The NGH Report: American Idol 7’s Top 10 Girls – “Mr. Happy?”

Back for the second helping of Idol! It was ladies’ night. Oh, what a night.

Well, not really – on the whole it was pretty weak. We didn’t really have any performances that I’m going to want to hear over and over again; for instance, “Imagine” by David Archuleta. Also, Randy is starting to sound more and more like the Godfather every time he opens his mouth. It’s just this weird, repetitive droning that is almost inaudible. Awkward.

One thing I am really enjoying in this year’s semi-final round is the sheer competitive nature of each week. Some contestants are consistent, sure. But there are a few who we thought would slowly die out and not put up much of a fight. The Idol pundits were dead wrong. Chikezie and David Hernandez were never fan favorites, but last night they came to play. And it showed! Jason Castro surprised us on week one and is actually starting to gain a fan base. Alaina Whitaker seems more confident than ever when most of us thought her inexperience would really be a factor.

I guess what I am saying is that this has really turned into a competition. Some are up and some are down each week. But most of them are real fighters.

Can I say one more thing? Man, does this group love scarves or what?

Let’s see what happened tonight…

10. Kady Malloy – Hey! You know what I never want to hear again? This girl’s Britney Spears impression. It’s week two and I’m about to put a knitting needle through my ears; that’s how annoying the impressions are becoming. She’s not Martin Short. This isn’t a comedy routine. Let’s move on. Kady tried to sing “Magic Man” for tonight’s show. My question: Why? Couldn’t she hear how awful it sounded during rehearsals? Did nobody tell her, “Hey, sweetheart? This is trash. Pick something else”? The key was awful and, frankly, I couldn’t wait for it to be over. The only interesting part of the performance was when she almost tripped and fell down the stairs. At the end Ryan gave out her numbers. Kady said thank you. Ryan asked her to “do it like Britney.” How many times do you think a man has said that to a woman? NOT SAFE

9. Alexandrea Lushington – I’m really not sure what this girl brings to the competition. For a while I thought she was this jazzy blues singer who knew how to stand out with some classy material, but that has not come through. I really feel like she has the potential to be a good artist; the problem is she has not shown it in the recent weeks. She sang “If You Leave Me Now” and it was continuously boring. This was a small spark towards the end, but other than that I was just left feeling confused and annoyed. Uh-oh! She hugged Ryan Seacrest! Stranger danger! Stranger danger! NOT SAFE

8. Asia’h Epperson – Asia’h let us know tonight that she was once a cheerleader. Really? That makes me fearful. Why? Well, I’ve always held a secret belief that cheer camps = terrorist cells. People tell me not to worry and my frequent calls to Homeland Security go unnoticed, but still… So, Asia’h sang “All By Myself” and I had a hard time listening to the song because I couldn’t stop pinching myself. Was this a dream? Would I wake up at any moment to a better reality in which the song “All By Myself” was not performed this season? No. It happened. Someone chose a song that has been sung over and over again throughout the seasons. The only thing she added to it? This weird motion that made it appear like she kept stroking her hair. The vocals were rather weak and managed to pick up a little steam in the end to make the performance slightly more bearable. By the way, just from watching the clip, you can tell she was an awful cheerleader. That was really snotty of me to say, but I was disappointed. NOT SAFE

7. Kristy Lee Cook – Apparently Miss Cook is a bit of a tomboy! Oh, another fun fact? She can’t get through one opening segment without mentioning her horse. Does anyone else get the feeling that Kristy Lee was that little girl in the first grade that all the other little girls hated because she kept bragging about her brand new pony? Yeah, me too. Kristy sang “You’re No Good” and it was yet another boring song from the Karaoke Princess. The song wasn’t challenging and it simply didn’t fit. You know what did fit? The skintight clothes she managed to paint on herself. Say what you want about her voice, this girl is attractive. The silver-blue blouse really kept distracting me… from the corner of my eye it always appeared that she was quantum leaping. NOT SAFE

6. Amanda Overmyer – You either get it or you don’t. I get it; you don’t. Amanda sang “Carry On Wayward Son” and I accompanied her on Guitar Hero. There were certainly some weak vocal points in the verses. I’m not disputing that. But this girl has more performance skills in her pinky finger than almost all of the other women contestants combined. She always has passion in her voice. The problem is that the passion doesn’t realize she is on a show called American Idol and that if she wants to continue on to the later weeks, she needs to settle down and focus. I’m not sure she’ll ever be right for this show. This will be a tough week for her. NOT SAFE