Top 10 Girls: Crystal and Who Else?

After battling back from a reported type 1 diabetes-related illness over the last couple of days, Crystal Bowersox kicked off tonight's Idol top 10 ladies performance show with the kind of artistry and raw talent that most all of the other contestants just frankly don't have. Nothing of her medical touch-and-go showed in her performance, and as Simon pointed out, she did not play the "sympathy card." Personally I hate that phrase, and coming from Simon I'm not sure I would put much stock in what he calls sympathy anyway. I get the feeling he's very much the pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps kinda guy. The CCR tune she played was just great, beautifully sung, raw and natural. Her twin brother, however square he may be, is proud tonight! But as my husband pointed out, she is already a professional, so the question is, what can she offer the Idol franchise? And even more importantly, what can the Idol Machine offer her? I'm not quite sure, despite her talent, that it's the best fit. For the time being, I wish her the best of health and look forward to her next performance.

I also really dug Katelyn Epperly tonight. Liked her style, piano was beautiful, and her choice of the Coldplay song was a good one for her, even though it put Ellen to sleep. I do, however, agree with Kara: Katelyn needs to rein in her identity crisis and figure out her brand. I think has loads of raw talent, but is so much more marketable than Crystal and Lilly....and not that I'm in charge, but we hear about THE PACKAGE all too often on his show, like it or not, and Katelyn has it.

Which brings us to my final two-thumbs-up of the night.....Siobahn. Wow, she is weird! But in a good way, as Simon said.....(again, not sure it's ever good to be called weird, but)....she was way better than I expected, an awesome voice and while I wasn't digging her big note as others were, I was impressed.

(I'll give a half-shout to Lacey Brown for tonight. I thought her version of "Kiss Me" was actually quite good and a perfect fit for her voice and personality. The judges were split: Randy thought it was karaoke but Kara pronounced her Back In The Zone...I hope she stays another week!)

Meanwhile, we had mediocre. Katie, Paige, Lilly and Michelle are all talented ladies who can sing, there is no question of that, but since we are spending the next umpteen Tuesday and Wednesday evenings in front of the TV searching for that special something that distinguishes the cruise ship talent from the extraordinary 'it", the bar is quite high, and these ladies didn't reach that high this week.

Katie is a talented SEVENTEEN YEAR OLD who chose a more youthful song as the judges had asked for, but Corrine Bailey Rae's "Put Your Records On" wasn't, as Simon noted, a winning performance. Kara was right when she said it sounds good on the radio but it's not great to perform...I was bored and Katie offered nothing original. Similarly, Paige Miles' cover of the great Kelly Clarkson (and Kara! who knew!) anthem "Walk Away" was good, but not great for me. Can we call it Kara-OKE? LOL. (Also, note to Paige: when the other Idols are asking where is your coloring book, it's not really because they want it. They are MAKING FUN OF YOU.) The preschool teacher had fun as E pointed out, but Simon called it forgettable and I agree.

That leaves Lilly and Michelle in my "middling" category this week. Well, Lilly is better than average, but despite talking about it in the opening piece, forgot to open her eyes for most of her performance of Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come." Love the 12-string but am not digging her obvious obsession with long peacock feather earrings. Kara was "riveted" and Randy and Ellen agreed she was the best of the night, but Simon admitted to liking Crystal more. I am not grooving on Lilly....will reserve a final judgment.....but I am not feeling her as much as many others.

Michelle is drop-dead gorgeous and her smile is unbelievable. And she works with singing kids! Bonus points! Unlike Randy, I thought she had a weird bottom end (Vera Wang in the house) and I wasn't buying the rock vibe on her Creed cover.

Which brings us to my bottom two of the night: Haeley and Didi. Now, I am a fan of Haeley's and while I personally didn't think her rendition of that teen queen's song "The Climb" was that bad, the judges did, and that could be the kiss of elimination for her. Funny (well, not really) that she spent all of that camera time trying to get rid of her smile and all it took was one nasty comment from Simon and it was GONE. Seriously, girl was trying not to cry as the judges weighed in, and I swear I saw her still crying an hour later during Paige's performance. Look, I still adore her and think she has a special something....and I am hoping America does, too.

Speaking of crying, Didi was waterworks. Didi was absofreakinglutely verklempt in front of the judges after their feedback following her performance. She managed to squeak a thank you out for Ryan but it was work. Beautiful girl, and her Bill Withers "Lean On Me" was indeed more Brooke White than Haley Scarnato, but when Kara says you are NOT GOOD and Simon calls you screechy and cat-like, you can check your Idol expiration date.

What did you think? Is your favorite still your favorite after tonight? Is it the year of the nose ring or what? And did you catch that nasty exchange between Ryan and Simon over Haeley early on?