American Idol: Top 11

Last night was the worst episode of American Idol this season. The Beatles two weeks in a row? What were they thinking?

None of the performances were spectacular. I think the contestants used up all their spectacular last week, with the exception of David Archuleta, who used no spectacular last week, unless you define spectacular as forgetting the lyrics. He did much better this week, with McCartney's "Long Winding Road," but still no fireworks.

I thought the best performances of the night were by Chikezie (who, I'm convinces, uses only his first name because his last name is utterly unpronounceable) and Syesha.


Chikezie sang "I've Just Seen a Face." He started out slow and ballady, but kicked it up and turned it into a bluegrass number. He also played a harmonica, which was a ridiculous attempt to be like everyone else in the instrument department. The slow part didn't do much for the performance, but once he got into it, I thought it was a lot of fun.


Syesha was the best performance of the night with an amazing performance of "Yesterday." It was heartfelt and beautifully sung. Plus, her dress was great. Simon said it was the song Brooke should have sung, which I felt was rude of him, especially when Syesha did such a great job.

Honorable mentions also go to Carly Smithson with "Blackbird" and Brooke White with "Here Comes the Sun." Both of them got flayed by the judges, but I thought they were both great. Carly actually only got flayed by Simon, who thought the message of the song was bad, but it was good to hear her sing a song ballad instead of belting it with her big fat voice. Brooke's performance was, admittedly, not her best. She kind of flailed around in her dancing, but it was clear she was having fun, and that was infectious. She took the criticism of the judges with incredible grace, even going so far as to agree with Randy when he said she was a little awkward. "Yeah," she said, "I am a little awkward when I move."

I'm torn between Kristy Lee and Ramiele for who should go home. Neither of them are that great, but at least Kristy Lee has been bringing her best to the table. Ramiele's just not doing it for me. And I'm still made David Hernandez was kicked off. Stupid America.

**Photos are, as always, from last week.