Itoshi wrote:

I thought she sounded great on this, it sounded like she is very at home
in this style. Her voice gets a little strident at the top of her
range, but that works fine for rock stuff. I don't know what Randy was
talking about, I heard no pitch problems in the beginning of the song.
In fact I thought she sounded particularly good on this part.

Itoshi no.spam.com> wrote in news:h_oxj.17051$0w.9513
@newssvr27.news.prodigy.net:

Pretty good.

Pretty good.

Meh. I really like Brooke in principle -- she's the most beautiful idol
contestant I can recall. But she's too "Lilith Fair" for me. Not
original, and I don't feel this performance was a patch on the original.

Semifinals Week 1 Girls Performances, broadcast on 2/27/2008

PRELIMINARIES
PERFORMANCES

Carly Smithson - "Crazy On You"

***Did an ok job. Didn't "wow" me like last week. Didn't care for the
shouting. Much like John's performance last night. Lead-off spot and
forgetable performance.***

Syesha Mercado - "Me and Mrs. Jones"

***Bad song choice. Way out of tune throughout the song, especially the
lower notes. I like this girl but was very disappointed with her sorry
to say.***

Brooke White - "You're So Vain"

***I am not a Carly Simon fan nor like this kind of music, but I really
dug Brooke's performance. I think Simon has a little crush on this gal
and SO DO I ! Love everything about her, sings well, great personality,
cute and her presentation is very classy. Great job!***

Ramiele Malubay - "Don't Leave Me This Way"

Itoshi wrote:

Thanks Itoshi..as always look forward to your recaps-you do a good job,
and you're usually quite fair on your critiques. Overall, I think the
gals are wearker than the guys, and just don't enjoy Wednesday nights so
much!

My opinions on all the gals are very brief. I just didn't find any to
get excited about, and certainly was NO "wow moments", though they are
an attractive enough bunch and have good enough vocals, but just see
"oh, hum!" I will say for me this was Carly's best performance, but
sure didn't care for the ending! I liked her outfit this week! :o)

Okay, so there was a flip-flop this week, where the guys were only so-
so and the girls were much better. I think the hype about this being
the best talent ever is true. Most of the girls were very good
tonight. (It also helps to not have stupid themes like "Songs by
artists that inspired Gwen Stefani.")

Carly Smithson - "Crazy On You"
They showed her at home, and she was putting covers on a twin bed.
That's either very sexy or very sad. I usually don't like her much,
but this was very, very good. I liked her high notes a lot. She has
a way of belting without annoying me. The song became a little boring
after a while, but overall this was really good. She was positively
breathless afterward. She's like a little Ruben Studdard! She looks
a lot better than she did last week. I think she might have gotten a
makeup stylist, or someone who coached her on not making ugly faces
when she sings and talks.

On Thu, 28 Feb 2008 02:27:25 GMT, Itoshi no.spam.com> wrote:

Very skilled, very good, very listenable, just what I'd be happy with
if I called central casting (or whoever) and ordered a singer, BUT she
didn't make it her own, y'know. Can she be a Star? She was a little
loud on the soft parts, but that's a minor quibble.

She's very, very good. Was a great song. And if the friggin' judges
would notice, the singer gets to really wail on the intros, talk about
yer big notes.

The judges are making less sense than ever, and that's pretty
incredible.

She's a very attractive performer, but certainly not the best voice in
the contest. "Beauty school dropout" is not exactly how I specify my
dream girl at eHarmony, but I really like Brooke.

She should lose the guitar, if that was ever her actually playing, and
I guess it was, she's barely a beginner at it, and the guy who picked
it up when she stopped playing, purposely played badly to match. Ich.

"Itoshi" no.spam.com> wrote in message
news:h_oxj.17051$0w.9513@newssvr27.news.prodigy.net...

Smithson: The only one I truly liked tonight. I still don't like the faces
she makes, but much better vocals. I also like the fact she works in an
Irish bar. I've never been in an Irish bar that wasn't a blast. :)
Seriously, she was much more relaxed and, for lack of a better word, real
tonight.

Grade A (but graded totally on the curve)

Mercado: She's funny. Interesting twist on "Me and Mrs. Jones." However,
I really don't like her low notes tonight.

Grade B-

White: Girl can't play the guitar...sorry. Oh, the voice. Off pitch at
times, charming personality, and pretty middle of the road. She's safe,
though. The song is one of those where the lyrics are far more interesting
than the melody.

Grade B

Happy Birthday good buddy!

* Am I going senile or did Simon *really* say he'd never heard Magic
Man before - Heart's signature song? Really? And you're judging 70s
music?

* Overmyer butchered Carry On Wayward Son - terrible song choice, poor
execution. I like the song and I like her - just not together. Her
perfect song IMHO would be Black Velvet if they do 80s week next week.

* Carly, Alexandrea, and Brooke were solid; they're not going
anywhere. Although IMHO Brooke was not as good as what the judges
said...

* If whatsherface could sing "let's get high a while" in Magic Man,
why couldn't we hear "and makin' love was just for fun" in "All By
Myself"? That was an elementary-school lyric rewrite.

On Thu, 28 Feb 2008 02:27:25 GMT, Itoshi no.spam.com> wrote:

For the first time I liked her and was impressed by her voice. She
was much more natural and easy this week, probably because she really
was sick last week. Still not my favorite, but grew on me a bit.
Didn't understand Randy's dissing her. *shrug*