American Idol 9, February 23: Blowin’ in the Wind

Our top 24 singers are all on stage, staring each other down and probably making Ryan feel uncomfortable. Tonight we’ll hear from the 12 girls, then tomorrow from the 12 guys, and on Thursday, four singers will be sent packing. As a reminder, our top 12 girls are Paige Miles, Ashley Rodriguez, Janell Wheeler, Lilly Scott, Katelyn Epperly, Haeley Vaughn, Lacey Brown, Michelle Delamor, Didi Benami, Siobhan Magnus, Crystal Bowersox, and Katie Stevens.

Ryan warns Big Mike to be careful when he applauds because his arms are so huge. Then he reminds us of the process over the next three weeks. We get reintroduced to the judges; for the record, their order is Ellen, Randy, Kara, and Simon.

Ryan notes that Simon said in a newspaper that this is the girls’ years. Simon says there’s an interesting mix and a close group. He’s seen some rehearsals and some girls were good while others weren’t. That’s fascinating, Simon. Ryan asks Kara if America knows this group better at this stage than we usually do. Kara says yes. Randy reminds the singers that it’s really starting now. They need to be great or they’ll be mad at themselves.

Ellen tells the singers not to be mad at themselves. She knows that this is the time to get the audience interested. The singers need to be what they need to be because next week, they might be gone. Ryan addresses Ellen’s change in seating, and she says it’s because Simon wants her and has a problem with wandering hands. She shows us fake footage of Simon putting his hand on her leg, edited together with actual footage from a group performance. Portia de Rossi’s going to put a horse’s head in Simon’s bed.

The theme for the next three weeks is “the Billboard charts” (AKA sing whatever you want). Paige is 24, from Naples, Florida, and a preschool teacher. She laughs over the change between dealing with kids and being on the show. She loved her final Hollywood performance, partly because she was with Michael Jackson’s backup singers. We see her singing “Living for the City.” Paige says she went to another planet and really showed who she is. She feels like she can only get better from her.

Paige sings “All Right Now” by Free. Her voice is thinner than we’ve heard before from her. I think she’s starting out light so she can blast it later, but it doesn’t quite work this way. It’s not the powerhouse performance she really needs right now. Paige can sing, there’s no question, but this isn’t the right song choice for her. There’s little energy. I don’t think people will remember her, which is especially bad since she’s the first to go and 11 people will be following her.

Simon learns that he’s going first, then asks Paige how old she is. He thinks she has the best voice out of all the girls. However, he wouldn’t have chosen that song because it’s a wedding-singer-type song. She should have done something more original and made a bigger impression. Simon also wants Paige to believe that she’s a star. She should be fine, but she needs to be more careful with her song selection.

Kara disagrees; she thinks the song was a good choice because Paige got to put her soul into it. Her only criticism is that Paige didn’t do enough with the chorus. Randy agrees with both Simon and Kara. The song choice was wrong because it’s more of a group song, but Paige did show off her big choice. Ellen thinks Paige was very present, especially for how nervous she must have been for going first. After Paige’s rehearsal, Ellen thought she might be in trouble, but she pulled it off.

Ryan chats with Paige about how she’s sewn into her outfit. Is this Project Runway?

Ashley is 22 and from Chelsea, Massachusetts. She’s a student. She didn’t realize Simon was a goofball. We flash back to Ashley’s audition, when Simon made fun of Jordin Sparks’ “Battlefield,” which Ashley wound up singing for her final Hollywood performance. Somewhere, Jordin is laughing all the way to the bank.

Ashley goes for another Simon-related song, Leona Lewis’ “Happy.” Wow, she looks like she could be Eva Longoria Parker’s twin tonight. The beginning of the performance is okay, but when she gets to the chorus, it goes downhill. Pitch problems, little energy… eh. Boring. The chorus has been rearranged, too, so she’s not going for the high notes, which makes her sound lazy. I still don’t get Ashley. Some people think she’s a shoo-in for the top 12 (or at least they did before this performance), but I just don’t see it.

Kara says Leona is like the Mariah Carey of our generation. I thought Mariah Carey was the Mariah Carey of our generation. There were good moments, but also not-so-good moments. Kara wants Ashley to take on songs we wouldn’t expect her to sing and do them well. Randy warns that Ashley will always be compared to big singers, so this didn’t do her any favors. He didn’t see Ashley in this performance. Well said, for once.

Ellen likes the song but would also like to see Ashley take a risk and do something unpredictable. Simon adds to the criticism by saying the performance seemed “clumsy.” He didn’t like the arrangement. He feels like Ashley’s going backwards and isn’t original. He doesn’t see her as a contemporary performing artist.

Ryan tries to take some of the sting out of the comments by urging Ashley to come back next week and crush it like she’s crushed it in the weeks leading up to this.

Janell is 24 and a wine sales rep from Orlando. We’re reminded that Simon didn’t like her much at her original audition. She was shocked to win him over in Hollywood. Tonight Janell wants to do what people say she does best – light up on stage and show the viewers that she’s supposed to be here.

No guitar? Boo. Janell sings Heart’s “What About Love.” It seems rushed. She has pitch problems, too. Her voice also sounds thin in places. Nice effort, but not great. At the end, Janell’s hands are shaking, so she’s clearly nervous, and it comes through.