Beatlemania and a little regular mania

Finally! The Top 12 are here, and I feel the pain of the 6 guys, 6 girls format, although if we could just get rid of the first 3 or 4 now and give the rest some exhibition weeks I'd be more than happy. The Lennon-McCartney songbook, predictably, came off wonderfully for some contestants and destroyed some others. Not everyone can do The Beatles. OK, on to last year's format. . . .

RANDOM THOUGHTS: That's an impressive set, complete with mosh pit and the backdrop with a secret entrance. What the hell was going on with Ryan last night?! It was like he was drunk or on some drug or something. Last night was the first time I've actually considered this thought: Bring back Dunkelman. It was a oh so very brief moment. It occurred to me that Ryan, as much as I enjoy him as host, is a complete attention seeker, so the new set, the hype, the fancy lights, Band-in-the-Stand, Brooke's shoes, etc., just had him drooling. Simon's right: Paula is disrepectful to him while telling him to be respectful. The banter is interesting but sometimes they just gotta let him speak. Interesting that they put Chikezie and Amanda in the Brand-name Cola Chair for interviews. Of all the contestants they could use the positive attention the most. OK, brief comments on the contestants.

Syesha Mercado: Snore. You're a working actress (Ouch to all of you "aspiring," a.k.a. "out-of-work" actors out there) and have done commercials on the beach. Blah blah. I was unimpressed.

Chikezie: I thought his southern jug band thing worked. Loved the interpretation. The pogo stick impression after the performance was a little much, but luckily The Great White Hope made him look "normal."

Ramiele Malubay: No more songs with personal meaning. We're not getting it. She's starting to slip quite a bit in my mind.

Jason Castro: Welcome back Mr. Six String. Solid performance from this one. Jason is definitely one of Simon's $$$ projects. He has a recordable voice and distinctive style, Simon's kind of package.

Carly Smithson: I don't know that this was exactly the "moment" Simon was looking for, but it was her best so far. The style suited her and she seemed to eat up being on The Big Stage 2.0.

David Cook: Wise decision to drop the guitar this week and prove he's The Man. Simon's praise is not misplaced, and he is a Daugtry-esque money machine if he can make it as far, which Simon is already trying to help along.

Brooke White: Her voice was off a touch at times this week but her complete love for the music and the experience is why she is so incredible on stage. The tears are real because she is the music. She is the lyrics. She comes off as the consummate performer. Brooke is definitely one of the few this year that really believes this is the greatest experience (not just career jump-start) of her life.

David Hernandez: No, no. No. Don't do that. No. The Small Stage--Circular Version. No. Danny would have been more interesting, that's for sure. It doesn't help that my wife has finally pegged who he looks like. "Hey, man, check it out. I got some great stuff to dehydrate here. I got some grapes, I got some apricots... I thought it would be really cool to see what happens with these water balloons. "

Amanda Overmyer: At least she seems like she wants to be on AI at this point. This is a vast improvement. Aside from being the "authentic Amanda," I didn't really like the performance. I don't find myself wondering what she'll do each week and will it work. She could provide some interesting entertainment on the tour, however so I can persevere for two more weeks.

Michael Johns: I largely agree with Simon on him. I liked the performance a lot. He definitely has a career in the music business, but he's not bringing a whole lot of "wow" to the table right now. He'll step it up soon once the dead weight is trimmed from the Top 12.

Kristy Lee Cook: I feel badly for this girl. She did what she thought the judges said to do. They are not always the clearest in their critiques.
"Dawg. You gotta, y'know, bring it. IT. Bring dat. YaknowwatImsayin'? Paula?"
"You're so beautiful. You need to exude this inner beauty and be the butterfly rising above the
cocoon. You know I love you."
"You'd be great doing country."

What is she supposed to get from this? She did country, but did it poorly. I think the arrangement had a strong back beat, and she was somewhere between on the beat and off. My instincts say she'll be back another week, but she needs to actually stop listening to the judges and just do what she wants.

David Archuleta: I was afraid of this. His youth hurt him on this one because he wasn't too aware of The Beatles and then picked a version by The Greatest Singer in the Known Universe(TGSitKU) (Randy's opinion, not mine). It came off like a Star Search performance and he came through as young, not "young and great." He'll be back. He'll stop singing Stevie Wonder, except for TGSitKU Week. He'll emerge again as a front runner.

MY TOP THREE: Brooke white, David Cook, Chikezie
MY BOTTOM THREE: David Hernandez, Kristy Lee Cook, Syesha Mercado
YOU SAY GOODBYE . . . AND SO DO I: David Hernandez