American Idol 4, March 1: It’s Ladies Night and the Feelin’ Ain’t Right

Janay Castine – “Hit ‘Em Up Style”

Randy – “Wow, that wasn’t very good. A little rough.”

Paula – “It wasn’t bad. You were a little disconnected and not committed to the performance.”

Simon – “There are times when you sing that you look as though you are watching a horror movie! You’re like a little doll who’s been programmed to be a pop star. You just not experienced enough. I think in two or three year’s time, fantastic. I think you’re too young.”

Donna – I’m sorry, Janay, but Simon is right. You have the talent, but you need seasoning, and only time can give you that. I wanted you to do well tonight because I think you have a really unique voice. Why am I addressing her directly? Because I think that tomorrow she’s going to need all the positive vibes she can get.

Carrie Underwood – “Piece of My Heart”

Randy - “Listen, it’s really hard to do a Janis Joplin kind of joint. It was just okay for me. I still love you doing the kind of country-ish stuff.”

Paula – “Carrie, that wasn’t believable for me. I really enjoy you doing what you do. That wasn’t my favorite performance.”

Simon – “We loved you last week. The problem with this performance tonight was that it was reminiscent of what a local cover band would do. You looked stiff. You didn’t look comfortable up there. You lost some star quality tonight. It was very disappointing.”

Donna – Poor, perfect Carrie. She took a risk tonight and it fell flatter than a Kansas prairie. Countrified, this just did not work, at least not for her. Plus, I am sick to death of country tonight. Maybe this was just what she needed, though, a little reality check. You are not without fault, missy!

Vonzell Solomon – “If I Ain’t Got You”

Randy – “I’ll give you a ten for definite ambition because you tried a very tough, stylized song. You tried to take it somewhere and make it your own… didn’t quite make it most of the time for me, but at least you tried. I like you.

Paula – “Started off real good. You are a fun performer, very likable. I want you to focus on holding your pitch.”

Simon – “You are right, Paula. I think it was an overcooked performance. The whole thing was too much. I think you oversang it in the end and you went out of tune. Sometimes, less is more.”

Donna – Another Alicia Keys song? Is she becoming the Whitney of the 21st century? I sure hope not. Vonzell really did oversing this in an attempt to show us what she had. She certainly can sing, but she ain’t no Alicia, and shouldn’t try to be. This could have been her night, comparatively speaking, but she too fell short of the mark.

I am not pleased. Compared to the guys last night, the ladies were dull and uninspired. What happened? I think they misunderstood the judges’ advice, and in an attempt to be memorable, most of them overshot. It is understandable, I suppose, since we are only in week two of the semis. Maybe it is because I really did have high expectations coming off of last night.

As far as I’m concerned, tonight belonged to Mikalah Gordon. She was the only real standout. Jessica Sierra would be second, and Amanda third. Nadia only finished fourth for me tonight with Carrie fifth. Vonzell rounds out my top six for the evening. The rest of them are a jumbled mess, but clearly, the two who should be sent packing are Janay and Celena. I can’t see it happening any other way.

But there is some good news. It seems that the “suits” at Fox really were listening to us after all, and Wednesday’s results show is only going to be a half-hour. No long, drawn out, hideous, humiliating dismissals this week, it would seem. This is rather remarkable, actually, in that the producers of this show have never really paid a lot of attention to viewers’ complaints. Cutting it back seems to be an acknowledgement at least. I mean, really, they have to eliminate four people. When you take into consideration the commercials, that doesn’t leave a lot of time.

The show starts at 9:00 p.m. EST. Be there… you won’t want to miss it.

Donna Reynolds is an Assistant Editor for the RealityNewsOnline family of websites and a freelance writer based in Syracuse, NY. She is also the creator of “That’s Entertainment,” a weblog on syracuse.com. Whether you agree or disagree, Donna welcomes your comments, and you can email her at foxydonna@earthlink.net.

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