This season, American Idol really is all about the guys. Jason Castro and David Cook are easily my two favorite performers and singers in the whole competition. Danny Noriega is by far the most entertaining. And David Archuleta is the odds-on favorite to win the whole thing. The women are going to have to do some serious work to crack any of those categories.

Tonight, for the last time on this stage, we'll see the Top 8 American Idol women sing songs from the 1980s, and after tomorrow's eliminations, it's on to the Top 12, on to a bigger, better stage, and on to The Beatles. Who will join Kady Malloy as one of the next women to go home? Oops, sorry, I meant to put a spoiler warning on that.

Once again, we're discovering embarrassing secrets from the contestants tonight.  Paula Abdul has some bad '80s flashbacks.

Asiah Epperson was a movie extra and crashed into a light while on roller skates.  I'm guessing it was the roller derby scene from Austin Powers in Goldmember.  She sings "I Wanna Dance with Somebody."  My fellow BuddyTV writer Oscar Dahl predicted she'd sing Whitney Houston, and it looks like he was right.  And as I predicted, once again, she proves that she's no Whitney, decent as it may have been.  Simon Cowell is with me, calling it, "at best, second-rate Whitney Houston."

Kady Malloy needs a miraculous performance to make it to next week.  She also tripped, this time during a talent show audition.  She sings "Who Wants to Live Forever" by Queen.  Egads, it's better than last week, but marginally.  She shouts quite a bit, and it's average at best.  Simon correctly points out that she has no personality on stage, but tons in the video segments.  Goodbye, Kady Malloy.  We'll always have Britney.

Amanda Overmyer burned down her pool.  She sings "I Hate Myself for Loving You" by Joan Jett.  It's what we've come to expect from her.  Rockers can succeed on this show, but her style is just a bit too outside the box for American Idol.  Simon thought it was fantastic.  If she makes the Top 12, her votes will be siphoned off by David Cook and she'll be gone in the first two or three weeks.

Carly Smithson got stuck in a grate and had a friend grease up her leg to get it out.  She sings Cyndi Lauper's "I Drove All Night."  This is the third song title tonight in the first person, that seems weird to me.   She kicks some major butt, and is better than her male counterpart on this show, Michael Johns.  Simon suggests she sing songs that don't suck, and is booed for his troubles.

Kristy Lee Cook used to pretend she was a dog when she was 7.  She sings a countrified version of Journey's "Faithful."  The more she retreats into the country niche the judges have carved out for her, the more I like her.  It's solid, and Randy Jackson spends the whole time talking about how he's worked with Journey.  Simon predicts she will be eliminated in 10th place.  That sounds about right.  At most, he's two spots off.

Ramiele Malubay dropped off a picture of herself at the house of the boy she liked, and when he saw it, he laughed.  I bet he's kicking himself now.  She sings Phil Collins' "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)."  That's appropriate, given her embarrassing moment, and she goes big.  It's good, and Randy wants her to cut loose and run wild.  The more I see of her, the more I think she could be a major dark horse to finish third or fourth in this whole competition.  Paula goes off on 47 tangents about colors and textures and dogs, and the world inside her mind is terrifying.

We learn that Danny Noriega is wearing Ramiele's glasses, and she uses the phrase TMTH.  Knowing that she and Danny are Idol BFFs makes me love the both of them that much more.

Brooke White grabbed a man who wasn't her dad after church.  She sings "Love is a Battlefield" by Pat Benatar, unplugged.  She somehow turns it into a ballad, the Lilith Fair version.  It's pretty freaking awesome, and she keeps uncovering new facets of her talent.  Paula confuses herself, and it's obvious that she's drunker than ever.  Simon loved the originality.

Syesha Mercado wrote a letter to her crush, and the guy told the teacher on her.  She's "Saving All My Love for You" by Whitney Houston.  Thank you, Syesha, for making predictions easier.  Compared to Asiah's Whitney, this is much better, because Syesha actually has the better big voice.  These two are competing for the same turf, and all those potential Epperson votes just went over to Syesha.

That does it for the performances on this stage.  Tomorrow night, four people go home.  If there's any justice, Luke Menard, Chikezie Eze, Kady Malloy and Asiah Epperson will be saying goodbye.


-John Kubicek, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image courtesy of FOX)