What can I say but that I’m pleasantly surprised with this outcome. After last nights mediocre performances by the guys, I think everybody was concerned with how the girls would fair tonight. The consensus all day has been, will they show up or will they be lambs to the slaughter? Well, it was a slaughter all right, but not what we might have been expecting. The girls (most of them anyway) not only brought it, they so kicked the guys asses it’s not even funny.

At this point this is no longer a guys vs. girls competition, the guys are done. There are at least two girls that so far out class any of the guys, they might as well give up. Short of that, I do hope they spend the next few days hard, hard at work on their next weeks performances. It’s just hard to describe how different this was. Last night was like bad Karaoke night at the local bar and tonight was what you’d expect from any top 12 group.

Ok. Enough chatter about how bad the girls beat up on the guys, let’s take a look at how they did.

Stephanie Edwards is up first tonight. After last night this isn’t such a great position to be in. Stephanie sang “How Come You Don’t Call Me Anymore”. Randy said Stephanie “set it off”, Paula commented on what a performer Stephanie is and Simon said she was a million times better than any performance last night. What a difference a day makes, Stephanie was good, not outstanding but she definitely set the bar for the girls.

Amy Krebs is second out and this is really the first we’ve gotten to see Amy. She sang “I Can’t Make You Love Me”. Randy thought it was boring. Paula said “With a song like that, it’s very sentimental, and it’s meant to be soft and breathy, and I felt like you pushed for it”. Simon said Amy had the personality of a candle when she sang. So maybe the girls don’t have it, Amy sure didn’t, nerves or something I don’t know but it’s hard to understand how we got this performance and several others that were much better during Hollywood didn’t make it. On a side note, Amy’s dad (assumed) looked like he wanted to take Simon out back and have chat.

Leslie Hunt sang “You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman”. This is also the first we get to really see of Leslie. Randy thought the song was too big for Leslie. Paula thought she did great and cautioned her to watch the songs she picked. Simon said she looked embarassed to be on the stage, like she was uncomfortable. I like Leslie, she did pretty good, I don’t think she did the song a grave disservice but it was definitely way to big for her. I’ll never understand why these performers feel they have to take a power song like that and try to impress with it. I hope Leslie sticks around at least a couple more weeks.

Sabrina Sloan is yet another semi-finalist we know virtually nothing about. Sabrina sang “I Never Loved A Man The Way I Loved You”. Randy said Sabrina put it down and Paula gave her a standing ovation. Simon said “You just proved the point between taking part as we see a lot and genuinely having a desire to win with talent”. Now this is more like it, looks like the Idol moguls were hiding something and her name is Sabrina. This was really good and raised the bar just a tick higher. At this point, the guys should be worried.

Antonella Barba is fifth and she sang “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing”. Randy said it was good but real pitchy and bland. Paula said it wasn’t great but wasn’t bad either. Simon said the song was way to big for her but the good news was she is attractive. Wow, not what I expected from Antonella, although maybe it should be since we didn’t get to see her singing featured all that much. Bad comes to mind, not last night bad, but there’s not much that’s good I can say about it. She’ll skate by on her looks for now but she better get it together or it’ll be a short ride.

Jordin Sparks is the youngest of the ladies this year, she sang “Give Me One Reason”. Randy said “We tell people all the time that they pick songs that are too big for them. I don’t know if there’s any song to big for you, so go there”. Paula told Jordin she has natural talent and should just go for it. Simon told her that if she pushed herself she might just surprise a few people in the competition. If there has ever been a “youngster” that could win this competition, it’s Jordin. She’s got some strong competition from a few of the other girls but for a first impression, she definitely made a good one.

Nicole Tranquillo is yet another hidden talent we never got to see. Nicole sang “Stay”. It didn’t work for Randy and Paula said she didn’t know how many people could hit the notes Nicole hit. Simon said it was indulgent, aggressive and looked unnatural. I have to agree, it wasn’t bad so much as it was just bland. There’s nothing memorable about it and with the lack of pre-contest pimping Nicole may find it difficult to advance very far if she doesn’t step it up a lot.

Haley Scarnato is my favorite this year so I’m going to be biased, deal with it. I can’t say why really, except that she reminds me of a brunette Carrie Underwood (sort of). Haley sang “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now”. Randy said it was just ok, Paula thought she did a nice job and Simon said it was like being in a reasonably good hotel and that was the last song of the evening. Ugh! Haley, Haley I needed much more than that. It was good, I liked it and I don’t think there was a problem with the singing so much as it was just a really poor song choice. She’s can do way better.

Melinda Doolittle is making her debut as a lead singer having spent years as a professional backup singer. Melinda sings “Since You’ve Been Gone”. Randy said “All you need is to have confidence and believe in yourself, because you’ve got the natural gift”. Paula told Melinda there would be no more background singing for her, she was a front runner now. Simon said “You are an incredible singer, you have a fantastic story, you are a fantastic person, I really hope you do well”. Wow, I’m a little speechless. Normally I don’t go for the whole R&B type thing but Melinda has a set of pipes and she can flat sing. The bars been raised a few more notches now. Her professional experience is definitely a benefit and once she gets her confidence level built the others need to watch out, she’ll be hard to beat.

Alaina Alexander sang “Brass In Pocket”. Randy didn’t like it, didn’t think it was the greatest. Paula didn’t feel it and Simon said the irony was Alaina kept singing “I’m special” and it wasn’t. You know, I liked Alaina’s audition and it’s not that I think she’s a bad singer there was just a couple others in Hollywood I thought deserved the spot more and tonight simply proved that.

Gina Glocksen has finally made it to the main Idol stage. She sang “All By Myself”. Randy liked it and so did Paula. Simon was a bit more critical, not thinking Gina hit the big note. No, when you compare it to Celine hitting that big note Gina didn’t get it, but I don’t think it mattered. The arrangement worked for her, maybe just a tad bit safe but not such that it was boring. Nerves may have got her just a bit but I don’t think it’s going to matter, Gina should sail through. In the future she should be just a tick more mindful of her song choices. She’s another that doesn’t need to impress, just go sing the song.

Lakisha Jones is last and it looks like they may have saved the best for last. Lakisha sang “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going”, this is the Jennifer Hudson “Dreamgirls” song for those that are living under a rock. Randy just told Lakisha he loved her and Paula said she had so much to be proud of. Simon took a quick post shot at Gina and then proceeded to all but proclaim Lakisha the winner saying “Just to correct someone earlier on, that’s the right note. I’m very tempted to say to twenty-three people, book your plane tickets home”. Ok, yes Lakisha was good. Scary good in fact. Is the she the defacto winner? Nah, not yet anyway, but damned if she didn’t set the tone for the girls side of this competition. That rocked.

So that’s it for the first round of girls who apparently took a few notes from the judges last night. We saw a few of them come out and lay it down, and defined what this competition will most likely be. I don’t know if the guys can match this, so it may be a bumpy road for them. The bad part of this deal is there’s at least two girls that are going to miss the finals that probably shouldn’t because we have to take even guys and girls. That sucks, it really does. Bring back the wildcard round.

Whose going home? Based solely on performance I’d say Alaina is a definte and she might be a definite anyway. I think Amy Krebs is going be sharing the hanky with Alaina this week. Nicole, Sabrina (shockingly) and even Leslie could fall victim as well, simply due to the lack of expsoure til now.

Who are the front running girls. I’m going to say, based on tonight and in no particular order, Melinda Doolittle, Lakisha Jones, Jordin Sparks, Haley Scarnato, Gina Glocksen, Stephanie Edwards and Sabrina Sloan (because I think she just needed one chance for exposure and took full advantage of it). This is an awesome group of girls, could very well be the strongest group ever and should be fun to watch them.