American Idol, ten women

Time for the women to sing. I look forward to the women singing so much more than the men. Inspired by Wilder's post about the men, I'll give letter scores. Please note that I'm a tough grader. Have to allow room for improvement.

Gina Glocksen. "Alone." Carrie Underwood so much better on this song. I'm surprised she chose it considering how incredible Carrie's rendition of it was (I liked, but never loved, Carrie, but I was blown away when she sang "Alone."). I didn't think she sounded that great, and I thought that the back-up singer showed her up and sounded a lot better. I also didn't think that the harmonization worked well. I'm surprised the judges liked it as much as they did. C.

Alaina Alexander. "Not Ready to Make Nice [??]" I thought she was overpowered by the back-up vocals during the chorus (they seemed to tone it down during the second chorus, I wonder if this is why). Which maybe isn't shocking, since she is a back-up singer. C-.

LaKisha Jones. "MIdnight Train to Georgia." This is one of my favorite songs of all-time (so is "Time After TIme," which Brandon slaughtered last night). Luckily, LaKisha doesn't slaughter this at all. And she's a big girl who looks really good in the miniskirt! Not as good as last week, but she still sounded good. Gobo is wondering if she is wearing a wig. B+.

Melinda Doolittle. "My Funny Valentine." I have never liked this song. She sang it really, really well, but it's just such a bad song. A-. Gobo pointed out what a departure it was from Sanjaya's "Steppin' Out with My Baby." Truly night and day, despite the genre being so similar.

Antonella Barba. "Because You Love Me." Terrible. She probably has the worst voice of the women in the competition, so she decides to take on a Celine Dion song? Bad move. She also had a particularly bad draw, going after what will probably be the best performance of the night. D+.

Jordin Sparks. "Reflection." The first few notes didn't sound great, and when she had to go very low, it seemed out of her range, but the high notes sounded really good. And a lot of people have covered this song in the seasons of AI, and I think this was the best rendition. B.

Stephanie Edwards. "Dangerously in Love." What a weird song (I have never heard it before). The cadence is so odd. Stephanie sounds like she has to take sharp breaths between every two notes, probably because of the quick time of the song. I guess she sang it okay, but it's hard to tell. B-.

Leslie Hunt. "A New Dawn, A New Day." She sounded good, but not great. It needed more power. C+.

Haley Scarnato. "Queen of the Night." I had totally forgotten about her until she got on stage. She did a fine job, but the white girls in this competition all seem out of their league. C+.

Sabrina Sloan. "He Fills Me Up." I didn' like her as much as last week. She sounded a little strained and shouty. B-/C+.

This dedication thing is out of control this week. Who dedicates "He Fills Me Up" to her grandmother? Also, Paula has been wittier the past two episodes, and also generally more lucid. Gobo thinks she has maybe stopped drinking.

My votes for elimination this week: Sanjaya, Nick, Antonella and Alaina.