitzer, but he doesn't like the vibe or connection with Katelyn and the song, making it all seem kind of put on. There wasn't anything special about it. Ellen asks Katelyn if this one is a guitar, after her gaffe last week calling a piano a guitar. As Simon said, we're getting down to final 12, and she isn't sure whether this song is the one that is going to wow people and make them pick up the phone, yet Katelyn has a great look and voice and is adorable. It wasn't enough, though.

Kara didn't feel Katelyn was competing; it seemed like she was just going through the motions. Carole King is one of the most connected performers, just in it and in the zone. She thought Katelyn had more of that last week and like she wasn't even playing this week. She doesn't know what happened and asks Katelyn if she does. Katelyn says she was trying to be less corny. Simon starts with the positive, and says he likes her hair, which happens to be just like her grandma's in the audience. On the downside, it was kind of like request night on a Friday night at a restaurant. Yet for what is the most important night of her career, she chose a very simple song and didn't do anything special with it, and others look like they're trying harder.

Didi Benami is onstage with a guitar, not a piano, and is singing Fleetwood Mac's Rhiannon. She sings it acoustically, and I can't decide whether I like it or not. I'm just so used to thee original version. I like acoustic versions of songs, so I'm inclined to like this, and she gets what some of the others didn't, putting the emotion into the song.

Randy tells Didi it was a whole lot better than last week, but he wasn't sure there was a wow moment in it. He wants to see her sing again, though, and this is definitely the reason she's here. That's the person they fell in love with in the first place, and while it wasn't her best, it was better. To that, Ellen says "Yes indeedy, Didi." What she likes is that she was torn apart last week, but got back up here and was smiling and singing. She was nervous for Didi, but even if she wins this, she'll always be torn apart by somebody.

This is one of Kara's favorite moments of the show so far this season, although she thought Didi was out of her mind originally for picking it. It just goes to show you no matter what you pick, song choice is important, but sometimes you can surprise them by showing what you can do with it. What she fell in love with hearing Did sing Terrified, and she did that with this song. Simon has to agree with Kara, thinking it's head and shoulders above everything else they've heard tonight. He thinks for the first time since the live shows she's proved she was an artist, and he disagrees there was no wow moment, saying the whole thing was a wow moment. He also agrees with Ellen about it being great to come back this week in such a big way.

Paige Miles is singing Smile, done really well before by Gina Glocksen and Ruben Studdard on the show. The problem with this is that Paige is singing way too quietly. It's hard to hear her. I don't think this is the right song for her at all, since she's failing to project. Eventually she kicks it into gear and sounds really great, but she may have already lost half the audience in the beginning.

Randy admits this is one of his favorite songs of all time, but tells Paige it just didn't work. It was way too big for her, and the melody is so important, as it switches, and then it turned into a bosa nova thing. He felt like he would be hearing Kara ask if they wanted the chicken, beef or shrimp. Ellen agrees, saying it was supposed to be inspiring and uplifting, but it was sad and heavy. She has such a great personality, but they didn't get to see it. She doesn't think this was the right song choice.

Kara doesn't know what else to say, as Randy and Ellen said it all. She asks if Paige knew it was the wrong choice, and is told it was an emotional choice for her, and it was hard for her to sing it,. She apologizes if it didn't work. Simon just repeats what the others said, saying the arrangement, to be fair, was awful, the kind of thing you'd hear in a Holiday Inn in 1974. He calls those peanut performances, as people aren't paying attention, just eating peanuts at the bar. It's a shame, as she had so much potential, as she has a great voice, but the problem is she has no idea who she is and what kind of artist she should be.

Paige explains to Ryan that the reason it was so emotional was because she's such a big Michael Jackson fan. In rehearsals, her emotions always got the best of her. She tried to keep it together tonight, but she admits the arrangement might not have been the best.

Crystal Bowersox sings Gimme One Reason and plays along with her electric guitar. It's interesting to note that Simon is tapping along with his hand on the desk, and that's a bigger moment than it sounds. The others are jamming right along with him. It's starts off mellow, then just really kicks in. She's radio-ready and so unique. She's not just imitating Tracey Chapman, but applying her own soul to it.

Randy tells her this is what the show is about for him. He loves her, loved that, loved the soul, loved the honesty. He's a fan and it was hot. Ellen needs new adjectives for Crystal, as she's sick and tired of saying she's amazing. She doesn't know what else to say about her, but it was the best performance of the night.

Kara says this is what they talk about when they say this is about knowing who you are. Every time Crystal, steps up there it's easy for her, as she knows what to do. It's a great song choice, more contemporary, and what she'd be doing on her record, making Kara really excited. Simon tells Crystal she is one million billion percent going to be in the top 12 next week. He would say she is definitely the most improved. Now she has confidence and has started to believe in herself, and she's the one the others have to beat, as it's hers to lose.

Last up for the night is Lilly Scott singing I Fall to Pieces, as she plays along on the mandolin. While I love Patsy Cline and can appreciate Lilly's uniqueness, I don't like the marriage between the two. It's when she gets into the Phoebe Buffet/Megan Joy territory. However, she is definitely performance-ready. It's who she is, and it's not always my cup of tea, but she's comfortable and doing what's right for her. But not this song.

Randy loved the mandolin and loved the song and original singer of the song. He felt it was hot tonight and that Lilly was in the zone. Ellen loves her voice and style. She loved her voice, the originality of the style, and loves her. Kara doesn't know how Lilly did it, but she kind of made Patsy sound current. It was contemporary. Simon thinks she's brave for choosing a song like that on a night like this. However, what the song didn't have was the wow factor. It was cute and quirky and plays to what she's all about, but it could have been a risky thing to do. Next to Ryan she's much taller than she appears when she's not next to him.